I've been antsy to write another entry for a bit, but internet access, while quite abundant, is not all that reliable. :) And, I'm usually only online on my a small window of time on my computer at the moment, so I thought I'd take advantage of it! :)
Ireland... AMAZING! I am in looooove! The pictures and things you see on TV & in the movies are not exagerated! I never knew there were so many shades of green!! It was gorgeous. This summer will definitely not be the last time I set foot on that island. I just love it.
I left you with Tom Petty & we were in Blarney, Ireland. We were talked into renting a car which, in itself, was quite the adventure. I had to dust off my ability to drive a manual. It's been about 11 years. Clint can't drive a manual, so I was stuck in the driver's seat. Street signs were pretty much non-existent. We took a trip that was supposed take 30 minutes and took us a couple hours. Driving on the 'wrong' side of the road was a bit confusing at first, of course, but after the first day, that didn't really bother me too much. I had a few flashbacks to driving on the right side of the road and scared myself (and probably Clint) a couple times. We were happy to give the car up once we reached Dublin, but both agreed it was a good decison.
It was a good decision for reasons like this...
After Blarney, we headed to the west coast of Ireland. We took what is called the Ring of Kerry. It's a road that goes around the entire peninsula and allows you to see some legit Irish countryside. Here are some photos of our journey... As far as I know, there really aren't names of where we stopped. It was mostly little spots along the road that we could pull off onto.
This was our unfortunate view when we stopped for lunch along the road
Killarney National Park
The base of a tree that I just found really interesting. Also found in the Killarney National Park.
After we made our way around the Ring of Kelly, we headed north so we could get closer to the Cliffs of Moher. We, after getting lost a couple times, arrived in a little Irish town called Ennistymon. We stopped on Main Street and went into a local pub to ask the bartender for advice on where to stay, what to do, etc. He was super nice with his suggestions and once we found a spot, we decided to go back to his pub for a few beers. Everyone is SO friendly!! We met some people from Georgia, Alabama, & Tennessee. They also had live music, so we sat back & enjoyed.
This is Ennistymon. Sucks, huh?
Our lovely little pub
The next day, we headed a bit further coastal so we could check out the Cliffs of Moher (pronounced Mo-hair). A big draw for me was, of course, that a bit of the Princess Bride was filmed there! YES PLEASE!! In case you don't remember or know what the Princess Bride is (shame on you!), here's a reminder... First, we viewed it by water via a small cruise. Then, we made our way to the top to peer down. Makes you feel really small, that's for sure. Here's a few pics...
Those are just a couple... I have TONS more. But I don't want to sit here & wait for them to upload, haha, sorry. :)
In between seeing the cliffs from the ocean and from the top, we made a quick trip to Inishire, which is a small island in the Aran Islands. I went there, originally, to help Dad (or so I thought) with some genealogy stuff. Turns out, that was a dead end, BUT... we did end up meeting these two gentlemen that I can safely say, we will never forget. They were in their 70s and began talking with us when they sat next to our table while we were eating. JJ "Jack" Hennessey and Ronnie (never caught a last name on him). JJ had quite the personality and told us stories of his youth. Some were quite disheartening and then he'd lighten the situation with a joke. He cussed like a sailor and talked our ears off, but we were pretty eager to hear his stories. We chatted them for close to two hours and only ended the conversation because we had to catch our ferry to the mainland. Otherwise, we'd have stayed there for much, much longer. These two gentlemen were something else. JJ ended up giving me his necklace. A very expensive necklace purchased in Africa. The story is far to deep to go into now, but I will just say that it was incredibly humbling to meet these people. JJ especially. My heart was racing and I fought him when he said he wanted to give me his necklace, but he insisted. Here's a snapshot of our new friends for life (we've already mailed them a postcard from a journey they suggested we take).
Me, Ronnie, JJ, & Clint
Now, I must say, aside from meeting JJ & Ronnie, one of my FAVORITE parts about this particular day was meeting Dusty. Dusty the dolphin. We had heard stories that there was a dolphin that played in the port of Doolin (where we left & returned to the mainland). She's been coming there for nearly 30 years and is so friendly that she plays with the kids in the water and is just super friendly. One thing I wanted out of seeing all this water is to see the wildlife in their natural surroundings. ESPECIALLY a dolphin... or a whale. Dolphins are definitely my favorite animal and I seriously just fell more in love with them.
After our excursions on the west coast, we headed across Ireland to Dublin. We settled in and headed to supper. We ate at a rather expensive, but award winning, French restaurant and then made our way to the pub next door. They have live music every night! And it's traditional Irish music. Awesome!! The guy we were able to see was fantastic! He was so entertaining and funny! Here is where we had our first (but not last) Guiness of the trip. Closed the bar down (they closed at midnight, so not a huge feat) and called it a night. We spent the next day just walking around Dublin. We went to a wax museum that wasn't that awesome and then made our way to the Guiness storehouse and brewery. I'm not a stout drinker, but when in Ireland... do as the Irish do. :) It was just under 11 euros to get in and that included a very good tour of the grounds and a pint of Guiness. There was also a section where we could "pour the perfect Guiness" where we were taught the proper way. Afterwards, we got a certificate!! HaHa! We drank our perfectly poured drinks and headed to the bar on the top floor. We met some pretty cool people here. Dylan and Sally. They are from Scotland and full of life! We hung out with them until they closed that bar (a couple hours later) and drank Guiness the whole time. People kept giving us free vouchers for it, so we had to take advantage, right? Definitely one of the best "bang for your buck" things we've done so far.
Our new friends! Dylan and Sally
Ireland was amazing! It was one of the greenest places I have ever seen and the people were unbelievably pleasant and helpful. Even a stranger we asked for directions actually drove in front of us for a moment and pointed out where we needed to go as we passed it. So nice.
Another little side note, the cattle in Ireland... MASSIVE! I mean, they look like hippos! They should, I suppose. They are never without plush green grass to keep them fed. I just could not get over how big they were. Man. HaHa... Good beef raised in Ireland. :) They make the cattle I was raised around look like calves.
I have, personally, kind of been keeping a tally of the states we've ran into. We've met people from New York, DC, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and even ran into some people on the street in Dublin from Kansas! They were wearing, unfortunately, their KU gear. :) Small world, really!
I would prefer the southern part and western coast to Dublin. We definitely got to see both sides of Ireland. Neither one disappointed, but it will be hard to compete with the beauty of that southern region and western coast. Like I said, I will be back!!
I know it's a long entry, but I had to take advantage of the internet while I could. Another one is coming soon about my first opinion of Greece...
Heading to the islands tomorrow so it's BEACH CITY baby! Relaxation!! I'll get on here when I can, I assure you. Until the, I hope this finds you all well!!
Love from Europe!!
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