Ireland Road Trip: Dingle

April 21st-22nd, 2011
Dingle, Co. Kerry

We took a long, windy, "scenic" road into Dingle, which was fun at first, but darkness, trucks, bikes, and sharp curves made it quite the obstacle course.  Lets just say I was glad I wasn't driving.  We arrived quite late in Dingle at our Inn, a larger affair than the last night's B&B's, and the proprietor directed us to pretty much the only place in town still serving food at 8:30pm.  Ireland does not eat dinner on the same schedule we do.

The next day, we kicked off with another full Irish breakfast (this was probably not the healthiest vacation), and headed to do a trail ride up into the hills.

Mom on her horse.  It was quite windy at the top of the hill.

Dad and his horse.  You could see down to the bay-- it was a beautiful view.

I forget which stone ruins these were in the distance, but they were very hard to get to, so it was cool to be able to see them from horseback.

After our ride, we took a drive around part of the Ring of Kerry, roads that circle County Kerry along the coastline and are notoriously scenic and treacherous looking.

The roads were incredibly narrow.  Traffic slowed to a near stop to allow cars to pass.  It also occasionally slowed to a stop as people took pictures of the iconic scenery.

Also on the way-- many many sheep.  This one is marked with blue paint to identify her with a particular herd.

Baby sheep!  It was that spring time of year, and watching the lambs run and frolic was incredibly entertaining.

Also on our stop along the Ring of Kerry was the Gallarus Oratory, a dry stone building believed to be and early Christian church that guarded literacy through various religious and political turmoil.  Yay, literacy!

The next day dawned bright and sunny, so we took a spin around town before heading off.  Dingle was a beautiful, colorful little harbor town, and looked even better with bright sun and clear blue sky.

Some of the colorful houses.

The view across the harbor.  You can just barely make out the stone monument on the top of the hill, meaning that we rode all the way to the hill just to the right on our little trail ride.

The pier.  Various fishing boats and even a vessel of the Irish Navy were docked in the harbor that morning.

This is Fungi, the Dingle Dolphin.  He is famous for living in the bay for years after his sweetheart was supposedly killed, and he stayed and waited for her.  He's so famous, they have boat tours just to go spot Fungi.

Ireland Road Trip: The Aran Islands

April 20th-21st, 2011

Inishmore, Co. Galway

We woke bright and early to get our full Irish breakfast in Doolin before leaving on the ferry for Inishmore, the biggest of the Aran Islands.

I'm usually fine with boats, but the ride over the Irish sea was more than a little rocky and cold.  The view of the cliffs of Moher from below was pretty cool though.

We were immediately accosted off the ferry by people trying to rent us bikes or get us to go on carriage rides.  When it comes down to it, that's the only way around the island-- it's a VERY small island-- but they really shove it in your face.  We rented bikes from someone further inland and set off on what was, characteristic of my dad, the longest bike loop around the island.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Aran Islands, the landscape is a little... rocky.  The pictures tell it better.

Mom on her rented pink bike.

Pretty typical landscape-- giant rocks that sheer off in weird square pieces with some grass between.

We visited several old forts that were build from rocks on the island.  Apparently Inishmore was a great place to guard your treasures because no one wanted to go there.

Irish is much more common in the west.  This sign probably says something like, "no using the force to attract rocks out of the Fort."

The forts were built on cliff edges to add the obstacle of water on one side.  I look like I'm being dangerous, but really...

I'm just looking at THIS crazy spectacle below.  Watching the sea hit the rocks was mezmerizing.

We actually saw these in the museum back in Dublin, and learned about the writing style in the book of Kells exhibit, and here it is in real life-- a sign post

The view from the top of a lighthouse.  It was a long slog to bike up to this hill, so I hope the view is worth it.  You can see how they pull the rocks from the ground (or try to), and use them to fence off paddocks.

Mom and Dad at the top of the lighthouse.

Dad checking out the barren landscape.

There was actually civilization, just precious little.  We found a good pub for dinner, a bed and breakfast, and a pub for lunch the next day.  But the overall impression is definitely, well, rocks.

