Ireland Part 2 (still pretty long)

So...after spending a few low key days in Cork, we ventured out to Killarney for a day. It was one of my favorite days of our whole trip. The weather was perfect and there was so much to do. We started with lunch in the city and then found a very nice jarvey to drive our jaunting cart through Killarney National Park. It was absolutely gorgeous! The kids thought it was great to be in a horse drawn carriage going down the city streets and into the park. It took us to see Ross Castle which is on the edge of one of the 3 Lakes of Killarney. We were able to walk around and see the sights before riding back to where we started.

Afterwards we found this great little ice cream shop in the city known for their sea salt ice cream. (http://icecreamireland.com/2010/02/24/sea-salt-ice-cream/) You can try it if you are brave. Chris really liked it, and he has even made it himself a couple of times since. To me, it's only ok. I liked the other varieties that they had much better.

Once we had our treat, we set off by car back towards Ross Castle. There were boat tours there of the lakes. It was really pretty out on the water. Afterwards we headed down the Ring of Kerry a little further until we came to the Muckross House and Gardens. We walked around the grounds and took lots of pictures. It was amazingly beautiful there. So much to see! Then we were off again to the Torc Waterfall for a short hike. It reminded us of the gorge in Oregon. It had the same look and smell as if we were looking at a waterfall back home. Afterwards, we were all pretty exhausted after a full day of hiking and exploring. We made the drive back to Cork.

Towards the end of our trip we packed up all our things and headed up to Roscrea, where my Aunt & Uncle live. We had a really good time with them! It was Neil's 1st birthday while we were there, so we had a small celebration with a strawberry swiss roll cake with fresh cream, yum!

We were able to find a small local pub with some traditional Irish music being played. It was really fun to listen to live music. The kids thought it was great! We even got to drive through Moneygall (the town Obama's relatives are from) on our way there. It was funny to see the town all made up still after the recent Presidential visit.

The next day we went to Birr Castle. It is an inhabited castle today, which was interesting. I can't imagine living there. We were able to tour the grounds, which were home to a giant telescope and museum. The telescope used to be the biggest in the world for over 70 years.

We had a little more time to kill, so we headed downtown Roscrea for a visit to the nice park they have there. The kids had a great time while Neil napped, and we got to relax a bit. Afterwards, we headed back to the house for a tasty dinner.

We said our goodbyes the next day and then headed off towards Aillwee Caves followed by our B&B that night. The caves were a fun place to visit. They are located with the Burren National Park area. It was such a pretty drive to get there, although very narrow and winding. The Burren is famous for it's contrasting landscape. It looks a little bit like a moonscape. Lots of rock interspersed with grass in all sorts of shapes. It's very beautiful. The cave itself was only alright, but Chris and the kids were able to go hiking up the side of a rocky mountain. They all came back down with cuts and scrapes. We stopped at another ancient tomb site on the way back, and enjoyed all the views.

After a much better breakfast at the B&B, we headed off to the Cliff of Moher. We had probably the best weather of our entire trip that day. It was gorgeous! We should have worn shorts. It was perfect for seeing the amazing views of the Atlantic. I think this is one of the most impressive sights to see in Ireland. We hiked around the cliffs and explored the visitor center. This took most of the morning. Afterwards, we drove just a few minutes down the road to Lahinch, which is a beach town. Since the day was so sunny and hot, we let the kids play on the beach. Unfortunately, we weren't really prepared for an afternoon at the beach. ie; swimsuits, towels, even spare clothes. The girls really wanted to go into the water, so I hiked up their pants and told them to only get their lower legs wet. I don't know why I even bothered. Within minutes they were both soaking wet head to toe. We ended up eating lunch at a small place right next to the beach so we could sit outside and let the kids dry off a little. They ended up riding back to the B&B in their undies.

