Gone to Galway for Moher Fun
You guessed it: the Cliffs of Moher. Located mostly along the West Coast of Ireland and part of the natural wonder the Wild Atlantic Way, the cliffs are breathtaking. A group of us Americans in Dublin decided to spend a quick one day and one night in Galway to experience the cliffs, and to live out our dreams of being “Galway Girls” for our beloved Ed Sheeran. I’ve never traveled to the West Coast of America because of how far and expensive it would be, but in just two and a half hours on a train, we were able to speed across all of Ireland from Dublin to Galway. After doing our best to sleep on the train, which left at 7:30am, we arrived and dropped our things at our cute apartment that was about a 20 minute walk from the fun parts of town. We grabbed some food to go and headed to the bus station for another two hours of travel up to the Cliffs of Moher.
I have to bring up the weather again because it’s literally all people here talk about. The first thing anyone tells you when you say you’re going to Ireland is that it rains a lot. And the first thing I wrote about upon being here for a week is how warm and beautiful it had been. Europe had been experiencing a major heat wave that ended a few days ago. The forecast for the weekend was looking like non-stop rain, which we didn’t want at the cliffs, but we figured if it did pour on us, it would be the true Irish experience. However, within five minutes of getting off the bus at the cliffs, the rain stopped and we were able to enjoy the views for a dry hour and a half. The pictures are amazing, but still can’t come close to seeing the massive beauty of the cliffs in person. Of course, my mom was freaking out before I went, and rightfully so because a picture can’t convey how gorgeous these cliffs are and how impressive the drop is. I was in full mom mode when I got off the bus and actually gave a serious talk to some of my friends about cliff safety. Then everyone, including myself, ignored the warnings to stay far way from the edge and sat in the little viewing point on the edge to get that feet dangling picture. After an hour and a half, we all make it back to the bus safe and sound.
After the cliffs, we went back to our apartment to change and go out. We headed to Harry’s Bar for dinner and munched on some nachos, fries, and Orchard Thieves at high tops in the bar while watching whatever Gaelic Football match was on. Afterwards we headed out to a pub and bar called Kings Head. The three story bar felt like a classic Irish pub with a band playing great current and classic music live. The next morning we headed out to get coffee before our 11am train, when four of us managed to order complicated coffee and get lost on the 3 minute walk between Starbucks and the train station, so we missed our train. The good news was that student tickets are flexible and can be used all day. The bad news was that the next train to Dublin wasn’t until 1pm. So we made the best of it and headed out to brunch at Hyde Gin Parlour and Hotel. After enjoying eggs benedict, mushroom bruschetta, pancakes, nachos, and bottomless prosecco, we got to the train station early and were finally on our way back ‘home’ to Dublin.
All in all, a fantastic weekend seeing the sights of Ireland with great friends.