Roadtrip to the Cliffs

So I have been in Dublin for over a month now, but I have never left the city ever since. So when a colleague of mine asked me to join her and some Egyptian friends for a roadtrip this Saturday, I finally saw my chance to get a change of scenes and agreed.

Inspite of a very long Friday night out starting with an outrageous Singstar-combat - and those of you who know me better will know that everything that has something to do with singing is totally my kind of activity - and a really nice and endless housewarming party afterwards, I managed to get up early on Staurday morning.

After taking some detours in the absence of a SatNav, Tarek, our lovely Egyptian driver finally managed to pick us up and get us out of Dublin. The second act of getting to Galway on the motorway was easy. But then, there are these murderous Irish roads that are narrow as alleys. I had to think of my father driving a motorhome here. Respect, Dad! Yana, my team colleaugue, who was the co-pilot for the first part managed to freak Tarek out a few times by shouting out warnings that carried a certain amount of pure fear in it.

If it weren't for those streets we could have watched the Irish countryside for ages. Even if it is still winter, the lovely green meadows with sheep on them and some scattered ruins of old watchtowers or abandoned farmhouses are just so close to the cliché of the Green Island that one could think it came directly from a promotional video.

In the end, after taking only a few detours, we arrived at the famous Cliffs of Moher, one of the main scenic tourist attractions in Ireland. But even if the place is well known, this does not mean that there are any signs leading you there. Only some ten kilometers before our destination we saw the first hint of not being in a totally wrong place.

The Cliffs of Moher itself were definitely worth the visit! With a maximum height of 214 meters above the Atlantic Ocean the Cliffs offer a stunning view. Steep rock rising high above the azure sea with its white spray and topped with green that makes the spectacular scenery picture-perfect. But see for yourself in my snapshots. Although the weather was not perfect, at least there was no rain and the sunrays out of the clouds contributed to the beauty of the place.

On the way back we stopped in Galway to have tea at another Egyptian expats house. He is working as a surgeon and will have his second daughter next month. It was a nice stopover with some Egyptian football on TV, a Shisha in the corner and nice conversation about life in Ireland and the marketing strategy of Pepsi (Tarek works in their marketing department). When we got back home it was late night and after having slept three hours the last night and about thirty minutes in the car I was really happy to see my cosy bed and get ready for the next interesting days to come.