Ireland: Part Two

We stayed at Churchfield Bed and Breakfast. Maeve was a wonderful host. Being new to Ireland weather, we got caught in two rainstorms and she kindly dried our clothes. Her breakfast was amazing! She even let us borrow a converter.

Doolin was a nice small town to get orientated in.
Upon arriving we had lunch and tea at McGann's while waiting to check into our room.

While trying to head out to see the Cliffs of Moher, we saw dozens of cyclist and their sponsor cars zoom by. They were part of the race the Ras which had racers go all around Ireland. It was very cool to see.

The Cliffs of Moher were the site in Ireland I was most looking forward to seeing. They were beautiful! When we first arrived, it was cold and cloudy. Slowly the sun peaked through the clouds; how amazing! I'd never seen anything like the Cliffs. While there, I saw boat tours, a hang-glider, and a helicopter. All quite brave if you ask me. We walked about seven miles to get the best views. Just as we were leaving it started raining. These were my favorite pictures of the day.

There were lots of tourists there the same time we were. There was a group of well-to-do guys in their 50s, one of them said after taking pictures while literally sitting on the edge of the Cliffs, "Now I know what Ansel Adams felt like." It made me laugh, in no way could he ever be close to as adventurous as Ansel Adams. Later, another guy said, "hey, should we take a selfie?" :)

We had a wonderful dinner at O'Connor's Pub: roast beef, mashed potatoes, a parsnip and carrot puree, and peas. My dad got the sea bass. They also had terrific traditional Irish music that night. I loved it! I also, somehow got kissed on the cheek by an old Irishman. Here, I also tried Guiness for the first time. It's a little too hoppy for me. What a great first night! They played this song, The Belle of Belfest City. Good stuff and quite catchy..

Ireland: Part One

Oh, how I waited forever for this trip! The challenge in getting there was that we were flying stand by. The benefit was that the flights were free, but the stand by part was stressful.

So, after missing two flights to Newark and running through the airport like a maniac, we were on our way. I slept most of the flight, like I normally do. We arrived at a small airport in Shannon, Ireland. There I received the secon stamp on my passport. Unfortunately, my bag didn't make the trip. Instead, it took a trip to London. My dad and I set our bags down side-by-side, but his made it and mine didn't. They thought mine would arrive on the 5 or 9pm flight. If it came on the 5pm, they would drive it out to me. I was strangely relaxed about the whole thing. They gave me a bag of toiletries to get me by until I got my bag. On a side note, let me just say that a shoe shine kit doesn't make much sense in there.

From there we picked up the rental car and headed to Doolin. We stopped in Ennistymon to get cash and happened upon this pretty spot.

It was over an hour drive. There were tons of roundabouts and the roads were killer narrow. Everything was so green and pretty. We got a GPS which was one of the best ideas ever. Our first town was Doolin and we loved it!

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?