Throwback Thursday: Ireland
Cliffs of Moher, Ireland
In May of 2019 we took a trip to Ireland to celebrate Andy’s 50th Birthday which was in March. It was a ten-day trip that we took with our friends Laurie and David. This post will be a brief walk down memory lane as we’ve not travel abroad since.
David had a little issue with his passport, so he joined us later in the trip. Andy, Laurie, and I began our adventure in Dublin, where we enjoyed walking the city, making rings, visiting Trinity College, and checking out the Book of Kells (unfortunately no photos were allowed in the room with the book), but I did get an amazing picture of the library! Andy and Laurie tasted many an Irish whiskey and discovered a fantastic Irish sweater shop.
After, Dublin we headed to Dingle. We picked up David on the way, and the three of them took a tour of an Irish whiskey distillery. The best gin in the world is also made at this distillery and I am happy to say we can get it in the states. We’ve made some amazing G&Ts with the Dingle gin! While the three of them were tasting whiskey, I wandered around town and found a wonderful Irish linen shop and purchased a set of beautiful white linen napkins. I was on a mission to find them and had researched the store before I arrived! In addition to making beautifully warm sweaters the Irish make wonderful table linens.
We visited pubs, enjoyed man a fish and chip and listen to traditional Irish music. Then it was off to the Cliffs of Moher (made famous by Harry Potter and Princess Bride), the scenery was beautiful but also very crowded (major tourist hub) which made it not nearly as enjoyable to me. We checked out several ruins, castles and met a few sheep along the way and then continued our journey to a manor house just outside of Galway where we stayed the night. It was a wonderful house, my favorite place we stayed as the owners were amazingly welcoming. The house was in various stages of construction, so we had our own little kitchen nestled between our bedrooms and the owner provided homemade Irish soda bread, homemade peanut butter, and fresh eggs from their chickens! We took a walk around the property, learned the husband was a gallery owner from Australia which explained their beautiful and eclectic art collection. Across the way from the estate was another beautiful green nature preserve complete with woodland fairy homes!
It was a world wind trip and was over before we knew it but still holds so many wonderful memories which inspires us to plan future trips, post pandemic, so our worldly adventure can continue! I came up with the idea that we all draw straws, well minus Andy because he just picked his country and whoever wins gets to pick the next country and we all go. Laurie added the additional criteria that we must also pick different continents, so we explore the whole world and not just get fixated on one area! I’ve always loved to travel so this game plan sounds like heaven!
