Ireland

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Dear All,

Cathy, Brian, Vic and I just got back from a hectic five day drive holiday around the Republic of Ireland. Ireland was just what I expected apart that we had perfect weather everyday (which was actually too hot for some of the locals). The Irish are extremely friendly (although some a little hard to understand), the west coast of Ireland is spectacular (as highlighted by our photos) and the pubs are great with live music in most. Unfortunately Dublin was a let down.

With an early start, we flew into Dublin (just a 40 minute flight), picked up our hire car and headed to Kilkenny for lunch, a pint of Kilkenny, followed by a walk in the Kilkenny castle grounds. We then ventured further south to the Waterford Crystal factory, then onto Cobh where the Titantic sailed from and where we settled for the night and sampled some Irish specialities (Vic sampling some Irish Stew and me some Guiness).

The next day we visited Blarney Castle where we kissed the blarney stone, drove around the scenic Ring of Kerry and part of the Dingle Peninsula and set up camp in Dingle, a nice village on the south west coast of Ireland.

On day three we saw more of the Dingle Peninusla, the Cliffs of Moher and stayed at Doolin which is a popular but small Irish village on the west coast known for its music pubs. Apparently, everynight the two pubs are packed with visitors listening to some of the best Irish musicians and this was surely the case on the night we were there.

Day four was pretty much driving back to Dublin (I forgot to mention that it takes forever to drive around Ireland. There are road works a plenty and driving through all the villages slow you down). In Dublin, live on TV was Dublin v Offaly in the Gaelic Football Final (which Dublin won), so that night there were plenty of Irish out drinking their Guiness in celebration.

Day five was spent exploring Dublin (Trinity College, St Patricks Cathedral, Dublin Castle).

Cathy and Brian are now in Amsterdam and Vic and I are getting organised for our camping trip around Western Europe, leaving on Monday.

Cheers,

Wes and Vic

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Photos

Sunet at Doolin
Great sunsets on the west coast

Live music in Doolin
I love how they sit around the table sipping Guiness

Having a beer in Dublin
We found a great liitle pub with original features

Comments

[ross benger]

memories
Brings back memories of the 2 weeks Lesley and I spent in Ireland in1979. I had planned to buy some Stewart crystal but Lesley suggested a detour to Waterford and I bought with Lesley's help and opinion the glasses that come out for more formal dining. Green like nowhere else I have been. We subsequently camped around western Europe for 3 months in a VW Kharman Ghia while the Porsche stayed in Lyon. Have fun!