Ugh I have been so bad about posting lately, shame on me. Part of that excuse, just a bit, is because I was busy visiting Ireland. 😀
Yeap, mid December, 8 days, with my boyfriend and my mom. It was an amazing trip, with the friendliest people, stunning landscapes, tasty food, and lots of sheep! Too short of course, there was so much more that we wanted to do.
First, we started in Dublin. My mom is on an extended stay there, and wonderfully, had a place for us to sleep, so once we arrived at 8am, we promptly drove the rental car to her place. Driving, by the way, is terrifying at first. Being on the wrong side of the car and the road, it really makes you think, and bonus the back country roads are narrow a-f.
When we got to her house we took our time getting comfortable, catching up, taking a quick hour nap…and then going out to explore. The house we were staying at was in a great area, minutes from Saint Patrick Cathedral, where there’s ton’s to do in the surrounding area. We walked along the outdoor mall on the way to Trinity College. Beautiful campus, with snowflakes lighting up the front entrance. Inside we got to see the famous Sphere with Sphere, and most amazing library at the Book of Kells.
The next day I took my mom out on a Spa day for her birthday, while Adam visited the EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum, We met up for lunch at 37 Dawson Street, by St Stephen’s Green. After, we killed some time at the outdoor shopping then meandered to the Guinness Storehouse where 7 floors of Guinness museum awaited us, including a free pint at the top. The 7 floors took so long the beer was long awaited. After that we were pooped so we decided to get take out and go back to the house. It was dumping by the time we left the factory, getting amazing Thai food at Neon, then running back home.
The next day was a big day, seeing so many spectacular things. First, we left Dublin and drove about an hour and half to Newgrange, a prehistoric monument. It is an exceptionally grand passage tomb built during the Neolithic period, around 3200 BC, making it older than Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids. We really lucked out, because the day before we got there, their brand new exhibit just opened, and they let us in for free. It really was an amazing experience, listening to the theory and the amazing knowledge and architecture that the people knew back then.
After that, we drove about two hours North to The Dark Hedges, an avenue of beech trees that has been locations in many movies, including Season 2 game of Thrones – the King’s Road, so that was Dope.
Then it was a quick 20 minute drive to The Giant’s Causeway, an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic fissure eruption along the coast, i.e. Fucking beautiful. In this beautiful location, my life changed, and Adam proposed. 😀 So that happened…
After leaving the Causeway, we were thoroughly drenched and cold, and wanted to get to the AirBnB. We drove another hour to the Northern most point in Ireland, Malin Head, where we stayed the night. We chose this location because we were hoping to catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights, but it happened to be a full moon and pretty cloudy that night, so no luck for us there. Our host was such a nice guy, and as a congrats took us to the pub to hang with some of the locals.
The next morning we woke up way too early, and started the 5-6 hours drive to South to the Cliffs of Mohar. We decided to make a quick stop in Galway, to check out their Christmas market. When we didn’t find too much there, we drove the rest of the way to our AirBnb right on a cliff, in the rural, cute town of Doolin. It was dark and very cold when we arrived, so we decided to have a low key night and see the Cliffs the next morning. We hung out, went into town to a pub, where I had THE BEST Irish stew ever. Drooling thinking about it still. Drooling in Doolin, bahaha.
Anyways, the next morning we took our time waking up, then drove the short distance to the Cliffs of Moher, which were breathtaking, and very wet, cold and Windy. Typical day. We saw the museum, got some coffee, then started the drive back to Dublin. Along the way we stopped in Westmeath, where the oldest bar in Ireland still stands, Sean’s Bar. We got a beer there, then went to their attached restaurant for a delicious lunch. After we were good and full, we drove the rest of the way to Dublin, where my mom made us home-made pasta, and we passed out.
The next day was sadly our last day in Ireland, BUT it was my mom’s birthday so we had a blast. We just walked around the city, bought some artwork, got the most amazing burgers EVER, checked out some churches, then went out to Sushi dinner. All in all it was an amazing trip, and I would totally go back. I kind of want to know what it is like in the summer, but I really enjoyed the lack of tourists.
If you have any questions about the trip just let me know,
Also HAPPY 2020!!
Cheers!
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