One of my favorite things to do when traveling is to rent my own transportation and hit the road exploring the off-the-beaten path places you won’t get to on tours or public transportation. So after spending 4 days in Dublin, we decided to rent a car and explore the countryside at our own pace. This is the 15th country I have officially driven in. Renting a car was pretty easy and they didn’t ask for my international drivers license. 95% of the rental cars were manual transmission like in most countries outside the US so once again I was not only sitting on the wrong side of the car and driving on the wrong side of the road but I was shifting with the wrong hand. It’s getting much easier and natural.

Our goal was to drive completely across the island to Galway where we planned to spend the night. It was only a 2.5-hour drive but we had 2 stops planned. Both stops were in the small town of Athlone. We had heard about a small family-owned restaurant, The Corner House Bistro, that offered the best traditional Irish breakfast, so we called and told them we were on our way and they reserved a table for us. We ended up making it right before they stopped serving breakfast. I ordered the full Irish breakfast and Alyssa got the mini. Basically the same except I got more of everything. It included a fried egg, sausage, locally sourced Irish bacon, mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, potatoes, black pudding (made from pigs blood), white pudding (made from pork fat) and traditional Irish bread. I’m sure the black pudding is going to get the most comments but it was actually very good and didn’t taste minerally at all. I loved it. After our breakfast we spent some time walking around the small quaint little town before hitting the main reason we came to the town, Sean’s Bar. It the oldest bar in the world dating back over 1000 years. For years it went back and forth with a bar in Dublin with each making the claim until a few years ago when the government and the Guinness Book of World Records stepped in and did some research. First they looked up historical records pertaining to land deeds and government records as well as actually carbon dating the materials used in the construction of both buildings. Sean’s Bar was the clear winner and now boasts itself as the oldest pub in the world. We stopped in, had an Irish  Coffee and chatted with the staff and then got back on the road. Mission accomplished.

Once we arrived in Galway we dropped off our car at our Air B&B and did our thing. We walked down to the touristy walking street and found a nice Italian restaurant. Galway is known for its bar and live music scene. Even walking street was full of performers. We spent the evening enjoying the party vibe before calling it a night.

The next day we jumped in our car and headed to the Cliffs of Moher, Irelands most famous and iconic natural wonder. The tourist area offers a museum and some views, so we spent an hour there before the tour buses arrived. Your allowed to hike along the cliffs outside the tourist area but you have to climb over a fence and ignore multiple warning signs stating how dangerous the path is. We choose to hop the fence and hike for the truly epic views. To be honest it wasn’t too dangerous as long as you stay away from the cliffs edge. Some areas were steep and slippery but the reward was worth it. We got to see some amazing views away from any crowds. The weather was in our favor as well. For the first since we arrived in Ireland the sun was shining.

After the cliffs we drove about 45 minutes and found a cave complex were we did a cave tour and stuck around to see a Flacon show. The caves didn’t really impress me but I am fascinated with Falconry, the Sport of the Kings here, so I enjoyed that show. I hope to actually get a chance to do some hands on Flacon Hunting later in the trip. We ended the night back in Galway eating, sampling local beers and listen to live music.