7 days... 6 cities

Kilkenny

An old, medieval town that was surprisingly more fun than we expected.  A nice change from the hustle and bustle of our three days in Dublin.  It was a fun city to explore; we especially enjoyed our tour of the Kilkenny Castle.  The castle was built at the end of the 12^th century, and a powerful British family and their decedents lived in the castle for the last 600 years (until the 1930’s).  This family adopted the surname ‘Butler’ and we learned that all people with the last name “Butler” should be able to trace their family lineage back to this family, as they were the first family to take on this last name.  We set out to find a restaurant and some live Irish music for dinner and happened to sit next to an older couple celebrating their 35^th wedding anniversary from Ringold, Georgia!  I’ve tried to convince Nancy that I have already got that anniversary present out of the way… 

Kilkenny Castle

Cork

We stopped here for one night out of convenience, since it was the biggest town close to the Blarney Castle, which we were scheduled to visit the next morning.  In Cork, we visited St Anne’s Church, where you can climb the bell tower and actually ring the Shandon Bells.  The bells were labeled with different tunes and there was a booklet with directions to play specific songs, we took turns pulling the different chords and played the song “Amazing Grace”, which could be heard throughout the town of Cork – at least, the few surrounding blocks.  

Playing the Shandon Bells at St. Anne's Church in Cork, Ireland.

We arrived at Blarney Castle in the afternoon to explore the grounds and to kiss the Blarney Stone.  This was a bit scarier than we thought and we actually watched two grown men before us chicken-out as they bent half-way backwards in an attempt to kiss the stone… but we overcame our fears and kissed the stone – the legend says we now have the “gift of the gab”.

Todd getting "the gift of the gab"

Trying not to think about how unsanitary this is...

Private residence at the Blarney Estate.

The Ring of Kerry
The Ring of Kerry is a 180km drive around the Iveragh Peninsula, one of Ireland’s most popular attractions.  We stopped midway through the drive at a Bed and Breakfast in a small town called Waterville.  We woke up to a beautiful, but increasingly cloudy morning, and an obnoxious fair-skinned, redheaded, and freckled child (your typical Irish cliché) berating his mother in the kitchen while we tried to enjoy our Full Irish Breakfast.

Good morning Waterville, Ireland!

Our view from our breakfast spot at our bed and breakfast.

Our breakfast feast!  Traditional Irish breakfast with "pudding" - we won't tell you what it is, you need to try it for yourself.

Dingle
A very cool, small town on the Dingle Peninsula.  Yes, save the jokes … Berry, Ireland doesn’t exist, I already checked.  However, Dingle is known for its musical talents and is also the location where the movies “Far and Away” with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman and “A Quiet Man” with Clint Eastwood.  The drive around Dingle Peninsula was just as beautiful (and less crowded) than the Ring of Kerry.  There is a famous bar Mac Carthy’s, where all the upcoming Irish artists play before they are ‘big’ – likes of Damien Rice, The Script… but U2 never played there.  Dingle was also home to Todd’s favorite bar in Ireland, Dick Mack’s – no trip to the west coast of Ireland would be complete without a stop to Dick Mack’s Bar.  It’s the type of place that feels like it hasn’t changed a bit since it was opened in 1898, for all the right reasons.

Beautiful scenery driving around Dingle, Ireland.

Inside the famous Dick Mack's bar - family owned since 1898.

Doolin

A tiny town with only three pubs, we decided to stay here because of the town’s notoriety for being the very best town in Ireland for authentic Irish Music.  We visited Gus O’Connor's Pub, listened to live music all night and even made some Irish friends that were visiting from Limerick.  

Doolin was also a starting point for our visit to the Cliffs of Moher.  In the morning we received a treasure map, of sorts, from a guy working at the hostel with alternative directions to avoid the heavy parking fee that is connected to this tourist attraction.  Free? Yes. Somewhat dangerous?  Probably.  But was it worth it? Even if Nancy had to walk through a field of cow manure in Chaco’s – yes, Todd would do it again! I will provide you the comparison of the Goonies finding ‘One-Eyed Willy’s’ treasure … yes, it was that awesome.

Our treasure map...

We all make sacrifices... luckily some wash off with soap and water :)

It's a minor miracle we actually made it to the Cliffs of Moher from the directions we were given on the "treasure map" above.

Galway

We had heard that Galway was a ‘must visit’, but honestly, we were a little disappointed.  The weather wasn’t brilliant, which might have shaped our subpar view of the city.  I guess, by the end of our trip, we were tired and ready to relax, which we did in Galway more than anything.  Worth mentioning: we visited The King’s Head bar, which dates back to the 1600’s –  the current building is mostly original, and was given to a local Irishman by the King of England as a reward for beheading the King of Ireland (due to a rebellion).

What do you when it rains all day in Ireland? Find the nearest pub and order a Guinness or an Irish Coffee!

Spending the afternoon at King's Head...

Back to Dublin…

We returned our car this afternoon and only had a couple hours before getting to the airport.  So, what do you do when you have time to kill in Dublin?  Find a pub and drink one final Guinness, of course.   

Goodbye Dublin... heading to the airport

Our last sunset in Ireland

We are both pretty exhausted and can’t believe we were about to begin the second leg of our journey – a week in Istanbul, Turkey.