Ireland Day 3 - Killarney/Dingle

We were up earlier today in order to make a tour that we had booked which would take us through Killarney National Park and the Gap of Dunloe.  Everything we had read in advance about the gap was true: small one lane throughout, beautiful landscape, and incredible views.  And...who wouldn't want to go through the gap via trap horse?:

Our tour was booked through a Tripadvisor recommendation and was a half-day tour. I'd highly recommend this as an option since it gets you back in time to still continue on with other sightseeing.  The process to book was quick and meeting up with our tour was fairly straightforward with a coach picking us up and taking us back to our car.  As you can see from the pictures, it was a bit overcast and cool with occasional rain but that didn't stop us!

For our evening stay we chose an AirBnB on the Dingle peninsula that had an excellent view.  More seafood was on our mind for dinner - we tried the Boatyard Restaurant and once again had a delightful meal with many good ciders.

Ireland Day 2 - Blarney/Cork/Kinsale

And we're off!  Our rental car for this trip was a festive, red Kia SUV and it was a comfortable ride with plenty of room for us and our luggage.  My pickup went smoothly by bus (once I was at the right bus stop) and soon we were off to our first stop: Blarney Castle.  And the Blarney Woolen Mill shops.  The weather certainly cooperated for our walk on the grounds:

After a brief shopping excursion with many wool options, our next stop was Cork.  Our hope was to walk a bit and see some of the city though by the time we arrived many places were already closed for the day.  We did manage to see the Church of St. Anne:

Our AirBnB option for the evening was out in the country near Windermere.  We highly recommend this stay to get out of the city and enjoy the views and fields.  We couldn't pass up dinner in Kinsale - fish, anyone?  You can't miss stopping at Fishy Fishy.  Don't let the name scare you; we tried just about everything on the menu and it was fantastic!

Oysters, Haddock, Salad, salmon, bisque, Malbec, Rose, Shiraz, Fishy Fishy pie, mussels.  Yes.

Ireland Day 1 - Dublin/Arrival

We decided to kickoff our Ireland tour with a day walking around Dublin.  The weather was perfect and being outside in the sun made the day quite enjoyable.

Our primary mission after checking into our AirBnb was to see the Book of Kells at Trinity College.  The lines were not terrible when we arrived and after a short wait we were able to enter the collection.  I really enjoyed being able to walk campus a bit (also thinking how history here compares to Princeton).  We tried to get into the theatrical areas (I even attempted access by talking to a booth worker) but unfortunately were turned down. 

After our tour we walked the main section of Dublin and decided on dinner at a favorite place from our first trip, Flanagan's.  Fish, Chips, Cider, Mushy Peas?  Yes.

Greetings from the road - Cushendall

Greetings from outside of Cushendall!

We have had an amazing trip so far - many adventures and fun experiences throughout the country.  I will post more pictures and updates soon but for now we have arrived at our 2nd to last AirBnb stay in northern Ireland.  These locations have been fun for us to enjoy outside of the larger cities where others may not look to stay. 

Tomorrow we will be back in Dublin before departures on Monday morning.

Upcoming Trip: Ireland/Switz

Packing has commenced!

In about a week we'll depart for a wonderful vacation to Ireland with close friends from back in Milwaukee where we are due to circle the country.  I'm really looking forward to this trip since the last time Shannon and I were there, the weather was not entirely cooperative.  This trip should be much more adventurous and the weather a bit more comfortable.

I'll cap things off with a few days in Murren/Gimmelwald and Zurich to round things out.  I'm looking forward to being back in the quiet alps where there is nothing but sheep and green. The Northface Trail is my absolute favorite giving the view below: