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Log 051814 .... Day 2
Woke up to the pouring rain... Fortunately it was gone by the time we got on the road. We stopped in on Bunratty Castle. Very cool- you can walk all the way through- into the dungeon and through the "Murder Hole" I think I may install one. Onward to Galway- which we LOVED! We spent some time sitting in the Spanish Arch, where we met a lovely mom and daughter. Alexandria (look her up on FB- she's going places!) So we played some guitar and sang together for a bit. Claddagh Rings, Irish Sweaters. Shopping shopping and more shopping! U2, Brigid's Cross and the Storm on the playlist for the 2 hour drive home. Dinner at Busker Brownes - and note to self- no place in Ireland has free refill... And the $3 soda contains about 4 ounces.... My travel tip of the day. Ended the day with jumps down at Salt Hill.
Woke up to the pouring rain... Fortunately it was gone by the time we got on the road. We stopped in on Bunratty Castle. Very cool- you can walk all the way through- into the dungeon and through the "Murder Hole" I think I may install one. Onward to Galway- which we LOVED! We spent some time sitting in the Spanish Arch, where we met a lovely mom and daughter. Alexandria (look her up on FB- she's going places!) So we played some guitar and sang together for a bit. Claddagh Rings, Irish Sweaters. Shopping shopping and more shopping! U2, Brigid's Cross and the Storm on the playlist for the 2 hour drive home. Dinner at Busker Brownes - and note to self- no place in Ireland has free refill... And the $3 soda contains about 4 ounces.... My travel tip of the day. Ended the day with jumps down at Salt Hill.
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Log 051914.... Day 3
Driving on the left has gotten much easier...except for finding third gear, which is bound to give us all whiplash. Oh and the fact we almost died 3 times in the first 10 minutes of the day- but honesty- none were our fault.
:) Weather
called for 80% chance of rain yesterday and only clouds today- so we picked
today to go to the Cliffs of Moher. Guess what? Yesterday was beautiful- today it
rained! Somewhere - somehow- I lost my umbrella. Oi. Fortunately the rain let
up and the skies cleared for our time at the Cliffs. Breathtaking view, daring
cliffhanging paths and an electric fence that is meant to keep the livestock in
bay, ended up keeping Rese in check! Decided to take a cruise out of Doolin to
the base of the Cliffs. Bet you can guess when the rain picked up! Imagine- our
little vessel, swells- it was straight out of the Perfect Storm. But where were
we? On the front of the ship- camera out- loving every minute if it! Because
the view from the base was magnificent! For my Alaska peeps- it was very much
like sitting at the bottom of the glacier.
Capped the afternoon with a very scenic drive around the coast through Ballyvaughan. Beautiful rocks that were like walking on the moon. Note to self- gas stations close by 10... Or fortunately the one we found- 10:43pm.... Good thing we were only looking for coffee.
Driving on the left has gotten much easier...except for finding third gear, which is bound to give us all whiplash. Oh and the fact we almost died 3 times in the first 10 minutes of the day- but honesty- none were our fault.
:) Weather
called for 80% chance of rain yesterday and only clouds today- so we picked
today to go to the Cliffs of Moher. Guess what? Yesterday was beautiful- today it
rained! Somewhere - somehow- I lost my umbrella. Oi. Fortunately the rain let
up and the skies cleared for our time at the Cliffs. Breathtaking view, daring
cliffhanging paths and an electric fence that is meant to keep the livestock in
bay, ended up keeping Rese in check! Decided to take a cruise out of Doolin to
the base of the Cliffs. Bet you can guess when the rain picked up! Imagine- our
little vessel, swells- it was straight out of the Perfect Storm. But where were
we? On the front of the ship- camera out- loving every minute if it! Because
the view from the base was magnificent! For my Alaska peeps- it was very much
like sitting at the bottom of the glacier. Capped the afternoon with a very scenic drive around the coast through Ballyvaughan. Beautiful rocks that were like walking on the moon. Note to self- gas stations close by 10... Or fortunately the one we found- 10:43pm.... Good thing we were only looking for coffee.
Captains
Log 052014.... Day 4
100 km driving...€40 in diesel
60 stairs in the shape of pizza slices...€30
hanging upside down 5 stories up to kiss a rock for better speech... Priceless!
Yup! Today was Blarney Day! wow! What and amazing place. And the castle and stone kissing were only the half of it! So many lush gardens. One full of poisonous plants, one of waterfalls, and one even had an iglootopiary! (In case you are wondering- Rese said igloo 24 times)
Attempted to see a castle in Mallow- but construction changed our minds. Next onto Red Abbey- the oldest structure in Cork- don't blink- you'll miss it. We did- not once- but twice. Cork is huge! Left there and headed to Skibbereen where we checked out the Drombeg Stone Circle. Have always been fascinated by these. Weather was decent. Sunny and clear for our walk up the castle and stone circle. light rain the rest of the day. Not complaining!
100 km driving...€40 in diesel
60 stairs in the shape of pizza slices...€30
hanging upside down 5 stories up to kiss a rock for better speech... Priceless!
Yup! Today was Blarney Day! wow! What and amazing place. And the castle and stone kissing were only the half of it! So many lush gardens. One full of poisonous plants, one of waterfalls, and one even had an iglootopiary! (In case you are wondering- Rese said igloo 24 times)
Attempted to see a castle in Mallow- but construction changed our minds. Next onto Red Abbey- the oldest structure in Cork- don't blink- you'll miss it. We did- not once- but twice. Cork is huge! Left there and headed to Skibbereen where we checked out the Drombeg Stone Circle. Have always been fascinated by these. Weather was decent. Sunny and clear for our walk up the castle and stone circle. light rain the rest of the day. Not complaining!
