Wind: An Understatement at the Cliffs of Moher

York has nothing on the Cliffs of Moher in terms of wind.  Thankfully, we didn't blow away when visiting Ireland to see the cliffs.  Jeff and I woke up around 3 AM on Saturday to head to Manchester to hop on a plane to do Ireland in less than 48 hours!  Since only being gone for the weekend, Jeff decided to go light on the packing. All he brought was his toiletry bag, filled to the max...think a little bigger than a tissue box. Oh Jeff.

We arrived at the airport, rented a car, and headed towards the cliffs.  Although the car was an automatic, it drove like a manual.  It didn't have a park setting, so every time Jeff stopped the car had had to put on the emergency break.  Not the smoothest car, but it worked.  Driving was exactly the same as driving in the UK, minus a few things.  Jeff thought the roads were better and he radio was 100x better.  Driving around was not only beautiful but interesting.  The houses were the perfect combination of English houses and American houses.  I wish I would have stopped to take a picture, but didn't think to do so at the time.

We arrived at the cliffs, found a small parking lot and started our journey.  As we were walking towards the edge of the land (~702 feet high), the wind began to pick up.  Jeff and I couldn't stop laughing as the wind was pushing us around all over the place.  We couldn't control our bodies at a few points.  Jeff held on to me a few times so I wouldn't blow away!

Our first look over the edge was nothing short of breathtaking.  Definitely one of the prettiest things I have ever seen. And that is saying a lot, considering how much I loved Dubrovnik, Croatia. The waves were huge, and crashing up to the edge of the cliff.  It was constantly white around the edge of the water, because of all the activity.  We headed alongside the cliffs in hopes to make it to the visitor center which a sign said was about a two and half hour walk.  We thought we would try it.

 Our first view of the cliffs

  Fighting the wind

 Definitely one of the most beautiful views

I'm not sure this post is going to do this experience justice as the pictures and the words I'm typing cannot help you completely relive this incredible experience.  As we walked along the edge of the cliff, there were areas where you felt like you were going to just blow right off the side of them.  Although, we should have looked on Saturday, but I did some research on the wind speed while we were there, and the closest point I could find to the cliffs had 31 MPH wind speeds (Gusts up to 62 MPH).  My guess is it was more given we were near the ocean and up so high.  There are many days where they have to close down the cliffs due to the high speed winds.  A week before our arrival, they closed the cliffs.  I also read that about a month ago, they closed down the Cliffs to visitors because of 93 MPH wind gusts! AH!  On top of the wind gusts, at a few points it was sleeting...so we had that hitting our faces.  I remember yelling, "It feels like little pieces of glass hitting my face."  It hurt really bad!

This video does not do the amount of wind justice, although the audio does!  You can see I am struggling to stand next to Jeff, and it definitely looks like I'm faking it, but I can assure you I'm not!

 Inside the Moher Tower

Jeff was braver than I...he explored the edges a little more closely than I would have liked him to! Doesn't surprise me, as he did the same thing in Edinburgh.

Although it was super windy (super = obviously an understatement), we were really lucky that it was so clear that day.  I have heard, seen, and read about people who have visited on fairly overcast days and their pictures look nothing like the clearness of our pictures.  We were really lucky!  It was really difficult choosing pictures, as each one had its own piece of character and beauty.  So I did my best picking the best pictures.

 Dressing like Eskimos!

 Part of the paths had a rock lining

You can see the craziness of the water here

 Our sad attempts to get the cliffs in the background

Only walked past two other people on the cliffs. We definitely were in the spot that not many tourists go.

Dark clouds were coming in, along with the sleet so we decided to abandon our plan of making it to the visitor's center and head back to the car. I think we spent over 2 hours enjoying the scenery and hike.  By the time we got into our car the sleet had picked up, although the sky didn't look as bad. Great timing. Our Ireland adventure didn't end there, as we had another day and a half to enjoy some new cities.  Look for that post soon!

On to the next adventure...

A Day in York

We had an amazing visit to York (England) on Saturday. York is about an hour and a half away, so we took a quick drive up there for the day.  The whole city is enclosed by a stone wall. We were able to walk around about half of it. It is pretty high up, so it had nice views.

 If you look closely, you can see the wall that surrounds the city.

 We walked around the city, which was surprisingly busy. Lots of people out shopping, eating, and having a few beers. We were able to see Clifford's Tower, but decided to not go up in it. We headed straight for York Minster, a beautiful church nearby. We bought tickets to go on a guided tour around the minster. It was really neat, and we were able to see so many more details that way. 

Clifford's Tower

The outside of York Minster, the main entrance, and the side where the tower is located.

After our tour, we climbed 245 stairs in this winding stairwell. It got pretty claustrophobic at times. I think if you would have tested my pulse at one point...they would have made me sit down! I was getting nervous hearing loud BOOMS and not knowing where they were coming from. We got to the top and the booming was the wind hitting the tower and...us. We were blowing all over the place; trying to enjoy the beautiful views. We were able to enjoy the top area before we headed down 245 more stairs.

And I warn you, Jeff had the camera due to me holding on for dear life. I apologize for my soon-to-be photo shoot. 

 

 View from the crosswalk from one tower to another...and yet more steps to go!

 

We made it to the top! Beautiful views from every angle and too many to post them ALL!

Told you, I was giving myself a photo shoot. The wind was out of control! In the second picture, you can see the small area we had to walk when getting to the top and bottom of the tower.

And everyone needs a good laugh...

 I thought Jeff was taking a picture of my crazy hair in the wind...he is so sneaky!

 

We ended our time in York going to Harker's. We went there due it being the last name of a close friend back home. We picked a winner! Jeff and I had some of the best food we've had since we moved over here. We were able to eat, drink a few beers, and watch rugby. I definitely think we'll be making a trip back soon.