Cliff Diving

Just got back from a great weekend of base jumping off the Cliffs of Moher! Not really, but I did see the cliffs and they were unreal.

We left for Galway on Friday and did some sightseeing in the afternoon. Wasn't an overwhelming amount of stuff to see or do, but the town is pretty. Headed down to the beach for some pics of Galway Bay/The Atlantic and some skinny dipping (just kidding). Went to dinner at a place that gave us complimentary pints of Guinness with Fish and Chips. Not a bad deal. The nightlife in Galway is sadly subpar. To be honest, I wasn't a fan.

The next morning, after a night of sleeping in the sauna we had for a hostel (free detox!), we went on a day tour of Burren and The Cliffs of Moher. Our tour guide was certifiably crazy and literally talked straight through the 8 hour tour without pause. The beautiful scenery distracted us from his ramblings about Killer-Faeries. We first stopped at the Burren limestone deposits, which consist of enormous pilings of limestone dating as old as 350 million years. Other stops included natural forming Fairy rings, an earthen Celtic warrior mound, and a cemetery with Celtic crosses from the 13th century. We ended up in Doolin in County Clare to grab some lunch, then it was off to the Cliffs.

The Cliffs are without a doubt up there with the most incredible things I've ever seen. Standing on the edge of an 800 ft. drop conjures emotions like fascination/happiness/terror all while feeling invigorated by the intense winds and the waves crashing below. I waved across the Atlantic back to the US, but chances are you didn't see me- kind of a foggy day. From the top of the cliffs, the Aran Islands are clearly visible, so you get a good glimpse of Inishmore, Inishmaan, and Inisheer. We walked about 4 or 5 km down the length of the cliffs then turned back. A side note, near the area of the Cliffs known as "Hag's Head," there was a pasture filled with cows grazing and chilling out, no less than 20 yards from the edge of the cliffs. We made friends with them, attempted to pet them, and they tried to lick us. Nasty. But they were friendly.

It was time to head back to Galway. We made a couple more un-noteworthy stops but all I could think about was a Salmon Dinner at McDonagh's and taking a glorious nap. At McDonagh's (which is considered to have some of the best seafood in all of Ireland), I got Seafood Chowder and Salmon. No doubt one of the best fillets of fish I've ever had. Afterwards, we got ready to hit the town with one of our friends from Gtown studying in Galway. We called it an early night and passed out immediately.

Took a bus to Dublin after having breakfast in Galway on Sunday morning. Galway was cool, but the people seemed a lot more abrasive and were far less friendly than in Dublin. We pulled up to Dublin and I was stoked to be back "home."

This week is back to class. I swear I didn't sign up for this. Unfortunately, I'm under the impression that the only academic subject Irish people take seriously is English. Go figure. So I have a good deal of reading to do. Oh, I dropped out of my Celtic Studies course because my professor might actually have been mentally impaired and switched into another film course, "Hollywood." Yeaaaaaaahhh. Also, I chatted with my Drama prof who teaches a graduate class with Conor McPherson and Frank McGuinness (two of the most prolific contemporary Irish dramatists), and he said he'd try to arrange a time for me to grab coffee with them all. No big deal. My prof for "Ulysses" is considered THE Joyce scholar of Ireland... so naturally it's a lot of work. But I'm hoping it'll be well worth it.

Tryin to plan a bro-fest for the weekend in Edinburgh. First, I gotta register with the Garda (Irish police) which is a day-long ordeal... probably will get around to that tomorrow. Hopefully I'll make it to Scotland for the big 2-0 and to find some nice lassies. Guess I'll need a kilt, though.

Gotta head to class now. If you're still reading this, go you. And thanks.