REPOST in honor of St. Patrick's Day!
Good morning my Beauties!
I had planned to do a post on a recent craft I did, but if you follow on
facebook you know its been a bit NUTS here..:)
I had the craft done, but didn't have the thing photographed..
so in the mean time I thought I would show you some of the pics of
our 20th wedding anniversary trip to Ireland.
I am not doing this to be braggy (I know other bloggers have gotten
slack when they showed vacation pictures)
But its just so BEAUTIFUL I NEED to share!
I hope you understand. :)
First off...the flight...if you are ever gonna fly..
I suggest Aer Lingus for Ireland..
You know how they say they don't feed you on the airplane..
they never stopped...in fact we didn't eat our breakfast they gave us but instead packed it in our back packs for later on in the day...we left our home at 1pm in the afternoon and with the time change we
Landed in Dublin just before 5 am...
One of the reasons we chose Ireland was so I could see my friend that I have not seen in 19 years...
We met a year after I was married and working at a rehab hospital..this funny Irishman
worked his way into my heart and my hubbys and he was there waiting for us when we got off the plane..and I will tell you what..I was like I had just seen him yesterday...
I get teared up when I think about it.. We talk on the computer and phone..but when he first went back to Ireland we had to do LETTERS...Letters people....I still have all of them...
and to step off the plane and have this guy waiting to see us after traveling 2 hours to be at the airport at 5 am meant the world to me..
Then we were off...we had been advised by other travelers to not even BOTHER going to sleep..
they told us to buck up and just try to adapt to the time right then and there...
and they were right...We started off just walking around by our hotel
and we saw our first Cathedral within minutes of setting our feet on Irish soil...
it was gorgeous and sunny and perfect... and our 20th anniversary..:)
And being in Ireland and all...there was no time to waste, finding some of the Historic Pubs..
Nearys was top on our list..only cause it was close to where we were at the time....
and we had ourselves and Irish stout to get us through the rest of our day..(we also ate our sandwiches from the plane as we walked around Grafton Street.
Then it was off to St. Patricks Cathedral...I mean..you get the idea from the pic..
its just HUGE..and Gorgeous...
Look how little the people look..:)
then it was time to say good bye to our friend and dig into our energy reserves..
(mind you we had walked around St. Stephens Green, Trinity College and numerous other places..
but the day was still young...and so much to see..)
So we headed to The Guinness Factory...It had to be done...and it REALLY does taste different there.
You can really taste the flavors that you just don't get anywhere else..
after all that... a walk back to our hotel and one of the many gorgeous brownstones we saw on our walks...Then it was Face down in a pillow and passed out till the room service brought our dinner to our room...(which I didn't even wake up for..until hubby poked me in the foot and told me to stop drooling.LOL)
After a great nights sleep in the Beautiful Burlington hotel, it was time for us DIY'ers to get our car...We chose the self drive tour with CIE tours as being stuck on a bus and not being able to get out if I saw something BEAUTIFUL, would have killed me...THIS was our CHARIOT!!
Ain't she a BEAUT!!!???
We had to fold the back seat down to get our luggage in....and honestly..with the roads in Ireland..
I wouldn't have wanted anything bigger...
From there it was a drive to Kilkenny..gorgeous old streets..more castles and the historic Kytelers Inn..
I don't even know what Church this is??? I took so many pics that my mind couldn't keep them all straight..
There was so much History...and texture and Beauty...now you know
why I had to show you!
The next day we were off to Killarney for a 2 nights stay and the first place I made my hubby take me was INCH beach..I am not gonna LIE..I cried..like a baby..I had never imagined in my whole life I would be standing..on the beach..in Ireland...It was a dream come true and every bit as
Gorgeous as they say.
Back to Kilkenny to the historic Laurels for a pint before going back to the Hotel
to sleep again for another full day..
This was the view from our Hotel..Whats not to love...
We were up bright and early to do the Ring of Kerry..and got to go off the beaten path with our teany tiny little car to a small Island called Valentia Island..
We found a hiking trail and hiked to the top to see the view of the Skelligs..
I mean...look at the colors..
I didn't come here to learn but I sure did..I had no Idea Ireland had PALM TREES...
the west coast of it is Subtropical and gorgeous..
I compared it to being in COLORADO in the Mountains..Surrounded by the Ocean..
The best of both worlds..
While on the island we found the little coffee shop and stopped for a break...
and since this is all the pictures blogger will let me put in a post is where I will break.
I hope you have enjoyed it so far...My mind is scheming now how many pieces of furniture and artwork I will have to sell to get myself and my family back here....:)
I think it might be a while...but heres to dreaming!!!!
You can see PART 2 of our trip HERE
Have a BEAUTIFUL day!!!
Until next time..
Hugs
Karin