Europe 2012 - Day 10

The woman at the reception desk thanked me for brining lovely weather from the States.  However, said that it was too hot and Irish women get cranky when it’s too hot.  Haha.  The sun has been shining since day 3; we are so fortunate.  Alan and I didn’t pack for this weather and have our sweaters stowed away, and our tees being over worn!

Anyway, on the road again!  I think this is the most use we have ever gotten out of a rental car!  We headed down the coast into the countryside, to visit the Cliffs of Moher.  The cliffs rise 700 feet and range for 5 miles along the Atlantic Ocean on the western seaboard of Co. Clare.  Pictures speak louder than words.  But I can say that Alan made me hike further on the PRIVATE PROPERTY, NO TRESPASSING, DANGEROUS TERRAIN trail, longer than the butterflies in my stomach could handle.  And…the wind was insane.  I feared that small children would get blown off the cliffs.

[The Cliffs of Moher]

[O'Brien Tower in the distance]

[A little nervous about sitting so close to the edge.  Alan's foot actually slipped a little to his side and I jumped to grab him as well as the guy who offered to take our picture]

[Incredible views]

[See this sign, Alan made me hike way past this...

[....all the way out here]

Total relaxation is on the agenda for the rest of the night.  Our hotel delivers complimentary coffee, tea, and cookies to your room at a push of a button.  What a perk!  So I am sippin’ and sittin’ in the lobby, soakin’ in the last few days until we return to reality.  In a bit we are going to walk down to the lake, then head to the lounge for a bite to eat.  There is a entertainment on Saturday nights…crossing my fingers for traditional Irish music!!!

Europe 2012 - Day 9

This morning we made the long 3-hour drive to Galway.  Galway is a bigger city, probably 2^nd biggest to Dublin.  Which leads to my next statement – we got lost for the first time in Ireland.  Not getting lost yet probably is due to my stellar navigating abilities!  As I have mentioned previously, street signs are non-existent in Ireland.  So, if the Google Maps printed direction to take the 3^rd exit from the roundabout in 2.73 km doesn’t exist…you are screwed.  We stopped in a gas station to get a detailed map of the city, and ultimately found our way to the Glenlo Abbey hotel.

[Taking a stretch mid-way...soakin in the ocean view]

[Golf Course & river view from our room]

We took a taxi to the city center to stroll around.  Galway has a good city center filled with cute shops and restaurants.  Similar to Denmark, young adults were sprawled on the grass drinking beer, on this beautiful day.  Chicago officials need to take a few tips from European countries ;-)  We had dinner on an Italian restaurant patio.  Then headed to a bar recommended to us by a previous traveler, Taffes.  Traditional Irish music started at 10p, and I had a bar stool in the front row, obviously.

[Downtown Galway]

[Alan very excited to be in Ireland]

[Galway peeps along the river on a nice evening]

[Sitting by the harbor]

[Traditional Irish Music]

[Kristyn very excited to be in Ireland]

Europe 2012 - Day 8

Today we drove through the Blue Stack Mountains into the Glenveagh National Park.  Once again, it was an ‘adventurous’ one-hour drive.  Alan said I had one hand white knuckling my seat and the other white knuckling the roadmap.  But the drive there was beautiful

[Donegal countryside]

Once we arrived at the National Park, we hiked a beautiful 5K along the water.  The views were breathtaking (total understatement, the pictures don’t even capture it).   We even stopped into the Glenveagh Castle.  We’ve been visiting a lot of castles, and I’d been wanting to do an official guided tour, so we did one here.  As we waited for our tour time, we walked around the immaculate gardens.  I’ve gotten quite a bit of outdoor space inspiration on this trip.  When the time comes (i.e., I have a backyard), I may consider designing a European vegetable & flower garden.   On the castle tour, we learned bits and pieces of historical info.  The castle doesn’t stand on a major waterway, and was actually built as a hunting lodge.  It sits on thousands of acres of land, and holds the largest herd of red deer.  We weren’t allowed to take pictures on the castle tour, but the interior has a very lodge-y inspired elements, such as large bronze buck heads in the entryway and plaid wallpaper in the music room.  Most recently the castle was a ‘summer home’  (seriously, are you kidding?) for an American from Philly (professor from Harvard, who had a wealthy family background).  We learned fun things along the way too, like – the most previous owner had a glass canister that was filled every morning….with 9 liters of Jameson!  The American donated castle to the country of Ireland in 1983.  However, there were two stipulations 1) it remains open for the public to enjoy and 2) all his staff kept their jobs for as long as they wanted to work there.

