Dublin again

Starting the day off with Susan our B&B host really set the tone for the day. Her personality and flair for life just kept us on our toes laughing! Well we ate breakfast her dog George set watch over us although I think his intentions were purely in hopes of table scraps… LOL! She told us how humble and laid-back dogs were in Doolin. When I told her about my Rack Russells back home she said "oh God no, not those vicious little feckers...lol!" Our journey from Doolin to Dublin seemed like a long one. Even though the scenes weren't as majestic as the coastal views, the displacement of ruined castles along the route made it worthwhile! We made a couple of stops along the way and one was the castle of Bunratty. Even though we stopped we forewent going in because they turned it into a tourist trap and the fair was more than we wanted to pay. So, we went across the street and enjoy the nice cup of latte! Besides all that we were hoping to get back to Dublin time to see the Kilmainham Gaol which is an old turn-of-the-century jail open for tourism. Unfortunately they close before we reached Dublin. However, Danny booked us a night in the Clontarf Castle Hotel which was a partially restored castle converted into a hotel. After booking in we all went down to a local pub for one last night out on the town Dublin.

Doolin

Man, I love these Irish breakfasts at the B&Bs! This morning was scrambled eggs with smoked salmon and fresh baked soda bread. Danny scored big by getting some soda bread for the road! First on our agenda this morning was the 26 mile coastal route of the Dingle Peninsula. Most of the scenic stops were of eighth and ninth century ruins. We hit all of the main stops and even some that were off the beaten path. From there most of us slept during the long drive to Doolin. At one point we even boarded a ferry to shorten our drive. I wouldn't say the ferry was necessarily a welcome break since the splendor of the views never wore their welcome. Although the views today seemed more breathtaking than the previous day's only because of the lack of fog and cloud cover. Our last stop before Doolin was the cliffs of Moher. "pronounced more because as the travel guide said who would want to visit the cliffs of less" The ladies that welcomed us at our B&B in Doolin were extremely charismatic! They were a mother-daughter duo that were nothing short hysterical! We finished off the night at a local pub called O'Connors with fish and chips. The awesome thing about this B&B was the view no less than hundred yards outside my window of what remained of a castle ruin!

Dingle

This morning's breakfast was off the chart! We all had chocolate chip French toast with some type of raspberry compote on top. It was totally legit! Today's agenda was the Ring of Kerry. The Ring of Kerry is 120 miles of a scenic coastal route through the county of Kerry. It had the most megalithic views ever "yes I stole that word from Rick Steves travel book and you can thank Wikipedia for a definition later...lol!" The route was full of coastal views, mountains, ruins, and beautiful landscapes that you would ideally think Ireland worthy of. We stopped along the route at a small town called Sneem. "it sounds like the name of something you would hear in a Dr. Seuss book" In Sneem we found a little dainty coffee café where we snacked on croissants, cheese, and sipped on coffee. It was quite relaxing! The man at the counter however was not exactly what I would call pleasant. His disposition and look reminded us of the old man character in the movie up. I was quite tempted to ask him how Kevin was doing...lol! From there we traveled on stopping quite frequently for Claire to get her perfect photo of an Irish sheep… LOL! Besides the numerous landscape photos that we took. And yes by this point in the trip we were all talking in our best Irish accents! By the time we reached Dingle we were all a bit on the hungry side but the restaurant that Danny had chosen for the evening required us to make reservations, so we had about a 2 1/2 hour wait. To kill time we all headed down to a local pub for live Irish music. The pub was packed with tourists but the music was good! We capped off dinner at a seafood restaurant called Out of the Blue which was highly recommended by Rick Steves and then headed back to our B&B for the evening to call it a night.

