All this is to say that I am sorry for neglecting you especially since so many of you have been wondering how our trip to Ireland went. What can I say, our trip really was a dream come true. The rolling green hills of the countryside to the roughness of the coast to the bustling of the city of Dublin all in 10 days. The sights and sounds of Ireland have been swirling in my imagination ever since I was little and now I would like to share some of them with you.
A view from our cottage; sheep grazing in the foothills of Killarney. Meandering through the rolling fields it's easy to connect with these wonderful creatures, each farm separated by handmade stone fences. We were amazed with the cows we encountered on our walks. Each cow stopped what they were doing, looked us right in the eye as if to say, this is my territory.
Bunratty Castle was just one of the many castles we visited. Each castle was a bit different but each had its own beauty. We were able to explore many of them up their circular staircases and through their many tunnels.
I was obsessed with the beauty of each small cottage and their equally beautiful stone fences.
Massive cliffs arise along the west coast of Ireland. The Cliffs of Moher is a tourist spot not for the faint of heart. The beauty is experienced without fences even by walking along the very edge of the coastline. Well worth the three hour drive there and back, driving through coastal towns and watching the brave surfers in the frigid, rough waters.
The day of my birthday dawned bright and sunny which was a welcome change to the ever present drizzle of Killarney. We had booked a tour to Little and Giant Skellig Islands off the Southern coast of Ireland. The first tour out in two weeks due to the weather.
This is a view of the winding, fragile and uneven stones which were our steps spiraling upward toward the huts of Giant Skelling. Climbing these steps was not for the faint of heart but the views of over 4,000 puffins peeking out at you along the way kept our minds off the cliffs below.
At the top of Giant Skellig, are the huts left over from a six-century Christian monastery. It is truly amazing to think monks lived modestly on top of this giant mountain even during frigid weather conditions. At one point, we could hear the sounds of traditional harp music swirling around us as we explored. The man we had seen earlier carrying a large case up the mountainside was actually carrying a harp. Lucky us! Star Wars fans, keep an eye out for this same scenery in the upcoming Star Wars movie where part of the movie was filmed.
Also along the coast of County Kerry is a beach community we stumbled on. While the locals were relaxing on the beach, we explored the remnants of Ballinskelligs Castle. I was struck by the contrast of the old and new in this picture.
We loved the many sights of Dublin and sampling the Guinness on our tour of the factory, but I loved the countryside of Ireland the best. We even managed to eat fairly well even with all our teen's allergies. I will talk about that in the next post.
No comments:
Post a Comment