Limerick & Cliffs of Moher

On Tuesday morning Andrea and I packed our bags and took a bus from Killarney to Limerick City.  In Limerick we stayed at a hotel called Jury's Inn.  It was a really nice hotel and we had a great view of the Shannon River!  Here's our view below.

One of my roommates in Cork, Lorna, lives just 20 minutes away from Limerick.  On Tuesday night Lorna picked up Andrea and I and brought us back to her house for dinner with her parents.  We had salad, lasagna, and apple tart.  It was delicious and great to have a home cooked meal!  After dinner Lorna drove us around a little village called Adare and showed us around Limerick City.

On Wednesday morning Andrea and I woke up bright and early to take a Paddywagon tour to the Cliffs of Moher.  Paddywagon is pretty much the tackiest tour company in Ireland.  They go to a bunch of different places in Ireland for a really good price!  

On the way to the Cliffs of Moher we drove through a region called The Buren.  Our first stop was the Poulnabrone Dolmen.  This is a 5,000 year old portal tomb in the middle of no where.  The mystery of this tomb is how the rocks were lifted and put in place.  The capstone on top weighs 5 tons!

We drove past many cemeteries.  In the picture below you can see those smaller boulders placed throughout the cemetery.  During the potato famine, cemeteries could not keep up with the demand for grave stones and ran out space for the number and rate of deaths in Ireland.  These unmarked boulders are mass graves that had to be made to bury victims.

We stopped in a small town called Doolin for lunch.

Next we made our way to the Cliffs of Moher on the western coast of Irealnd.  The Cliffs of Moher look out to the Atlantic Ocean.

Andrea and I had about two hours to walk around on the cliffs.  After walking around the park with safety walls and barriers we made our way past the "DO NOT CROSS" signs to explore the cliffs some more.  There are well defined paths past this sign and almost everyone crosses it.  Don't worry.

After you cross over this wall, there are absolutely no railings or walls between you and the 800 foot drop to the ocean.  In this picture about 6 feet in front of me is the vertical drop off!

On Wednesday night Andrea and I went out for dinner, listened to some Irish music, and went to a night club.  We had a great time!  I'll be back in Limerick City for my birthday weekend.