Once we were changed into some clean clothes we drove just down the street to Bunratty Castle and Folk Park. It was a pretty fun place to explore. They have a "town" full of replica houses and stores from different parts and times of Ireland. It was neat to see all the traditional style farmhouses. There were also animals there like sheep, donkeys, and chickens. We were able to have a really great tour of the castle itself. They use it still for big banquets. There were tons of winding staircases. It seems to me that castle life would be a huge pain. Lots of stairs everywhere! The kids were happy to explore and wonder which room the princess slept in.

After a tasty dinner in a local pub, we went to bed for the last time in Ireland. We woke up at a decent time, around 8am and enjoyed a traditional Irish breakfast before driving 10 minutes down the road to the Shannon Airport. We had to wait a really long time as we turned in our rental car. Thankfully, it all checked out intact (we only had one run in with a rubber pole, but no scratch ). We made it over to the airport in time to check in and walk right up to our plane and board without waiting. It was a little flustering, but we made it!

The flight across the ocean was uneventful. The kids were again fabulous! Everyone around us remarked at how well behaved they were. I was crossing my fingers because on this flight there was no video monitors for them to watch cartoons on. We made it to JFK and only had a nice 2 hour layover. It was perfect really. We had time to get some food and then get on our second flight. It was a little frustrating as we sat on the plane on the tarmac just waiting. Apparently some back up at JFK. So we waited almost an hour on the plane before actually taking off. We were all so tired by this time. Thankfully, the kids were great! Eventually they were all able to fall asleep. We made it to PDX and were greeted by Grandma and Grandpa. It was great to see them!

Overall, we had a really great trip, full of new foods, new experiences, and fun sights. We visited nearly every playground that we could find, and we became regulars at the chipper. It was great to visit with family that we hardly ever get to see, and it was nice to stay in my grandparents house that is now for sale. I will probably never again get to stay there. It was a trip that will have to last us a really long time. Who knows when or if we will ever go back. Thanks to everyone who helped us make it possible.

Ireland Part 1 (caution...long post)

Where to begin?? This year we had an amazing opportunity. We spent almost 4 weeks in Ireland. I have to admit there was a brief moment of panic as we all got buckled into our seats on the first plane early in the morning. "What on earth did we get ourselves into?" I asked Chris. We were attempting a trip that would take us 4700 miles over nearly 24 hours with 3 small children.

We had to be at the airport at 4:30 am on the day we left. It was a rough way to start a big trip. There was a slight scare as the check in line was super long and then when we got up there, the lady wasn't happy to see that Chris's passport did not match his boarding pass. (Christopher vs. Chris) I assured her that I always enter in his full name and I'm not sure how that could have happened. Thankfully, they let it slide. We made it to our plane and loaded on. I brought along plenty of markers, coloring books, books, snacks, toys, and headphones. The kids all did amazing. No crying, fighting, and only a little whining. They were able to watch the little tv's that played cartoons, which was great. We made it to JFK.

Once there, we had a 8 hour layover! That was rough! We went to eat some food, watched a movie on the laptop, and took walks around the airport. I did get to see the cast from Glee just walking around. That was pretty exciting. By the time our next flight left it was night time and we were all tired. We managed to get on, eat our plane dinner, and then settle in for a nap. The kids all slept, and Chris and I took turns having our arms fall asleep while holding the sleeping baby. Again, no complaints. Everyone did really good.

Finally we made it! We arrived in Shannon, Ireland. The airport was tiny. We picked up our things and then found our rental car. It was a Renault Fluence. It was a great car, although we just barely fit in it with all our car seats. Chris had his first terrifying experience with driving a manual transmission on the left side of the road. Yikes! Talk about nerve racking! Fortunately, we had booked a nearby B&B in Bunratty, so we only had to drive for about 15minutes. The roads are so narrow there. Usually lined by stone walls and not usually wide enough for two cars. I'm surprised that we didn't wreck the car the first few days!

