These past 2 weeks I have had a steady stream of visitors and it's been so fun showing people 
around the country! On Friday, the 21st, my family arrived to spend a little over a week traveling Ireland. I met them at the airport pretty early in the morning and we were off on our adventure soon after that. We rented a beautiful Toyota corolla which barely fit all of our luggage and bodies. Nerves were running high as we pulled out from the airport with our Garmin shouting directions about traffic circles and me reminding my dad to stay on the left hand side of the road. Eventually we made our way out of busy Dublin on the M50 divided highway (that's a big deal around here) and we headed down south to County Wicklow. I planned on us driving through
around the country! On Friday, the 21st, my family arrived to spend a little over a week traveling Ireland. I met them at the airport pretty early in the morning and we were off on our adventure soon after that. We rented a beautiful Toyota corolla which barely fit all of our luggage and bodies. Nerves were running high as we pulled out from the airport with our Garmin shouting directions about traffic circles and me reminding my dad to stay on the left hand side of the road. Eventually we made our way out of busy Dublin on the M50 divided highway (that's a big deal around here) and we headed down south to County Wicklow. I planned on us driving through
the Wicklow Mountain National Park and then stopping at Glendalough, an ancient monastery, where we visited on our IES orientation. In true Ireland style it was raining when we arrived at our destination, but we braved it and walked around the ruins, cemeteries, churches, and roundtowers and then also headed down to the lower lake. 
After a while we had enough of the rain and decided to take a break and get some lunch before we continued driving to Kilkenny for the night. Lunch was tasty and we were on our way across the National Park looking at mountains and various other interesting vistas. 
Kilkenny turned out to be a larger city than I first thought it would be and we had a pretty good time there. Everyone was tired from jetlag and traveling so we called it an early night and then planned on doing some touring downtown in the morning after a full Irish breakfast. That morning we ate a ton at breakfast and then went around downtown. There was Kilkenny Castle which was quite impressive, but unfortunately our timing was off for taking a tour and we had to pass. After looking around the huge grounds for a while we just walked around the city center looking at cute pubs and shops. 
We then made our way back to the car and started on the nervous journey to Killarney. Our Garmin, which ended up being a life saver and a curse all at the same time, decided to take us on some rather sketchy roads and there was some definite panic in the car more than once. The backroads were pretty much just one lane dirt roads that were curvy and very dangerous. Progress was slow, but eventually after multiple hours of travel we successful and safely made it to Killarney National Park. This was one sight that I really wanted to see on our vacation and it proved to be absolutely beautiful! I would strongly recommend the National Park to anyone who enjoys hiking, because the trails around the mountains and lakes were fantastic. We pretty much stayed close to the travel center and looked at the gardens:
the Muckross House:
and took one hike to a Torc Waterfall: The grounds were impressive and we all really enjoyed the stop. 
Later that night we headed into the city center and chose a random pub to eat dinner in. By chance it turned out to be the self proclaimed 'most famous pub in all of Ireland.' I'm not sure how true the title is, but we did like the Danny Mann pub a lot. First of all, the fish and chips were to die for and secondly, the live music was great. The Molly Malone's were playing that night and they are a trad band from Cork. We loved their music and ended up staying a while as we enjoyed Guinness and Bulmers. The next morning we woke up and went to church for Easter in a Cathedral in the city center. It turned out to be a beautiful church and after the mass we headed out for the Ring of Kerry. If you aren't familiar with the Ring of Kerry, it is a famous drive along the lower peninsula in County Kerry. Luckily, we did the tour on Easter Sunday and the tour busses must have had the day off, because we didn't see a single coach bus the entire time which made the thin roads a bit more bearable. Along the way we stopped at seaside towns, beaches, and lookout points. 
