Back where we started.... Dublin

So, here we are ... Day 3 or Day 4 or somewhere around there.  Kind of sad that we aren't even a week into this epic journey and I can't even really tell you what day it is.  I guess the outlook isn't good for the next couple of weeks.

We've seen so much and had a lot of fun so far.  First things first, Ireland is amazing.  The people are friendly, the scenery is beautiful.  The food is really good, how can you complain when they serve French Fries with breakfast??

So, after getting off the plane the first morning and driving two hours straight to Galway, we traveled south along the shore to find the Cliffs of Moher.  You can google and look at pictures all you want.  There is nothing quite like dangling your feet off the side of a 700ft sheer cliff to get your blood pumping, no guard rail, no warning signs, just a big drop to let you know you walked too far.

We passed from there onto a ferry to cross the river Shannon.  The through Connor Pass, the highest mountain pass in Ireland.  The scenery was stunning.  Single lane road winding up the side of green mountains with gorgeous waterfalls along the way. 

Then we came into the town of Dingle.  It was a cool little town that has a really strange obsession with a dolphin, Fungie.  But hey, everyone has to have something to latch onto. Our host at the B&B was hilarious and looked a bit like an Irish version of the guy from "The Princess Bride".  Which ironically part of was filmed at the Cliffs of Moher, Inconceivable!!

The next morning we got up and headed to the next town over.  Sarah was super excited to go horseback riding.  She kept assuring me that if I can ride a motorcycle, I’ll be fine on a horse.  WRONG!!  Motorcycles don’t bounce up and down when you’re riding them.  And they have handle bars.  I survived, but I don’t know that it’s something I would rush to find again, I’ll leave that for Sarah.

After that, back in the car and on to Blarney Castle.  We kissed the Blarney stone.  Which apparently gives you the gift of BSing.  I guess the queen of England sent a messenger to Blarney to take over the castle, and the Cheiftan Cormac MacCarthy kept entertaining the Englishman with beer and parties.  His messages to the Queen stated how he was in stiff negotiations with the Cheiftan, and three month later, he came home with no castle. The queen declared he was “full of Blarney”  and a legend was born.  Kiss the stone and you get the gift of gab.  So, in combination with my Putt genes, my kissing of the Blarney stone should give Sarah a hand full.

On from there… more driving.  You know, I was fearful of driving at the beginning, but after about a day it came pretty naturally.  I guess it’s easier when you see everyone else doing it.  But driving around the Irish country side really has been a great part of the trip for me.  I really enjoy driving and seeing the open road.  Irish talk radio is pretty funny as well.  

Kinsale is where we stayed last night.  It’s a beautiful little town.  We stayed in a little swankier place, because it’s a little swankier town, and basically it was the only room we could find in town.  We’re glad we did, what a great place with fun classy restaurants and bars with lounge singers.  It's a small town right on the harbor. Beautiful, even almost made me a little homesick for Annapolis.  

Then back in the car again… this time headed for Dublin.  FYI - if you need to get gas for a rental car in Dublin near the airport, there is one gas station on the way into(?!?!) the terminal.  Otherwise you'll drive around for an hour trying to find one, trust me I know.  

Anyway, here's a summary of where we've been so far.  Kind of neat to see it laid out on a map.  I think I'll do this every so often, since we don't know exactly where we will end up:

We’re here at our apartment now, got here around 7 PM.  It’s almost 1 AM, I should add more pictures and I will, I'm just tired.   First impression of Dublin: it’s vastly different than the small towns we’ve been in the other nights. 

We were sick of eating out so we got a pizza from the grocery store down the street.  Turned on the oven in our apartment and set off the fire alarm for the whole building.  Awesome, welcome to the big city.

On the other hand, we’re gonna be here for a couple days.  So it will be nice to get the lay of the land and not have to take off immediately again tomorrow.  Oh, and then on Saturday there’s this thing that kind of forced this whole trip to become a reality instead of just a pipe dream....

WE ARE!!!!!!!