We went straight to bed when we arrived, which was a stupid move seeing as it was only 9am there. When we woke up we ventured out for some dinner, then headed back to relax with a movie. We were still pretty tired so we went to bed at a normal time, but we all woke up around midnight. Wide awake. Since it was a B&B, I didn't want to wake other guests so we turned on the lights, gave Neil some Benadryl then all had a snack and waited for the medicine to kick in. Eventually it did, and we all went back to sleep.

After a weird breakfast that consisted of tiny, burnt, pancake thingys we were on the road to Cork. We brought our GPS with us, which really came in handy. Thankfully, the road to Cork was more of a main highway, so Chris had a chance to get more comfortable with the driving on the left.

We made it to my Grandma's house in Cork. Unfortunately, she isn't around anymore. She died just a couple of months before our big trip. We were able to stay at her house for the majority of our time there. It was really nice to have our own space. We all had our own bedrooms, and although the beds were super uncomfortable, we really enjoyed relaxing at the house. It took us quite some time to adjust to the +8 hour time change. We never really did. Our days generally began at around 10 with breakfast and then we'd get ready for the day. We usually got out of the house around 1pm and then adventured with snacks and had a big meal out before coming back to the house in time for bed.

Our first big day out was to Blarney. Of course famous for Blarney Castle and kissing the Blarney stone. This gives you the "gift of eloquence". The castle grounds were really nice. There was lots of room to run around, a playground, poison gardens, and other interesting rock formations. We shopped at the Blarney Woolen Mills and then had dinner at the Commons.

Our next adventure took us to Cobh (Cove). It is a small town on Cork Harbor where large ships dock. It was the last stop of the Titanic, and it was where the Lusitania was torpedoed by a German U-boat during WWI killing almost 1200 people. It was also the departure point for all of the Irish immigrants coming to the US. There is a small maritime museum that we explored. We ate a seafood dinner in a pub right on the harbor where we watched small sailboats go out for a race. There was a huge cathedral there too.

On one of the weekends, we decided to drive out to Ballymacoda to see my Aunt Ger and Uncle Bill and cousin Avril at their beach house. It is a small place in the middle of nowhere. It was fun to spend time with them and get some fresh sea air. The kids and Chris took a walk down the beach to see the water and they came back with lots of shells. The beach there was covered in shells. We had a yummy dinner with them with some fresh apple tart with Irish strawberries for dessert. Yum!

We only had 2 disappointing days on our trip. The first was when we went to Trabologan. This is a holiday destination for families that I remember going to long ago when I was a kid. I guess that should have tipped me off, I mean I am getting old. There is a wave pool there with water slide and a few indoor playgrounds. The pool was ok, and the water slide didn't even work right. It was pouring rain that day so we got soaked going from building to building. The kids weren't very impressed with the play areas either. It was only ok. The other bummer day was when we decided to have a beach day at Youghal (ya'll). Again, it was somewhere that I remember having a blast at as a kid. Should have known better. Granted there wasn't much we could've done different. We left the house to clear blue skies and the promise of warm temps. When we arrived at the beach it was covered in some crazy fog/mist which made it quite cool. Not only was the weather yucky, but we got there in time for high tide as well. This meant there was absolutely no sand at all. The water came right up to the rocks before the road. Seriously lame. The kids were pretty bummed. We ended up walking through the town to buy an ice cream and came upon a small patch of sand to play a little before making the drive back.

Another day was spent going out to Kinsale with a visit to Charles Fort first. This was one of my favorite days of the trip. The Fort was fabulous with great views! It was the site of one of the biggest battles for the Irish army. There were all kind of exhibits to see, and building ruins to walk through. It was really pretty, and fun to see. Afterwards, we navigated the tiny roads to the town of Kinsale. It's a pretty lively place and is known as the "gourmet capital" of Ireland. There were amusements there that the kids really enjoyed. We had our very favorite ice cream, a 99 (soft serve with chocolate flake in it), and then went to dinner at a great little place right on the harbor. The weather was perfect, the food was delish, and we all had a great day!

