Our Favorites and Suggetions

Favorite Place to Stay: (J and T) Old Presbytery in Kinsale
Favorite Town: (J and T) Kinsale
Favorite Meal: (J) Scallops and Lobster at Finn's in Kinsale (T) Meal at Finn's
Favorite View: (J) From the Cliffs of Moher (T) From the Castle Ruins at Ballinskelligs
Favorite Musicians: (J) The musicians at The Blue Haven in Kinsale and The Brazen Head in Dublin (T) Michael O'Brien in Kenmare and the musicians in Doolin
Favorite Breakfast: (J) French Toast at Ashfield B&B in Kenmare (T) They were all good- at the B&Bs
Favorite Activity: (J) The Night of Story Telling at The Brazen Head in Dublin (T) Cliffs of Moher
Favorite Castle/Ruins: (J) The ones on the side on the road (T) Ruins at Ballinskelligs

Don't miss out on: The boat trip across Muckross Lake, the signs that lead you down little side roads, The  Burren, the beaches

Next time we would skip: (J) The Dermot Ryan tour in Kinsale and go with the other guys, (J) the Green tour bus in Dublin and go with the Red one, (J) Grafton street- just like any shopping district, (T) Kilkenny Castle


Helpful hints: Ask locals what to do, where to eat and what routes to take. Trip Advisor has great tips on places to stay and what to do.

Our Last Day in Ireland

From Doolin we drove along the coast of Galway Bay. It was BEAUTIFUL! I bet this is what the Ring of Kerry would have looked like if it wasn't so foggy. I probably should have taken some pictures, but I didn't, so just imagine blue skies, blue/green water on one side and Irish landscape on the other.

In Galway we planned on taking the 11:00 train to Dublin. It was getting very close to 11:00 when we entered the city. I was getting a bit nervous to say the least. We found the Budget rent-a-car place and then were told we had to drop it off down the street at a parking garage place and then walk back to the office. After that we then had to walk to the train station.

 Toby was sure we would make it, and I should have believed him, because we made it with time to spare and got a great seat with a table that we shared with this little old man and his half broken glasses. He was cute ;)

The trainride was a good way to end our trip. It was relaxing and gave Toby a break from driving. We arrived in Dublin in the early afternoon so we had some time to walk around the city.

We were staying at the Trinity Capital Hotel, like we did at the beginning of our trip, so we just walked the short distance to Trinity College and took a tour of the campus.

A sculpture nicknamed the Death Star.

After the tour and a bite to eat, we walked along Grafton Street, O'Connell Street, and saw the famous Post Office (the site of the 1916 Easter Rising- mentioned in Downton Abbey-just FYI) and another sculpture. I can't remember the real name of the sculpture, but it's nicknamed "The Stiffy by the Liffy."

Our last dinner (and pint) was at Quay's Pub in Temple Bar. We had standard pub food accompanied by a Guinness.

The next morning we boarded a plane back to the States saying goodbye to Ireland. It was an awesome trip.

Kenmare to Doolin (part 2)

After we left the Cliffs of Moore we headed for Doolin. Once checked into our hotel, Tir gan Ean House, we headed out along corkscrew road to The Burren.

The Burren is the opposite of the rest of Ireland. Where most of Ireland has lush green landscape, The Burren is a land of limestone. It was really interesting to see the transition and then walk among the limestone.

On the map we saw a a few places to visit in The Burren National Park. One of them was a tomb called Poulnabrone Dolmen

 

Throughout Ireland many farmers used stone to create fences. In the Burren these fences were everywhere. Although the limestone is abundant here, it seems like it would take a lot of work to create these fences:

From the tomb we headed back toward Doolin and to it's port. We hung out on the roocks and watched the water crash on the shore. We even got to see a dolphin.

(It was COLD!!- but sunny :) )

Before dinner we got to see this beautiful rainbow. It was a great reminder of how God keeps his promises. He truly blessed us on this trip.

Since Doolin was known for its music, we wanted to hear live music, so we asked our receptionist where the music would be played that night. Unfortunately she was not in tune with what was happening and we didn't have any music at dinner, but we went to another pub down the road and got a front row seat to a three man band. I was really tired, so after a pint, we made our way back to the hotel and went to bed.

The Ring of Kerry

The next day we headed out to drive a scenic route around the Iveragh Peninsula called The Ring of Kerry. Unfortunately this was our rainy and foggy day in Ireland, but we made the best of it.

We started in Kenmare, went through Sneem and around the ring we went. We even did the red scenic route sticking out from the official Ring of Kerry. That turned out to be one of the coolest parts.

 

A random stop along the way.

sheep!

After driving through fog and not seeing much, we arrived in Waterville and were able to see again. We parked the car and walked along the town's beach.

Apparently Charlie Chaplin spent a lot of time here in Waterville. According to our guide from our boat ride on Muckross Lake, Chaplin was able to have some privacy in this small town. People thought he was a little off (he used a different word), but left him alone.

Back in the car again, we headed toward Ballinskelligs. We didn't really know where we were going, but saw a sign for a beach decided to investigate.

This was one of our favorite places. It was just us, a castle with unrestricted climbing and the water.

This overexposure is kind of cool- Toby walking off  across some shimmering water to a castle tower.

The fog covering the hills in the background is most likely what we drove through earlier in the day.

On top of the tower from the outside...

...and the inside

so far down...

After the stop at the beach, we continued on around this little ring. We passed by the Skellig Rocks which is home to a wide variety of birds and on the larger rock, there are remnants of a monastery. I would have loved to go but, when planning the trip, we didn't have time. (We wouldn't have been able to go anyway because of the weather.)

As we drove on we did see a Skellig we could get to: Skelligs Chocolate. 

In the middle of nowhere there was this chocolate factory.  You could watch them make their chocolate and they gave tons of free samples. 

Although we were hungary, we wanted something more than chocolate for lunch, so after tasting (and buying) some chocolate we continued down the road to Cahirsiveen at ate at Frank's Bar. It was tasty.

As we rounded the corner of the Ring of Kerry we explored the Gap of Dunloe and Muckross Abbey.

On the way back to our B&B we had some sheep crossing the road. There were more, but I didn't get my camera out it time. In addition to the sheep, you can see the sticker in our rental car reminding us to drive on the left side of the road.

That night we ate at a place called Davitt's and got to listen to some more music. This couple played a variety of instruments and also sang acapella. They admitted that they played more traditional songs than the younger kids played next door (at The Coachman's).

After dinner we went back to the B&B and prepared to say good-bye to Kenmare.