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Log 052114 ... Day 5
It's Christmas in Killarney! Ok- it's May and there were no signs of ole Bing Crosby's classic yule time tune.
Killarney was beautiful- full of Jaunters (horse and carriages) and amazing natural parks.
We started the Rink of Kerry drive here. About 5 minutes in we made our first stop- at Torc waterfall at Killarney National Park for our first hike of the day. Back in the car for 5 more minutes until stop #2. A two and a half mile hike. This continued on for about the first half of the 170km drive.:)
Some if the most spectacular sights. Ladies View, O'Carroll beach, mountains, sheep, coastline. Definitely deserves a day of your time.
It's Christmas in Killarney! Ok- it's May and there were no signs of ole Bing Crosby's classic yule time tune.
Killarney was beautiful- full of Jaunters (horse and carriages) and amazing natural parks.
We started the Rink of Kerry drive here. About 5 minutes in we made our first stop- at Torc waterfall at Killarney National Park for our first hike of the day. Back in the car for 5 more minutes until stop #2. A two and a half mile hike. This continued on for about the first half of the 170km drive.
:) Some if the most spectacular sights. Ladies View, O'Carroll beach, mountains, sheep, coastline. Definitely deserves a day of your time.
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Log 052214.... Day 6
Close to home today. Took some time to explore the ground on which our cottage is on. Great wooded area with TONs of shamrocks. A church area that is from the 1200's.
Breakfast in Cashel (delicious!) Jim even ate the black pudding! rock of Cashel- WOW!!!! Absolutely speechless in how incredible that place was. 14th century castle and cathedral. Complete with remaining murals. Headed to Kilkenny next Awesome castle. Began in the 12th century lived in until the 1930's. So a mixture of architectures. Fully renovated - decorated and all. It was really cool. Great shops. Stopped at Nellies in Bansha for a pint and sandwiches. Great night. Back to Dublin tomorrow and our journey England!
Close to home today. Took some time to explore the ground on which our cottage is on. Great wooded area with TONs of shamrocks. A church area that is from the 1200's.
Breakfast in Cashel (delicious!) Jim even ate the black pudding! rock of Cashel- WOW!!!! Absolutely speechless in how incredible that place was. 14th century castle and cathedral. Complete with remaining murals. Headed to Kilkenny next Awesome castle. Began in the 12th century lived in until the 1930's. So a mixture of architectures. Fully renovated - decorated and all. It was really cool. Great shops. Stopped at Nellies in Bansha for a pint and sandwiches. Great night. Back to Dublin tomorrow and our journey England!
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Log 052314.... Day 7
Ahhh Dublin! We thought our initial impression was due to our inexperience behind the right side of the wheel.... But alas.... We still don't like you..... Traffic worse then NYC -oh and let's throw in a 1D concert. Ugh- can't believe we made it to the port in time!
On the flip side- we did finally make it to the Guinness Storefront which was WAY cool. At the girls request- lunch was at Nandos (apparently a favorite of Niall's) ... Very good actually.
Settling in now for the 3 hour ferry ride to England. Then the train to London. More adventure awaits!
Ahhh Dublin! We thought our initial impression was due to our inexperience behind the right side of the wheel.... But alas.... We still don't like you..... Traffic worse then NYC -oh and let's throw in a 1D concert. Ugh- can't believe we made it to the port in time!
On the flip side- we did finally make it to the Guinness Storefront which was WAY cool. At the girls request- lunch was at Nandos (apparently a favorite of Niall's) ... Very good actually.
Settling in now for the 3 hour ferry ride to England. Then the train to London. More adventure awaits!
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Log 052414.... Day 8
London is "Groovy Baby"!
Arrived after a fun and interesting ferry/train ride. We rented a car and drove to Stonehenge. Um- WOW. The rocks were huge! It is truly an amazing sight.
Since we were running off about 20 minutes of sleep- we stopped for some red bull. When those kicked in- Daddy was a maniac behind the wheel- we got the London driving tour in about an hour! Thanks to the handy GPS! Rese was beside herself with excitement. (So exited in fact- she wrote us a "thank you" note!)
Dinner at an awesome English Pub where Jim and Sami made quick friends with the bartender.
Tomorrow we get the real tour!:)
London is "Groovy Baby"!
Arrived after a fun and interesting ferry/train ride. We rented a car and drove to Stonehenge. Um- WOW. The rocks were huge! It is truly an amazing sight.
Since we were running off about 20 minutes of sleep- we stopped for some red bull. When those kicked in- Daddy was a maniac behind the wheel- we got the London driving tour in about an hour! Thanks to the handy GPS! Rese was beside herself with excitement. (So exited in fact- she wrote us a "thank you" note!)
Dinner at an awesome English Pub where Jim and Sami made quick friends with the bartender.
Tomorrow we get the real tour!
:)
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Log 052514.... Day 9
London is beautiful! Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey. We got the grand walking tour thanks to our semi-resident tour guide Jane! Rode the "Tube". I was really hoping it was like one of those bank drive thru tubes- only human size. It wasn't. But that was my only disappointment of the day. Ended the day in Covent Garden with street performers and dancing violinists. Time to head back to Dublin for our journey back to reality. Took the train to Holyhead where we arrived at 23 o'clock in the afternoon. (According to how Rese tells time).
London is beautiful! Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey. We got the grand walking tour thanks to our semi-resident tour guide Jane! Rode the "Tube". I was really hoping it was like one of those bank drive thru tubes- only human size. It wasn't. But that was my only disappointment of the day. Ended the day in Covent Garden with street performers and dancing violinists. Time to head back to Dublin for our journey back to reality. Took the train to Holyhead where we arrived at 23 o'clock in the afternoon. (According to how Rese tells time).
