June 2017

2:39:00 PM

Ireland, My Love

Ireland. A magical green island I was thinking about few months ago when I was creating my profile on a website for travelers and was supposed to choose places I would like to visit. I chose two: USA and Ireland. And not so long after that, a miracle happened. My Dad and his partner planned a visit of Ireland and offered me to travel with them. And so I did.

On the way

Let's start from the beginning! I haven't been travelling by plane for more than 10 years! And to be honest, at that very moment when the plane took off, I was really nervous. I felt pressure in my ears and I wished that everything would be just fine. And it was. The flight was amazing! I saw 3 or 4 planes in the sky and when we were getting closer to our destination, I also saw Liverpool and the sea and of course, Ireland. I saw grass and sheep and some houses and I was even more excited!

Dublin

When we arrived to Dublin airport, it was Friday evening and we went straight to car rental for our new buddy-silver Volkswagen Golf and everything seemed just fine, but guys, can we just take a moment there and talk about driving on the wrong side of the road? Of course we knew about it and hoped it would be fine, but the left rear-view mirror had a real hard time with us. Our first roundabout was fun and don't even want me to mention crossroads or pedestrian crossing, because let's face it, this left-side-road-situation is also challenging for pedestrians! And what is even more fun, from the day we came back home, I have problems with crossing the road, because I look at the wrong side first!

However, back to Dublin!

First place we visited was Temple Bar. It was almost midnight when we got there, but there were people everywhere! And for a girl who lives in a small town it was really something!

Temple Bar is a centre of nightlife in Dublin with millions of pubs and restaurants and there is also a restaurant caled The Temple Bar.

We ordered a pint of Guiness each and listened to a talented musician who played the guitar and sang awesome songs!

The real Dublin tour started the next morning. First of all, we visited Jameson Distilellery Bow St. where we went on a guided tour, tasted Jameson, learnt something about its history and production and also tasted a delicious drink with ginger ale and lemon and of course with Jameson.

Typical me- holding a drink in my hand :-)

Dublin Castle

After the tour we walked through the whole city and in the evening we came to the beach and stood by the Atlantic Ocean.

I even took off my shoes and tasted the water :-)

Rock of Cashel

The next day, in the morning, we hit the road and visited Rock of Cashel, a place that is linked with a very interesting legend and the atmosphere was magical and mysterious due to the ravens who flew everywhere!

Ring of Kerry

After the visit we continued in our way and accomplished a famous Ring of Kerry - a 179 km long tourist route in County Kerry with breathtaking views! Unfortunatelly, on this very day we experienced typical Irish weather (rainy and foggy). That is why I have only 3 or 4 photos from this tour, because I was too afraid to use my camera in such a heavy rain! But even in that awful weather, the views and the whole journey was splendid!

One interesting fact about this route: on the way through Ring of Kerry you can visit Ladies View which was named after Queen Victoria's Court Ladies who admired this view while accompanied Queen during her visit.

Dingle Peninsula

The next day, new places ahead and still the same weather - but less foggy, more windy. First of all we visited the westernmost point of Ireland: Dingle Peninsula. It was another divine place and we made many stops and walked on the coastline, climbed some mountains and enjoyed every single view.

And we also paid some farmer to feed his sheep... it sounds weird, but in Ireland sheep are everywhere and this is a normal experience :-)

We also visited Inch Beach, a special beach where you can take your car with you and park it literally on the beach.

Fanore Beach

The most photogenic and lovely beach I have ever been to. We stopped there on our way and it was amazing. If you are like me and you love sea and beach, that place is the number one you have to visit when you go to Ireland! It was around 8 p.m. when we got there and the views and the sea and everything was just perfect :-)

Cliffs of Moher

The most windy place in the whole country! This place is mentioned in every touris guide, so it's overcrowded most of the time, but we were lucky and came late in the evening so we met only few other visitors.

Galway

She played the fiddle in an Irish band, but she fell in love with an English man...

I bet you know this song by Ed Sheeran! Have you seen the clip? If you have, you should recognise this place:

Yes, it's Galway. The place I was so excited about to visit, but it wasn't as good as I imagined. This photo looks amazing, but the water was really dirty and so was the city centre. Of course there were pubs and small shops and everything, but it just wasn't that perfect. So for me, the biggest dissapointment. And also a very funny story is linked with my visit: we came there after midnight and wanted to go to some local pub, buy a pint og beer and go to out hotel to get some sleep. However, the bodyguard at the entrance didn't let me in because I didn't have my ID with me. So, yes, I didn't go to a Galway pub, because I wasnt allowed to...Considering the fact I will be 25 soon, it is a really funny story :-)

Joyce Country Sheepdogs

Do you like dogs? Do you like sheep? And what about sheepdogs? If you have seen Marley & Me you have already "visit" this place without even knowing about it!
Joye Country Sheepdogs is a sheep farm located near Gaway and Joe is passionate about his job and likes to share his knowledge with visitors. We saw how a sheep is shaved (for me it was a horrible experience, because I was so afraid that the sheep might get hurt, thankfully, she was ok :-) and also how the sheepdogs are trained and how they cooperate with the farmer and how they led the sheeps. It was amazing!

Trim

A small town near Dublin where we stayed the night before our departure and I have to say it was a perfect closure! The town was cosy, gorgeous, with an extraordinary restaurant and there also was a nice view from our room on Trim Castle.

The restaurant in Trim was extraordinary because we got this... we ordeder a pint of Guiness
and the owner brought us a shot of Guiness :-)

Howth

A lovely village near Dublin, situated near the sea and also a village I would like to buy a house in and stay there in summer. We drove there on our way to airport, because we had some spare time. We walked along the pier and said our final goodbye to the Atlantic Ocean.