This was our last full day before flying home. We stopped at Kylemore Abbey which gave us some great photo opportunities. We drove through the countryside enjoying the scenery and we even had to stop for sheep which were being herded down the middle of the road. Our next stop was Cong, where the John Wayne classic "The Quiet Man" was filmed and is currently home to Ashford Castle. Ashford Castle, once owned by the Guinness Family now serves as a luxury hotel. ($500 USD per night with a two night minimum. Needless to say, we did not sleep here.) Winding [View Full Entry]

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Drove back to Carrickfergus Castle and toured for an hour. We then started our long drive across Ireland. We are staying overnight in Castlebar and ate dinner at Cox’s Restaurant. [View Full Entry]

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After a Ferris wheel ride high above city center, we decided to take a 1-1/2 hour Belfast city tour on a double-decker bus. After an afternoon of doing laundry and drinking hot chocolate, we decide to drive out of Belfast to see Lough Neagh, the largest lake in Ireland. We then drove down the coast back into Belfast. [View Full Entry]

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We drove about 2-1/2 hours to Belfast. We spend three hours touring the Transportation and Folk Museum, which one tour book said were “two of the finest” museums in Ireland. We drove into Belfast City and checked into the B&B. [View Full Entry]

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Spend the day in the City Center Dublin and ended with Nepalese Food near the hotel. [View Full Entry]

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Drove North about an hour from Cork to see Cahir Castle which is from the year 1142. We then drove to the Rock of Cashel which is a fortress from the 4th century. We attempted to see a Castle Ormond from the 14th century. Although we did “see it”, I did not notice in the tour book that it was not open until June. We then drove into Waterford and checked into our hotel. We drove to two beach towns, Dunmore East and Tramore and had dinner at our hotel’s pub. [View Full Entry]

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Last night, our waitress suggested visiting these two towns which are just outside Cork. Kinsale is a fishing port. While Cobh is a fishing port too, it is more famous for being the final point of departure for the fateful voyages of the Titanic and Lusitania. We drove back into City Cork and spend the afternoon shopping for short sleeve shirts for me (all I packed was sweaters and it has been in the 70s). We found a Captain America’s Pub (John’s favorite comic book character) and shared a pizza for dinner. [View Full Entry]

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We woke up early for a run/walk around Dingle before checking out of the B&B. We drove the “Ring of Kerry”, which is a popular loop around the County Kerry. We stopped at the seaside town of Waterville and ate lunch and John tried to teach me how to skip rocks in the Atlantic Ocean. Taking a road less traveled through a forest, we then drove onto City Cork, which is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland. We found a great pub across the street from the hotel and had Shepherd’s Pie and Curry Chicken. Every menu seems [View Full Entry]

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After a warm breakfast at our B&B, we started our drive West around the Slea Head. This is a scenic drive on roads that follow the coast of Dingle. We stopped a few times for great pictures and had some fun feeding the birds. We headed back into town and had chicken at a local pub. We did a little shopping and decided to head back out to the Slea Head. There is a popular postcard of the Dunquin Pier, which shows a winding stone dock and we were in search of this pier. We stopped at a restaurant, made entirely [View Full Entry]

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Another beautiful day, no rain and mid-sixties with sunshine. We drove 1-1/2 hours to the small town of Dingle, via Connor’s Pass. There are two roads which lead to Dingle; the main road which can accommodate the buses full of tourists and Connor’s Pass. Connor’s Pass is full of winding turns and many places where the road narrows to one lane. Yesterday was a clear day, so the views were amazing. Along the way to Dingle, we found a sandy beach at Castlegregory. John had some fun with a dog who just loved to play fetch with rocks. We spend the [View Full Entry]

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