Playing Catch-Up

Hello again!  We've had a long couple of days!  We've covered a lot of miles, both by car and plane.  On Friday, we said good-bye to our Irish cottage and drove up to Northern Ireland to see the Giant's Causeway, a rock formation on the northern coast.  We made a stop at a beach near Mullaghmore to stretch our legs.  Asta found some tide pools with anemones and colorful snails.  She's quite the little naturalist!

It was late afternoon when we arrived at the causeway, and the weather was absolutely perfect.

After climbing around on the rocks, Andy, Becky, and Asta went on a steep hike up the cliffs to get a bird's-eye view.  At one point, there were 162 steps to climb!

The view from the top was stunning.  Definitely worth the hard work.

It was so clear that we could see the coast of Scotland!  We were so proud of Asta for making it all the way up.

We had booked an apartment in Belfast for the night, so we drove south to reach it by evening.  We had a little trouble with the key, but luckily the leasing office was nearby and we were able to get help.  Andy and Terry dropped off their bags, then ventured out again to get a look at the new Titanic Museum. 

The next morning, we got going early.  Andy wanted to stop at the old Delorean factory outside of Belfast.  There isn't much to see there now, but he still snapped a few pictures.  We needed to get down to Dublin to return our car and catch a flight for Edinburgh just after noon. It started to rain just as we were arriving there-- the first rainy weather of our trip!  We actually had to walk out onto the tarmac and climb up the steps into our plane, so everyone got soaked in the process.  Our suitcases were returned to us wet as well!

When we went to pick up our next rental car in Edinburgh, there was a problem-- they had a vehicle for us that Terry's scooter wouldn't fit into!  We had to trade for the only available alternative. 

 Meet Goliath, the Volkswagen Transporter van.  It's a beast, but everything fits in it.  That's our cabin in the background, near the town of Aberfeldy.

The view is amazing, and the cabin has all the amenities we could want.  It's a perfect home base for exploring Scotland.

Like usual, today we started out saying hello to the livestock at our cottage.  There are two donkeys, Jimmy and Ellie, as well as a sheepdog named Jessie and quite a few sheep and rabbits.  Asta loves feeding the donkeys some grass !

After a coffee run, we visited two old ruins, one of them being a friary which is the best-preserved example in Ireland.  You could walk through the different rooms, all of which are nothing but walls with a faint resemblance of what type of room they may have been hundreds of years ago such as the chapel, the fireplace, and the water well.

We spent the afternoon at Galway Bay, which is a major beach destination for the Irish.  We lucked out and temperatures were in the mid 80's with clear skies and a light sea breeze.  Andy did some beach photography while the rest of the group headed to the aquarium.  We ate a seafood restaurant for lunch where we all agreed it was some of the best food yet.

Asta really enjoyed seeing Ashford Castle, which was previously the home of the Guiness family.  Today it is a very well-maintained luxury hotel where guests enjoy horseback riding, gun sports, boating, and probably a lot of great food and drinks!

Just watching how the elite spend their time at Ashford Castle.

The late afternoon was filled with incredible scenery around Cong and Ballinrobe.  We took a scenic drive around Lough Mask and got some great views from up high.  Tonight we ate at a local restaurant but most were too full from lunch - instead opting for pint of local beer and dessert.

Tomorrow we leave Ballinrobe and head up to Northern Ireland and Giant's Causeway!

Today we visited Limerick, Ireland and King John's Castle.  While King John never actually lived in it (he commissioned it), it still bears his name and is one of the more picturesque castles in Ireland.  There is a museum with lots of interactive activities for Asta!  She loved it!

[View from the top of King John's Castle]

After Limerick, we took "the long way home" with a stop at the Cliffs of Moher - certainly one of the more iconic parts of the Irish coast.  There is a paved path for visitors up to the observations areas, and a dirt trail for those a bit more daring.  Of course Andy had to go out to the dirt trails to get his photos - Asta later said to the group "Andy made some risky decisions over there!".  I think the pictures are worth it :-D

[Looking down from a cliff!]

[Spectacular views from the dirt track.  We got very lucky in that the weather was sunny and warm - normally it is cloudy and misty at the Cliffs.]

Heading home we made a couple more stops to see some ruins and another old castle.  Andy snapped this one while climbing among the bushes trying to get a better angle of a castle!

Stay tuned for more while we explore Galway Bay tomorrow!

We've made it to Ireland!  Unfortunately, two of our suitcases didn't.  They were misplaced at the Charlotte airport, and we had a real headache yesterday tracking them down.  Hopefully we'll have them delivered tomorrow.  Once we arrived in Dublin, we had to check in at the hotel, then quickly run to a shopping mall to buy some clothes for Asta and Terry before they closed.  We were awfully tired after 36 hours of traveling, so we ate at the hotel restaurant and went right to bed.

This morning, we had a private walking tour of Dublin.  Our guide, Maitiu, was just wonderful!  He showed us the castle, the Temple Bar area, Trinity College, St. Stephen's Green, and many other points of interest.  He even sang for us! We wanted to make the most of our short time in the city, and the tour was ideal for that.

We had to be at our cottage in Co. Mayo by dinner time, so we drove off west in our rental van shortly after noon.  We took the scenic route, and saw the Hill of Tara, and Trim Castle on the way.

Trim Castle

                 Passage Tomb on the Hill of Tara

Our rental cottage is north of Galway, near a town called Ballinrobe.  It's outside of town, and donkeys and cows graze just across the stone walls.  Catherine, the owner, had scones waiting for us when we arrived.

After unloading our luggage (such as it is), we drove in to Ballinrobe for dinner at Carney's, a local pub.  We made a quick trip to Tesco for groceries after, then returned to the cottage.  Time for bed-- we have another busy day tomorrow!

A Chronicle of Our Vacation

Welcome, friends and family!  Terry, Candy, Andy, Becky, and Asta will be taking turns posting about our trip to Ireland, Scotland, and London.  We leave in less than 12 hours, so check back soon for our first posts!