Ireland Road Trip: Heading West

April 18th-19th, 2011

Trim, Co. Meath, to Doolin, Co. Galway

We had a late start to our trip due to some unfinished taxes and a slow car pick-up at the airport.  We even ended up making the very daring decision of a manual in an attempt to speed things along.  Our first stop, the Hills of Tara, gave us a further set back as it was closed for the day.  We continued on to a nearby site suggested by the friendly Tara folks, with lots of Round Towers and Celtic Crosses.  Round towers, if you're wondering, look something like this:

They are very tall stone towers made by monks, and have no windows or even doors until about 15 feet up, because the foundation only goes about 2 feet down.  So basically, an architectural marvel.  Opinions are mixed on the "why," but one tour guide told us, and I tend to agree, that the idea that they were for defense or to "hide out" is absurd.  If monks were being attacked and ran up a tower, the attackers would then know exactly where they were and how to corner them, and since the towers had no defense mechanisms, that would be the end.  They were more likely libraries, and some attempt to get closer to God by building towards the heavens.

Working out way westward, we stopped at another set of ruins (we should have got a bumper sticker that said "we stop for round towers").  This one had giant keys to open each metal door, and to get to them, you had to walk right out with the cows.  Very rustic.

By evening, we made it to Trim, named for Trim Castle.  We spent some time exploring the outside, but sadly, the inside wasn't open for tourist season yet.

My dad was thrilled to see that it actually had a moat.

Other ruins near the castle, on a ruins walk suggested by the woman at the hotel.  She assured us that they were "very nice ruins."  My parents are looking at the info on the cathedral, while I've climbed up into the stone work.

We stayed the night in a lovely hotel in Trim, and after my parent's first real full Irish breakfast, continued westward the next day.  On the way, we made the glorious discovery of Yeat's tower.  Having just read his poetry collection, The Tower, which was actually written while he holed himself up in this tower during the war, this was a pretty cool find for me.

Yeats Tower, Thoor Baylee, Gort, Co. Galway

...And we also found some more ruins, with some more cows.  They really don't mind you if you don't mind them.

Finally, we made it all the way to the coast and the Cliffs of Moher (no one really knows how to pronounce it-- it always comes out sounding something like "more," but you say it all drawn out and hope people understand).

The signs were pretty amusing.  "Don't step on fire while trying to catch birds"?

The cliffs really were stunning, although it was a pretty misty day, but apparently that's par for the course at the cliffs.

With out real sight-seeing done for the day, we headed to our stop for the night: Doolin and the St. Anthony B&B.  We went to the docks to sign up for our morning ferry to the Aran Islands, then went on Bridget's suggestion to O'Connor's Pub for some food and live music.  They really did call out for people to sing a song of their own-- I thought the Musical Pub Crawl guys had been making that up. 

Two boys with tin whistles joined the band too.  They weren't half bad.  I entertained one of their little sisters with a card game while they played, but she fell asleep pretty quick.

Ireland Road Trip: Dublin

April 14th-17th, 2011
Dublin, Ireland

When my parents came to visit for the Easter Holidays (study time for some, travel time for others), we started the journey with some exploration of Dublin.

I showed off some essentials (the Trinity campus, the Book of Kells, Grafton Street, St. Stephen's Green, and MacTourcaill's), but we also checked out some stuff that I hadn't seen yet.

Mom really liked all the wrought iron fences.  She took a lot of pictures of them.  These are right outside Trinity Front Gate.

My dad and I in front of the Arts Block.

Dinner at Mactourcaill's-- my first time having food there, but it lived up to expectations.

We also got to visit Dublin Castle, tour Christchurch Cathedral, see the Dublin Writer's Museum and the national Archeology Museum, and go on a musical pub crawl.

The starting point of our musical pub crawl-- touristy, but still fun.

My dad and I in the Dublin Writer's Museum.  We are not great at taking pictures of ourselves.

While walking through temple bar, we stumbled on a book market.  I found a couple of really cool maps that were really out of my price range.

Our super-beer-trip began here with Guinness at Mactourcail's (and just about every other meal), and a sampler of Porter House beers.  We also managed the best purchase of the trip right at the beginning: my new Radley wallet from Arnotts (the Dr. Suess department store).

Our last day in Dublin, we took a train to Howth and spent most of the day hiking and, of course, eating the local fish and chips.  Even though you have to sit outside, Howth was probably the best fish and chips I found on my trip.