Ireland
And I'm back!
I know I've been slacking on the Europe blog.... but better late than never! James and I are back from our 16 day epic voyage across the sea and done with the Tucson Gem Show. Which means
time for blogging! The favorite photos from the trip are on Facebook- I'll call those the highlights. I've decided to post different ones on the blog to mix it up.
We started our trip the day after my event wrapped up which was great timing for us to squeeze our vacation in between my work and James' training. We flew to New York City with the Howitz's and toured the city for a day until we caught our red eye to Dublin. James had never been to NYC before so we went to Central Park to walk around in the snow and we went to the MET. We then took the train to JFK to wing our way to Ireland. I was the only one that slept on the plane :)
When we arrived we got our very own Ford Fiesta rental. James was very excited to be driving on the wrong side of the road and he did very well. I only gripped the arm rest a couple times and he only drove down the wrong side of the road twice. Maybe 3 times.... but he was excellent at navigating roads the size of golf cart paths. I played the role of navigator armed with some unreliable driving directions (thanks a lot google) and 8 maps of Ireland.
We decided to tour the Guinness factory in Dublin (I had been to Dublin before but James hadn't). This was number one on his list of things to do. It was a really cool tour in downtown Dublin that winds up to the Gravity Bar where you get your free Guinness and it has a fantastic view of Dublin.
Our package we purchased included a full Irish breakfast every morning which was fantastic. We had fried eggs, Irish bacon (our Canadian bacon), toast, white pudding, sausage and tea/coffee. Needless to say we didn't eat lunch at all. I finally sucummed to coffee on the trip. After deserting diet coke and needing caffeine I finally gave in. James threw a party.
We departed Dublin the next morning for Kilkenny, Ireland which was a short 1 1/2 from Dublin. We had a heck of a time finding our B&B in the middle of nowhere but we finally got there in time to head into town with the Howitz's for some local pub grub. We then found out that people in Ireland like to keep their houses cold. I mean freezing to those of thin blood. Our innkeeper was kind enough to put a hot water bottle in our bed but I made full use of my flannels and snuggled up to James. I woke in the middle of the night to look up to find some sort of troll figure staring at me from the window. It freaked me out so much I couldn't fall back asleep for a while.
In the morning we found out the troll to be a shepherdess figurine with an odd hat. Opps. AND I almost died when I found out the Howitz's had a electric blanket and they were "hot" all night. Both the Howitz's and us couldn't figure out how to work the shower.... it was just not clear!
We toured the Kilkenny Castle (eh) and the Kilkenny Cathedral (yawn). And headed out toward Cashel, Ireland to tour the Rock of Cashel (yea!).
The Rock of Cashel was an Amazing monastery ruin that dates back to the 1100's. We were totally blow away by the coolness.
This castle totally made up for the semi boring last one. We spent the day touring the castle and adjacent monastery ruins. We wandered through the town looking for food and ended up at a fabulous little local restaurant.
We split from the Howitz's for the night and headed into Limerick, Ireland as a stopping point on our was to the west coast of Ireland.We settled in at our new B&B after having the innkeeper show us how to work the shower. I was delighted to find an electric blanket in the bed and proceeded to fry us until James complained of a heat rash. We stayed in that night and watched BBC all night. I love BBC, especially the reality shows, I mean you can't make this stuff up. I also made James watch some cheesy show in Gaelic, it's such a fascinating language! We headed out early in the morning and drove straight to the Cliffs of Mohr.
As you can tell they were amazing! And you'll notice the crisp clear day! It was absolutely breath taking. And since we came in winter- there were only 2 other people there. It was like that at all the sites. If there is one thing Betsy hates- its a crowd. Of tourists. With Cameras dangling off their necks.
We also toured the natural wonder called The Burren. It was pretty cool but a very windy drive through the Irish countryside on small roads.
Our little B&B was right on the cliffs...a little working farm on the cliffs. No other words are necessary. The next morning we headed toward our most anticipated destination- Ashford Castle. I have been wanted to stay in this castle for years and it totally lived up to our expectations.
We arrived and checked into our plush, warm, large room with hot hot water. Heaven. James headed out to play golf and I attended a falcon walk. I got to tour the falcon facility and then I got my own falcon to take out flying around the castle grounds. I got a nifty leather glove and the little guy would land on it and then take off. The bird guy was so excited we were from Arizona because falcons are native here.
We ate dinner in the castle parlor and met back up with Chris and Candy for Irish beef burgers and a little Skip Bo by fireside. The next morning we woke up to a spooky, foggy morning at the castle. James and I roamed the grounds and played in the mist.
Then we took the trek 3 hours back to Dublin for our last night in Ireland. We lived it up and went down to the Temple Bar area for some live Irish music and James' new Irish beer, Smithicks. And that brought to a close our wonderful week driving through the countryside of Ireland. It was an once in a lifetime trip that I would do again in a second.
