The 6 day trip to Ireland - County Clare (Day 3 - morning), Cliffs of Moher - The 12th of June 2014

We had booked a tour to the Cliffs of Moher and had to catch the tour bus at the Townhouse Guesthouse just a few metres down the road from where we were staying, which was very convenient because we still had time to get breakfast before leaving at 7 o'clock.

I had no idea we would be stopping at the Barak Obama Plaza in Moneygall, which is where the President' roots are, once he is the great-great grandson of a certain Falmouth Kearney's youngest daughter, which takes one back into 1850 when this 19 year old son of a local shoe-maker left Moneygall to begin a new life in the USA.

Wherever we looked there were huge patches of pasture land and by the time we approached the County Clare I had nothing but green embedded in me. Kearan, our guide called our attention to the difficulty of turning into of some of the narrow inner village roads, some of which had still visible marks attesting what he had just said.

The Cliffs of Moher are said to be one of Ireland's top visitor's attractions apart from having been designated UNESCO Geopark.The origins of the rocks that form the Cliffs date back over three hundred million years to the Upper Carboniferous Period. Some of the coastal views  were spectacular though I didn't risk getting too close, once the Cliffs are 214m high. Ranging for ten kilometres over the Atlantic Ocean the Cliffs are home to one of the major colonies of cliff nesting sea-birds in Ireland.

We took the right stepped path under the suggestion of the guide because despite having around one hour and an half to visit the site, we wouldn't have time to go to both sides and this particular path would allow us to access the Cornellius O'Brien's Tower and sight the Giant Sea Stack.

To say we were not impressed would be a lie and notwithstanding the fact that we didn't take advantage of the Visitor centre's exhibit included in the tour we did enjoy the outside "experience" which even took us into some back farms where numerous cows and sheep were grazing ...

The 6 day trip to Ireland - Dublin (Day 2 - late afternoon cont.) - Temple Bar district - The 11th of June 2014

(...)

We went across the road into St. Stephens Green East towards the National Concert Hall, where a rather interesting detail in the main entrance gates caught my attention.

From there we walked just slightly farther along the Hatch street Upper where a statue drew my attention. I can't help saying that by then I felt Dublin could easily be a city of interesting details, among other things.

Iveagh Gardens were closed in preparation for a local festivity that would start the following day so we made our away round towards Grafton's, which still looked busy, despite the fact that most shops were either closed or about to close.

In a desperate attempt to locate Molly Malone's statue we circled the whole area of College Green until we bumped onto a placard announcing that it was not the end of sweet Molly. It was a pity, we felt, as the song had been in our minds all day long ... 

"In Dublin's fair city

Where the girls are so pretty,

I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone

She wheeled her wheel barrow,

Through streets broad and narrow, crying cockles and mussels

Alive, alive oh!

Alive, alive oh!

Alive, alive oh!

Crying cockles

And mussels,

Alive, alive oh!"

On our way back to the Guesthouse we decided to walk through the Temple Bar district located in the South bank of the river Liffey, which has preserved many of its narrow cobbled streets and medieval street patterns. It is known as a cultural quarter and said to have a very lively night life. The fact that pubs and restaurants in this area are normally full, could not be more true  during this World Football cup. One could see decorated restaurant and bar windows with designs allusive to the teams participating in the event.

It had been a tiring day, so we didn't stay long and headed back via the ha'penny bridge and along the river bank till the Bachelor's walk.