Chapter Four

Ireland was an absolutely magnificent two days complete with an amazing day trip and day spent in one of the biggest cities. Our flight in arrived with the setting sun and made for some amazing pictures from the plane.

Our first day in Ireland we spent on a day trip to Clare County on the west side of the island to see the beautiful Cliffs of Moher. First we stopped at a beautiful little fishing village named Kinvarra. There we were able to buy some Irish coffee (coffee, Irish whisky, sugar, and whipped cream) as well as hot chocolate with Baileys in it at Keogh's. Our coach operator actually informed us that it is "illegal" to drink before noon but that didn't stop us from sipping on our drinks at 11:15 am! We also took a quick walk to the docks where the fishermen keep their boats.

Our next stop was unplanned but we're so glad we did it. The leprechanus castle was just off the side of the road on the way to the cliffs and it had us tossing some change into the water "wishing well" style. We were also quite fortunate to get some sunshine on the way up to the cliffs so we also took some pictures with the surrounding greenery.

After the quick stop we continued on to what is known as the "baby cliffs". Although they are called baby cliffs they are anything but small. The views from these small cliffs was absolutely magical and the water was so blue we actually could not believe our eyes. We spent about 25 minutes exploring this area and taking so many photos before heading to the Cliffs of Moher.

Pulling up to the Cliffs of Moher we were all very excited, but I think might have been the most excited because I had seen these cliffs before in several movies without even realizing that they were real (and not CGI)! The first distinctive movie was of course in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, when Dumbledore takes Harry to find the locket horcrux. The second famous movie that uses these cliffs as the backdrop is one of my childhood favourites, The Princess Bride! When Wesley first begins to set after his Princess he scales these cliffs in order to get to her and it's simple "inconceivable" that he is able to hang on to the rock face after the rope was cut!

We explored both sides of the cliffs doing the left side first to get the beautiful sun hitting the opposing side cliffs and giving everything a really warm glow. The trek up on the left side was considerably easier than the right, but both sides had some fierce wind that had us grabbing the rock walls in an effort to not be blown away. The right side of the cliffs gave us the view of the 4 big cliffs. The forceful wind was the worst on the right side and made an entertaining afternoon of us trying to hold onto our glasses, hair ties and backpacks! All of us got blown away at some point that afternoon!

The second day we started off with a walk from our hotel to the city centre via St. Stephens Green. St Stephens Green is an amazing park situated quite close to the city centre and was full of people walking around. Next we headed towards Trinity College, University of Dublin one of the oldest universities in the United Kingdom! It houses a museum and the Book of Kells. The Book of Kells is an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin containing the Four Gospels of the New Testament together with prefatory texts and tables.
From there we walked to the Ha'Penny bridge which is famous for being one of the first metal bridges ever constructed for pedestrian use. After the bridge it was a quick walk towards the Temple Bar area. The Temple Bar area is known as a local tourist hotspot and is the historic heart of Dublin. The cobble stone streets, bright paint and street art made for an interesting walking experience in the area.

The Dublin Castle was next on our walking tour and as one of the oldest buildings in Ireland I had to do the tour. It was the seat of British rule in Ireland until 1922. We started the tour with the preserved parts of the original castle that are underground. Then we moved onto the Dublin Castle Chapel which was shining in the winter sunlight. The chapel itself had beautiful stained glass windows and is actually used a a filming location for the show the Tudors.
After the Chapel we headed inside to the State Apartments. We toured many of the rooms including the James Connolly Room which

was important in the Easter Rising of 1916. After Dublin castle I went out to enjoy the peaceful gardens behind the castle as well as see the Chester Beatty Library which is unfortunately closed on Mondays. I walked back to meet up with my friends at Christ Church Cathedral for a quick break before heading towards St. Patrick's Cathedral.

The last thing we did in Ireland was of course the Guinness Storehouse tour. We learned all about the main ingredients that go into the beer and how they source each one. We also learned about the roasting and tasting controls which they use to this day. There is someone whose job it is to taste the Guinness for quality every morning at 10 am! Guinness had lots of fun interactive parts of their storehouse in which we were able to see some of their famous ad campaigns, how they used to make the barrels that held the beer, and how they used to transport Guinness around the world. We were also lucky enough to attend a free tasting before heading up to the 9th floor of the building, the gravity bar. The gravity bar had some of the most amazing views of Dublin and it was awesome to be able to sip a pint from that height and watch the sun go down!