Exactly 36 hours after we left Napier we landed at Dublin airport where we picked up our rental car and headed into the city. It was great to have the rental car firm expecting us with a car ready, the cheap GPS system we bought off Trade Me to get us directly to our accommodation where they also had us booked in. A relief to know that all the hours I spent booking our holiday all worked. Yeah for the internet. Surprisingly after all that flying and sitting around airports (2 hours at Heathrow with Michelle whizzed by as we caught up on all the news) Pete and I felt remarkably good and after a quick shower headed out to explore Dublin even though it was already about 8pm.
From Dublin we headed to Blarney via Waterford and Cobh. Cobh was the last port of call for the Titanic and is a picturesque area. We enjoyed a lovely evening in the pub at Blarney and the next morning walked to Blarney Castle where we both kissed the Blarney Stone and explored the castle and grounds.
After Blarney we travelled to Killarney and drove around the Ring of Kerry which took about 3 hours! Its only just over 100 kms but with narrow roads and people who can't drive plus lots of tourist buses it took a lot longer than expected.
Our plans for the next day were to drive the Dingle Peninsula before heading to the Cliffs of Moher. However due to the inclement weather our B & B host suggested that we wouldn't see much from the Peninsula and suggested we head straight through to Cliffs of Moher hoping for better weather. This is what we did, the weather did improve, showers instead of pouring rain! The Cliffs of Moher were spectacular but a bit scary at times as the wind was so strong, if it was behind me, it was actually picking me up and if it was coming towards me, stopped me completely in my tracks and I could not move.
That night we spent at Galway and the next morning got up early to head back to Dublin with the only stop being at Killbegen to visit reputedly the oldest whiskey distillery in the world.
We arrived in Dublin about noon and headed into the city for a good look around, walking for miles. Late afternoon we ended up at the famous Temple Bar for a few drinks and to enjoy the entertainment. All in all we loved Ireland, I especially loved the Irish accent and the gorgeous men with the impossibly long eye lashes! Pete's observation was that the women were mainly big breasted! We also know why Ireland is so green - it rained every day we were there.
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| What's Pete looking at? |
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| Check over my right shoulder - that's what he's looking at |
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| View from top of Blarney Castle |
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| Pete kissing the Blarney Stone |
After Blarney we travelled to Killarney and drove around the Ring of Kerry which took about 3 hours! Its only just over 100 kms but with narrow roads and people who can't drive plus lots of tourist buses it took a lot longer than expected.
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| Village on Ring of Kerry drive |
Our plans for the next day were to drive the Dingle Peninsula before heading to the Cliffs of Moher. However due to the inclement weather our B & B host suggested that we wouldn't see much from the Peninsula and suggested we head straight through to Cliffs of Moher hoping for better weather. This is what we did, the weather did improve, showers instead of pouring rain! The Cliffs of Moher were spectacular but a bit scary at times as the wind was so strong, if it was behind me, it was actually picking me up and if it was coming towards me, stopped me completely in my tracks and I could not move.
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| Cliffs of Moher |
That night we spent at Galway and the next morning got up early to head back to Dublin with the only stop being at Killbegen to visit reputedly the oldest whiskey distillery in the world.
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| Kilbegen Whiskey Distillery |
We arrived in Dublin about noon and headed into the city for a good look around, walking for miles. Late afternoon we ended up at the famous Temple Bar for a few drinks and to enjoy the entertainment. All in all we loved Ireland, I especially loved the Irish accent and the gorgeous men with the impossibly long eye lashes! Pete's observation was that the women were mainly big breasted! We also know why Ireland is so green - it rained every day we were there.
Tuesday saw us up at 5am as we had our flight to catch to Glasgow. Good old cheap Ryan Air. Pete and I couldn't understand why everyone was queing up at the boarding area when we hadn't even been invited to board. After looking at my ticket I realised there were no allocated seats. Only a 35 minute hop over to Glasgow where we manged to get ourselves on a bus into the city and then another bus to our hotel. Even though it was only around 10.30am our room was ready and we were able to refresh ourselves before setting out to explore Glasgow which we enjoyed even though we were feeling a bit tired by the end so took a good old Marks and Spencer meal back to hotel with us. Wednesday Michelle and Nathan Andrews arrived in Glasgow to pick us up and take us on our Scottish leg of our journey. The trip through to our first stop on the Isle of Skye past Loch Lomond took us through some lovely countryside into the Highlands. We visited Eilean Donan Castle just a few kilometres from the bridge over to the Isle. Today we have travelled over a big percentage of the Isle to our second night at Portree, a lovely fishing village. I think fish and chips may be the meal for dinner but that will be after a few drinks at one of the local pubs of which we saw many on our walk around the town.
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| Eilean Donan Castle |
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| Snack at Portree |
So fun to read of your adventures! Europe sounds like a beautiful place, so many historic and magical places like castles to see! You two are certainly on the move, soak it in and enjoy :0)
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