Ireland - The Icing on the Cake

Accommodations:  We stayed in a cozy converted Irish farmhouse near the Cliffs of Moher and at a B&B right on the water of Dingle Bay.  We really enjoyed having famous Irish breakfasts at these B&Bs as we visited about Ireland's history and folklore with our hosts who had Irish accents so thick you had to follow every word closely in order to stay in the conversation. 

Food Highlights: Fish & chips, traditional Irish stew (with mashed potatoes in the center), bacon and cabbage, and salmon caught in Dingle Bay.  We ate in 4 old Irish pubs and the food was savory and fabulous.

Humor:  Kelley was corrected by a castle owning Irish woman that she doesn't pronounce her Irish maiden name correctly.  "Why do you pronounce your name as 'Kinnidy'?  Open your mouth, girl!  It's Kennedy."   (Yes, ma'am).

Rest:  We spent a lot of time in the car driving from Dublin to Dingle and along the western coast soaking up some of the most beautiful land we've ever seen.    It wasn't restful exactly, but it was worth every turn.  

Adventure:  We rented a tiny car and Wayne had to learn how to drive on the right side of the car and on the left side of the street.   We only hit the curb a few times and the side view mirror once!   The roads were VERY narrow and once we had to back up a skinny mountain road we were driving when we came nose to nose with another car.  Kelley took a turn and wasn't too bad at the wheel either.

Back up just a little....

We were at day 25 of our trip in Greece and Wayne was ready to come home and see Charlie.   Greece had been amazing and we made new friends but it was time to leave.  (Here's a few photos that we couldn't share before).

One stop in London to worship at Hillsong London.

The church is held in the Dominion Theatre and if you look closely, you can see the Hillsong sign.

  

                                                                      
Off to Ireland.....

Ireland was Kelley's  most anticipated stop and once Wayne got to the land of the Irish on day 26 of our trip, he was so awed by the beauty of Ireland, the genuinely kind people, and the great food he didn't want to leave!    We were both in awe. 

Castles:  As we left Dublin and headed west, we made our first unplanned stop when we saw a sign for Ballaghmore Castle and stopped by.  We were treated to a personal tour of the old castle (built in 1480) and a history lesson by the castle owner.  This is where Kelley learned how to correctly pronounce her Irish maiden name. 

 If anyone wants to pitch in, we can rent out this castle for a long weekend for only 2000 euros.  Any takers???  We also went to Bunratty Castle built in 1425 and took a tour.

Fun Music:  At Murphy's Pub, we were entertained with traditional Irish tunes.  The musicians were crowd pleasers as they sang songs like "Red Haired Mary" and "Ladies Don't Wed an Old Man".   Full of "umdiddly aiyes" the songs were catchy and we still can't get them out of our heads.

A Visit to Ireland's Oldest Church:  Gallarus Oratory is a well preserved 1300 year old church.  The old church is built entirely of stone with no mortar of any kind.  The stones were stacked in such a precise way that the old structure is still waterproof.  We stood inside the old church and imagined what it would have been like to worship there.  

Dolphin:  There's a famous dolphin named Fungi who lives in Dingle Bay.  He's lived there for 27 years and is so social, the Fungi Boat Trips guarantee a visit from Fungi or your money back.  We didn't take the boat trip, but sat near an old castle and watched Fungi swim along with the boats.   If you are a dolphin lover, read this:  Fungi the dolphin

We realized that Wayne could have been a fill in for John Wayne in the movie Quiet Man which was filmed in Ireland.

Ending our trip in Ireland was the icing on the cake of our trip.   Just when we thought we were ready to come home we were re-energized by the Irish west coast.   We woke up on the last morning saying "We are not ready to come home....wish we could stay a little longer".  

Isn't that just about all you can ask for?  Longing for more and dreaming of a return trip...

We arrived in Katy last night.  Glad to be home but sad that it's all over.

We will have a few follow up posts in the next few days.

Thanks so much for following our blog!!!  It's been a fun way for us to journal our adventure and

we loved all your comments and facebook posts.  We love ya'll!!!   Wayne and Kelley