Ireland Trip

I went on vacation! Matt stayed home with the kids and I went to Ireland to visit Darcy. I landed in Dublin at 5am and Darcy was there to meet me and we headed back to the hotel to sleep. We explored Dublin for a day, below is a picture of me in front of the tour bus we went on and a picture of Darcy and I on the tour bus.

We listened to some traditional music at the pub in the picture below. We also ended up eating dinner here too. It is in the Temple Bar part of Dublin which is very popular with tourists.

This time of year is wonderful in Ireland for lots of reasons but the one I liked most was that there is plenty of daylight. The sun was up at 4am or so and set around 10pm. I think it is about 10pm when the picture below was taken of Darcy and I in front of the Ha'penny bridge. It is called the Ha'penny bridge because there use to be a toll charge of a half-penny to cross. This bridge crosses over the Liffey in Dublin.

We headed back to Darcy's pad from Dublin for a quick stay before we left for a road trip to Galway bay. On our way to Galway we had several sightseeing stops. Below are pictures of us in front of Kylemore Abbey. It was gorgeous. It is still an Abbey and a daycare, can you imagine you kids going here for daycare??

We stayed at a bed and breakfast in an area of Galway called Salt Hill. The owner of the Bed and Breakfast recommended an Italian restaurant for dinner. We loved the food and the atmosphere of the restaurant. Of course we ordered way too much food so we took leftovers home for dinner the next night.

Our rental car! It was a Toyota Micra and it was perfect for Ireland. Yes it is very small but you want a small car on these roads. It worked out great for us as it was just the two of us and we didn't have much baggage. We went exploring to..........

The Cliffs of Moher! I enjoyed this so much more than I was expecting. The drive to the cliffs was amazing. We took the scenic route along the coast and the weather was perfect. The cliffs were beautiful and we ate lunch overlooking them.

Rock walls are everywhere in Ireland. This is an example of one. Everyone has rock walls around their property and all through them too.

Darcy's pad is right on the river Shannon. Here we are on the "Moon River" for a trip up the Shannon. We went during the day which was very nice but they do have night time cruises that apparently involves lots of drinking!

Traditional Tea. The picture above is taken at Lough Rynn, a rebuilt castle not far from where Darcy lives. The castle was amazing and we had a wonderful afternoon tea.

Darcy took me to her local hangout, The Oarsman, for dinner and drinks a couple nights before I came home. Two of Darcy's co-workers were there for dinner with their SO's and we met up with them after dinner for beers and socializing. The food was fantastic and the atmosphere was just as good. Thank you Darcy for a fantastic trip to Ireland!