Ireland Day 2 - Dingle

In Dingle, we stayed at the Clonmara B&B with a charming Irish couple who were school teachers.  They said their daughter was a kindergarten teacher in Cork and she had 35 students in one classroom.  THIRTY-FIVE FIVE YEAR OLDS....in ONE room....I can't even imagine.  

Our room had huge windows that opened up and overlooked the Dingle bay.  I could have easily stayed there a few more days.

Brett had a traditional Irish breakfast, complete with black & white pudding (made from 90% pork's blood).  I was not as brave as Brett and chose more of an Americanized breakfast.  It was our first time using a coffee press though.

I think our drive around the Dingle Peninsula may have been my favorite part of the trip.  Words do not do this drive justice - the landscape's beauty was overwhelming and breathtaking.  Our first stop along our drive was a prehistoric fort.

Yes, that says 500 B.C.  We could not wrap our head around that date.

All of the fences across the countryside were built from stacked stones.

 We continued on around the loop and came to this pit stop.  We sat there for a few moments and took it all in.

We drove over the highest mountain pass in Ireland, and along the road their was a waterfall.

The drive along the pass was extremely narrow and in some spots, only enough room for one car.

Hey! You're on the wrong side of the vehicle! 

One of Brett's favorite part of the trip is when he played golf.  It turned out to be a lot of fun.  There were only a few people playing golf, so we were able to take our time and I took WAY too many pictures.

We stopped and got a slice of rhubarb pie and enjoyed after golfing

While we were driving, we saw a huge truck delivering milk to the locals who lived in the area.  Everything about the area was quaint and slow paced.

That night for dinner, I enjoyed sweet potato risotto and later live Irish Music in a pub.

If you ever make it over to Ireland, I highly recommend visiting the Dingle Peninsula.  You would be missing out if you did not make this a stop on your journey!

Ireland Day 1

We arrived in Shannon on Thursday morning...still no luggage for Brett.  There was no time to waste, and we were off to our next adventure...driving a car - in a foreign country - on the wrong side of the road - with the steering wheel on the right side.  I was petrified thrilled to try something new and see the Irish countryside.  After a 2 minute tutorial on how to drive on the opposite side from a man with a heavy Irish accent, we were ready.  First stop, snacks of course.  Surprisingly, they had Dr. Pepper, which was a friendly reminder of home.  While we were driving down the road, we came upon many roundabouts.  We had to drive on the opposite way...very strange, I kept reminding Brett that we need to stay on the LEFT side of the road.  I may have said this more for my comfort/sanity.

Armed with an old school map (the paper kind) and no GPS or phone service we were off to the Cliffs of Moher.

At an impressive 700 feet above the Atlantic Ocean,  the Cliffs of Moher is a breathtaking natural wonder that is unlike anything I have ever seen before.  

A castle overlooked the ocean while a harpist filled in with music against the backdrop.

On the majority of the trail along the tip top of the cliff, there were no railings.  I preferred to stay closer to the inland while Brett had no fear standing on the edge for a photo op.  After a quick lunch, we were back in our car and headed south towards our next destination: Dingle.  The majority of the roads we traveled were rural and extremely narrow.  At one point, we had to hop on a thirty minute ferry ride.  Several hours and quaint towns later, we had arrived on the Dingle peninsula.  One of my favorite parts about Ireland were all the hydrangeas.  Oh my, if only I could fill our backyard with these...I would be one happy girl.

Before the trip, our original B & B claimed they did not have a reservation for us.  So last minute, we booked here at Clonmara B & B and it turned out to be one of my favorite places we stayed.  It overlooked the Dingle Bay and the town of Dingle and was only a ten minute walk to the heart of downtown.

That night we ventured into town for a pint and a bite to eat.  We had an early wake up call so we called it a night fairly early.  On our walk back we enjoyed the sun setting (around 9:30 p.m.!) and captured this moment which is one of my favorite times we spent together on our trip.

London Day 2

The second day of London was one of my favorite days of the trip.  We were able to explore the city on a classic red double decker bus.

The soldiers standing guard signified that the Queen herself was in town.  

Driving around Trafalgar Square

One of my must visits spots was Buckingham Palace.  Unfortunately, there were no Queen sightings.

British Parliament was a building that we wish we had visited, but did not have time to.

Another site I wish we had visited was Westminster Abbey.  When William & Kate got married, I was one of those people who woke up way before the sun to watch her walk down that mile long aisle.  

A European Castle was a non negotiable for us, we knew we wanted to visit one.  Tower of London dates back to the 11th century.

Traitor's Gate - where prisoners entered.

One of the rooms had actual carvings from prisoners who spent time locked up there.

I loved seeing all the artifacts from centuries ago.

We had lunch (and ate my favorite meal while in London) at The Anchor Pub which opened in the 1600s! My meal was a steak & ale pie and it was absolutely delicious.

Shakespeare's Globe

Although I am not a fan of heights, I agreed to go on the London Eye, and I'm glad I did.  The views were amazing.  Each capsule held up to 30 people and there was plenty of room to walk around and see all of London.

The quintessential London photo op inside a phone booth.

After a long day of walking and sightseeing, the guys went to the airport to look for their luggage.  With a 4 a.m. wake up call, I headed back to the hotel to pack up and get ready for the next leg of the trip.  Once again, no luck on finding the luggage.

We headed out to London Stansted Airport bright & early...our next stop, Shannon, Ireland!