The 80’s were a special special time.  And if you grew up in this special time you grew up during the golden age of cinema, which utterly distorted your perspective of the world and ruined you for real life forever.

Nothing seemed impossible.

The underdog always won.

And the uncool girl always got the hot guy (I will always love you Jake Ryan).

The Princess Bride rates in the top ten films that ruined you for real life forever.  It taught you that there was such a thing as “true love” and “friendly giants” and ROUS’S.  I mean, what girl didn’t dream that she, too, would one day hear these words coming from these beautiful beautiful lips.

So as you might imagine, being a child of the 80’s, I was exceptionally excited to go see THE CLIFFS OF INSANITY!!!

Otherwise known as The Cliffs of Moher.

It was a perfectly sunny day, apparently a rare thing for this part of Ireland (or any part of Ireland), and The Cliffs of Insanity Moher stretched out in front of me in their vast, overwhelming beauty.  In my defense for the story I am about to share, there are shockingly few safety rails, however, there are signs.  Like this one.

And this one.

But to someone visiting on a seemingly harmless sunny day, this all felt overly dramatic.  And then I saw this sign.

And this gorgeous trail.

And I had to follow it.  And then I had to lay down on my stomach and hang over the cliff so that I could take a photo of the tumultuous rocky ocean 700 feet below, because, you know.  I’m a photographer.  With photography skills.  And I needed this photo.

Which turned out like this.

Needless to say, when I returned to Dublin and proudly told all of my new Irish friends about my amazing adventures at The Cliffs of Insanity Moher, they stared at me mouths agape.  “You know…those cliffs are made of limestone…and…well, if the wind doesn’t sweep you right off the ledge, the limestone could give way and you’d get your close-up of that 700 foot drop.”

Huh.  Well.

So..DO go to The Cliffs of Moher, but DO NOT hang precariously over the edge like a stupid American tourist with a camera.