Before things start to fade and become distant memories I figured I would start my Monday morning off with another post from my trip to Europe! If you missed part 1, please be sure to go here to check it out.
By day 4 of my trip, we were spending our final day in county Cork. It was probably one of my more memorable ones as this was the day I finally got to meet up with a good friend of mine. I had feared that I wouldn’t get to see Brian as he’d be in London the weekend I was in town, but thankfully we did. I was extremely grateful that he left work early on Monday so he could spend the day showing me around and catching up in person finally.
I started the morning off at the English Market in Cork with the girls looking for some delicious eats with which to make dinner later. This place reminded me very much of Cleveland’s West Side Market.
From there, Brian whisked me away to show me around the town of Kinsale. So beautiful! I got a peek at Charles Fort and a look at the colorful sailing town. Loved all the brightly colored building fronts. He also made sure I got my dose of fish and chips while we were there. SUPER greasy, but so good!!
This next shot was as we were driving along the winding, narrow roads heading towards Cobh and there was a brief peek of sun in the clouds so we stopped the car there in the middle of the road and I hopped up on his door frame to catch this. 🙂
We stopped at a few places along our drive, but ended up at Marlogue Woods in Cobh. This was probably one of my favorite stops of the day. The views of the beach from the woods were breath-taking, and the simplicity of sitting on a homemade swing on a beach in Ireland with someone I’ve grown to truly appreciate over the last year is something that I think will always bring me a sense of nostalgia.
I was taking a wee bit too long focusing with this next photo. I think he may have gotten impatient. Lol.
There’s just something about Irish beaches that are so amazing!
The final stop of the day, was visiting the statue of Annie Moore in Cobh. Felt the need to be a bit of a dork here. 😉
The next day me and Rhiannon & Shera headed west to the town of Killarney and to visit the beautiful sights of the west coast. When you think of Ireland and all the green and the rocky cliffs along the water’s edge, THIS is probably what you are thinking of. 😉 Our first day on the west coast, we did a loop around the Dingle Peninsula.
This was the first stop along the route. I think it was Inch beach. It was stunning! Different from the beach I had experienced the day before.
The winding roads along the cliffs edge, rolling green hills, lots of sheep and cows…yup. This is Ireland alright! 🙂
We stopped briefly in Dingle Town to pick up some maps. While we were waiting, we came upon this adorable mule.
Baaaaaaaa….
Living on the edge!
Along the way to decided that the best way to enjoy the scenery would be to pack a picnic and enjoy our lunch as we took in the views. Besides, our car legit told us to “Have a break!” Haha. We stopped at Dún Chaoin where I kicked back with some fresh bread, cheese (the blue cheese not so fresh…beyond normal mold for blue! Haha), and a few glasses of wine.
It did start to get a little more overcast as we progressed along and the wind sure kicks in! Check out these churning waters…not a place to go for an easy swim. Haha.
As we were finishing up our day along the peninsula and heading back towards Killarney, Rhee suddenly shouts, “A rainbow!!!” And low and behold up ahead of us is a beautiful rainbow. It was fleeting and we were, of course, on a narrow, winding road going a decent speed, so this was the best shot I got of the rainbow.
When we got back into town, we decided to find a place to eat. I was craving an authentic Irish pub atmosphere and we ended up at the Danny Mann’s Pub. I am soooo thankful we picked that place. Little did we know that 45 minutes after we sat down there’d be some traditional Irish music playing…and we had chosen the perfect seats to sit back with a Guinness (and Bulmers!) and take it all in. Tin whistle and Irish dancing included!
Click here to see some Irish Dancing!
Day 6 of my trip took us to the Ring of Kerry. Can I just say WOW! Sooooo astonishingly beautiful! I think some of my favorite photos from my trip came from this day. Took a brief pitstop in the town of Killorglin.
Be prepared for LOTS of photos to follow of beautiful blue waters and cliffs!
An iPhone Panoramic
I have to laugh at this sign listing the toilet we took a pitstop at in Portmagee as a “Top Toilet”. Poor Shera almost got stuck in it for good when she couldn’t get the door unlocked! I think she begged to differ! Hahaha
Shera in a bee hive hut (said to date back to about 2000 b.c.)
The views from Ballinskelligs of the Skelling Rocks.
No…no it’s not windy outside at all! 😉
If only you could have seen me crouched up with my expensive camera and lenses along the steep rocky cliff here to take a this pic. I think I was making Rhiannon incredibly nervous right about this point. Haha
We pulled off at a point of in interest here, but it wasn’t that interesting, so I turned around and took this image. I thought it came out kind of cool. 🙂
As we finished up the southeast portion of the Ring of Kerry, you move inland, away from the sea and you come across the beauty that is the Killarney National Park.
The Torc waterfalls were stunning! Too bad we ran into some rude tourists that decided they couldn’t wait a minute while I took Shera’s photos by the falls. 🙁
And I will finish with a photo from that evening after we finished up a delicious mediterranean meal at The Med Restaurant. I was astonished when we left the place at 10:30pm at night and it was THIS bright out!
I think I’ve jam-packed this post with enough photos to suffice you all for a bit. My next post will be about our final few days in Dublin and Powescourt.
