Before coming to Ireland I really didn’t have any clue the amount of natural wonders that existed here. The night before our flight left, I was doing a bit of research in my Lonely Planet guide (it only took me three months to crack the cover!) and I stumbled upon beautiful photos of a Connemara sunset. I wanted to go there.
Our second day in Galway City, we decided that we wanted to do an excursion outside of the city. Lorenzo kept mentioning ‘the cliffs’ and I absent-mindedly nodded at him. I didn’t really know what he was talking about but I was game for something. I had wanted to take a tour of the Connemara Coast, after hearing such amazing things about its beauty. After a little deeper research we came to the conclusion that Connemara was better saved for another trip, when we had the luxury of time and our own car. Since we were pressed on time and wanted to see as much as possible in a week, we decided it would be best to do an organized day tour, so we started asking around for tours of ‘the cliffs’, which were of course, The Cliffs of Moher.
We chose O’Neachtin Tours because it was €15 and we had a recommendation from a couple of girls in our hostel. Thankfully, since we were already in Galway, we didn’t have to wake up as early to catch the bus. The tour leaves from Dublin at 6am or some ridiculous time, stopping in Galway at 10am to pick up more passengers before making its way slowly down the coast.
Our lovely driver began the morning with some commentary on what our trip would entail and a promise that we’d all have the chance to participate in the sing-along throughout the day. He then proceeded to sing folk songs to us in Gaeilge.
Since I never knew much about the Cliffs before coming to Ireland it wasn’t like some amazing realization of a dream when I arrived, but Lorenzo and I had a great time working on our photography while there and we definitely enjoyed the breathtaking views.
Lorenzo was a little disappointed to see that there was a wall built a few meters from the cliffs edge since when his family visited ten years ago they were able to take photos of themselves peering over the towering cliff edges.
We wandered up and down the pathway, getting views from all angles before noticing a family simply hop the barrier and carry on walking along the cliffs. There are signs everywhere asking that tourists don’t cross the barriers and that there was dangerous cliff faces beyond the walls. Most tourists didn’t seem to pay mind though.
I was having an inner battle with my morality about whether I should ignore the warning signs. In the end Lorenzo and I decided that our view from behind the safety walls were good enough and opted out of taking the rebellious path… this time.
