Cheers

The end of the trip is near... tear. I'm sad to have to go. Here a few of the photos I've taken which bring endless amounts of joy to my heart....

Temple Bar at night:

Great Blasket Island:

Blarney Castle Gardens:

Yum, coffee in Dingle:

My first Guinness (photo taken in Kilkenny):

You can find me in the Pub! Drinking a Smithwist, Cheers to everybody!!

These are just a few of my photos. I also have a lot of video.. I can't wait to show you in person! We leave tomorrow morning, sad face. I really love it here and could stay for another two weeks. If you ever have a chance, please get yourself to Ireland. It's truly a magical place and I'll never forget it!!!

xoxoxo

Colleen

At the pub- acoustic show

At the pub- acoustic show going on. Just requested more than words... Amazing performance! Dublin is fun...

Sitting across from two old

Sitting across from two old irishmen at the pub- one drinks milk while the other tells him intense stories. Awesome.

Braving the Burren

The road to Lisdoonvarna seemed to be the longest yet. We drove up from Dingle through Limerick, opting out of the shortcut ferry to cross the River Shannon because it was so stormy. It was a good choice, but our car went through a lot of potholes. At one point, I flew into a pothole which shot up rocks that hit our windshield. I tend to laugh during those moments, while Lauryn clings to the door in pure fear. So far, I've hit a cone, the curb while going down a fairly straight road, another curb while making an illegal uturn.. and brushed the bush far too many times. It's fun. But tomorrow we return our car, so that's the end of that!
When we arrived yesterday, we headed right for the Cliffs of Moher. So magical. There is a barrier up to prevent people from going over, but for a moment we became rebels and crossed over into private property for the chance to get closer to the edge of the world. I can't believe places like this exist. We also had a great day today. Saw a couple of castles, The Burren, ancient portal tombs, and walked through a really huge cave. The highlight was sampling some mead, and eating local cheese and oatcakes in the farmhouse shop near the caves.
Tomorrow we begin the end of our trip in Dublin town.. Guinness Storehouse, Trinity College and the book of Kells are top on our list. We're staying in Temple Bar so that should be interesting... :D
Thanks for reading and have a fabulous Monday!!!
xoxoxo

Captain Tight Pants

We are still in Dingle. The shops close at 6, and we learned from an Irishman here on holiday last night that it is unheard of to eat dinner before 8. So ashamed are we, that we loaded up on lattes and roamed to the cemetery and then the last place that's open.. the internet cafe. Hello!

Today was fantastic. We took the scary 10ft wide cliff road out to Slea Head Drive. Please note, we stopped to allow sheep to pass, and crossed over a section of the road that has a stream passing through it, with mountain on the right and a huge drop to the left. Exhilarating! We made our way to the ferry boat which takes passengers out to the Great Blasket, the most westerly island of Ireland. A steep windy road to the concrete pier below was the easy part. We watched for about an hour as our ferry boat bobbed in the water from side to side like a rubber ducky in a rowdy kid's tub. It finally became clear that the ferry boat wouldn't be picking us up.. it dropped anchor and the captain steered a motorized raft thing to come get us. I almost took a dive into the ocean after slipping down the concrete slab. The only thing keeping me from panicking was the fact that a 70 year old man was ahead of me and completed everything with ease. Transitioning from raft to boat was exciting, and riding the ferry boat was even better. At one point I thought we were going to tip and bear hugged Lauryn without realizing it until I noticed all the laughter on the boat was directed at me. Oops!

The Island was beautiful and haunting. Old structures still stood, minus their roofs, with flowers and grass growing in every corner. The inviting beach was off limits due to seal mating, so Lauryn and I hiked around, took photos, picnicked on the edge of a grassy cliff and enjoyed a view of Ireland in the distance. But that was about it, as there was nothing else on the Island but abandoned buildings, sheep, mules, and rabbits (but more rabbit poop than anything). No bathrooms!

So tomorrow we are off to The Burren, Lisdoonvarna to be exact. There we'll see the Cliffs of Moher and take another ferry out to the Aran Islands. There are also prehistoric sites and a cave we want to check out.

I hope your weekend has gotten off to a nice start!

<3
Colleen

Oh no moment and Photos

Yesterday was crazy. We started the day with a trip to Blarney Castle, went to Dunnes to shop, then walked up and down the steepest hills over to Charles Fort. We hitched a ride back on the Kinsale train and landed at an internet cafe after being shunned by all the restaurants for wanting to eat at 5. I was so beat.. I tried uploading some pictures to no avail. To top it off, the internet browser on my computer wasn't working properly. The clerk at the cafe, the most beautiful Irish woman, was also one of the most dismissive and meanie woman we've encountered. I left in a hurry to avoid the extra €1.50 in fees. After dinner we went back to the B&B to get ready for a night of trad music. When we arrived at the pub and after we ordered our Murphy's, I realized my camera had gone missing. I put on my dramas and fled the pub without elaborating to poor Lauryn where I was going, except that I went to look for my camera. I got lost in the windy streets of Kinsale and finally found the car 15 minutes later. I sped up the hill to our B&B and nearly tore the room apart looking for my camera. When my passport went flying out of my purse, I suddenly realized what was more important and collected myself and my belongings and headed back down to a very worried Lauryn, but not before she sent me a few texts asking what happened (she later explained that she thought Vikings had kidnapped me). I failed to finish my beer, went home in silence and moped until I fell asleep. A couple of midnight emails to the madre and Brad made me feel better, and in the morning after a tiny brekfast (still sick to my stomach) we headed down to the internet cafe, the last place I could think the camera would be. The beautiful Irish woman was there again, but this time greated us with a smile and my long lost camera. She apparently tried to chase after us the night before but being the crabs we are, we didn't notice and instead were probably complaining about how rude she was.
But all is well! Lesson learned.. be nice to the Irish!
We are in Dingle now and staying at the nicest B&B yet. It has it's own little farm with a dog that looks just like our beloved Lucky Langan. He is here in spirit! I knew he was Irish.
Here are a few photos I was able to upload before the camera died. Praying that it didn't delete all my photos! Murphy's Law, anybody?? :)

Kilkenny:

Kinsale:

Blarney Castle:

Charles Fort:

Kinsale

Last night we got a loose history of the town while on a silly ghost tour which involved red wigs, singing in graveyards and a backless wedding gown. Yes, we got some video!
Sadly, tonight is our last night in Kinsale. I really like our harbour home with winding streets, good food and friendly pubs. Right now we are really hungry for dinner after climbing Blarney Castle, walking through the gardens, shopping at Dunnes, and an epic hike to Charles Fort.. thank goodness for the smiling Irish; the Kinsale Train conductor gave us a free ride back to town on his train that's more like a skinny bus with a few cars. It was an entertaining ride. But it's only about 5pm and nobody eats dinner this early. Definitely not as bad as Italy- we only have to wait until 6pm, not 9pm!! I'm thinking of getting some fish and chips and a Murphys. Grease! Then we'll stick around for some trad(itional) music and a pint or three. :)
See you in Dingle! Pray that we "have the weather" as they say around here.