West Coast Hikin'

From Cork I moved northwest. Killarney to Galway to Newport. A few buses and several sweet strangers later... I got my tour of the wonderful west coast.

Killarney (co. Kerry) was beyond beautiful. It has a huge national park, similar to the Dublin countryside but much rockier and more colorful. The animals were abundant too. I'm guessing a million farms cover the countryside. Though I lost count.

The best photo I may have ever taken..? Thank you, cow! (Haven't eaten one since this photo.) This in en route to a secret cemetery up on a hill. I had to get the local invite and jump two fences to get there.

Killarney National Park has the tallest mountains in Ireland, over 1000 meters high. I spent a night with these two ladies. Twenty-three-year-old part-time model, full-time single mother, vegan and passionate No voter. Sticky chocolate-covered daughter who talks to everyone and stays up till 11... or later... She made me wear the bunny ears the entire time. And only she could put them on my head. 

I bused up to Galway and then ferried over to Inishmore. Although it was way too expensive, when you're already so far in... you just keep going, right? (I'll drink to that– obviously.) Inishmore is off the coast of Galway, part of the Aran Islands (where they make all the wool wear). 

I was with another Couch Surfing buddy who was filming a documentary on Irish life. I ended up getting sunburned for the second time in Ireland... but not nearly as bad as he. Phew. Unfortunately for the documentary, my mic wasn't angled correctly and the feedback got a good chunk of wind in it. So we'll see if it can be recovered in the next years...

The new face of Ireland.

I took my first bus tour to the Cliffs of Moher (co. Clare) because apparently that's the thing to do. So I did. Although a beautiful bus ride, the cliffs were only okay. Yes, they are impressive, but once you've seen a good few cliffs... you've seen em all. (i.e. California coast, South African coast, English coast, NORWEGIAN coast...)

The cliffs from the ferry.

I spewed a little too much moolah on Galway and the adjoining coast (I didn't even mention my big night out with an Irish couple I befriended. Definitely one for the books– and still paying off those expenses.) So I was done bussing around, which was also adding up. One bus cost 19 Euros– unbelievable! So I took to the corner and held out my thumb. Ten minutes before I had my first car– who happened to be a musician who's played in Winston Salem. He was also *gorgeous* but that's besides the point. After getting dropped at a new location, I convinced four other kind drivers to give me a lift and take me into Newport– in record time. I would have had to take three buses and around five hours. I made it under two hours with a few new friends.

Newport countryside (co. Mayo) from a friend's cottage. The town is teeny tiny, but what a view! This was courtesy of the keyboardist in Jonny Guy's band. (It really pays to be #TacoGirl) After two days on the West coast, stopping off a Kilronan Castle and sneaking into a really lame Irish wedding, another friend and I took off back East in style.

Well at least the Audi is stylish... I look pretty ridiculous, but that's usually how it goes.