Ireland

Day 8

We arrived into Dublin in the early morning and wandered around until we found the bus to the airport, so that we could pick up our rental car.  Once we arranged everything with the rental car, we were on our way for another road trip.

 

Our first stop was The Rock of Cashel, and coincidentally this was the first castle we officially toured. Afterwords, we found ourselves wishing we had done similar tours in the other castles we had briefly visited because it was exciting to learn the history of such a beautiful, historic place.  From Cashel we drove to a small city named Lismore, where a castle bearing the same name was located.  When we arrived at the castle, we learned the castle was closed for an event, so we just walked down below the castle and took a few photos before driving toward our next destination.

Our drive over to Blarney Castle was beautiful. We took our time walking the grounds and toured the castle.  Walking up the one of the castle towers was memorable with the smells, sights, and sounds of the medieval period. At the top of the castle there is a famous stone that everyone kisses to obtain the renowned gift of gab. Ryan didn't feel like kissing a rock and I wasn't too keen on it either, but I ended up changing my mind at the last minute.  When we were finished touring the castle we left and made our way to Cork for the night.

Day 9

The next day was such a relaxing day as we were in the car most of the day taking in the scenery.  Our first stop was near the Gap of Dunloe, and then we drove to the main road which snakes along the well known Kerry peninsula.  While attempting to find the main roadway we made a wrong turn and became temporarily lost, which was fortunate for us because the way we ended up taking provided some of the most impressive natural landscapes. At one point the road narrowed down to a single steep and serpentinous lane, but passing another vehicle was not a concern since we were such a remote area.  It was invigorating to navigate the road meanwhile taking in everything that surrounded us.

We eventually made it to the main roadway and simply drove around Ring of Kerry, stopping every so often to take photos, eat, or shop.  From the Ring of Kerry we kept driving and continued on to another peninsula of lesser fame named Dingle.  The roadway was similar to that of Kerry's except this time we never got lost.  We were constantly amazed of the rugged topography and its richness: the contrast naturally made between land and ocean was especially awesome.  Once we finished driving around Dingle we ended our day in Limerick and rested for the night.

Day 10

We arose early this morning to make the long drive to The Cliffs of Moher.  It was really incredible and we ended up spending a good amount of time there.  Outside near the cliffs it was a very windy which made it hard to walk, but it was fun watching people constantly chase their hats or other loosely attached clothing items.  The waves were enormous and we later learned professional surfers frequent this location in hopes of grabbing the elusive "Big One".  We made an attempt to visit Connemara National Park, but realized after driving a while that we would not have enough time, so we drove to Dublin instead. We returned Long Silvy (the rental car) and then checked into our hotel and relaxed the remainder of the night.

Day 11

We were excited, but sad at the same time because this was our last day.  Our first impression of Dublin was disappointing when compared to other european cities we have visited.  We found ourselves fortunate because we only planned one day in Dublin, and it was definitely sufficient for us. 

 

We visited the National Gallery of Ireland, which was not big, but still had many great pieces on display. Then, we strolled through two nearby parks: Merrion Square and St. Stephen's Green.  We found that St. Stephen's Green was much bigger, popular, and therefore provided more interesting people watching as we ate lunch.  Next on our agenda was a visit to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells exhibit, which is one of the oldest preserved texts of the New Testament gospels. While we were in the shopping district we discovered one of the main roads was called Inns Quay.  One of the highlights of Dublin. The last thing we did was send a postcard to ourselves. At this point we feel comfortable saying that Ireland is one of our favorite places in Europe (with the exception of Dublin), and we would definitely go back.