Ireland Day 2- Galway to Dingle

Today, we woke up to a traditional Irish breakfast prepared by Trish, the owner of the Lynfield House B & B.  Jet lag still a factor, but we’re off to the Cliffs of Moher.  As we made our way along the Wild Atlantic Way (the longest defined coastal dive in the world), we encountered some interesting and cool sights along the way. At one point the traffic suddenly came to a crawl, then we realized the culprit…COWS!! 

 Took us a minute to pass the herd, but Pepe really enjoyed his car ride. 

We also made sure to stop and check out our surroundings along the way.  At Murrooughtoohy, we could see The Aran Islands, Connemara, Galway Bay, and Black Head.

Here is a panoramic view of Murroughtoohy and me with Black Head in the back

Opening in the cliff

Pepe testing his luck
 

Heart in the rock (Just for you Mama T)

We also passed many horses just chilling out in the pasture and some pretty cool looking buildings.

Pepe stumbling upon another Putt.

Alas, we made it to the Cliffs of Moher.  It was absolutely stunning and a little frightening the closer we got to the edge.  


View of a castle at the Cliffs of Moher and Pepe chilling in the castle window.

Zoom in on the first picture right near the top of the ledge, You will see the size of the people and realize the tremendous size of the cliff.  My heart dropped as I hung my feet over the edge of the ledge... only 702' feet tall!

Pepe’s too…

As we continued our drive to Dingle, we had to drive extra careful because of the 

"pedestrians" in and right on the edge the street...

 

Once we got to Dingle, I learned that we were staying in what used to be an old horse stable, very fitting… and good thing we got the smallest room in the place, which oddly enough was just perfect.  

Maurice, the owner, was just fantastic! He was all about cracking jokes, most of which were pointed towards Ray, which I can always get on board about.  The town of Dingle is really cool, just a small “fishery harbor” as they say.  

The town celebrity is none other than a bottle nose dolphin named “Fungie”, who has lived in the harbor for almost 30 years.  Ray and I spent some time poking around, seeing if we could lure him out, but to no avail.  Guess the statue had to do…

Check out this shot of Dingle at sunset…

After dinner, we wondered around in the rain to find some traditional Irish music and enjoyed some Crean’s lagers, locally brewed in Dingle.  Pepe is quick to try all the new beers we find

Oh and we had some brown bread ice cream which was absolutely amazing!!!

Ireland Day 1- Galway

What an amazing first day we had, logistically it is really day 2, but being that I haven't really slept besides a couple hours on the plane, I am constituting this as our first day and night.  Our flight out here was such a blur, we basically left at 9am flew to New York, landing there at 6pm.  We then hoped right on our next flight at 7pm and landed in Dublin at 7am.  Here is us flying through the darkness... makes me feel slightly like Peter Pan, "second star to the right and straight on till morning".

As soon as we landed, it was time for Ray to figure out this whole driving on the other side of the car AND the other side of the road thing.  I admit that I was very uncomfortable at first... hence the fact that I made him do it, since there was no way I was A. going to drive manual and B. going to drive on the other side of the car/road.  That first intersection in which we needed to make a cross traffic turn was definitely a nail biter, but we made it and thus made it safely to our first stop Galway, despite the torrential downpour during the drive over.  Even though we were battling jet-lag all day and the weather was cold and rainy, Ray and I had a great time.  We bundled up and tooled around the city without really looking at a map, stumbling across most of the need to see attractions.  We went to a quaint breakfast joint run by three older ladies who were super cute.  We asked them what we should go do today to which one replied, "Well, you don't come to Ireland for the weather".  Best response ever! Here are some of the photos we took today.The first ones are from our walk up a canal path towards the cathedral.

 This is where went went for dinner.  One of Ray's co-workers mentioned we should check this place out and if we weren't specifically looking for it, we would not have found it.  This was my first introduction to "brown bread" and I am obsessed. It is absolutely delicious!  Not really sure what makes it so good, but it is.

Dinner was awesome, the drive to find it well not so much!But at least we did see a castle.

 Some friends we found hanging out in Galway.

 The spanish arch.

We're here... Ireland

So , we made it to the other side of the world.  Crazy to think that just yesterday (or this, depending on how you look at it) morning we were walking around on the beach in Southern California.  We landed in Dublin with fog that makes San Francisco look like a place to get a tan. The little old lady serving us brunch put it best, "No one comes to Ireland for the weather."   But, the adventure commenced for the most part without a hitch.  Waiting for the rental car shuttle was a bit of a fiasco, but the rest was good.

