I don’t think I ever stopped smiling in Ireland. Every morning I would wake up and say ‘We’re in Ireland!’ as if my husband was unaware of the situation. I never believed in love at first sight until my first glimpse I caught out the airplane window while leaning over a stranger’s shoulder.
From the moment we landed every little experience seemed amazing there. Everything from having my passport stamped, (with my very first stamp I might add) to climbing a 100 narrow stairs to kiss the Blarney Stone. Even being bit by a donkey (an Irish Donkey of course) didn't seem so bad. I was in love!
Or first stop was Dublin: the city that seems to be one giant pub, you can’t walk a block with out walking by one. The Brazen Head, The Stags Head, The Temple Bar; you could spend months doing a pub crawl. We tried out our fair share; every one had it's own atmosphere and mix of people.
While in Dublin we took in as many sights as we could see. We were the typical tourist (which we usually don’t do) with our bus pass in hand we would hop on and off the double-decker bus that drove around town stopping at all the famous sites. We explored St. Patrick’s Cathedral, wandered through the Dublin Zoo and took the guided tours of both the Jamison’s Distillery and the Guinness Brewery.
After taking in all the sites we could in Dublin we decided to rent a car and head out to the country side. Which ended up being an adventure all in it’s self. Not only are we in another country trying to navigate through the city streets, but we were driving in a standard car on the other side of the road. Needless to say there were some very stressful moments, mainly because my map reading skills are not the best… to say the least. “Oh those numbers are the exit numbers…I was wondering what they were for.” My poor husband I don’t think he knew whether to laugh or cry at my inability to read a map.
We drove across the country travelling through all the beautiful counties; Wicklow, Wexford, Kilkenny, to spend the night in Cork, where the next day we would visit the famous Blarney Castle, that I so desperately wanted to see. After starting the next morning the usual way; with a traditional Irish breakfast, we made our way to Blarney Castle. We spent hours walking the grounds, exploring the castle and climbing the stairs to kiss the legendary Blarney Stone.
After kissing the stone and receiving my gift of eloquence we decided to head north to Galway Bay where we spent the night. The next morning we packed up and headed back on the road, with no real set destination. We ended up driving through Connemara National park and ending up in a town called Clifden were we decided to stay in a little Bed and Breakfast run by a gruff man named Eddy. Eddy insisted that we take a drive on Sky Road which had the most spectacular view. He guaranteed that we would not be disappointed. So once again we piled back into the car and headed out for some more adventure. As we drove up and up and up the sky road I started to look around and see that Eddy was right, this is what we had come here for. After reaching the top and parking the car. We stared in disbelief; it was one of the most beautiful things that we had ever laid our eyes on. This picture explains it all.
Our last day in Ireland was spent driving across the country, back to Dublin to return our rented car and to enjoy our last night with a pint or two. We decided to head over to the oldest pub in Ireland; The Brazen Head where we met the most wonderful trio of Irish gentlemen who we spent the night chatting with and sharing stories. A pint or two quickly turned into a pint or two too many and our last night in Ireland turned out to be one of the most fun; which we paid dearly for the next morning when we had to be up by 4 and on a plane to Holland.
So it was farewell to Ireland. In hopes of one day we would be able to return, I sadly watched the patch work fields getting smaller and smaller as we flew on to our next adventure.
Ireland you hold my heart.
