Ireland: Part 10

From Kilkenny, we headed north to Dublin. Since we were coming home a day earlier than originally planned, we cut some stuff and headed straight to Dublin. I wanted to head to the airport and return the car, but my travel companion wanted to find a hotel, unload, then take the car back. Well, that didn't work. Dublin is huge and busy; hotels were hard to spot on the fly. So, we checked the car back in at the airport and arranged transportation into town and back to the airport the next day. As the bus got us closer to the heart of Dublin the more it started to rain.
This leads to a side note. In Ireland, you will not receive a plastic shopping bag at stores. Everything comes in a paper sack. This doesn't mesh well with all the rain. More on that later.
So, we get to what we think will be the closest stop to where we're hoping to go, grab our luggage, and set out into the rain. We walk awhile, stop for directions and keep going. The rain gets to my shopping bags and we have to combine them. We walked half a mile literally uphill and finally got to a hotel. It was much more than we wanted to spend, but we didn't want to venture out into the rain. It's a hotel chain hotel and not a cozy bed and breakfast that we've come to love. We stayed at Jury Inn Dublin Christchurch. It was a terrific location; so centrally located to everything. Our room was right across the street from the beautiful Christchurch Cathedral. We unloaded and checked out the famed Trinity College Library and Book of Kells. Thankfully, by then the rain had slowed. It was pretty packed in there, so I didn't get the experience I'd hoped, since I'd heard such great things about it. The library was beautiful though. We thought about eating at Hard Rock Cafe, but decided that since we loved Irish food so much we'd have more for our last meal. We stopped at Oliver St. John Gogarty. I got the seafood chowder; so good! They even had live music. At dinner, another table starts talking with us and they mention that Murphy's in Dingle had the "World's Best Ice Cream." We missed it! Soon, they Google and realize that there's a Murphy's here in Dublin. So, we set out to find it and it was wow! The oatmeal flavor was recommended to me; loved the texture. I also tried lemon curd and it was great! We wandered around Dublin and ended the night in the famous Temple Bar District. We loved the band at Quays Bar.
The trip home was eventful. Despite getting to the airport killer early, we nearly missed our flight (we had to go through customs before heading home, which is uncommon and it took forever). It was one of those running to your gate screaming sort of things, but we did make the flight. We got first class seats!!! It was such a great experience!
I have to say that Ireland was my best vacation ever! Such a beautiful country, wonderful people, and the best travel experience; I hated to leave!
What was your best trip? What made it special? Thanks for sharing my journey to Ireland!

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?