Surprise!
That’s right: Larry and I left for Ireland last Wednesday and just got back yesterday afternoon. We’re fans of off-season travel and we scored an amazing deal that included airfare, hotel, and car rental for a ridiculously cheap per person fare. Add to this a tanking European economy and it makes for an off-season travel goldmine. We took a much needed vacation and thanks to the miracle of pre-written scheduled posts, it’s like I never stepped away from this blog.
I hesitated to post about it here in advance only because I know someone who posted on Facebook about traveling abroad, only to come home to their house having been robbed. I wouldn’t normally be weird about this if she didn’t live a block away from me. So, I kept this little secret this whole week for the sake of yanno, not having my house robbed.
We stayed in Dublin, Sligo, and Limerick, making stops at Galway, the Cliffs of Moher, Buratty Castle, and the tiny (and I do mean tiny) village of Fore along the way. For the record: it was really weird driving back on the right side of the road into work this morning after having driving on the left for a week. (PS: driving on the left is kind of terrifying on “two-lane” roads that are actually the width of your car.)
Here’s a couple of quick snapshots from our trip to Ireland…
This is from one of my favorite spots, the Cliffs of Moher:
And this was Lough Colgagh, on the way Parke’s Castle in Dromahair:
I’ve got a ton more pictures to share and a lengthy travelogue, but I’m still getting back to normal from the jet lag. Plus, I need to go through all the pictures we’ve taken, so I’ll have a jaunty vacation recap for y’all next week.
Til then… Sláinte!
Stunning photos! I can’t wait to see more about your trip.
I look forward to seeing more pictures. The ones you’ve posted so far are beautiful.
I’m drooling for that Guinness right now 🙂 My favorite beer. Yummmm….Guinness.
Glad you had a great time and I look forward to more pics!
Btw, soooo jealous!!
We had patches of flooding in my suburb, but all ok. My husband took 3 hours to travel 10 miles home on the bus that evening and he had to jump up on the seat as the flood water swept into the bus. We were glad he didn’t take the car, ‘cos it would have been totally destroyed.
I didn’t vote in the election, because I can’t vote in a Presidential election as I am a British citizen (I can vote in every other one). The Presidency is a ceremonial role only, with duties kind of like a queen/king. The President opens things and cuts ribbons and attends events. The President is not allowed to have a political voice, so really all the candidates can campaign on is their past achievements and future view of the role. At the present count it seems that Michael D. Higgins is the front runner. We’ll see if he makes it to the Aras (Presidential building in Phoenix Park).
Glad you enjoyed Ireland, even with the rain (but its been raining all summer here, so picking a non-rainy time this year would have been difficult!).
Damn! I miss international travel … thanks for letting us live vicariously! 🙂
That looks fabulous, wow. And I don’t post in advance about going away, either — just seems incautious. I actually yelled at my DH about posting that we were away while we were away, last summer.
Add me to the list of jealous people 🙂
Ahh, you were in my neck of the woods! I’m in Dublin – glad you had a good time. It sounds like it was a much needed break.
How are you holding up? Were you affected by the flooding? Our hotel (the Ashling) got some flood damage in their lobby but it was dry by the time we got there Tuesday night. We woke up Tuesday morning in Limerick, turned on the news and couldn’t believe the scenes coming out of Dublin and the fact that two ppl were killed… so sad.
Also… did you vote today? 🙂 I was SO intrigued by all election posters everywhere that just had lovely faces, their names, and told me absolutely nothing about each candidate 😉 I decided if I were an Irish citizen, I’d vote for Mary Davis b/c she was ROCKIN’ that red dress suit in her election posters 🙂
Wow, I am super jealous! My mom is a duel Irish citizen, and my sisters and I have been working on ours as well.
I would love to take my mom back to see where her mother and grandparents lived and worked and went to church, etc. When she makes it through this round of cancer treatments, we ARE going to go! No more waiting! 🙂
Wow how awesome. You lucky lady. 🙂 I’m sure some of the luck of the Irish has rubbed off on you…
*fingers crosses* Here’s hoping!
Goodness! I’m sure you’ll hear this a lot with this post but I am soooo jealous too! That is the one place I want to go visit abroad. Now I have pictures from a real traveler to bribe my husband with 🙂 Glad you got away and enjoyed yourselves.
I’ll have a bunch more to post next week once we finally dump the 500+ pics off our camera. It’s a great couple’s vacation for sure!
OMG I am *so* jealous! I’ve always wanted to go to Ireland. Sounds like you had a great time! 🙂
Awesome! I’ve been dying to go there someday.
If you can find the right travel deal, it’s a hell of a vacay! I recommend less rainier months though. It rained the whole time we were there… except for the day we flew home (of course!) 🙂