This weekend was a group organized trip with my program to see the Cliffs of Moher and Galway. We departed from Dublin early Saturday morning and made the 3 hour journey straight to the Cliffs. I had visited them last Fall but they were just as insanely beautiful in the summer as they were then. This was definitely a sight worth seeing twice! The Cliffs of Moher have appeared in a number of movies such as the Princess Bride, Harry Potter, and Leap Year. It is all natural beauty and at your own risk with how close you are willing to get to the edge. They have no barriers in place to keep you away and some people were so daring! I kept a reasonable distance from the edge but still got close enough to see the incredible drop and waves crashing several hundred feet down.
Next we headed to Galway where I acted as a tour guide for some of my friends. The weather was very rainy which is exactly the Galway I remember! A group of use got dinner at The Pie Maker, one of my favorite spots on a rainy day. Then we wandered around Shop Street and the beautiful quad on NUIG’s campus. Later that night a bunch of us went out to have a few pints in some of Galway’s famous pubs. I had a lot of fun showing everyone around and popping in to some of my favorite places to listen to traditional Irish music. The west of Ireland certainly has a different charm to it then the rest of Ireland. Of all the places in Ireland I have visited the west may just be my favorite.
The following day I took a walk down to Galway Bay and the Spanish Arch and enjoyed the views before a downpour of rain overcame the city. I ducked into a place called the Pasta Factory for lunch where they make the most delicious homemade dishes and serve them to you on edible plates! It was then time to head back to Dublin to get ready to start a new week of work the next day. This weekend has been a blast!