Later that night we headed into the city center and chose a random pub to eat dinner in. By chance it turned out to be the self proclaimed 'most famous pub in all of Ireland.' I'm not sure how true the title is, but we did like the Danny Mann pub a lot. First of all, the fish and chips were to die for and secondly, the live music was great. The Molly Malone's were playing that night and they are a trad band from Cork. We loved their music and ended up staying a while as we enjoyed Guinness and Bulmers. The next morning we woke up and went to church for Easter in a Cathedral in the city center. It turned out to be a beautiful church and after the mass we headed out for the Ring of Kerry. If you aren't familiar with the Ring of Kerry, it is a famous drive along the lower peninsula in County Kerry. Luckily, we did the tour on Easter Sunday and the tour busses must have had the day off, because we didn't see a single coach bus the entire time which made the thin roads a bit more bearable. Along the way we stopped at seaside towns, beaches, and lookout points. My favorite part of the Ring of Kerry was our split second decision to take a ferry to Valentia Island. The ferry that took us to the island held about 12 cars and the Island turned out to be nearly deserted. 
We drove around the Ring of Valentia and stopped at the top at Fogher Cliffs, which was like a mini Cliffs of Moher, with absolutely no one else there. The views from the top of Valentia Island were fantastic and it was a great addition to the Ring of Kerry. 
On our way back to Killarney we stopped in many small towns and saw a beach where numerous people were surfing...which was crazy. The Ring ended up taking us about 6 hours and it was a great tour.
The next day we woke up early and before weleft for Galway we stopped at Ross Castle near Killarney National Park. The castle was also pretty impressive and reminded me of a mini Blarney Castle. We looked around the grounds and also missed the tour and would have to wait for a long time to get the next one. I guess castle touring was not working for us on this trip. After finishing at the castle, we decided to take the coastal route to Galway which was a bit longer and had another ferry ride across the mouth of the River Shannon (more like the ocean though). We spent the day driving across the base of the Dingle Peninsula and across County Clare. The ferry ended up taking about 20 minutes and was a pretty unique experience. 
As we made our way closer to Galway we drove through the Burren and I had another chance to see the Cliffs of Moher. I was hoping that this time the weather would be better and maybe the sun would be shining, but I was let down. As soon as we arrived a huge cloud bank blew in and at 
times the Cliffs weren't even visible. My dad and I hiked up to the lookout tower and got stuck in some rain with no shelter to be found except the door way to the tower that was closed. We waited out the rain and then made our way back to the visitor's center where we enjoyed some hot chocolate and ice cream. Eventually the clouds cleared enough to actually see the Cliffs and we continued to make our way back up to Galway. We checked into the Galway Bay Hotel, which turned out to be a great location to stay. It was right by the promenade and had a great view of Galway Bay. Unfortunately, the hotel ran out of pillows and those of you who know my mom and sister know what a tragedy that must have been. Luckily, there was some creative use of fleece sweaters, towels, and coats and we survived the night. The next morning I had to leave quite early on a train to get back to Dublin for class. I left around 9 o'clock and my family went on a tour of Connemara, which made me pretty jealous. They said is was fantastic and they were able to see Kylemore Abbey, now a international girls boarding school, enter into a gaeltacht, and see some beautiful parts of County Galway.
We spent one night apart as they continued to tour Galway and I attended classes. On Wednesday night, I met up with the fam at the Harcourt Hotel, which was just south of St. Stephen's Green, and we went out to dinner. The next day I had film and culture class while they toured Dublin. I had them go to St. Stephen's Green, Dublin Castle, Grafton Street, Trinity College, and the National Museum. It turned out to be the only day where they didn't get rained on and seriously one of the nicest days I have seen here in Ireland. Later that night we ate a great dinner at the Barge Pub near my IES center and then headed down to Dundrum to meet
some of my roommates and see my apartment which turned out to be a full night. The next day we toured Kilmainham Gaol, which turned out to be interesting and historically educational, but depressing as expected. In Kilmainham Gaol the members of the 1916 were all held and executed one by one and this action by the British eventually led to the Civil War of 1921 and the freedom of the Republic of Ireland. Many of the prisoners were executed under harsh and tragic circumstances like one man who married his sweetheart in the jail the night before his execution. After learning about this history we headed over to the much more lighthearted atmosphere of the Guinness Storehouse. We ended up finding some seats in the Gravity Bar and enjoyed some Guinness up there while looking at the great view of Dublin. After this tour my mom had done too much walking and it had started to rain so we took a taxi back to the hotel and rested until dinner. We then ate dinner at a great Irish Pub at the top of Grafton Street called O’Neil’s that also had some great fish and chips and Irish atmosphere.
