Ireland: Cliffs and Castles

Before Brett and I were married he had done a good deal of traveling, mostly over Thanksgiving. It's a convenient time for him to travel because he has so little time off. He has traveled out of the country every Thanksgiving for the last 5 years or so...what started out as a tradition for him has become a tradition for us (you won't hear me complaining!).

So this year we started out celebrating Thanksgiving a few days early with some of my family; turkey, stuffing, and all (including 4 delicious pies provided by my mom and twin sister). Then, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving day we flew out to Ireland!

Day 1: Our first day in Ireland shouldn't even count as the first day. We arrived in Dublin at around 2:30pm, picked up our rental car, and found our hotel. It was a little bit of an adventure getting used to the backwards driving (steering wheel on the right, drive on the left), but Brett's a pro. That night we wandered around Dublin until it started to rain and we all felt beat.

Day 2: After a good night's rest we woke up early and started our excursions. First we headed out to The Rock of Cashel, a castle in the town of Cashel.

After wandering around Cashel we went to Cahir, saw another castle, and grabbed lunch. That afternoon/early evening we drove over to Blarney castle.

At Blarney there is a legend of sorts about the 'blarney stone'. As the legend goes those who kiss the 'blarney stone' are endowed with the gift of eloquence. Brett and I both took the opportunity to kiss the famous stone, which I must mention is not an easy feat. In order to kiss the stone you have to lie down and bend over backwards with all the blood rushing to your head. Very memorable.

This second day was definitely a day of castles for us. Three castles in one day...not bad!

Day 3: The third day started out cloudy, windy, and rainy. We went to Muckross house; a victorian mansion near Killarney. There we took a ride in a horse drawn carriage around the grounds. Killarney National Forest is right in back of the house so we got to spend some time walking around the forest up to a waterfall. It was absolutely beautiful.

The rest of the day we spent driving around the Ring of Kerry, a tourist trail circling the Iveragh Peninsula, known for it's beautiful views. It was beautiful...but the weather was still cloudy.

Day 4: We started out early again so that we could get as much in as possible. The fourth day we drove around another trail along Dingle Peninsula just across from Iveragh. This day though, we had perfect clear skies and fantastic views. Our first stop on our way to Dingle was at Inch Beach.

Seriously, the weather couldn't have been more perfect.

We got to do some hiking along some of the cliffs on the peninsula. This day was one of my very favorites of the entire trip.

Day 5: Cliffs of Moher! If you've seen The Princess Bride you'll remember the famous "Cliffs of Insanity" that Wesley climbs with his bare hands in pursuit of Buttercup. Well the "Cliffs of Insanity" are in Ireland, and are really called the Cliffs of Moher...although they are kind of insane. The day we went it was a little cloudy again...and RIDICULOUSLY windy, but nothing could detract from the view of these cliffs.

It was so windy, I seriously had a hard time walking around. I had to hold my hat onto my head otherwise it would have flown off. It was crazy. Later on in the day it began to rain. We went over to the Poulnabrone Dolmen (a portal tomb) in County Clare. We got drenched.

Day 6: Day 6 was another castle day for us. We drove out to Kinvara to walk around the Dunguaire Castle. Then we drove out to Trim and saw the Trim Castle. I think Trim may have been my favorite castle...too bad we couldn't go in; it was closed for the season. It was a very cool looking castle.
After Trim we drove out to Bru Na Boinne and took a tour through Newgrange. New grange was so neat! It's a Neolithic tomb that predates the pyramids. Check it out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Br%C3%BA_na_B%C3%B3inne

I loved all the artwork on the walls!

After finishing up at Newgrange we drove back to Dublin and spent our last night in Ireland at a little pub, eating good food and listening to a traditional Irish band. A great end to a great trip!