The morning of my birthday I woke up early and was out the door by 6:30 AM in order to make it to Heathrow airport in time for the arrival my parents flight. I stood at the arrivals hall of Terminal 1 and expectantly watched as the doors opened and closed as people filed through. Finally, I spotted my parents...and the huge 'Happy Birthday' flag they brought with them! My parents arrival was truly the best present I could have received that day.
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| My presents! |
We had a nice relaxing day. After mom and dad cleaned up a bit we met Josh at a local restaurant for lunch. Afterwards, mom and dad joined me in running a few errands...necessary for our trip to Ireland the next day. Mom and dad flagged a bit and both had short naps before Josh got home. I was treated to another meal out and then we came back to the flat and ate a delicious dessert that I had made the previous day, a chocolate torte. After getting our bags sorted for the next day, it was off to bed. We had a taxi scheduled to bring us to the train station at 3:30 AM!
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| Birthday lunch at a Vespa table at La Davina in Islington. |
3:30 AM arrived quite quickly and off we went to Liverpool Street station for our train to Stansted. Josh and I have traveled quite frequently from Stansted and felt that we had arrived at the airport with plenty of time before our flight, in fact we arrived right around 5:00 AM for our 6:50 AM flight. The lines at the Ryanair counter we the longest I had ever seen them. So we got in line and waited, and waited and waited. While we waited, I was texting Amanda to see if they were at the airport yet. Amanda texted back that she had misread the flight time and they hadn't left their house yet. I was worried, considering the huge lines. Time ticked down closer and closer to our flight and Sam and Amanda still hadn't arrived and we still hadn't made it to the ticket counter for our passport check. Finally, our flight was called out by a Ryanair employee and we were herded into another "qucker" line. We finally made it out of the ticket line and rushed to security with about 30 minutes left before our flight. The line, again, was huge, so we decided to spend a little extra money and pay for the "fast lane". At this point, Sam and Amanda were at the airport, but hadn't checked in yet or gone through security. We were praying they would make it. As we were just about to go through security we spotted Sam and Amanda rushing towards the security line. They quickly paid to go through the fast lane and ended up just a few people behind us. After an agonizingly slow "fast lane" wait, we were all though and literally had about 10 minutes until the gate closed for our flight to Ireland. Off we all ran, through the custom free shopping, through the restaurants, through the hallways and finally to our gate (which of course was the farthest away possible!). I arrived at the gate first...right as the steward announce 2 minutes until the gates closed. I quickly gave him my ticket and told him there were 5 people behind me. He said it was fine and I waited a few more minutes for the rest of our group to arrive. We laughed in shock that we had actually all made it and were grateful to finally get on the plane. The flight went quickly and before I knew it, we were in Ireland!
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| Waiting for our 4:10 AM train to Stansted! |
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| My view in the rental car...sometimes it sucks being the smallest! |
When we arrived at the airport in Shannon, we again expressed our thanks and good fortune that we all made it on the flight. What a crazy start to the day! Sam and Josh sorted out our car rental while the rest of us had some caffeine and a bite to eat. After stuffing our bags in the car and folding myself into the "3rd row seat" we were off to our first destination, the Cliffs of Moher!
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| At the car park at the Cliffs of Moher. |
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| The landscape was beautiful! |
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| Ireland. |
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| Mom having a bit of fun with Josh. |
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| All of us at the Cliffs of Moher |
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| Josh at the Cliffs of Moher |
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| Cliffs of Moher |
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| Our lunch spot after touring the Cliffs of Moher...and our first of many beers in Ireland! |
From the cliffs of Moher we had about a 90 minute drive to our B&B. Josh and Sam decided to take the scenic route and we ended up getting to go across the bay on a ferry. This was mom and dads first time on a ferry and I think they loved it!
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| Dad drove about 3 feet onto the ferry! |
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| Mom and dad on the ferry. |
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| She's the queen of the world! Hahahaha! |
We arrived to our B&B to drop off our bags and to freshen up a bit. Our plan for the evening was to go to church, have dinner and then head back to the B&B to get some sleep. We attended St. James in Killorglin and it was probably the fastest mass I have ever attended. I couldn't help but laugh to myself during it...everything was said so fast it could have been in a different language! A short thirty (or 'terty' in an Irish accent) minutes later, we were outside the church deciding on where to have dinner!
The next day we headed out early for a trip to Skellig Micheal. Skellig Michael is an island off the coast of County Kerry in the Atlantic ocean. A Christian Monastery was built here sometime in the 6 to 8th century and continued to be used until the 12th century. The monastery was only accessible by a steep climb up the jagged island. Visiting Skellig Michael was absolutely the best part of our whole trip. It was an amazing boat ride out to the island, we saw countless rainbows and were visited by dolphins. Once we arrived on Skellig and climbed to the top we were rewarded with breathtaking views.
