Another Way to Display Vacation Photos

Roughly 10 years ago, I bought coasters that could hold photos and have never used them. I've been meaning to put photos in them since I moved to my apartment nearly 2 years ago.

After my Ireland trip, I thought it would be neat to use pictures from my trip to personalize the coasters. It was hard to pick four pictures and even harder to choose how to crop them. I decided on two picture from my Ireland trip and two from my Italy trip (2012).

The top two photos are of Ireland. The top left photo is outside Ross Castle and the top right photo is of the harbor in Dingle. The bottom two pictures were taken in Cinque Terre. I really love how they turned out!

What creative way have you found to display your vacation photos?

Funny Signs in Ireland

I was surprised how many funny signs I saw along the way in Ireland and wanted to share:

Seen in Dingle.

In Kilkenny.

In Dingle

Skelligs Chocolate Factory

In Dingle.



Have you seen any funny signs during your travels?

Ireland: Part Seven

We left Dingle and headed to Kenmare, another small, fun town. On the way, we saw this interesting sign:

No, the bathrooms weren't that great.

Funny sign.

A pear tart I had for lunch.

:)

Couldn't resist.

Once in Kenmare, we stayed at Hawthorn House. We loved it there! Mary was wonderful and served a terrific breakfast. We really enjoyed Kenmare. I had a tasty "Out of the Sea Pizza" at O'Donnabhain's Gastro Bar.

Definitely one of the best pizzas I've ever had!

That night we checked out music at some place that had a duo that played HARP, harmonica, and guitar music. Here we tried another beer that was made in Kilkenny, Smithwick's. Lastly, we ended up at Foley's Restaurant & Bar. We listened to Irish Folk singer, Pat Kelleher.

Has anyone else been to Ireland? Any travel tips or experiences you'd like to share? I'd love to hear any feedback you have!

Ireland: Part Six

We headed back to Dingle for our last night. Here I got most of my shopping done: wool scarves, wool socks, a bracelet, a jewelry box, a souvenir t-shirt, lavender sachets, etc. We got an early dinner at Murphy's Pub. I had a very yummy lamb pot pie.

Next, we walked all around Dingle and took some photos, since the sun came out. This was one of my favorite photos from the whole trip.

Next, we headed for dessert. I'd seen an Apple Berry Crumble advertised and had to have it. It was at Paudie's Bar and it was great!

Here we heard my new favorite band, the Blow-ins. I bought one of their CDs and we jammed to it for the rest of our trip.

Ireland: Part Four

Finally we made it to Dingle. There we stayed at the Alpine Guesthouse. This was the largest bed and breakfast we stayed at. It was three stories and had chickens. It was in a good location and close to all major sights.

We checked in and headed straight to the harbor.

Soon after arriving it started raining.

So, we headed to a nearby restaurant called simply, Fresh Fish and Chips. I ordered the fish and chips, which were pretty ordinary.

That night, we followed our ears searching for good, traditional Irish music. It had started to rain and we heard males voices singing in harmony from Dingle Pub. There were two musicians singing Irish bar tunes. The male voices we heard were a group of guys in their 50s were traveling through Ireland from New York.

Out of nowhere, 50-some college students started trickling in from the rain and soon the place was packed and everyone was singing. It's one of the many things I came to love about Ireland!

Ireland: Part Three

Our next destination was Dingle, our most scenic drive was while heading to Dingle. No words or photos could ever fully portray the beauty of the Irish countryside. I wish it could! We took a short ferry ride to save a couple of hours. As our car slowly climbed the mountains, it got colder and windy. We saw sheep all along the way. The roads were narrow and curvy. Oftentimes, it wasn't wide enough for two cars. Near the top of the mountain, we came upon a beautiful waterfall and stopped to take photos.

We found it quite interesting that the sheep farmers spray neon spray paint on the sheep to help identify them on the steep mountainside.

While there was so much beauty to take in, a few more miles up the road we came upon Connor Pass and soaked up the view there too and found an ice cream truck. Ice cream became our lunch! :)

Ireland

It's official, the Ireland trip is on! I'll be going in roughly six weeks. I'll be going with a family member, who I've never traveled with. We've never spent 10 whole days together, so this should be interesting and I'm really excited! I'm also thrilled that they've agreed to drive. I don't know how to drive stick and the thought of driving on the opposite side of the road terrifies me. I'm pretty spoiled, as they're letting me set the itinerary.

Any thoughts of places I should see in Ireland? So, far I'm planning to fly into Shannon and fly out of Dublin. After Shannon, the plan is to stay in Doolin for two nights to see the Cliffs of Moher and Burren. After that, we'll head to Dingle for two nights. There we will see the Blasket Islands, Dingle Peninsula, and Slea Head. Next, we'll be off to Kenmare for a night or two. There we'll see the Rings of Kerry, Skellig Michael, Muckross House, and maybe even Killarney. Off to Kinsale for a night to see the Blarney Castle/Blarney Stone kissing and Cork. Somewhere before we head to Dublin we'll also see the Rocks of Cashel, Waterford, Kilkenny, Glendalough, Wicklow Mountains, and the Gardens of Powerscott. If there is an extra day we'll head north to see Kells, Trim, the Hill of Tara and Drogheda. Our last stop is Dublin where we'll spend at least two nights. There we hope to see Trinity College, Book of Kells, St. Patrick's Cathedral, the Hard Rock Cafe, a couple of places I can't remember and possibly also Howth. My cousin will be in Dublin the same time as me, so we're hoping to meet up. Out of everything I've read and researched; I'm most excited to see the Cliffs of Moher!

I'm nervous about the prospects of rain. I'm also nervous that it may be cold. Am I forgetting anything? Any tips for my trip?