mily & Friends - Well, I am thankful to report that the rest of our Ireland adventure was not so dramatic and life threatening. :) Tuesday we awoke to another amazing breakfast and set out toward the Talbert car ferry enroute to the Cliffs of Moher. The ferry across was only about 20 minutes and very beautiful, not raining yet. The roads today were also a lot better, still narrow but not quite like yesterday. We got to the cliffs in a few hours and explored, then hit up Doolin where we did a cave tour and saw the world's largest stalactite open to the public, 2nd largest in the world (1st is in Brazil apparently.) I wasn't expecting much but this was actually a really cool sight to see!
After that we drove up along the coast through The Burren, which I personally thought was a more beautiful (and safer) drive then the Ring of Kerry. We got out to walk a few times and take in the scenery of the rugged coastline. We drove a bit more along the coast before finally arriving in Salthill, just outside Galway. We picked the night they were having a huge music festival and 5k, so traffic was scary, but we did finally make it and set out straight for the pub for dinner.
Wednesday we decided our key activity would be Bunratty Castle, down near Limerick where we were staying that night. I did not want to be in the car all day. We arrived in 90 minutes (after our Irish breakfast of course) and explored the main tower that they had refurbished and reconstructed as it might have looked in the 16th century. After that we wandered through the folk town they had set up mimicking what a farming town in Ireland would have looked like back in the day. It was neat and we spent a good 3 hours there. We checked into our B&B earlier than normal, had some tea & coffee, and then went out for our pub dinner. A Guinness was had and my mom & I split an amazing burger!
Thursday we awoke and had, you guessed it, an amazing full Irish brekkie, before setting out to Blarney Castle. We did the tour of the Blarney House which is this mansion on the grounds that people actually still live in. Then we did the Blarney Castle and of course kissed the Blarney Stone to give us eloquent speech. (You can let me know if it worked later.) We spent about 3 hours here before heading into Cork for a bit be
fore heading into the airport. I managed to park the tank in a parking garage, squeezing through many tight corridors of concrete (barely) and we walked around Cork and along the river. My dad had no faith in my sense of direction and did not believe we were walking back the correct way because he didn't think we'd walked that far. I assured him I was pretty sure it was just up a bit on the right. Still not convinced, he stopped a random girl and asked her if there were 2 rivers in Cork. OMG! Mom and I kept walking with our heads down and then low and behold 5 minutes later we were there! (I just shake my head.)
fore heading into the airport. I managed to park the tank in a parking garage, squeezing through many tight corridors of concrete (barely) and we walked around Cork and along the river. My dad had no faith in my sense of direction and did not believe we were walking back the correct way because he didn't think we'd walked that far. I assured him I was pretty sure it was just up a bit on the right. Still not convinced, he stopped a random girl and asked her if there were 2 rivers in Cork. OMG! Mom and I kept walking with our heads down and then low and behold 5 minutes later we were there! (I just shake my head.)We finally make it to the airport with lots of time to spare, and the relief I feel upon handing over the keys is immeasurable. It was a great trip and Ireland is gorgeous, but I am very glad to be home and not driving anymore. Mom & Dad, I hope you had fun! Sorry about the small hiccup with the car, but at least we made our insurance count! I love you and hope you are having a wonderful time on your cruise. See you in a few weeks back in London!
Love,
Jenny and (somewhere in Frankfurt eating a brat) Sam
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