After all that we needed a more relaxed day spent close to the house. We decided to do a bunch of things that we could walk to. Little did we realize that it would turn into about 5k of walking and be a very long day! We started out at St. Anne's Church on Shandon St. where you can go in and ring the bells. They even provide music to try to play them to. From the church we walked really far to the Cork City Gaol (jail). It is an old run down jail that used to house inmates. We were able to do the tour, which was pretty interesting, and then look around the grounds a bit. After that, we decided to find the park for the kids. It was another long walk to Fitzgerald park across the river. We made it, and I have to say it was really nice. Finally something that was better than it was when I was a kid. The kids had a blast! We eventually left the park and wandered into the city for some dinner. We dragged our tired selves home and we were super tired from a full day of walking.

On another day we made the drive up to Dublin to spend a few days with my Aunt Linda, Uncle Aiden, and cousins. We enjoyed our drive, stopping at a few ruins along the way. The first was Cahir Castle. It was here that we discovered that our stroller was kaput. We REALLY needed our stroller. It had already been through so much, it wasn't surprising that it didn't make it. We hit up a local hardware store and bought a bunch of zip ties. We totally rigged it up and made it work! The castle was pretty fun to explore. We had a tasty lunch in Cahir and then we were on the road again towards Cashel. We stopped to tour the Rock of Cashel which is a pretty famous site of a religious ruin. It is very impressive looking from the outside since it is perched high up on a hill. The inside, however, was not very exciting. The kids liked climbing on the rocks around it and we did stop for ice cream before driving the rest of the way to Dublin.

Once in Dublin we stayed pretty busy doing all kinds of fun things. We went and explored the city, which included a tour on a double decker bus. It was fun to be in a really big city and see all the people and stores.

For Claire's 6th birthday we went to the National Aquatic Center and had a great time swimming and sliding down water slides. It was way better than our first aquatic experience. We came home from that with a cake and sang happy birthday. Claire even got some money and was able to pick out a new toy from a toy store. She had a great day!

The next day we drove out to Newgrange, which is a huge burial chamber that was built sometime around 5200bc. It's crazy old! We were able to go inside and see where the light enters on every winter solstice. It's amazing to see how people way back then were able to figure out all the angles and direction of the sunlight on a particular day of the year, and that they were able to build something so structurally sound. There are many ruins just like this one in the area. They are all very old. It was pretty neat to explore. On our way home we decided to explore the area a little more. We found a really great beach that was near an awesome playground. The kids were in heaven. They got to make a sandcastle and then run around the play structure.

Our last day in Dublin was spent at the zoo. It was a nice sunny day, and we had a lot of fun walking around and seeing all the animals. We even got to see a couple of the "shows" that they do with the elephants and the dolphins. The elephants were especially fun to watch as they all went for a swim and the keepers threw apples to them. Of course we ate some ice cream before we left for our drive back to Cork.

Once back in Cork, we took a couple of easy days to recover. This included a small trip to the Blackrock Castle Observatory. It's a castle that was restored and turned into a big science center. There is lots to see and read about there. Another bonus is the restaraunt on site. It was one of the best meals we had while is Cork. It was there that I discovered a banofee pie. A yummy crumbly crust with caramel, sliced bananas, whipped cream, and chocolate on top. So good, that we hit up the grocery store for ingredients to make ourselves more!

On our other "quiet" day, we took the kids to Monkey Maze. This is a really great place that is pretty similar to Out of This World, but much better. There is more to play on, and fun different equipment. The kids of course had a blast!

After regaining our strength, we ventured off to Fota Wildlife Park. It's a lot like a zoo, except that most of the animals are just wandering around freely. It was fun to get up real close to the meerkats, kangaroos, birds, peacocks, and other small animals. It was a beautiful day for walking around and enjoying nature. We ate a big lunch there and enjoyed ice cream too.

Stay tuned for part 2...