Ireland Adventures: July 2008

Tuesday, July 1

Tuesday, July 1 It was a long night in the airport, but we finally left Chicago and made it to Rochester. Ben’s family was already there waiting for us. They drove us to our apartment, home, sweet, home. It was a wonderful adventure in Ireland. We can’t wait to show everyone our pictures!! See everyone soon!

Monday, June 30

Monday, June 30 Our last day in Ireland. We got up early to give ourselves enough driving time to get to the airport. Since we had left early, we stopped in Adare and checked out some little shops. Last time shopping in Ireland. We also saw a really big house, that is now used as a hotel, the Manor House. We were able to drive around the grounds and walk around the house. We then headed to the airport. It took a while to get checked in. Upon check in, we were not assigned seats and were told to check in again before we boarded. When we went to check in, we found out that they sold too many seats, and we were bumped up to first class for FREE! It was great. We were served drinks, a 3 course meal, soda, chips, another sandwich and we watched 3 movies each!! It was very roomy and comfortable. We then landed in Philadelphia around 5pm and then headed to Chicago around 8:30pm. We got to Chicago after 10 and we were not scheduled to leave until Tuesday morning. (sorry I don't have any pictures on this day, they are still on my camera and we lent out my card reader. I will share some later)

Sunday, June 29

Sunday, June 29 The Dingle Peninsula Today we left the Ring of Kerry and headed around the Dingle Peninsula. We stopped in Dingle and walked around looking at the town. This town was very tourist friendly. There were bus loads of people in town. We then ventured all the way around the peninsula until we got back to Dingle. We ate dinner at the oldest pub in town-Lord Baker’s. It was some great seafood. We then headed towards Limerack. We didn’t make to Limerack, but we found a huge B&B to spend our last night in Ireland at.

Saturday, June 28

Saturday, June 28 After eating an Irish Breakfast at the B&B, we did a little shopping in Killarney and then ventured to the Killarney National Park. There we saw the Muckross Castle and the Muckross house. We also saw Torc waterfall. Very beautiful. We then ventured along the Ring of Kerry. We stopped many times to walk around and enjoy the beautiful scenes of Ireland’s west coast. We ventured all the way to the north side of the Ring of Kerry and found a B&B in Glenbeigh. There we found some dinner and turned in for the evening.

Friday, June 27

Friday, June 27 Today we checked out from our apartment in Galway and headed south with Mike and Sara. We would stop along the way for breaks and to take pictures, but we headed toward the Blarney Stone. The Blarney Castle was very large. The grounds were amazing. Yes, we all kissed the Blarney stone at the top of the castle. After we viewed the castle and the grounds, we headed to Killarney for dinner and to find a bed and breakfast for the night.

Thursday, June 26

Thursday, June 26 The weather was not looking the best, but we went to the Aran Islands anyways. It was very windy and the ferry ride was very tough for me. Once we got to the island, we ate some lunch and then did a van tour. Our driver was a great tour guide. He was born and raised on the island and was able to give us a lot of history about the sites. We got dropped off at Don Angius to walk around and then we were picked up to finish our tour of the island. On the way back to the boat, we saw a seal. It was pretty neat. The sun came out for our ferry ride back to the main land. Once we were back in Galway, we ate and then enjoyed the sunset by a castle near our apartment.

Wednesday, June 25

Waves crashing and Ben running with his camera. The local cows at the Burrens lined up for their photo.

Wednesday, June 25

Wednesday, June 25 Cliffs of Moher Road Trip We let Mike and Sara catch up on some sleep from their jet lag, before we began our day. We wanted to see some castles so we mapped some out and off we went. We headed south along the coast. We stopped whenever we found a castle and got out. We found our way to the Burrn and then onto the Cliffs of Moher. This time while we visited the Cliffs, it was not raining. The weather was pretty nice out. A little windy, but much better than rain. On the way back to Galway, we stopped at the Burrens again and watched the waves come crashing into the rocks. Ben was trying to get pictures of the waves crashing and had to sprint away so his camera would not get soaked. As Sara and I stood watching, a big wave came crashing up and soaked us both. It was so funny to watch!!!

Tuesday, June 24

Tuesday, June 24 Mike and Sara arrived safely to Galway. We ventured into town to find something to eat. Before we got something to eat, Mike and Ben took some pictures, while Sara and I walked around the shopping street. We also stopped at the City Museum, while we were there Ben touched a Hooker (the boat).

Monday, June 23

Monday, June 23 Another day bumming around Galway. I did a little shopping in town. Most of the day was spent just relaxing and hanging out at our apartment.

More Dublin Pictures

Friday-Sunday, June 20-22

Friday-Sunday, June 20-22 Weekend in Dublin Well the weather was not the best for our weekend trip to Dublin. We left on Friday and the weather was beautiful when we arrived. We were able to walk around and enjoy the town. When we arrived to Dublin we all got tickets for the hop on/hop off city tour. We started the tour and hopped off at the Guinness storehouse. Our whole group did the Guinness tour. It was a self guided tour and ended with a free pint of Guinness. Saturday was rainy pretty much all day long. We started the day by taking a train to the Harley store. A girl in the group wanted to get her Dad something from the Dublin Harley Store. Then we hopped back on the tour bus and got off at a historic jail (Gaol-is how they spelled it). We did the tour there, which was very interesting. Then we hopped back on the bus and headed back towards downtown. We found some food to eat and rested for a bit. After resting, we walked around enjoying the city at night. On Sunday morning, we packed up and headed back to Galway for our last week in Ireland.

Thursday, June 19

Thursday, June 19 We did a little shopping and then walked to Salthill, the neighboring town. The walk wasn’t bad. I walked with a friend, while Ben took the bus. Ben had to wait an hour before getting on the bus. For some reason the bus was really late. We found a nice place to eat lunch and then just walked around a bit taking photos. Our apartment was hosted a wine and cheese party when we got back. All the students and professors from UWL came and joined in on the fun.