Killarney

Well we woke up to a full Irish breakfast this morning and I can't say that I was too hip on the black/blood pudding, but the rest of it was great! The drive to Killarney was most delightful! I highly recommend renting a car and driving if you plan on seeing Ireland, it's a beautiful place especially once you get off the beaten path! Once we got into Killarney we checked in early to our bed-and-breakfast. Danny choose this one "Sika B&B" because the lady that runs it is well known for her food. In fact she was even on the Irish version of iron Chef. Boy I can't wait to dig into breakfast in the morning! She gave us the low down on Kilkarney, drew it all out on a map, and then sent us on our way. Our first stop in Killarney was the Ross Castle. Wow! The castle was built sometime in the 15th century but it was recently renovated a few years back. It totally had the look and feel of medieval times! I have to give a big shout out to Danny for doing all of the planning on this trip because so far it's been great. Anyways, we paid at the entrance and took the tour to the top of the castle and it was an amazing experience! From there we ventured on over to the Muckross Abby. The Abby which was also from the 15th century was worn down. In fact all that remained of it was just the walls. Nevertheless, it gave you the feel of being back in time and it was a blast climbing what remained of the ruins! The grounds around the ruins was littered with old gravestones which game to place an eerie feeling! From there be walk to the Muckross House and Farm which was a bit lengthy. I could tell it was hard Tara especially in her pregnatious state "pregnant...lol!" so we all stopped off at the snack bar for a cup of coffee. Actually it was a welcomed break for all and the coffee hit the spot! I can never really tell with Claire if she is wore out or not because she is always so upbeat and ready to go. I have to say that's probably one of the neat things about traveling with her is all her positive energy! From the snack bar we walked on down to the farm for the experience of what Irish farming life was like back in the day. The farm was set up for the a look and feel of farm life from years ago, kind of like colonial Williamsburg. Just like at the farm one of the things they always ask us is what language do you want the tour in. The first cathedral we stopped in on day one I told them Pig Latin "ig pay atin lay". I was going to let that one hang for a minute or two before my wife saved him by singing English...lol! I could tell it baffled the man at the counter so I decided not to use that language anymore. We capped the day with a nice meal and ice cream and then welcomed the bed which kept beckoning us back at the B&B!

Kilkenny

5/30/14
What a beautiful day we woke up to! We sat down to eggs and bacon at our bed-and-breakfast that really fueled us for the day ahead. Once we got the car loaded we headed on out for the long drive to Kilkenny. Kilkenny is a beautiful medieval city which really made me feel like I was back in Europe. When we reached Kilkinny we lathered up with peanut butter and Nutella some fresh bread Tara grabbed from a local bread stand, and then headed out for exploration! Our first stop was Kilkenny castle. The castle was about 800 years old but it had been renovated some time back so it had more of a renaissance look and feel. From there we walked down to the  St Canice’s Cathedral and it was every bit of the medieval look and feel you would you would expect from its time period. We climbed the tower next to it and I think it freak my wife and I out! It seemed like forever before we reached the top! Once we left Kilkenny we head out for Cork. The drive to Cork was straight up awesome! It was just like out of the movies; really narrow roads with stone walls that were grown over with high foliage! The foliage was so high that we couldn't see around any corners and I know it was freaking Danny out driving! The drive had many old ruins of buildings and castles worn down from centuries of decay! I loved every minute of it! If you're ever in Ireland, Kilkenny is a must.

Dublin

Well we finally made it to Dublin! Tara and I had talked about coming to Ireland for a honeymoon. I realize it's two years later but hey were here! The plane ride over wasn't bad just hard to sleep! When we arrived in Dublin we had basically lost a whole day of sleep and so we were beat. However, we didn't waste any time. As soon as we got our car we headed straight to the bed-and-breakfast. It was humorous watching Danny try to drive on the opposite side of the road but I felt like he did a great job. As soon as we got to the bed-and-breakfast we cleaned up and headed out for a day in Dublin. We bought tickets for the hop on hop off bus and headed out. First stop was for lunch at a pub. Great food at a low price! It was a bit rainy and hazy outside but we didn't let that slows us down. We rode all over Dublin and jumped off at various locations. The highlights for me were the Saint Patrick's Cathedral and the Guinness storehouse. The start of the day was hard because we were all half drowsy barely able to keep awake from one destination to the other. However, about halfway through the day we got our second wind and pushed on like champs! Truth is I think I might have a little too much at the Guinness storehouse because on the last tram back I literally had to jump off and run to a restroom at an unscheduled stop. Huge praise to the bus driver for doing that for me! We stopped off at another pub for traditional fish and chip dinner and boy was it good! For some reason though on our way out we seem to have missed the bus so we ended up catching a taxi back to the bed and breakfast where we wasted no time hit the sack!

The morning of the 8th was our last day in Europe and we spent it in Paris. We only had the one day, so we headed straight for Notre Dame. After viewing it, we made our way over to the Louvre and spent about two hours roaming it. From there we headed on over to the Eiffel Tower. Miles didn't want to go up because he doesn't like hights, so Aaron and I made our venture to the top. I had to close my eyes on the way up because I felt panic kicking in...lol! I don't handle hights very well either, but just went for it. The views from the top were just great. When we finished we decided to have one last going home meal, so we could spend the rest of our euros. I would loved to have spent more time in Paris, but after that we called it a day. And that concludes our Tour La Europe. Thanks for reading!