Day 2: Cliffs of Moher and other Villages

 We set our alarm for 7:30 AM Monday morning. When it went off, I told Scott to turn it off and we would sleep for a little longer. Well, two hours later...we woke up! We slept for over 12 hours. We needed it, though. I don't remember the last time that I woke up after 9:00!

We got ready and headed out. While I was showering, Scott took a picture of the field outside of our window. So green and pretty. I think that it is a good thing that we over slept because if we would have gone to the cliffs when planned, it would have been foggy.

We stopped at a grocery store, picked up some very delicious muffins, drinkable yogurt, baguettes and cheese! Yummy. And no, we didn't eat it all at once. The baguettes and cheese were lunch.

 Foley is a very common name in Ireland. In fact, when we came through customs, the guy took one look at our passport (well, Scott's because remember my passport issues) and asked, "Awww...Foley, Whereabouts do your people come from?" Sadly, we were not entirely sure. 

 Just before starting our tour of the cliffs.

 When I think of Ireland, I think of the Cliffs of Moher. I think I was most excited about seeing these sites. They did not disappoint! It was a tad bit hazy, but everything was amazing to look at.

 We decided to make a small trek to that tower. It was about two miles each way. I didn't mind. I could have stayed out there all day.

 All over County Clare (where we stayed the first two nights and close to the cliffs), you will see rock walls. One of the reasons for these walls, that are pretty old, is that the landscape is very rocky, so to clear the land, farmers stacked these rocks into walls. Also, during the potato famine, farmers were paid money to build these "Rock Roads" that lead to no where.  

 A really long drop to the water.

 Scott got after me a couple of times for getting too close to the edge. I couldn't help it. The view just pulled me in.

 Okay, I feel slightly guilty for climbing on the rock wall, but I seriously loved them. They just made the landscape that much more amazing. 

 We made it to the tower

 Taking in the view while snacking on chocolate covered peanuts and peanut butter filled pretzels (I know you wanted to know). 

 We found some professional photographers to take our picture. Their camera looked like it was a helicopter. We didn't get to see them use it, though. The lighting was perfect on our walk back, but dangitt, the battery was dead in our camera, so we only got a few shots. We are trying to get that perfect picture to hang in Scott's office. 

 After the Cliffs of Moher, our plan was to go to the Burren National  Park. It is really rugged landscape that is supposed to be really cool. Well, we didn't really make it. We kind of drove right through the middle of it and missed any of the cool ruggedness. It was a different kind of pretty. A lot more browns and rocky hillsides. We did get to travel through country roads that were fun. One goal of ours was to get in a sheep pasture and get a picture with them. Well, those farmers in Ireland are smart puppies. Almost all of the fields have electric fences behind the awesome rock walls that I love, then a big ditch on the other side. So, there really isn't anyway of getting into the fields without majorly injuring yourself. I had my old camera for these last pictures and the picture doesn't really capture the greenness of the field. That was one of our sheep fields that we couldn't enter.  

 Trying to capture ourselves with the sheep behind us. Didn't do too well. Another thing that I loved was how quiet everything was. It is so peaceful. This particular road was empty and all around were fields and barns with a few homes. When you stood outside, you could hear animals talking, but that was it. If we were not always rushing from one spot to the next, I would have loved to go for walks down these roads (except for the fact that cars speed around corners at ridiculous speeds, I would be scared for my life!).

 We are pretty sure that the Burren National Forrest is somewhere behind us. I am sure that it would have been awesome to visit...

 I think that I mentioned in my first post that everything closes early. We were pretty starving, so we made sure to stop before if got dark, and eat. I think the name of this Village was Kinvara. We ran into some ladies that were exercising (I was so proud to see my Irish people running, walking or biking!) and I pulled them aside to ask if they had any recommendations of places to eat. They were so cute. They giggled because there were only like three places. We decided on the Pub that one of the ladies said was, "Lovely and Cheerful." I am not sure what she meant by cheerful, but my soup that I ordered was awesome. Scott's crab sandwich wasn't anything great. One thing I really enjoyed was the brown bread. It is really hearty and great to dip into your soup. Scott didn't like it, I think it was too dry for him. 

 Once we were done eating, we headed back to our Cottage and went to bed soon after. I think that was my longest night yet. I feel like I slept well every other night. Even though I was exhausted, for some reason, I could not fall asleep. I probably slept around 3-4 hours. Sheesh, I have issues! 

Stay tuned for day 3