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August 4: Cliffs of Moher

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We woke up late (9:15 am), since I didnt set the alarm properly ! Rushed and grabbed some breakfast! Today, the plan was to hike the Cliffs of Moher - here, for 5 miles or so, the dramatic cliffs soar as high as 650-700 feet above the wild Atlantic ocean ! We walked along the entire length of the Cliffs of Moher - 12 -13 km (7-8 miles) , making it a day full of exercise!  The hiking trail from Hags Head to Doolin: We took the Paddywagon bus to the start of the trail at Hags Head. A light drizzle had started by this time and I was not dressed for rainy weather. The bus driver was a friendly guy and suggested we do not give up and that the day would clear up in a bit !   You can see the Hags Head, behind me in the below picture. This is the start of the trail. We were hoping to have the hiking path all to ourselves, but there were a lot of other folks as well ! Guess, we have to share :-) The trail is on the property of some 30 farmers and we ofte
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August 2, 2018: Skelling Michael & Ring of Kerry

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A visit to the Skellig Michael mountain is the highlight of our trip. Some of you may know this location from Star Wars - The Force Awakening, where Rey and Chewbacca land on this rock to meet Luke Skywalker. The Ring of Kerry is a 120 mile loop drive we took to get to Skellig Michael. We drove only part of the loop, but it was spectacular! Skellig Michael is a jagged isolated pyramid-shaped mountain , > 700 feet tall and located ~7 miles into the sea.  It also has a twin rock, called Little Skellig which is closed to the public. These are some of the most westernly parts of Ireland. It has a monastery  of igloo-like huts built by monks in the sixth century to live in isolation and be closer to God, weathering winter storms and viking invasions. Around 1100 AD, it was abandoned due to unlivable conditions as well as pressure from the  powerful church to bring the monks in line with stricter Catholicism ! The beehive huts are connected to the sea
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August 1, 2018: Dublin to Killarney

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Flight landed in Dublin at 7 AM. We drove off in our rental car at 9 AM, 1 hour later than expected. The plan was to stop at Kilkenny for breakfast and visit the Kilkenny Castle. Then stop at Cashel for lunch and a visit to the Rock of Cashel and Hore Abbey (interesting name for an Abbey !) And reach our final destination of the day, Killarney, by 3 PM, after a 5 hour drive. We got what seems like a tiny car ! An Opal Corsa. We stuffed our 4 carry on's and 3 backpacks into its tiny trunk. One backpack was in the back seat with the kids. It felt a bit cramped. But this car was perfect for the Irish roads, many of which are quite narrow ! While Alex took to driving on the left side fairly easily, the driving itself was slower. Speed limits of 80 and 100 km/h were posted on narrow and winding roads, which seemed impossible to us. The locals were zipping by and overtaking us with ease. Alex probably got an hour's sleep last night on the flight, due to a talkative f
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