After a late start from Galway, James and I decided to skip a planned hike around the Burren, a unique landscape on the west side of the island. We were happy to get a glimpse of the region from our car and a look out point, but glad we skipped it as we noticed there were several entrances to the national park and our GPS didn’t seem to recognize any of them. Instead we headed straight to the Cliffs of Moher.
The site had one of the better interpretative centers where we learned about the geological and history of the area, before heading out for a walk along the cliffs. We used an audio app to learn about different points along the walk from the visitor’s center north to O’Brien’s Tower. From that side of the walk, we could look across at the iconic image of the cliffs with the safety of concrete walls between us and cliff edges. While James is usually adventurous, we did not walk along the south pathway, where folks were lying on their bellies to peer over the cliff edges. Instead we, had a late lunch at the visitor center before heading to Doolin to check in at our hotel.
I was pleasantly surprised that we found a little brownie bite awaiting us in our room when we checked in for the afternoon along with water with lemon slices in the lobby. We left our luggage, then drove to the Doolin pier, which has been recommended to us by a clerk at our Galway hotel. The area has some beautiful ocean views and was quiet when we arrived as all the ferries for the day had already left. We walked around for a bit before heading back to a block-long “city centre.” We initially stopped to look at some shops, but noticed that Gus O’Connor’s Pub had a chalkboard sign that read that Johnny and Mike would be performing from 2-4 p.m. We popped in and discovered that along with Johnny and Mike about the town was there to sing along. The pub patrons appeared to be locals except for a couple of Japanese tourists and us. At least eight people gathered around the main room with Irish instruments and guitars. When they sang, a majority of the other folks in the pub joined in. It was the traditional Irish music experience we had been waiting for an it was completely unplanned! We took up a standing-room only spot with a diet coke and water to listen for an hour.
That evening we opted for dinner at our hotel, where they also advertised live music. It turned out to be one guy with a guitar, and while he was a good musician, it paled a little to our early afternoon acoustic experience. Doolin, which hosts a traditional music festival, is definitely the place to go for those who want to hear some.
Andersons+Ireland 