Driving into Cork
We stopped at St. Anne's church to ring the bells in the belltower!
That was a fun climb and experience! Great views from the top!
Really? We didn't have time, though...
We ate in an English Market in Cork - ironically we found out later we love Monkfish!
We stopped at the Toy Soldier factory in Macroom and spent 2 hours there! The manager asked us if we wanted to do a "Make & Take" and we learned how to make a die cast metal figure and then we painted them. They have the world's largest miniature battle scene on display- the Battle of Waterloo.
After that we took Google Maps advice and spent 40 minutes on forest roads without seeing another car! It was pretty crazy and actually a little scary!
Spent 3 nights in Kenmare - a little town that we loved! It was a good place to do day trips from...
Our favorite day of the whole trip! Getting to boat out to Skellig Michael and hike up the ancient steps made by monks in the 6th century was pretty amazing! There were stone cottages to see after a long climb up. The island has gained recent fame because it is the site of Luke Skywalker's death in Star Wars. But it is amazing because of the history of the monks and the puffins! Hard to get tickets but we followed a blogger's advice and showed up early (got up at 5:30 a.m. to drive 90 min. to the port) and started asking the sea captains if they had an cancellations on their boats that day. We absolutely loved the nature, the history of it - unlike anything in the United States!
Puffins have to be the cutest birds ever!
Kerry Cliffs
Skellig chocolate shop for free tastings!
Quick dip in the Atlantic Ocean!
So many pretty sights like this on our trip!
Killarney National Park
We rented the bikes in Killarney but we didn't care for the city itself - too big and touristy. The Hubs had to pose under the "Danny Mann" sign! Our B & B had the prettiest flower garden!
We stopped in Limerick for a few hours and got the most awesome hot chocolate and checked out King John's castle.
The Cliffs of Moher was another awesome sight! We bought sandwiches in a little town nearby and took them with us so we could sit near the cliffs, relax, and have a little picnic. We also walked through the underground visitor center and saw the exhibits. We stayed nearby in Doolin.
Evening in Doolin
Another great morning - as we were leaving Doolin we decided to go to the Cliffs of Moher one more time. this time we didn't want to pay the 16 Euro to park at the Visitor Center but try to find the "free" place I had read about on blogs. We did find a farmer's land and he had a gravel parking area and this sign by the deposit box. We walked along a gravel road for about 15 minutes and then got to the cliffs.
We saw a trail that went down below the cliffs and since it was early morning, no one was around. We had the place to ourselves. It was pretty awesome!
Cemetery near the Atlantic Ocean and a stop in Ballinasloe
Best dessert I had - kind of like a Snickers cake!
Athlone - best Thai in Ireland! It was very good!
View from the Athlone Sheraton - we got a free stay for our last night in Ireland!
1 comment:
Looks like you had an interesting trip. Lots of sights and sounds.
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