I know I've been slacking on the Europe blog.... but better late than never! James and I are back from our 16 day epic voyage across the sea and done with the Tucson Gem Show. Which means
time for blogging! The favorite photos from the trip are on Facebook- I'll call those the highlights. I've decided to post different ones on the blog to mix it up.
We started our trip the day after my event wrapped up which was great timing for us to squeeze our vacation in between my work and James' training. We flew to New York City with the Howitz's and toured the city for a day until we caught our red eye to Dublin. James had never been to NYC before so we went to Central Park to walk around in the snow and we went to the MET. We then took the train to JFK to wing our way to Ireland. I was the only one that slept on the plane :)
When we arrived we got our very own Ford Fiesta rental. James was very excited to be driving on the wrong side of the road and he did very well. I only gripped the arm rest a couple times and he only drove down the wrong side of the road twice. Maybe 3 times.... but he was excellent at navigating roads the size of golf cart paths. I played the role of navigator armed with some unreliable driving directions (thanks a lot google) and 8 maps of Ireland.
We decided to tour the Guinness factory in Dublin (I had been to Dublin before but James hadn't). This was number one on his list of things to do. It was a really cool tour in downtown Dublin that winds up to the Gravity Bar where you get your free Guinness and it has a fantastic view of Dublin.
Our package we purchased included a full Irish breakfast every morning which was fantastic. We had fried eggs, Irish bacon (our Canadian bacon), toast, white pudding, sausage and tea/coffee. Needless to say we didn't eat lunch at all. I finally sucummed to coffee on the trip. After deserting diet coke and needing caffeine I finally gave in. James threw a party.
We departed Dublin the next morning for Kilkenny, Ireland which was a short 1 1/2 from Dublin. We had a heck of a time finding our B&B in the middle of nowhere but we finally got there in time to head into town with the Howitz's for some local pub grub. We then found out that people in Ireland like to keep their houses cold. I mean freezing to those of thin blood. Our innkeeper was kind enough to put a hot water bottle in our bed but I made full use of my flannels and snuggled up to James. I woke in the middle of the night to look up to find some sort of troll figure staring at me from the window. It freaked me out so much I couldn't fall back asleep for a while.
In the morning we found out the troll to be a shepherdess figurine with an odd hat. Opps. AND I almost died when I found out the Howitz's had a electric blanket and they were "hot" all night. Both the Howitz's and us couldn't figure out how to work the shower.... it was just not clear!
We toured the Kilkenny Castle (eh) and the Kilkenny Cathedral (yawn). And headed out toward Cashel, Ireland to tour the Rock of Cashel (yea!).
The Rock of Cashel was an Amazing monastery ruin that dates back to the 1100's. We were totally blow away by the coolness.
This castle totally made up for the semi boring last one. We spent the day touring the castle and adjacent monastery ruins. We wandered through the town looking for food and ended up at a fabulous little local restaurant.
We split from the Howitz's for the night and headed into Limerick, Ireland as a stopping point on our was to the west coast of Ireland.We settled in at our new B&B after having the innkeeper show us how to work the shower. I was delighted to find an electric blanket in the bed and proceeded to fry us until James complained of a heat rash. We stayed in that night and watched BBC all night. I love BBC, especially the reality shows, I mean you can't make this stuff up. I also made James watch some cheesy show in Gaelic, it's such a fascinating language! We headed out early in the morning and drove straight to the Cliffs of Mohr.
As you can tell they were amazing! And you'll notice the crisp clear day! It was absolutely breath taking. And since we came in winter- there were only 2 other people there. It was like that at all the sites. If there is one thing Betsy hates- its a crowd. Of tourists. With Cameras dangling off their necks.
We also toured the natural wonder called The Burren. It was pretty cool but a very windy drive through the Irish countryside on small roads.
Our little B&B was right on the cliffs...a little working farm on the cliffs. No other words are necessary. The next morning we headed toward our most anticipated destination- Ashford Castle. I have been wanted to stay in this castle for years and it totally lived up to our expectations.
We arrived and checked into our plush, warm, large room with hot hot water. Heaven. James headed out to play golf and I attended a falcon walk. I got to tour the falcon facility and then I got my own falcon to take out flying around the castle grounds. I got a nifty leather glove and the little guy would land on it and then take off. The bird guy was so excited we were from Arizona because falcons are native here.
We ate dinner in the castle parlor and met back up with Chris and Candy for Irish beef burgers and a little Skip Bo by fireside. The next morning we woke up to a spooky, foggy morning at the castle. James and I roamed the grounds and played in the mist.
Then we took the trek 3 hours back to Dublin for our last night in Ireland. We lived it up and went down to the Temple Bar area for some live Irish music and James' new Irish beer, Smithicks. And that brought to a close our wonderful week driving through the countryside of Ireland. It was an once in a lifetime trip that I would do again in a second.
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