Here we called it a night and the vacation had come to an end. Sadly, I had to say goodbye to the family early Saturday morning and head back to Dundrum alone. Luckily, I didn't get too depressed because I had a visit from my friends, Zeke and Katrina, to look forward to in a mere 5 hours. I'll tackle our weekend together in a later post, because this one was epically long. Cheers!
The next day we woke up early and before weleft for Galway we stopped at Ross Castle near Killarney National Park. The castle was also pretty impressive and reminded me of a mini Blarney Castle. We looked around the grounds and also missed the tour and would have to wait for a long time to get the next one. I guess castle touring was not working for us on this trip. After finishing at the castle, we decided to take the coastal route to Galway which was a bit longer and had another ferry ride across the mouth of the River Shannon (more like the ocean though). We spent the day driving across the base of the Dingle Peninsula and across County Clare. The ferry ended up taking about 20 minutes and was a pretty unique experience. As we made our way closer to Galway we drove through the Burren and I had another chance to see the Cliffs of Moher. I was hoping that this time the weather would be better and maybe the sun would be shining, but I was let down. As soon as we arrived a huge cloud bank blew in and at 
times the Cliffs weren't even visible. My dad and I hiked up to the lookout tower and got stuck in some rain with no shelter to be found except the door way to the tower that was closed. We waited out the rain and then made our way back to the visitor's center where we enjoyed some hot chocolate and ice cream. Eventually the clouds cleared enough to actually see the Cliffs and we continued to make our way back up to Galway. We checked into the Galway Bay Hotel, which turned out to be a great location to stay. It was right by the promenade and had a great view of Galway Bay. Unfortunately, the hotel ran out of pillows and those of you who know my mom and sister know what a tragedy that must have been. Luckily, there was some creative use of fleece sweaters, towels, and coats and we survived the night. The next morning I had to leave quite early on a train to get back to Dublin for class. I left around 9 o'clock and my family went on a tour of Connemara, which made me pretty jealous. They said is was fantastic and they were able to see Kylemore Abbey, now a international girls boarding school, enter into a gaeltacht, and see some beautiful parts of County Galway.We spent one night apart as they continued to tour Galway and I attended classes. On Wednesday night, I met up with the fam at the Harcourt Hotel, which was just south of St. Stephen's Green, and we went out to dinner. The next day I had film and culture class while they toured Dublin. I had them go to St. Stephen's Green, Dublin Castle, Grafton Street, Trinity College, and the National Museum. It turned out to be the only day where they didn't get rained on and seriously one of the nicest days I have seen here in Ireland. Later that night we ate a great dinner at the Barge Pub near my IES center and then headed down to Dundrum to meet
some of my roommates and see my apartment which turned out to be a full night. The next day we toured Kilmainham Gaol, which turned out to be interesting and historically educational, but depressing as expected. In Kilmainham Gaol the members of the 1916 were all held and executed one by one and this action by the British eventually led to the Civil War of 1921 and the freedom of the Republic of Ireland. Many of the prisoners were executed under harsh and tragic circumstances like one man who married his sweetheart in the jail the night before his execution. After learning about this history we headed over to the much more lighthearted atmosphere of the Guinness Storehouse. We ended up finding some seats in the Gravity Bar and enjoyed some Guinness up there while looking at the great view of Dublin. After this tour my mom had done too much walking and it had started to rain so we took a taxi back to the hotel and rested until dinner. We then ate dinner at a great Irish Pub at the top of Grafton Street called O’Neil’s that also had some great fish and chips and Irish atmosphere.Here we called it a night and the vacation had come to an end. Sadly, I had to say goodbye to the family early Saturday morning and head back to Dundrum alone. Luckily, I didn't get too depressed because I had a visit from my friends, Zeke and Katrina, to look forward to in a mere 5 hours. I'll tackle our weekend together in a later post, because this one was epically long. Cheers!
1 comment:
"straight on through the roundabout" that is always my favorite. looking forward to reading about our adventures, although i'm not going to wait until i get back to st. gallen to chronicle our fantastic adventures. cheers.
Post a Comment