Fun times in Ireland

I copied this from my blog! Can't believe that worked. WooT! Anyway, it has been a while since i have posted on Dgrin but i had to share our wonderful trip to Ireland with everyone!

I made a 10 min slideshow of the trip that can be found here. Defiantly worth the view.
All trip photos can be found here.

Enjoy.

Fraturday- May Seigth,

For those who can't figure out the date above, Andy and I kinda missed a day while traveling (crying baby on airplane, 5 hour time difference, etc), so we did a mash-up of the two days into one.

So we went to IRELAND! With help from Andy's Mom and Stepdad Brian, we were able to spend a week along the south western shores of the beautiful Emerald Island. Brian did all the research, found places to stay and put together our travel itinerary. He did a great job and a great time was had by all.




I took small notes on my phone while across the pond and am going to try to elaborate on them here; let's see how I do.

Our flight took an extra 1.5 hours to get to Ireland from Newark Airport because of the dreaded ash cloud that has been floating around Europe for a few weeks. All night we were checking flight and the airport status hoping we were going to be able to actually go on vacation. We were very lucky and didn't have any delays except for the longer flight. The plane literally had to fly around the cloud.

Liam did a great job on the plane, but you could defiantly tell that he was uncomfortable while sleeping. We were all very sleepy by the time we got to Shannon Airport (8:30 am Ireland time, 3:30 am Virginia time).

And we are off.... we headed out (on the opposite side of the road) to Bunratty Castle for a touristy site seeing tour. Climbed our first castle of the trip and had lunch in the Tea Room. We saw some huge dogs, chickens, donkeys and Liam talked to the roosters (this became a theme as the trip went on). Across the street were some shops, so we also had to do some shopping.

After the castle we headed out to another major tourist attraction, the Cliffs of Moher. WOW! BEAUTIFUL! STUNNING! The pictures really don't do it justice. It's like going to the grand canyon, you really can't describe the beauty and the photos really don't do it justice.
So Andy can moo like a cow better then anyone else I know. And if you have ever been in the car with us while driving country roads you know that we have to moo at every cow we see. So, Andy starts mooing at some cows by the parking lot, and oops... they stop what they are doing and start running over to the car. The only thing separating us the cows is a small stone wall. Needless to say we all got in the car quickly and headed off to our Bed and Breakfast in Galway.

We arrived at the Almara House and headed to dinner in town. At this point Liam hasn't slept much but did fall asleep at dinner and stayed asleep till 6:15am the next day. The Almara house was built as a B&B, and had a great room for us on the top floor. We even had TV and watched an episode of Wonder Pets in Irish (Irish is what the locals call Gaelic). Liam didn't mind the language difference.

Sunday May 9th,

Got up and had a wonderful Irish Breakfast with yummy porridge. At this point we all realized we were going to gain 10 lbs over the course of the VK. Got in the car and drove off to the the little town of Rossaveal and got on the Aran Island Ferry. Still sleepy, Liam slept the entire car and ferry ride.

Once we arrived on the island we rented bikes and headed off on a small road along the coast. Mom and Brian got electric bikes, which helped them with the hills. What views! Lots of stone walls, animals, little cottages. Just pure beauty. We also could have rented a van, or a horse to carry us around, but the bikes were perfect. Liam loved the bike and cried when we had to return them at the end of the day.

At the half way spot we had lunch at a small cafe with wonderful soup and sandwiches. Really good food for a little cafe in the middle of nowhere. After lunch Liam had the worst temper tantrum I have ever witnessed. We couldn't get him calmed down. Poor little guy was still super jet lagged and really didn't want anything we had for him to eat. He finally got him out of his funk and climbed the hill to the Dun Aonghasa Fort. Very cool cliff edge with death on the other side! More amazing views and many more stone walls.




Back in the main town the boys bought their "Irish" hats and we had some Guinness and Apple pie with cream. yummmm.

That night Liam decided he was still on VA time and we had to drive him around in the car for over an hour before he finally fell asleep. Good times

Monday May 10th,

Drove to Clifden for Lunch and Shopping. Talked to a pub owner and he told us to drive the Sky Road. More amazing coastal views. We then headed out to a state park but Liam had a melt down so we decided to keep going. Returned to the B&B with a stop in the small town of Spidel for some quick shopping in the art market.

We got Liam in bed that night by 9:30pm, which was better then the 11:00pm like the night before, but we did find him sleeping on the floor in the morning. Poor little guy fell out of bed and we didn't even know.