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| Josh in his "trash bag" rain gear! |
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| Our trip started out cold and rainy...by the end of the day it was sunny and hot! |
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| Portmagee peninsula. |
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| We found the end of the rainbow! Sadly no pot of gold. |
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| The Baird's and Holbrook's on our boat ride out to Skellig. |
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| The island we are headed to. |
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| Josh and I almost to Skellig |
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| The jagged island that is Skellig Michael. |
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| An amazing view of little Skellig and the coast of Ireland. |
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| Me and a few puffins with little Skellig in the background. |
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| Sam climbing the steep steps up to the monastery. |
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| Josh on Skellig Michael. |
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| A beehive hut in the background and cemetery of the monastery in the foreground. |
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| Lunchtime! |
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| A great picture of mom and dad! |
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| Josh and I at the top of Skellig Michael. |
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| My man is strong! |
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| These cute little puffins were all over the island. They looked like tiny little flying penguins! |
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| This is a pic of little Skellig from the boat...all the white you see is birds! |
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| Birds all over little Skellig. There are about 60,000 that fly there every summer. |
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| Waiting for our boat to return after our hike up Skellig Michael. |
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| Josh and I enjoying a little cheer on the boat on our way back to Portmagee. |
After our boat trip we explored Portmagee and enjoyed some ice cream. We then headed back to our B&B for a little rest, then had dinner at a great little Spanish tapas bar inside an old church in Killorglin. After dinner we visited a local pub to play some pool. We finally made it back to our B&B and had some more beer, played a game and had a lot of laughs.
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| Ice cream in Portmagee! |
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| Amanda and Sam in the converted church we ate dinner in. |
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| A few of us at a pub in Killorlin. |
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| Distracting Sam from his shot...hahahaha! |
On day three of our trip we headed out to the Dingle Peninsula to check out the town of Dingle and a few points of architectural interest. It was a beautiful drive to Dingle, I absolutely would live here in a heartbeat, despite the year round weather.
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| At our B&B, before heading off for Dingle (Selfie Monday!) |
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| The Dingle Peninsula |
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| Josh and I...and yes, I know it looks like I added a speech bubble that say "awesome"...the view was pretty awesome! |
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| Farther down along the coast |
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| Amanda and I near Dingle |
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| Mom and Dad near Dingle. |
We drove to the town of Dingle and wandered around the town for a bit and then decided to drive a bit farther down the coast. We ended up at a tiny little town where Dad, Sam and Josh explored a Potato Famine House and an old fort. While the boys explored, Mom, Amanda and I enjoyed drinks and scones at a local cafe.
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| Dad and Sam on the way down to the fort. |
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| The rock house cafe that us girls had a snack at while the boys explored. |
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| Mom's tiny expensive coke! |
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| The best view for tea time! |
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| Josh and I on Inch Beach. |
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| Mom and Dad on Inch Beach |
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| Inch Beach |
After a stop at Inch Beach we headed back to Dingle to have lunch and then drove to Killarney for a tour of Muckross House and Farm. Killarney had a great vibe, a lot of people walking around and having a great time. We ate dinner at a fantastic pub, I had an amazing Irish stew casserole. Afterwards, we found a pub hosting a comedy/Irish music night and we stayed and laughed and drank late into the night! And Sam even danced with a cougar :) Too bad I don't have a pic of that...
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| Due to time constraints, Josh and I chose to tour Muckross farms while Mom, Dad, Sam and Amanda toured Muckross House. This is a goat we met along the way! |
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| Baby Piggies!!!! They were so freaking cute, I didn't want to leave them! |
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| A couple of Irish Wolf Hounds...they were huge! |
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| A view from Muckross Estate |
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| Muckross House |
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| My yummy stew! |
The next day was our last in County Kerry. We left early in the morning for a drive to Cork to visit Blarney Castle. Amanda, Mom and I braved the gap and kissed the Blarney Stone...while the guys teased us about contracting a lip fungus.
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| Blarney Castle |
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| Lining up to kiss the stone! |
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| Our lips are ready! |
From the left, mom, Amanda, and I kissing the stone.
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| Inside Blarney Castle |
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| A super cool tree the Blarney Castle grounds. |
After having a nice lunch at the cafe within the Blarney Castle grounds, we headed off for a long drive to Dublin. When we finally arrived we checked into our hotel and took a tram to the Guinness Storeroom for a tour of the brewing process and some pints! The guys were really excited about this part of the trip.
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| Josh at the Guinness Storeroom |
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| Waiting for the elevator to get our free beer! |
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| Dad outside the factory |
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| The girls with our perfectly poured Guinness! |
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| The family that drinks together... |
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| Check out the view of Dublin from the top of the factory! |
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The guys and their perfectly poured Guinness....it didn't last long!
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After the Guinness tour we headed over to the Brazen Head, Ireland's oldest pub, for more drinks and dinner. It was delicious and we had another fun night.
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| Ireland's Oldest Pub, the Brazen Head in Dublin |
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| Dad is amazed at all the beer! |
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| Mom and Dad at the Brazen Head |
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| A nice family picture...except for weirdo Joshua...sigh.... |
We headed back to the hotel to get some rest for our last big day in Ireland. We spent the morning on the coldest, wettest, most miserable bike tour ever, had lunch and then headed to the airport for our flight back to London.
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| Not raining yet...we look optimistic! |
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| Josh on our bike tour |
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| Sam and Amanda are excited to be in Dublin! |
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| A church we saw along the way....I can't remember which one... |
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| Lining up! |
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| A merchant boat. |
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| Dad and Josh having a spot o' whisky |
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| Over 300 beers to choose from! I had a lambic...delicious! |
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| Drying off and warming up after our wet bike tour of Dublin...and our last meal in Ireland. |
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| On the plane...no running to the gate this time! |
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| My seat mates! |
Our trip to Ireland was full of laughs. We had a great time, ate some awesome food and drank an obscene amount of beer. What could be better? I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to travel with my family members. It makes the memories much more special. Love them all!
Rachel