So, not only did I have to drive manual on the "other" side, on the other side of the road, but there was thick fog, and something we never deal with in LA.. RAIN!!  Lord knows how I managed, but we made it here alive.  It really helps to just follow the flow. But, my heart stopped the first time I was the only one to go through a yellow light at a 5 lane intersection.  "Just follow the lines!"

 

But, once we landed and drove clear across the country in the first two hours of being here, Galway is a pretty neat town.  We wandered all over, saw bridges and old town, and ended the night watching a English Soccer game in a local pub.  

Oh, and thanks Alan for the dinner suggestion. It was fantastic and there is certainly no way we would have found that without your help. 

What Sarah is Most Excited About

"It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see." 

 I must admit that I am super excited about every place that we are headed.  Every country and every town has so much to offer. Although many will vary greatly from one another, it's important to me to see the beauty and understand the history of each place we visit. Regardless of where we are, I am most looking forward to get to explore and probably get lost a few times with the man of my dreams.  I am so blessed to be able to call him my husband and am excited to finally get to celebrate our honeymoon.  If I had to pick my top 3 places that I am most excited about, I would probably say: 

1. All of Ireland:  I can not wait to see the incredibly green rolling pastures and picturesque castles.  It will be very cool for me to travel the streets of my ancestors and get a glimpse of a part of my heritage.  I also heard that there are numerous equestrian activities to partake in, including riding through castle streets, forest trails, and pristine beaches (which has long since been a dream of mine).   I hope Ray is ready for some horseback adventures cause there is no way he is getting out of doing this with me. 
2. Cinque Terre: Known as “The Five Lands”, it is a rugged portion of coast on the Italian Riviera that is connected by hiking trails, trains and boats, apparently there are no cars there.  Ever since my parents went there a year or so ago, I have had my heart set on seeing this magnificent place for myself.  Out of all the places I’ve talked to people about, this is the place where everyone pauses and then remarks “I love that place! You have to go there!”. I’ve been told that one can very easily lose track of time when there, but what better thing to do than surround yourself by some of the most brilliant views and just embrace every moment.  
3. Barcelona: After reading through my Lonely Planet travel book, I grew very excited about going to Spain, but specifically Barcelona.  From the Mercat de la Boqueria, to La Sagrada Familia, to Park Guell, to the delicious tapas and paella, I think Barcelona will be a great way to end our trip 

Over the past couple months, we have had an outpouring of advice, tips, and recommendations from our family, friends, friends of friends (some we have yet to meet but hope to while we travel around) and co-workers to help guide us to find the best spots in every place we are going.  I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to our trip, your helpful words are greatly appreciated and have made me even more excited about all that's in store for us.  

The Beginning...

Well, our adventure has officially begun, and thus has my attempt at writing a blog.  So here goes… I hope you all enjoy reading our posts, looking through our photos and sharing in our experiences as we trek through Europe.  Ray and I began talking about taking a trip around the world very early on in our relationship.  We spent numerous hours researching “100 Best Places to Travel”, “Top 10 Best Beaches”, “Best Small Towns”, etc.  As more time passed, our eyes and curiosity widened with every place we found.  It wasn’t until about a year ago when we finally had a time and a place… Dublin August 30, 2014.  It was this day that Pennsylvania State University was set to play University of Central Florida in their season opener in the land of the Irish.  This gave us the excuse we had been looking for to begin actually turning our dream destination list into a reality.  Thinking back to all those conversations of “we should go here”, “what about there?” or “Ever heard of this place place? I think it would be cool to go there”, I can not believe that our departure day has arrived.  The in- flight trip tracker places us currently somewhere over Cleveland, Ohio with about an hour left on our first flight.  But don’t you worry, we’re only just shy of our halfway marker, still another 6+ hour flight left to go.  And I have to admit that my “airplane curse” continues to plague me with delays.  We were allowed a whole 30 extra minutes to sit on the plane while still at the gate before being allowed to take off.  That being said, I hope its out of my system for the rest of our travels.  

