Ireland

Sometimes I forget about this ol' blog. Now that it's been over a month since we returned from our trip overseas, I figured it's high time I showed you some photos!

We seriously had the best time. While the trip sure had its share of stress and lack of sleep, we feel so grateful for all that we were able to see and do. Of course we only wish we had more time! Ireland is a beautiful, beautiful country. The neat thing about it is that while there are so many tourists who travel through every year, you can go see the famous spots and they still feel untouched.
There is so much picturesque countryside that you can stop at a lookout and be the only ones there, and just revel in the quiet beauty of it all. That's probably also a plus to driving your own rental car vs. doing a bus tour!

Driving a manual car on the left side of the road while sitting on the right side of the car is not for the faint of heart. But Michael and his quick reflexes did a great job! The hardest part was probably getting used to the tiny roads. They are SUPER narrow and most are lined with stone walls, so there's not really any room for error. It was pretty entertaining. I think this was the best decision we could have made though, because we were able to spend as long or short as we liked in certain areas and truly have control over our days. We were out past sunset most days, just trying to see and do as much as we could! We randomly came across castles all the time. It was amazing! Some were just old ruins and others were open for tours. There is just so much history everywhere, it would be impossible to explore it all!

The food was great, without too much variety... lots of potatoes and meat, cottage and shepherd's pie, beef stew. The lamb and beef were delicious - I heard somewhere that all of their meat is grass fed and I believe it! Their traditional breakfast was also fantastic. I wish I had gotten a good picture of one of our full Irish breakfasts!

If you've never been to Ireland then this probably won't make a difference to you, but if for some reason you care / are planning a trip, this is where we went and what we did:

 +  flew into Dublin Saturday morning, got a rental car at the airport, and drove straight west towards Galway
 +  didn't have time to stop at Galway so we continued on to the Cliffs of Moher. I N C R E D I B L E. we did an hour long boat tour there, and then also went to the park to see them from the top. both were excellent choices
 +  drove to Ennis to stay at a bed and breakfast. cutest little town - highly recommend! the b&b we stayed at was Knocklyon House and the couple was ever so sweet and hospitable. we also had some amazing burgers at Knox's for dinner.
 +  Sunday we drove down to Dingle, and on our way hit Bunratty Castle, Tralee, and saw a lot of the gorgeous Dingle Peninsula on our drive. Dingle was one of our favorite places! we agreed that we would definitely stay there for a few nights if we ever make it back to Ireland. it's just so beautiful and peaceful there. we also got a lucky glimpse of the dolphin that hangs out in the bay while we were on our boat tour!
 +  stayed in Killarney at McSweeney Arms Hotel for the next 2 nights. great hotel, right in the heart of Killarney. excellent breakfast!
 +  Monday we spent the entire day driving the Ring of Kerry. this was seriously the highlight of our trip! it was absolutely gorgeous, and we got so lucky with the sunny weather, so it was just that much more amazing. we did the extra loop around Valentia Island, and I have to say that was probably the prettiest part of our drive! it had some truly incredible views! we also found a beach that was so calm and clear that it looked Mediterranean.
 +  Tuesday we drove to Blarney Castle and then back up to Dublin to stay there for the evening and explore the city a bit. it wasn't my favorite, and honestly I'm glad we only were there for one night.
 +  Wednesday we explored Dublin on foot before heading to the airport to catch our flight to London

So without further ado, here are some photos from our tour of Ireland! England will be coming soon!