In June 2005 we took another group trip with three couples, this time to Ireland. The impetus for this trip was the fact that U2 was going to be giving a world tour and would be making a stop in Dublin. As a long time U2 fan, what place would be better to see them than in their hometown? So, we decided to just go for it when our friends approached us about coming with them to the concert. So, we purchased our concert tickets and then spent the rest of our time planning for a ten day tour of Ireland.
This proved to really be a task since there are just so many places within Ireland that we wanted to see, but we also knew that we wanted to keep our vacation leisurely and not spend the entire time running from sight to sight. We finally decided to focus on a few key cities - Dublin, Galway, Doolin, Killarney and Kilkenny - and to plan some daytrip activities while in each of these places or en route as we drove from city to city.
First stop: Dublin.
Here are Andrew and I our first night in Dublin, drinking the first Guinness of the trip.
We had a great time hanging out at night in the Temple Bar area of the city, known for its pubs, restaurants, street performers, shops, etc. Basically this in the "in" part of the city and rightfully so since there was just so much to see and do here. We discovered a wonderful restaurant called Gallagher's that served some of the best Irish food we had on our entire trip.
Temple Bar at night:
The whole group at Gallagher's one night. (front to back, by couple): Mark and Heather Ferrence, Andrew and me, Randy and Julie Delp, Ray and Missy Greenley.
While in Dublin, the guys played golf one day while the girls spent the day shopping, eating, and walking around town. We couldn't let the guys spend money on an expensive round of golf without helping the Irish economy out a little ourselves, now could we? Here we are at lunch and below that is a picture from when we decided to stop in "for a pint" (or half pint for some of us!). The guys were so proud of their chicks for stopping in for a beer on our own amidst our day of girly activities!
Finally, U2! We saw U2 on their Vertigo tour in Croke Park in Dublin. What an experience! It was a concert unlike any I have ever been to before. As for our seats - do you see the stage? Well...just about as far away from the stage as you could get was where we were sitting. Ok, bad seats, I know. But, we got to see U2 play in Ireland, didn't we? Who cares if Bono and the boys looked like a bunch of ants from our seats (and they cost us a fortune anyway). Good thing for large screen tv's on either side of the stage!
Our next stop on the trip was western Ireland, starting in Galway and taking a daytrip from Galway to the Aran Irelands for a day. While in Galway, we met up with my cousin Chris and his (then girlfriend, now fiancee) April. They were also traveling in Ireland at the same time we were. We hung out with them our first night in town and then they spent the entire next day with us on the Aran Islands.
Here we are with Chris and April our first night in town at a place called O'Connor's Pub.
The next day we left early in the morning and caught a ferry to the Aran Islands, where we rented bicycles and biked for the entire day. Our ultimate destination was the Dun Aengus fortress at the far end of the island. At times it was a greuling ride, over rocky terrain and up inclines, but it was always so scenic and this experience was among the most exciting things we have ever done on a vacation. Here are some photos of the island:
With Chris and April offroad:
Dun Aengus fortress from afar and below that are some photos from atop the fortress once we finally arrived.
After we left the Galway area, we headed south towards Doolin and Killarney. En route, we stopped at the Cliffs of Moher. Absolutely beautiful!
We next stopped at Dunguaire Castle as we continued to make our way south to Doolin and Killarney. This was our first official castle of the trip and was among our favorites, even after seeing several others. We toured the castle ourselves in the afternoon, left for Doolin and arrived there a short while later, and then showered and headed back to Dunguaire for their nightly Medieval Feast. What a fabulous experience - great food in a real castle with real Irish singing and dancing.
Here are Andrew and me in one of the windows of the castle.
Killarney was our next big stop and this was our favorite city of all. We absolutely loved it here and would consider going back to Ireland just to visit the Killarney area alone for an entire vacation! In the below photo, Andrew and I were at dinner by ourselves one night. Andrew had developed a liking for the lamb stew early on in our trip and tried this dish many times across cities. The best he had was at a restaurant called The Laurels in Killarney. Here we are at dinner at The Laurels, followed by two photos showing just how much Andrew enjoyed his stew.
Before...
And after!
While in Killarney, Julie and I did a tour on our own to the Gap of Dunloe and it was fabulous. Basically you take a horse and carriage ride through this beautifully picturesque valley. We were seated with a lovely older french couple with whom I was able to converse using my high school french. The ride itself was green, calm and peaceful for miles on end. You literally feel as if you have been superimposed into a painting or something. Seriously. I really can't even describe how beautiful it is and my photos don't do it justice, but here are some of the best.
Our destination on our Gap of Dunloe tour was Ross Castle. Once you are taken halfway via horse and carriage, you finish the tour in boat so that you are able to see the scenery from the water. Here is Ross Castle as we approach it from the water. One of the nicest people we met on our entire trip was the lady selling the souvenir photos of everyone in their carriage once the tour concluded at Ross Castle. Julie and I didn't know we would have to pay cash for our carriage ride so we had used up all of our cash and only had our credit cards left at the end of the tour. So, we couldn't afford the souvenir photo and though I usually think they are a ripoff, this one turned out really nice and would have been worth the splurge. We told the lady selling the photos that we couldn't buy one today because we had spent all of our cash and she GAVE us the photo for free "because I know ya's woulda bought it if yer had the money." What a blessing! We had a fabulous trip and that instance made it that much more memorable!
Finally, one last photo of Kilkenny Castle in the city of Kilkenny. We had a lovely time here and the quiet atmosphere of the city was a great way to wind down from our trip!
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