I love Ireland! I knew I would enjoy Ireland after my trip to Scotland, but it is truly one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Again we were blessed with perfect weather of sunshine and clear skies for all of the very long journey.
We left after dinner on Wednesday and drove a few hours on the bus to get to the ferry, then boarded the ferry at around 2 am!!! Then after the 4 hour ferry ride we got back on the bus and ate a hot traditional Irish breakfast of beans, ham, & toast. Then we ,again, got back on the bus and headed to Blarney. Once there it was completely gorgeous!! We walked over to the Blarney Castle and then I kissed the Blarney Stone therefore receiving the lovely gift of eloquence. After that me and Anna & Shaylin walked around town and tried our first irish coffee, it was actually quite delicious :)
From Blarney we drove to the town of Killarney and ate dinner then called it a night. The next morning we had an early wake-up so we could get on the us for our Ring of Kerry paddy wagon tour. We started our drive of the Irish countryside with our very funny bus driver/tour guide Phil who took us first to Dingle Bay, which was amazing. I had no idea there were so many mountains and coves in Ireland!
Then we stopped at the Beach and various waterfalls and a beautiful mountain top with a statue of the Lady Madonna on top. It took all day, but it was worth it and offered some stunning views of the Irish countryside.
Later that night back in Killarney we went to a really nice Irish restaurant with local food where I had some delicious lasagna! Then we visited some small pubs for some great live Irish music!
The next day we got back on the bus and headed to Dublin! We didn't get to our hotel until around 3pm so we didn't have a whole lot of time since all the shops close up around 5 or 6 but it was still fun to see the city. We walked around the famous Temple Bar district where there were lots of great street performers and classic Irish pubs. It was pretty packed too because there was a big rugby match going on all day that people were rather pumped about.
Sadly the next morning we had to get back on the bus to head home and spent most of Valentine's Day en route back to school. We briefly stopped in Wales for lunch at the town that has the longest name in world "Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch" which translates to "The church of St. Mary in the hollow of white hazel trees near the rapid whirlpool by St. Tysilio's of the red cave". Hahaha and we had some great homemade Welsh food for lunch! All in all it was a great trip and definitely an excellent experience.
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