We woke up bright and early Wednesday morning, ready to hop on our last London bus that would take us to Heathrow International Airport for the second leg of our trip. When Beau's company announced London as its 2018 destination, we dreamed up the idea to extend our trip a few days and check off one big bucket list place while we were so close. Not sure when or if we'd ever have the chance again, we decided our European holiday would end off the coast of the Wild Atlantic Way in none other than dreamy Ireland.
After just a little more shopping in the impressive and brand new terminal at Heathrow, we boarded our first ever green plane and flew just a quick hour to the Emerald Isle. Having said goodbye to our travel companions and all the amazing staff that make our trip so luxurious, I felt a mix of anxiousness and excitement as we landed in this unfamiliar place completely on our own. Beau and I have done our fair share of domestic travel, as well as luxurious all-inclusive packages beyond our border, but this was a new level outside my comfort zone in many ways. But as we flew into the quiet Shannon Airport, saw our first glimpse of the lush green countryside, and met with some good Irish people (with their killer accents), it didn't take us long to feel quite at home. Until we got in the car, that is. :)
It was Beau's idea to rent a manual transmission car. He lived in Australia for a semester (almost fifteen years ago, mind you), and said he had no problems driving on the opposite side of the road with a stick shift. And for the majority of our hour drive to Galway, our Ireland home for the next few days, he did pretty good. We listened to Mumford and Sons, marveled at how green it was, watched for sheep too close to the side of the road, and almost started to feel at ease. And then we got to Galway and it all went downhill from there! The streets were incredibly narrow, there were roundabouts everywhere (remember, going the opposite way!), Beau kept killing it at every red light, and there was no parking at our hotel. We had to park in one of the many parking centers around the city center, and these garages were even narrower than the streets. At one point, Beau couldn't get the car in reverse and kept inching closer and closer to the parked car in front of him. Halfway out of a parking space, desperate and lost as to what to do, with several cars behind him waiting to go around, he told me to get out of the car and push him! It was utter madness! By the time we finally got in a spot, our nerves were shot! Beau said it was the single most terrifying experience of his life. And this is coming from the guy who backpacked in the Australian outback, sky-dived, and has done plenty of crazy things in his life. So we said goodbye to our rental and vowed to take the tour bus from there on out. And that we did!
White knuckled and hangry, we bellied up to the bar at the first Irish pub we passed. We had roast beef, potatoes, and Guinness, admired the dark oak woodwork and stained glass, and studied the map of our new city. We learned that Galway is one of the largest cities in Ireland, but only has a population of 88,000 people. It's considered a Dublin of the West Coast, known for its up and coming food scene and live music. It's a college town, a rising tourist destination, and sits right on the harbor where the River Corrib meets the Wild Atlantic. After being in big and fast-paced London, we wanted this stretch of the trip to be entirely different - quiet, quaint, and simple, with lots of time to explore countryside and see what Ireland is all about.
Lots of Cubs fans in Ireland! Pretty much all the best people are!
We spent the rest of our Wednesday bouncing between pubs and little shops, playing cards over beers in front of the fire (every pub has a fireplace), shopping for Irish wool scarves and sweaters, and feeling very cozy and very far away from anything of home. It was a cozy, romantic little town and it fit everything I had dreamed it up to be. After eating delicious wild mushroom pies at The Piemaker, we walked back to the Eyre Square Hotel and fell asleep earlier than we had our entire trip thus far. It felt amazing to put on our sweats and get a really good night's sleep!
We woke up rested and refreshed, were treated to our first of several full Irish breakfasts of our trip, and then hopped on the Galway Tour Company's tour to the famous Cliffs of Moher. I knew I was in for a treat the minute the bus driver made nice with me, put his big arm around my shoulder and whispered, "you luv'im?" in his thick Irish accent when I asked if I should wait for Beau before getting a seat on the bus. While there were times in our planning for this trip that we thought it sounded fun to hop in a car and drive up the coast on our own, boy were we happy to be passengers! And soon enough, we were on our way to the Atlantic, but not before a few pretty amazing stops along the way...
There is something so cool about traveling to faraway places and seeing the beauty of God's creation, as well as the people who call it home. Beau and I both developed such an admiration and appreciation for the people we had the pleasure of talking to and learning from throughout our stay in Ireland. Their history is full of both story and struggle and it's all still a part of them. Every part of their history was shaped by the famous potato famine in 1847. They lost literally 2 million people, either by death or emigration, and it changed their country's people, landscape, economy, and history forever. And it was clear it changed their hearts, too. Their history, their pride in the beauty of their land, their hearty and hardworking values, and their distinct identify in all that, made me feel like a bit of an ancestral orphan living in America. It definitely led to a lot of deep conversation over Guinness about our own identity, the history that defines us, or lack thereof, and the values we hope to hold tight and pass down to our kids. And it sure led to some interesting conversations with some of the locals we had the pleasure to meet along the way! Let's just say we Americans are both intriguing and perplexing to the Irish folk!
As far as the country we explored, Ireland can pretty much be summed up with castles, stone fences that span miles of land, and dozens upon dozens of sheep! Let's just say pubs and sheep compete for the most real estate! Because the land is so rocky, it's not good for farming. So, hence the bright green land and livestock!
But our trip to the Cliffs of Moher takes the cake for one of the single most magnificent sights we have ever seen. Known as one of the most beautiful parts of Ireland, the cliffs span miles of rugged coastline and are scarily wild and thrilling. They have been used as the backdrop to films such as The Princess Bride, Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings, and it's easy to see why. They take your breath away and make you feel very small, and quite disposable, if you get at all close to the edge!
After a delicious fish and chips lunch at Gus O'Connors famous pub in the little sea town of Doolin, we pulled up to the cliffs and had about two hours to explore. And what a gift of a day we had! While we were blessed with beautiful spring weather in London, I kept checking the forecast for our Ireland stay and it looked rather bleak. We knew going into it that it was best to pack our rain gear as most of Ireland's climate consists of cold, rainy, windy weather. I had read many blogs of travelers who had written about the Cliffs of Moher, and many told of a similar story of foggy, windy, kind of awful conditions. But they also said the cliffs were worth it, even if the fog sometimes impacted the view. But as we pulled up to the Cliffs and were told by our driver that we were seeing them on the nicest day they had had in literally six months, we knew we were in for a rare and special treat. The weather was nearly perfect, we had clear views of the Aran Islands (our driver said he hadn't seen them from the coasts in months), and the blue sky met with the green grass created a backdrop I won't soon forget. We walked along the cliffs, snapped lots and lots of pictures, and took in the views that quite literally took your breath away.
I'd travel to the ends of the earth with you, babe. My greatest adventure was marrying you!
After a quiet drive back to Galway, we had pizza and asked for the best place to hear some good Irish "trad". We found a table at Taffes, known as the best live music pub in Galway, and had ourselves a blast. We drank Irish whiskey and made friends with Pol and Jonathan, requested "Whiskey in the
And we still had two more days to go!!!
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