[Glenveagh National Park]

[Glenveagh National Park]

[Glenveagh National Park]

[Glenveagh Castle]

[Glenveagh Castle]

[Glenveagh National Park - my favorite view from the day]

We hit ‘downtown’ Donegal Town for dinner at The Harbour Restaurant.  It was a mere 2 streets.  We ate at an amazing restaurant (thank you, Trip Advisor!).  I said it was the best meal yet.  Donegal is a fishing village, so naturally we ordered seafood.  Our crab claws put Joe’s Crab House in Chicago to SHAME (claimed best seafood in the city).   We wandered around downtown for a little longer.  I ordered a Guinness, since many people told me it would be served warm in the north.  It was cold.  And Donegal is about as far north as you can get in this country!  Perhaps times have changed J

[Pub that we visited tonight]

[Donegal Town, Ireland]

Europe 2012 - Day 6 & 7

Not much to report from Day 6.  Alan & I were whooped.  Seriously, we have been nonstop moving since the hour we landed in Dublin!  This morning we had an early flight from Copenhagen back to Dublin.  We were those people who fell asleep on the bus ride to the airport, at the gate, and before the plane got off the ground.  When we landed in Dublin, we picked up our car rental for the next 6 days, and headed to our first stop Co. Meath, about 30 miles outside of Dublin.  We grabbed lunch in the small town of Dunboyne, then went back the hotel and didn’t leave for the rest of the night!  We needed some complete downtime.  We hit the spa & jacuzzi, then went to dinner at the hotel.

Day 7 we woke up bright and early to head out to our long trek to Northwestern Ireland, Co Donegal.  We left the hotel at 1130a and didn’t arrive until 6p.  I was a stressball the entire trip.  In Ireland, you drive on the left side of the road and on the opposite side of the car.  It was like driving upnorth in one of Michigan’s worst snow storms.  The roads are barely made for 2 lanes, and it is turn after town after roundabout.  The speed limit is 100 kilometers per hour.  I have no idea how fast it is in mph, but it was way to damn fast for these roads!  Street signs are non-existent.  There was no way in hell I was going to drive, so Alan just listened to me gasp every 20 minutes as he tried to keep the wheel steady and I looked at the 3 different maps that I had open at once (all calling roads by different names).  

Luckily we didn’t spend the entire 6+ hours driving.  First we stopped in the city of Kells.  As in, the Book of Kells.  We did a walking tour of the city, stopping at various historic sites.  From there we went to Grove Gardens, and wandered around there.  The best part of vacation is when you don’t have to keep track of time, and just come and go as you wish.

[The Columban Monastery]

[A total of 4 high crosses survive at Kells.  The one above is complete]

[Another high cross, however the top is cut off.  Legends say, many were damaged by Cromwell's army in the 1600s] 

[Its a little hard to tell in this picture, but the petals on these flowers were uniquely shaped]

We kept heading north, stopped in a town along the way for sandwiches.  We passed by this beautiful lake, so parked along the side of the road for a few good pictures.  Ireland is filled with little town after town.  And yes, it is a million shades of green everywhere.  Our car (which is the size of a tin can) ONLY went completely off the road once.  In the height of my stress, and mumbled through my teeth, ‘this Donegal castle we are staying in better be freaking worth it.’ 

[I have yet to name her, but this is our ride for the week]

[Lower Lough Erne, just outside of Enniskillen]

We pulled up to a castle hotel that looks like it is out of a fairytale.  It is unbelievable.   I seriously don’t even want to leave…actually we haven’t yet, ha!  We spent a good 2 hours roaming the grounds when we arrived this evening.  The interior is amazing too.  Every hallway leads to another sitting room or library, and they all look like they are from another time.  Two nights here is not enough!

[Lough Eske castle, we are staying here]

[walking around the grounds]

[Lough Eske Lake]

[Lough Eske Lake]

[I love the low stone walls that serve as gates around the front of houses...most have pretty greenery]