Already one week down, and three more to go on our trip!

We slept incredibly well last night. It was our first good, solid sleep, and it was physically painful to leave the bed in the morning. We woke up to a minor blizzard which is unusual for Ireland to have it this early! After a quick, light breakfast, we immediately hustle to catch two buses to the Cliffs of Moher. I anticipated that it would be freezing, because of the snow, it’s February, and we’ll be by the sea. At the bus stop we basically wear half our wardrobe- I had under armour, a t-shirt, a long sleeve shirt, a hoodie, two jackets-one with a hood, a beanie, two pairs of socks, and I wore my sweats over my jeans- Still freezing when we got there. The winds were so bad and powerful, we got knocked around like a sack of potatoes. It was so cold, I’d even argue it was colder than when I went to Iceland in November. An employee later told us that they sometimes have to shut down the park entirely because the winds are so strong, that if it’s blowing from inland out to the ocean, it actually knocks people off the cliff! There isn't really a fence either except for the shabby stone fences on higher areas. Like us, most tourists avoided this, and slung our legs over for a closer view, right at the edge. At that point, it's on us if we fall. I peeped over the cliff's edge, and shrunk back as quick as a flash. It would be a treacherous fall, indeed. It was really fun for me to see The Cliffs of Moher, or as I know them, The Cliffs of Insanity. They shot a part of "Princess Bride" here, and that's one of my favorite films. We took some photos for Instagram, and I got some great shots on my big camera- It was a sight of a lifetime. Albeit, we don't look very Instagram ready with our multiple layers and faces contorting from the freezing winds, but we were happy to be there. We clutch our bodies for warmth, and fight against the wind to walk to the other side of the cliffs for a different view. As we walk, we come to a dip with a peculiar wind tunnel. It's literally blowing people backwards. Kay holds on to the stone fence to pull herself forward, and I lean forward with all of my body weight to keep going. In the moment, I feel like a really uncool Michael Jackson doing a "Smooth Criminal" impression. The whole debacle seemed like it was right out of an "I Love Lucy" episode. We eventually make it to the other side, (literally). Despite the freezing, painful temperatures, I could look at it forever. The view was simply and utterly breathtaking. The biggest upside was that we went during off season- If this were during the summer time, there’d be so many people, you might not see it at all.

We can't take the cold anymore, and head back to our bus pickup area in the car park. A park staff member sees us, pathetic and cold, and invites us to keep warm in his office box outside. We were very grateful. We chat with him a bit, and he tells us of the people who fell off the cliffs. He said the weather is so tricky in Ireland, sometimes you can get all four seasons in one day. Our bus arrives, only for us to find out it's not really our bus, but it's heading to Galway, and we've already paid for a roundtrip ticket with the same company, plus we have our Eurrail passes. I let Kay do the talking. She schmoozed the bus driver to get us to Galway, instead of having us head back to Ennis and then taking a train. With our paid tickets and train passes, (that can sometimes be applied to bus transpo), and the bus driver being extremely nice, we didn’t feel TOO bad! We hop on the bus and enjoy the passing views. The scenery from beginning to end was incredible!! We just drove along the coast. Like the park staff had mentioned earlier, it rained, and then it was sunny haha!

We get to Galway and only have one roommate in the hostel. She’s French, and very nice. Kay and I go out again for karaoke. This sounds like a grand idea to me until we're at the place, and I discover it was actually an open mic, with really good musicians. I suddenly didn’t want to karaoke anymore at the expense of losing any shred of dignity I ever had left in my life. After a few beers, meeting some Brazilian girls who are studying English here, and me suddenly not wanting to go on stage, Kay and I landed into a small fight. A lovely British couple on their honeymoon, also a bit buzzed, tried to console both of us by the fireplace. I thought it was a silly thing to fight over, but Kay really wanted to karaoke, and I felt bad for jumping ship after agreeing to it. Low and behold, there was a karaoke choir downstairs for average Joes like us that saved our friendship- We even got a solo belting Journey, “Don’t Stop Believing”, while strumming blown-up air guitars. The entire thing was filmed by the Brazilian girls we had met earlier, and our performance was Oscar worthy... Until I saw the footage the next morning.

Very tired right now, and nursing a minor cold after having too much fun. More Galway tomorrow, back to Dublin and then the rest of Europe!!

Love you!

-eM