Our second school trip was to The Burren and the Cliffs of Moher. It would probably have been life changing had it not been torrential downpour the whole entire time but it was insane how wet we were the entire day. Once we got to the Cliffs of Moher we were all pretty much getting abused but the elements and all we could do was laugh. Regardless of the weather, the scenery was still amazing so I can only imagine how breathtaking it would have been had it not been raining.
During our tour of the Burren, our tour guide showed us the landscape, talked about the history of the area and pointed out peculiar tropical vegetation that grew in the area along with the local plants due to the compatible nature of the environment in the area. Some of the interesting things he told us was that many of the rock wall partitions in the area actually had no real practical purpose. The Protestants made the Irish Catholics build the walls to "keep them busy". Also, the ground in the Burren is like a sponge, so the water goes straight down and is conducive to creating massive caves. There are several in the area. Our tour guide was awesome and he ran it out of his grandmother's old house with his some of his family members. They gave us hot apple pie and coffee at the end, which was DELICIOUS, while we waited for our tour bus to pic us back up.
The Cliffs of Moher were amazing and there is a vast array of wild life that inhibit the area that you would have never expected. For instance...Dolphins! Actually, they seem to be quite a regular sight in Ireland (who would have thought!) and there is even a famous one that's call Fungi. There are also puffins, basking sharks and many more. It is definitely a must see in Ireland and although the weather stunk, it made for a wonderful story.
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| Our tour guide |
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| The Burren |
This I have to mention because it was so cool and erie all the same time! This tree is called the "Wishing Tree" which dates back to pagan times in Ireland and people would tie cloth or whatever to this tree and make a wish. There is also a practice in Japan where you tie your "omikuji" or wish on trees in certain shrines and temples. Our tour guide also mentioned that people from Mexico, Chile and several other countries did it as well. It just shows that even across the globe, we are all interconnected in some way.
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| Wishing Tree |
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| Poulnabrone Dolmen, Megalithic Tomb |
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| Looked right at me right when I took the picture! |
Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.
-Greg Anderson
Peace & Love,
Monique
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