Even before arriving to Ireland, I knew that we would have to ”out of” the city to see the beautiful irish nature, so I booked a tour to the Cliffs 🙂

Cliffs of Moher are very popular tourist destination with around a million and a half people coming here every year. Rather big number for a bunch of rocks, you would think 🙂 But they are rather spectacular rocks.

Since we visited the island in the beginning of September, I was afraid that the weather would be ”shitty” for a day trip just to stare into the ocean, but in the end, we had the most beautiful Irish weather; cloudy with a lot of sun and NO rain at all!

We joined a friend from Oslo on a green Paddywagon bus early in the morning on a big guided tour. Our guide was very charming and extremely funny so he woke us with some jokes, stories and legends that he was telling along the way.

First stop was in a small picturesque town called Kinvara where we got the chance to grab some coffee or beer.

The guide specifically warned us not to go to all the way back the neighboring Dunguaire Castle because it’s not as close as it seems.

The legend says that the Lord of this 16th century tower house was so kind, that it’s believed, if a person stands at the front gate and asks a question, he will receive an answer by the end of the day. No harm in trying to do that but we didn’t have the time 🙂

For a large part of the way we were driving the Wild Atlantic Way, a 2500 kilometers long road on the west coast of Ireland that connects north and south of the country passing through nine counties and three provinces.

Before heading for a lunch break we stopped in county Burren known for it’s incredibly limestone formations and so called Mini Cliffs, a smaller versions of the bigger Cliffs situated more southwest.

Cliffs of Moher run for about 14 kilometres. At their southern end, they rise 120 metres above the Atlantic Ocean, and, just north of O’Brien’s Tower they reach their maximum height of 214 metres.

The tower was built in 1835 by a local landlord Sir Cornellius O’Brien as an observation tower for the Victorian tourists of the time, but the legend says that O’Brien built the tower in order to impress women he was courting.

I’m mean who would say no to this view 🙂
From the top of the cliffs you can see the Aran Islands in Galway Bay, the Maumturks and Twelve Pins mountain to the north in County Galway, and Loop Head to the south.

We had and hour and twenty minutes in the Cliffs that turned out to be not enough to enjoy lazy walk on the both sides, but it was plenty enough for dozens of photos and a portable whiskey and a gin 🙂

On our way back we fell a sleep but only after a visit to the beautiful Bunratty town famous for it’s 15th century castle and Blarney woolen mills that were used mainly for spinning and weaving wool back in the beginning of 19th century. The mill was briefly closed between 1973 and 1975, after which it was re-opened as an Irish heritage shop.

After a three-hour drive back to Dublin we grabbed a dinner while contemplating about a well spent day. If ever in Dublin or some other city, make sure to visit, maybe not the Cliffs, but some other natural scenic site, or just go for a drive on the left side 🙂 of the Irish road. You will get to see so much! And taste even more!

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CLIFFS OF MOHER

Doći u Irsku i ne vidjeti divnu prirodu bio bi isti grijeh kao ne probati Guinness, tako da sam još u Oslu isplanirala jednodnevni izlet na klifove.

Cliffs of Moher su najpopularnija irska turistička atrakcija koja godišnje privuče preko milijun i pol gostiju, a broj turista je toliko porastao u zadnjih nekoliko godina da turističke agencije daju ekstremne popuste za posjet klifovima izvan sezone.

Mi smo klifove posjetili početkom devetog mjeseca i poznajući irsko nepredvidljivo vrijeme, bojali smo se kakva će biti prognoza taj dan. Ja sam bila spremna na sve, kupila si kišne hlače, sredila sve u glavi, ali Debeli je bio nesiguran. Ipak, imali smo najbolje moguće vrijeme za posjet; sunčano s ogromnim oblacima, ali bez kiše. U kombinaciji s izvrsnom turističkom kompanijom koju smo izabrali i frendom iz Osla kojeg smo sreli u Dublinu, dan je bio fant-fant-fantastičan!

Na izlet smo krenuli ranim jutrom u 8 ispred statue prsate Molly Malone, popularne figure iz irskih priča, legendi i pjesama.

Mlada prodavačica ribe na ulicama Dublina, po kojoj je pjesma nazvana, a čija statua stoji na ulici Suffolk, glavni je lik vrlo popularne narodne pjesme.
Neke legende kažu da je Molly bila stvaran lik, po danu prodavačica ribe, po noći prodavačica ljubavi 🙂

Dvadesetak pospanih turista, većinom mlađe generacije, pokupio je vozač zelenog Paddywagon autobusa, istoimene agencije, čije su se ture imale vrlo visoke ocjene. U busu nas je već čekao frend koji je zauzeo sjedala, vozač se predstavio, objasnio itinerar i uz miris prvih sendviča lagano smo krenuli put zapadne obale.

Prvi piš/kava/pivo/ pauza bila je u Kinvary, malom, ali jako živopisnom gradiću na zapadnoj obali Republike Irske, u okrugu Galway.

Put nas je dalje vodio dijelom Wild Atlantic Way, cestom dugom oko dvije i pol tisuće kilometara što prolazi kroz devet okruga zapadne obale irskog otoka.

Prije pauze za ručak stali smo na Mini klifovima, u okrugu Burren karakterističnom po nevjerojatnim vapnenačkim formacijama.

Ručali smo u Doolinu, seocetu poznatom po predivnom pogledu na Aranske otoke odakle dolazi najkvalitetnija ovčja vuna od koje se izrađuju (vrlo skupe) veste od neprerađene vune, koja je bogata prirodnim uljima (lanolinom) i tako otporna na vodu i teške vremenske uvjete.

Samo desetak minuta vožnje jugozapadno od Doolina u County Clare leže 14 kilometara duge morske stijene, Cliffs of Moher.

Na južnom kraju stijene se uzdižu i preko 120 metara od razine Atlantskog oceana, dok su najviše, negdje oko 214 metara, malo sjevernije od O’Brienovog tornja.

Cilindrični toranj sagradio je Sir Cornelius O’Brien 1835. godine za brojne viktorijanske turiste koji su dolazili diviti se pogledu sa stijena, iako je daleko zanimljivija priča koja uključuje O’Briena i razne dame kojima bi se dotični udvarao u dvorcu s kojeg puca predivan pogled. Mislim, koja bi mu rekla ne? 🙂

Sat i dvadeset minuta koliko smo imali na klifovima bilo je premalo za uživanje po doista predivnom danu, ali iskoristili smo najviše.

Put nazad, nekih tri i pol sata vožnje i spavanja u busu, vodio nas je preko malog pitoresknog mjesta Bunratty najpoznatijeg po dvorcu (naravno, po čemu drugome 🙂 iz 15. stoljeća  i Blarney mlinovima za preradu vune.

Blarney Woollen Mills sagrađeni su početkom 19. stoljeća i koristili su se prvenstveno za preradu vune, da bi danas prostor bio u službi trgovine irskom baštinom.

Ako se ikad zadesite u Irskoj, ne časite časa već isplanirajte barem jedan izlet negdje van grada. Irska priroda je predivna i prezelena, a mnoštvo dvoraca i krava/ovaca čeka samo na vas da ih vidite 🙂
Sláinte!