http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , Ireland en-us Sat, 25 May 2013 03:49:30 +0000 Sat, 25 May 2013 03:49:30 +0000 Oh Ireland. What can I say Its been great so far. Andy and I found each other easily in the airport and our trip from the airport to the hotel was a breeze. It definitely is living up to its weather though. Absolutely freezing and cloudy everyday. But Dublin39s architecture and rich history make up for it. I especially love the random old drunk men that wander around midday and noone seems to http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/County-Dublin/blog-787331.html If John would have asked me if I wanted to get up at 6AM catch a ferry to cross the North Atlantic drive halfway across Ireland stopping to climb around and through two castle ruins and then drive the rest of the way across Ireland to visit friends I probably would have said no. However this is vacation and travelling timeit is a time warp. But I am getting ahead of myself.Day 11 Sunday W http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/County-Kilkenny/blog-786850.html It is so nice to be nice and have others be nice to you. If you share this thought come to Ireland This has been such a wonderful day and one much needed. When we came to Galway we had no planswe weren39t even sure why we were here except that everyone who has travelled in Ireland said You must go to Galway So we did and never have we been so glad for random advice.First of all the B http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/County-Galway/Salthill/blog-786527.html Well time flies when youre having fun ehWe cleaned up Swiers Farmhouse early on Wednesday morningstrange what the male cousins left behind but I think I now know where all the missing mates of sock pairs liveand were on the way to make our flight from Manchester to Dublin in a circuitous pattern. The squiggle of a driving route began with a return trip to Haddon Hall because I had a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/County-Galway/Galway/blog-786464.html We set the alarm for 7am. We were not docked yet still moving up the mouth of the Liffey river. It is cloudy and it looks like maybe some light showers 52 degrees. I jumped in the shower as Ken went downstairs to get our lattes. We called Bobbie and Annie to wake them up. We went up for our eggs and orange juice didn39t see Annie and Bobbie. We met them outside our room and headed down to ge http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/County-Dublin/Dublin/blog-785126.html 7 12 hour trip to London. Boarding the flight went smoothly and after we lifted off from Chigao we received the usual airline dinner offering pasta or some kinda meat. Beverages were plentiful and included selections of both beer and wine. We stayed awake a little bit after the meal watching some movies. Turbulence also was featured as dessert. It was good enough for the pilot to seat the.fli http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/County-Dublin/Dublin/blog-785098.html Beautiful Ireland the country side reminds me of home except there is a distinct difference in the fact that the farms are separated by fences made of stone instead the trusty old No. 8 wire. Ireland is made up of Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland usually referred to as just Ireland I have visited both many times over the past 3 or so years. I lived in Northern Ireland for a summer in 2 http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/blog-785087.html Today is the big day We are at the airport waiting in the terminal The first flight is a puddle jumper to Chicago then we hop to Heathrow then finally arrive in glorious Dublin The morning started off by sleeping in... When you regularly hope out of bed at 6 AM 9 AM is sleeping in. The remainder of the perishable food in the refrigerator created a hearty breakfast. After attending to final a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/County-Dublin/Dublin/blog-784890.html Packing is a big thing. It is all about how to have enough clothing toiletries and electronic devices yet fit it into a backpack eachNo we do not have those mondo oversized hiker39s backpacks but a decently sized backpack each like kids use to haul all their stuff back and forth from school.The way we deal with the clothing is to roll it up tightly after folding it carefully then wrap http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/County-Dublin/Dublin/blog-784403.html It has been a lot of planning and saving but we are within 2 days of traveling We have packed and repacked our backpacks arranged for transport taking care of a last few details. This has been 4 12 months in the planningIt all started after our last vacation when we were thinking a bicycle trip through Belgium kinda like the New Belgium Beer Company founder had made many years ago. Ther http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/County-Dublin/Dublin/blog-784393.html Today was The Great Limerick Run. It is the 2nd largest race in Ireland after the Dublin Marathon. Sara ran the half marathon. She ran around a 150. After the race we went to O39Connor39s for Shepard39s Pie as a celebration of her race. Being at a race really made me feel at home and made me excited to fly home after these finals. I may regret not running the half marathon in the futu http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/County-Limerick/Limerick/blog-784384.html After tossing up how to get to Ireland with limited time we decided it was fast and less hassle to catch a plane from Edinburgh to Dublin. Our one week in Ireland consisted of 3 days in Dublin which was long enough then 4 nights on the road.Highlight from Dublin was the Guniness factory tour we did on the first day. This was a in depth tour consisting of everything you want to know about the prod http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/County-Galway/Connemara/blog-783837.html ltstrong stylefontfamily Arial sansserif lineheight 19pxgtTravelling with Kids in Irelandltbr stylefontfamily Arial sansserif lineheight 19px gtSome changes for us we didn39t take the carseat just a booster. He had more room to stretch out on the plane but didn39t seem to sleep as easily on it. On the other hand he seemed happier with the increased mobili http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/County-Dublin/Dublin/blog-783694.html I woke up and started my way on my last trip in Ireland. I cannot believe this all went by so fast. Randi and I took a bus to Cork and caught a bus to Blarney from there. As we walked onto the castle grounds I was amazed at the flower and scenery. I am so glad that I didn39t visit until now when the flowers were in bloom. We followed a river to the castle to make our way up to the infamous Bl http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/County-Cork/Cork/blog-782063.html 03042013 HowthOur roommates at the hostel turned out to be rather noisy and generally unkind seriously kids if you go back to the dorms at 1 a.m. you39re quiet as mice and definitely don39t spend another hour discussing this nice guy at the bar what a clich we got out of the room as soon as we could as we couldn39t sleep anyway feeling a bit tired. I guess that39s why http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/County-Dublin/Howth/blog-780993.html So let39s start. I hope to gradually describe my previous trips and travels and also to be rather systematic with the trips that are yet to come. I already have one analogue diary written by hand with photos developed in the oldfashioned photo lab something I can carry with me when I travel. But... maybe it39d be nice to actually share my experiences with someone We will see how it http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/County-Dublin/Dublin/blog-780991.html The family decided to go on a tour around Ireland in early August of 2011. I haven39t got many of the photos as my dad is old fashioned and still uses film and I39m no photographer used phone camera mostly. I39d love to go back such a peaceful country with so much history. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/blog-780924.html So it was Student Race Day As we were putting on our makeup and putting on our dressy clothes everyone walking outside was in suits and dresses. I loved it Everyone looked so nice. I had even bought a big flowery hat for the occasion. We all went over to Reed39s house before we got on the bus to go to the Races. Everyone looked so nice On the bus I met one of Brittany39s friends from L http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/County-Limerick/Limerick/blog-780791.html I scheduled my train and ferry to Dublin the morning of my 2nd day in London. I had a total of four usable days in London including my halfday trip to Stonehenge which wasnt enough time especially given certain distractions. Thus I left without seeing the Tower of London a Shakespearean play or any of the musicals. Good thing I dont have to be anywhere at any particular time after my tr http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/County-Dublin/Dublin/blog-780194.html It came so quickly my last day with my family in Ireland. We started our day at 8am when we got in the car and headed down N24 to Waterford. About halfway there we took a slight detour to Cashel. We visited the Rock of Cashel also known as St. Patricks Rock. The reason it got its name is because the Castle was built on a huge rock by the town of Cashel. There is a story that the devil was fl http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/County-Waterford/Waterford/blog-779942.html