Cliffs of Moher

Wow, blogboy Joe sure is keeping up with the posts. It's a good thing, though. If it were left to me, reading this blog might be like watching clay dry.

The next day started out sunny and beautiful again, at least when I woke up at 10:00. Since everyone had just gotten in, I thought I'd let them sleep in some more and wake up on thier own. Around 1:00, I thought they might like to see the fleeting sun, so I broke down and woke them up. We had a nice leisurely, um, afternoon and then decided to see the Cliffs of Moher on our way to meet up with our Reidy cousins from Crossderry.

We got there about an hour before they "closed" (I don't suppose the cliffs ever really close, but the entrance to the park closes) and the weather was blustery and rainy which really added to the overall atmosphere.

This is a view of the cliffs looking South. They are about 700 feet high.

This castle was actually built in the 1800's as a tourist attraction and viewing point for the cliffs.

I always like to take an extra picture in case someone blinks or can't quite get that dumb look off of their face quickly enough. In this case, I probably should've take three. Molly, of course, looks great in both shots.

The Cliffs recently underwent a renovation of sorts costing upwards of 25 million euros. They didn't change anything about the cliffs themselves, but rather added a beautiful visitors center or "interpretive center" built into the side of a large hill for people to learn more about the area and provide views that they might only get if they happened to slip off the face of the cliffs. They also have beefed up security quite abit, preventing people from getting too close to the edge. It seems that, as one of Ireland's top tourist destinations, it also attracted those interested in taking advantage of the 700 foot drop to the sea. Not many survived and that was a problem.

With the wind and rain, we all dutifly obeyed the rules. It's good to get close to nature, but getting too close can be dangerous.

From the Cliffs, we headed to Ennis to meet up with our Reidy cousins from Crossderry. Katie only knew that we were going to meet with Sue and her husband Gerry Mulligan, so the rest of the Reidys would be a surprise. Pretty cool idea, a surprise party for Katie in Ireland. In a Chinese Restaurant, with people she'd never met. Perfect, she would never see it coming.