After spending an evening in Dublin, Jen and I joined other young travelers and jumped on board a Paddywagon tour through southern Ireland. We spent the first morning learning about the bogs of Alan and enjoying lunch at Kylemore Abbey, a lovely monastery set next to the river. We passed the evening in Galway, a quaint university town, enjoying local pub food while singing and dancing to traditional music.
We woke early the next day and set off to the Burren Code, mass amounts of limestone that once sat at the bottom of the ocean floor and now tower high above the water. This land is home to diverse animals and plants, the only place on earth where Alpine, Arctic and Mediterranean flowers grow side by side! The highlight of the day was visiting the Cliffs of Moher, rugged cliffs and deep green grass that tower over the Atlantic Ocean and take your breathe away.
Windblown and chilled, we continued on to Kilarney for the night. Upon arrival, we jumped on board the world famous Jaunting Cars, a horse led ride, through the fourth largest park in all of Europe. We appreciated the beautiful city church, an old monastery sitting mysteriously off-shore, wildlife at play, and lovely orange and yellow leaves clearly announcing that fall has arrived.
The next morning, we set off to Blarney to visit the 12th century castle and kiss the stone! The McCarthy clan believed kissing the stone would give them the gift of eloquent speech of the gift of the gab. So naturally, Jen and I joined other visitors and rolled over onto our backs, dangled off the 300 feet battlements while being held by a middle-aged Irishman, and kissed the stone! The gift of the gab is ours!