I’m still not sure how 6 weeks of stuff was able to fit into one carry on backpack, but somehow (with the help of Ray and my mom, as well as the packing tips I learned from some YouTube packing videos) it did.  And I’m sure the one last sweater I threw in right before we left will definitely come in handy as the temperatures drop over the next couple of weeks.  Speaking of packing, it seems that a stowaway has made his way into my backpack, somehow managing his own compartment, as well as a free trip to Europe.  Enter Lil Pepe: 

This little guy comes with a big story and an even bigger place in my family’s heart.  Big Pepe was originally born in Puerto Vallarta Mexico, then spotted by me at a street-side vendor and I knew we were destined to be friends.  He received lots of attention from passengers and airport employees at the airport and even got his own seat on our flight back home.  My dad made sure he was buckled in tight and got a bag when he became a little air sick.  Once arriving in CA, he became a central part of mine and my sister’s apartment, so much so that when my sis travelled to Europe in 2008, I made her very own little Pepe to take with her.  He has numerous photos standing in castles in Germany, coming face to face with a bull in Pamplona, and from the top of the Effeil Tower in Paris. He even found his way to the top of her wedding cake.  So when it became time for me to embark on my travels, it was of no shock when I found him tucked away in my backpack.  Time again for him to make some more hoof prints in international soil.  I’m sure you will be seeing a lot of him, sneaking into our photos, nibbling bites out of our food, and sipping on some of our fancy drinks.  That lil rascal…

Ray's Most Excited About...

So, here we are, two days until we leave and it still doesn’t feel quite real.  A trip we’ve been talking about for years starts in less than 48 hours. Kind of crazy.  It’s the type of trip that we will talk about the rest of our lives.  The more I talk to people about it, the more they all continue to ask the same question, “What part are you most excited about?”

Here are the top 3 things that I am excited about for the trip:

3) The Penn State game – I know I’ve been to plenty of games, but this one is definitely going to be unique.  Seeing a game in Dublin will be great.  Introducing some of my co-workers to American Football, and PSU, at that, will be fantastic.  I’m excited to tailgate with folks in Ireland.  How cool is that going to be??

2) Berlin – Seems like depending on who you ask, Berlin is great fun, or it’s just another boring metropolis.  I’m super excited to see Berlin because I feel like there are few cities in the world that have had more impact on modern history. My strange fascination with the Cold War makes me really excited to see the epicenter of it.  The Berlin Wall, Check Point Charlie and the history of World War II should be great. It is going to be fun to see where all these things happened and how the city has grown in the last 20 years since the fall of the Iron Curtain.

1) Just spending time with my new wife – Really as cliché as it is, I’m super excited to just spend some time with my new wife. Just us, figuring out how to get from one place to another.  Exploring new things together is one of the tenants of our relationship, and this is certainly going to be a new adventure for us to share together and something we will talk about for the rest of our lives, so I’m excited about that.

There are plenty of other things I am excited about.  For an honorable mention, how about seeing where my dad spent a lot of my childhood?  He was back and forth to Scotland stationed on a submarine.  I’ve always heard stories from him about Scotland, and now I’m going to experience it firsthand. So, there’s quite a bit to be excited about.  And I can’t wait…

As for what I’m nervous about, hands down, driving a manual car on the opposite side of the road around Ireland.  That’s causing me some uneasiness, so I’ll have to let you know how that goes.

Welcome to Our Blog

Welcome to Sarah & Ray's Blog!  It's our first time, so cut us some slack, eh?

So here we are, it’s been great couple of months since our wedding in Belize.  It’s crazy to think that at this point just 3 short months ago we were on our way to promise to love and cherish each other for the rest of our lives.  It was simply amazing spending time with many of the people we care about most in the world.  

If you weren't there, here’s a little snippet of what our wedding was like:

 

So, how exactly do we follow up a trip like that with a honeymoon?  Hmmm, well... we’re going to try.  So come along with us as we find our way through Europe.  Almost 6 weeks of traveling around, experiencing new cultures and seeing what else is out there.

We’re going to kind of wing it.  There’s some stuff that we have planned, but most of the time we are just going to be figuring it out as we go.

So, if you have any suggestions on where we should go or what we should do, please let us know in the comments.  

As for the blog, we'll write about each of our individual opinions on the places we visit and what we liked most, disliked most, etc.  It should be fun to see each place from both sides.  We're going to try to keep it as up to date as possible, with new posts and pictures each place we go. 

The preliminary plan is to follow this map:  

We really wish that you all could join us, but hopefully this will give you a taste of everything that we are seeing and experiencing.