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A Day in the Republic
One of my friends from back home, Jala, was coming to Ireland with her parents for her spring break. We had spoken about meeting up, so when I saw that she'd landed in Dublin this past weekend, we made a concrete plan to meet up.
I took the bus from Belfast to Dublin on Monday evening which arrived around 7pm and I was immediately greeted by Jala and her parents. We decided that it made the most sense for me to stay the night in Dublin at their hotel because our excursion the next morning started very early.
Monday night we just had dinner at a local restaurant called Flannagan's, and then we headed back to the hotel (Aloft) which was just opened in January. It was very nice and it even smelt new inside. We had a drink at the hotel bar and Jala and I caught up a bit, and then we went to bed since we had to get up early.
We woke up at 5:45am, grabbed some free breakfast from the hotel, and then took an Uber to where the tour bus would be picking us up at 7:30am. We would be taking a bus tour to the Cliffs of Moher.
We were lucky because there were only about 15 of us on the tour so there was plenty of room on the bus. We also had a really great tour guide named Wes and he enjoyed photobombing Jala and I so we practically were best friends by the end of the day.
The first stop of the journey was in a small town called Moneygall. Wes told us the story of how this town had been on the brink of closing down a few years ago because it was extremely unpopulated and unsuccessful until Barack Obama learned his ancestry traced back to Moneygall and he decided to pay a visit during his presidency. After Obama's appearance in Ireland, Moneygall became somewhat of a tourist destination and the town soon began thriving. As a result of all of this, a gas station plaza was built and named after Barack Obama. I honestly thought Wes was joking about it until we pulled up and there it was: the Barack Obama Plaza.
Inside there were cardboard cutouts of Barack and Michelle so of course Jala and I took pictures with them, and there was even a small museum located upstairs which we briefly explored as well. That was quite an unexpectedly exciting first stop.
About two hours later we arrived at the Cliffs of Moher. Earlier in the day Wes had informed us that the weather at the Cliffs was ideal: sunny and hardly any wind so we were hoping the weather would stay that way until we got there. Luckily the sun stayed out with only a few passing clouds, but we weren't so fortunate with the wind.
When we pulled into the parking lot we could feel the wind shaking the bus and we could see the people outside struggling to walk against the gust. We knew right then that we were in trouble. We got off the bus and it was just as bad as it looked. The gusts of wind were so incredibly strong and made walking to the visitor's center a bit of a struggle, but luckily it wasn't too far away.
We were only in the visitor's center for a few minutes before heading back outside to walk up to the Cliffs. We first walked over to the right side where we were able to get a full view of the cliffs. The wind was still harsh, but there were breaks in the wind so it wasn't as bad. The wind aside though, the Cliffs were breathtaking and the water was so blue and beautiful. I understand now why the Cliffs are such a popular tourist destination.
After taking some pictures, we decided to walk to the other side which was a path that lead up to the top of one of the cliffs. There were a decent amount of people on top so we figured the trek up wouldn't be too bad. We were very wrong.
The first little bit wasn't so bad and the wind actually seemed a bit calmer, but about a quarter of the way up the wind started to pick up a bit. We were passing by two girls who warned us saying the wind gets extremely bad up ahead but then calms down a bit after. We thanked them for the warning and preceding with caution, continued on the path. It wasn't long after that we started to feel the unbelievable wind they had warned us of. To say the wind was bad would be an understatement. This was the strongest wind I had experienced in my entire life.
I'd always wondered what it would feel like to be in hurricane force winds, and I genuinely believe it probably would feel pretty close to that. I could not control where my body was going, I ended up having to hold onto the stone wall so that I wouldn't get blown down the path, or worse, off the path. In the process I almost lost my headband because I couldn't hold my hood on any longer, and my purse because it started flying up and off my shoulder.
We remembered that the girls said it gets better past this one section of the path so we tried to push through it but it was legitimately next to impossible to walk through it. After using the wall to pull ourselves along we finally made it to where the wind calmed down just enough that we could let go of the wall, but then there was a large and deep puddle that there was no way around so we had no choice but to turn around because we didn't want to ruin our shoes. Plus, the stone wall ended there so if you got a really good gust of wind, we could've easily been pushed off of the cliff and into the ocean.
Walking back through that wind tunnel was no easier than walking through it the first time and there were a few moments when I honestly didn't think I would make it. Thankfully though, we all got back to the main area in one piece.
After the cliffs we drove by some cute little classic Irish towns, and then stopped at a nearby pub for a late lunch and drinks. We also coincidentally sat next to two guys from Tampa, FL and started up a conversation with them. Turns out they'll be in Dublin for St. Paddy's on Sunday (and so will my friends and I).
We then stopped at Doolin Pier but only stayed briefly because it started to rain heavily and the wind was still strong so it made the rain painful.
Our last stop on the way back was at a very old castle which is now a popular wedding venue. We got ice cream at a nearby shop and restaurant and then made our way back to Dublin. We got back just in time for me to catch another bus, this time back to Belfast. It was a long day of being on a bus but it was absolutely worth it. I'm so glad I got to see Jala while she was in Ireland, and to have seen all of the cool things we saw, even if we did almost die on the cliffs. If anything though, that's a story I'll always remember and laugh when I tell, thinking back to how ridiculous we probably looked trying to maneuver through the wind. It was overall a really great day and we made a lot of great memories.
On a side note, I learned this morning (Wednesday) that the gusts on the Cliffs were up to 80mph yesterday when we were there. I also discovered that they closed the Cliffs to visitors about an hour and a half after we left because it was too dangerous. Go figure.