Tuesday May 11th,

We had our last breakfast at the Almara House and headed out to Galway for a little shopping/site seeing. We learned that if we did our major driving at nap time life was a little easier for all of us. We saw some street performers and the Spanish Arch.

We had a long drive to Dingle in front of us, so we headed out. The drive was so beautiful we took our time making stops and taking photos along the way.

We arrived in Dingle in time for some pre-dinner ice cream and then checked into our B&B, the DunLaven House. This was the first night that Andy and I were comfortable going out after Liam went to bed. We were afraid that he would wake up and not see us, and Ilene wouldn't be able to calm him down. He was very mommy/daddy dependent the whole trip. If he didn't see both of us it was trouble. I think he thought we were going to leave him in Ireland.

Andy and I headed downtown for some dinner, traditional fish and chips for me and a crab melt for Andy, and music, but we were so sleepy we couldn't stay up for the music. Oh well we still had the next night. But, we did meet a strange Canadian who said I will be preggers with twin girls in 4 months and I should read books on Indigo Children...strange, just very very very strange.

Wednesday May 12,

Drove to the Blasket Island Ferry to the ruins on the Great Blasket Island. Much smaller ferry then the last time. At one point we thought our ferry was nothing more than a dingy, but that was just the transportation out to the only slightly larger boat. We when did get on the real ferry we chatted with the one man crew about life in Dingle. He said most of his friends are out of work and the economy is really being hit hard by the ash cloud (and other things). Such a shame.

Blasket Island was amazing! We were the only people there (except for a few workers). We walked around and fed some cute donkeys the few crackers I had in my bag. Liam liked being carried around in the backpack, but it was a little chilly for him. He also kept looking at the ocean and saying water, water, boat. People don't live on Blasket Island anymore. The conditions are just to hard in the winter months.

We arrived back to the main land and had lunch at the visitors center and did some more shopping in Dingle. One noteworthy item is that Liam counted to 10 all by himself in the car on the way back to Dingle. Very cute.

We headed out to Killarney and checked into the Vally View Farmhouse B&B. Defiantly the coolest place we stayed. Got the sense of traditional Ireland while we were there. Liam loved that her grandchildren were there to play with and that he could play with the dogs, cows, sheep and horses. It was one of the best highlights of our trip.
We got Liam to bed and Andy and I were able to grab dinner in Killarney and finally get to listen to some Irish pub music. Talked to some locals and some folks from Chicago and even DC. I knew Liam would be up at 6am, so we headed back to our farmhouse.

Thursday May 13,

We watched the cow parade out of our window that morning and figured that they were milking them 10 at a time. So we got dressed and watched the process. It stunk so bad, but was worth the photos!

We left Killarney and dove to Blarney to kiss the Blarney Stone. Had to do it. Just one of those things you do when you go to Ireland. It's like going to Philly and not seeing the Liberty Bell. Mom, Andy and I all made our wish and kissed the stone. Probably one of the stupidest things i have ever done. And then they try to sell you the photo for 10 euro. CRAZY! We stuck with our own photos.

Drove to Kinsale for lunch and shopping and checked in to the Rivermount B&B. Another amazing place with great views and a little kitty to play with. We got take-out and ate dinner in the lounge, played some cards and hit the bed.

Friday May 14,

Another traditional Irish Breakfast in the morning. Liam was able to play outside with the cat while we took turns eating. He wasn't much for sitting at tables while we were there. Brian was trying to convince us to go on a guided walking tour of Kinsale but we wanted nothing to do with it. Instead we let Liam play in a little park and waited till Brian returned.



Liam liked to ring doorbells and run



Castle View

We figured Liam in the 5 star restaurant was not going to happen, so room service it was! And it was goooood! Liam was enjoying himself watching cartoons and finding different items to dress up in. His imagination is taking off; he amazes me every day. I named him MJ sock hands.

Saturday May 15,

Home day. Sad Happy to be going home and back to normal life, but not happy to leave Ireland. There was so much more I wanted to see and do. Andy and I hope to get back some day and visit the Shilliday Hardware shop near Belfast. Maybe without Liam this time

All and all we had a wonderful time. It was hard getting Liam adjusted, but once he figured it out we were good to go. He is great traveler as long as you have his portable DVD player ready to go at any given time. Note to self: bring more Nick Jr. DVDs next trip. We all knew every word to the one I happened to pick up at Wal-Mart before we left.

I made a 10 min slideshow of the trip that can be found here. Defiantly worth the view.
All trip photos can be found here.