Finally I'm getting a chance to try write about my trip to Ireland. As I mentioned before my trip was in two phases. Dublin was first in the end of March for three days. Then over the Easter bank holiday weekend I did the south coast of Ireland for four days.
Dublin- Part I
- I have to say that Dublin is like an any other cosmopolitan city. Lot of shopping, restaurants, bars, good public transport. The only difference between London and Dublin is the accent and the number of pubs per square mile. Can you believe that my friend Jane, who I went with had never been here to Ireland her entire life? The girl grew up in England but had never been in her backyard. That was so hard for me to imagine.
- As far as history goes, we took in some cathedrals, the famous college (Trinity College) that was set up Queen Elizabeth, we saw Oscar Wilde's House, etc...
- But by far the best thing about Dublin was the Guinness Factory. We practically spent an entire day there! They've done a fantastic job with the tour of the factory. You get to see the whole process from beginning to end. This includes how the beer is made, the founders of Guinness, the advertising story behind the brand (which I loved, of course) and even how to pour the beer.
- Now the men in Ireland are hot! The accents, the dark hair with the blue eyes, it's just too much! Jane and I would run into guys on the street and our mouths would just hang open at the sight them. Unfortunately I had no luck convincing any of them to run away with me to America.
South Coast - Part II
- The plan was here to hit all the must see spots starting at Cork and ending up in the city of Shannon. I had never planned a road trip before in my life and let me just say it's no picnic. Not having a GPS, or road signs or any familiarity with the country you're about to drive through makes for quiet a difficult trip. But somehow we made it through without getting too lost or killing each other on the road!
- In Cork we got our festive little Ford Fiesta and headed onto the motorway. Our first stop was the Blarney Castle, which was a must see. Obviously, the main goal was to kiss the blarney stone. For some reason a lot of people think if you kiss the stone you'll be lucky in love, but that's not true. The myth is if you kiss the stone you'll have the gift of eloquence. As many of you saw in my pics on facebook the castle was gorgeous. When we arrived it was pouring rain but by half way into the visit the sun was shining, which made the castle even more stunning. We made our way up to the top of castle, via hundred or so stairs, and got in line to the stone. Did you know that kissing the stone is one of the items on the "99 things to do you before you die"? I can't believe I did something on that list! Now, a lot of people told me that you shouldn't kiss the stone because Irish men pee on it because they think it's so silly that tourists kiss it. I can tell you that for someone to get up there and pee on it is virtually impossible. First off you have to pay to get in the castle. Then you have to climb a bijillion stairs. Then there's a guy whose sole job is to sit there and help you kiss the stone. Who is going to go through all that just to pee on a stone? Anyhow, I kissed the stone with the help of the lovely old man who mans the stone and he said, and I quote "I was a very gentle kisser!" hee hee!
- From here we went to Killarney which is a small town known for its massive lakes. We stayed at the cutest B&B that was above a pub. The B&B was run by a mother/daughter duo who were so fantastic. They made us breakfast every morning and always made sure we were taken care of. The first day in Killarney we did the Ring of Kerry. It is basically a ring with beautiful views and landscapes of Ireland. I drove half of the ring and my flatmate Sima drove the other half. I have to say getting used to driving on the other side of the road was hard. I kept veering into the other lane or I would get to close to the side of a bridge, which I incidentally swiped once, and I kept looking for the controls on the wrong side of the vehicle. After awhile I got the hang of it but the narrow roads didn't help matters or the sheep crossing the road (J/K about the sheep)! The Ring of Kerry had some beautiful parts, specifically the lakes and the waterfall.
- The last day in Killarney we drove the Dingle Peninsula. This was far more picturesque than the Ring of Kerry. We were practically stopping every mile to take photos. The beaches reminded me so much of home, and we would drive through the cutest towns, and no matter where we stopped to eat the food was always delicious. We got great weather on this day as well. The sun shined almost all day.
- After we finished the Dingle Peninsula we drove to the city of Limerick. Now the town sounds much more cute than it actually is. Limerick was pretty much a dump. Our goal was to just stay the night here so we could cut our drive in half to the Cliffs of Moher which was our last stop.
- So, our last day in Ireland we headed to the Cliffs of Moher. A lot of people had told me this was a must see and how gorgeous it was, but nothing prepares for you its beauty and vastness unless you see it in person. It was my favorite part of the entire trip. The cliffs were breathtaking. I couldn't believe that this was created by nature. I would just stand there and stare at them. I took a ton of photos and no matter what angle I shot every picture seemed better than the next. We decided to hike on the cliffs themselves to try and see if we could make it to the farthest point but we only got about 3/4 of the way there. I have to say at times I started to freak out a little because of how high up were and looking down didn't help matters but I'm glad I did the hike. I will probably never be there again, so I had to take advantage. After spending an entire day there we headed to the airport for our flight back home out of Shannon.
- All in all I loved this part of Ireland, more than Dublin. Seeing a country by car was such a different experience. I felt as though I really SAW the country. Everyone always tells you how green Ireland is, and it is! It's just hill after hill of lush green landscape. It is such an incredible country and I feel so fortunate to have had a chance to see it.
Now I can tick another place of my list which is getting shorter and shorter, finally! Next I am going to the Amalfi Coast the first weekend in May. This has been at the top of my list for awhile so I'm really looking forward to it.
The coats, scarves, and gloves are back in their boxes because spring has finally arrived. The temps are in the high 60's, the sun is shining and there isn't a drop of a rain in the sky. You know what everyone does when the weather gets like this in London? People hit the parks! No one wastes a single moment inside and when you have a place like Hyde Park where you can soak up the rays, you go.
