More in 7 Days than in 7 Months!

 I am sorry I have been MIA for the last week. I have been off on yet another holiday! I would make a terrible travel blogger, because when I am off traveling I am too busy enjoying the act of traveling to stop and write about it right then and there. 

I saw more of Ireland last week than I have in the seven months we have been living here! The reason for this was my parents came to visit. Adam and I have sort of been holding off on seeing some of Ireland's major attractions with the knowledge that we had visitors arriving in the Fall. My Aunt and Uncle will be here next week, so more Irish travel lies ahead!

As for my parents' visit we spent a few days here in Cork and then four days on the road exploring the West Coast before heading east to Dublin for a day. 

Thought I would share a quick post with just a few highlights from the visit.  I may expand upon a few things in future posts, but for now hopefully this will give you an idea of what an amazing country Ireland is. 

 Here is what we managed to cover in 8 days:

1 Fort

3 Castles

2 Manor Houses

1 Brewery

1 Distillery

2 golf courses

3 Mountain Passes

28 hours of scenic driving

4000+ sheep

almost as many cows

2 National Parks

4 very different hotels (each with their charms)

60 pints of Guinness 

40 pints of Murphys

13 bottles of wine

1 birthday (Lynn's)

and 

7 Rainbows!

We visited historical sights:

Charles Fort in Kinsale

The Blarney Castle

Roger kissing the Blarney Stone

The Rock of Cashel

The Rock of Cashel

Rock of Cashel

Cahir Castle

Thatched cottages in Adare

The Kylemore Abbey in Connemara

toured breweries and distilleries,

The Jameson Distillery

Roger holding his diploma after becoming an "official" whiskey taster

The Guinness Storehouse

drank a few pints (OK many, many pints),

Enjoying a pint at Doheny & Nesbitts in Dublin

saw some of the most amazing scenery I've ever seen,

Killarney National Park

The Cliffs of Moher

The Cliffs of Moher

The view along the Dingle Peninsula

Outside The Europe Hotel situated on the lake at Killarney National Park

Adam battling the high winds at Old Head golf course in Kinsale.

made some new friends,

experienced the ups and downs of the crazy Irish weather,

Winds were gusting up to 60 mph the day Adam and Roger teed up at Old Head!

stayed in several amazing hotels,

The Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin

Exterior of The Shelbourne Hotel

The crazy pink room in The G Hotel in Galway.

The G Hotel lobby

Anyone else a little Dizzy?!

The Europe Hotel in Killarney

The Europe Hotel

The Europe Hotel

Adare Manor Hotel

Roger enjoying his tea by the fireside at the Adare Manor Hotel.

enjoyed delicious food:

Adam made this amazing chocolate, coconut, and almond  delight from scratch in honor honour of Lynn's birthday!

and overall had a wonderful time!

Killarney National Park

Thank you Mom and Dad for coming to spend time with us, and treating us to a wonderful week exploring Ireland!

Kickin' it in Killarney!

This past weekend Adam and I decided it might be nice to spend some time together catching up after three weeks apart. So instead of sleeping in on Saturday and being lazy we hopped in our little Toyota Corolla hatchback and drove one county to the West (aka Kerry) to check out Killarney National Park.

The park is 26,000 acres of lakes, lush green fields, woodlands, waterfalls, and mountains. In fact it includes the highest mountain range in Ireland. 

In addition to all the lush nature the park has to offer, it is also home to the Muckross House and Gardens. This amazing 19th century mansion is available for touring, but Adam and I opted to simply check out the exterior and grounds. There is a lovely greenhouse and walled garden where the last of the spring flowers were still hanging on.

 When we arrived the Kerry Greyhound Rescue group happened to be congregating on the lawn preparing for a charity walk that day. I was able to enjoy a few moments meeting two very sweet rescue dogs before moving on with our hike. Gotta get my doggy lovin' wherever I can!

Muckross House

On the road leading up to the Muckross House

Greyhounds Everywhere!

I could not resist snapping a picture of this poppy, it was just so vibrant!

We stuck to the trails just South of Muckross lake, wound our way up past the Torc waterfall, through the woods, back past the Muckross house, and over to the Muckross Abbey, to Grandmothers house we go!

The Abbey was founded in 1448 as a Franciscan Friary. The building remains well preserved and the land around it is host to a small but beautiful cemetery covered in wildflowers. Just outside of the abbey was a field with huge black cows laying in the green grass enjoying the beautiful spring day.  I've been thinking Ireland should steal the "Happy Cow's Come from California" campaign, because there is no way California cows are as happy as these guys!

Happy Cows Come from Ireland!

We packed PB&J's and enjoyed them on the trail. Adam was sporting his sweet Kerrygold backpack claiming to do a little marketing for the Irish Dairy Board. We chatted, laughed, and acted silly; and at one point we had a question we did not know the answer to, so Adam pulled out his phone to look it up! Nature and technology coexisting, what a crazy world we live in! Overall we lucked out with a lovely day and enjoyed our time together exploring another little piece of Ireland.

Enjoying my PB&J on the go!

Adam, technology, and nature in perfect harmony!

To give you some idea of the ground we covered below is a map of the park. We hiked in the areas marked in pink. We still have lots of park to see, so hopefully we'll make it back sometime soon!