Fun trip to Ireland as we left Abu Dhabi and before we (at least the girls in the family) started our summer travels and holidays. Had a great time in the countryside and in Dublin.
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| We're here - view from the front of our cottage |
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| The cottage is built into a hill so the back is full of green, green, green |
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| Hike and history |
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| Peek-a-boo |
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| *This* is just steps from our cottage - beautiful, beautiful hike! |
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| Flowers |
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| I mean, wow! Old tower for looking for enemies (water on 3 sides). |
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| Free to run |
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| One of my favorite photos - Anna |
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| Our lovely girls |
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| Always up for a playground! |
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| Especially one with a zip line |
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| A day nice enough for the beach (although the water was a bit chilly) - they all made it in pretty far (Meredith and Anna all the way in) until Meredith spotted the jellyfish. There were a *lot* of jellyfish! |
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| Beach girls. Regan totally fit into Ireland with her reddish hair (until she opened her mouth!) |
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| Fun little "alleys" on our walk back to our cottage. Lovely village of Ardemore. |
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| Taking a dip in the hotel swimming pool. Nice view! |
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| A little bubbly in the hot tub |
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| My dear husband - he drives the giant (manual shift!) on the "wrong" side of the road) vans we have to get - no one but Americans have discovered the miracle of the minivan! |
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| See - it's a beast!! |
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| The cottage was fortunately affiliated with a hotel so we could partake in this gorgeous breakfast each day - yum! |
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| Tall tower in Kilnarny where the monks could stay safe when attacked. Oliver Cromwell also addressed his soldiers from the top when doing his thing. |
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| Family bike tour through Kilarny - Anna wobbled a bit on the back of Jake's but it was urban cycling so glad she was attached. |
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| My cycling family |
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| Thankfully left the urban area for some more rural paths! |
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| Not a bad place to cycle (and yes, I'm doing this *on* my bike so I don't get left behind. I did manage to not kill myself) |
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| There was a path that went around but Meredith asked if we could go *through* the field. Our flexible guide was totally up for that request. We really enjoyed the soft, green grass. |
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| Up to Kilkenny Castle |
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| A whole family shot! |
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| Dublin museum - learning about U2! |
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| Irish dancing show called "Prodijig" (in Cork) was amazing! |
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| The start of our Dublin foodie tour - Italian cannolis. Not exactly clear why Italian cannolis were on our Ireland food tour but they were definitely celebrating what other cultures have brought to the city (*and* they were tasty!) |
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| The cheese shop was a favorite stop! The Italian cheese industry has seen a real resurgence in the past couple of decades so it was fun to taste different cheeses from different parts of Ireland. The kids loved the hard cheeses and weren't too thrilled with the softer ones. |
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| Old in-town estate turned into high end shopping space with a cafe focused on locally made products. This is the only place (in Dublin? In all of Ireland) with real two-step bagels with local lox. |
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| At a pub - special strawberry lemonade for the kids |
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| And special (eek - I've forgotten what this is - some kind of flavored Irish whisky maybe???). In any case, it was strong and I was hoping a bit for just a Irish beer! This pub has been around forever and still has bullet holes from both the civil war and war of independence. |
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| Unique sausage roll (kind of like a meatloaf wrapped in pastry). The girls all loved it. It's from a street food kiosk. |
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| Sliced local beef on yummy, crusty bread |
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| A favorite stop - homemade local ice cream (with unique flavors and no vanilla so Jane was a bit flummoxed!) |
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| Chocolate shop stop! |
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| Can you read the sign in front of the chocolate shop? "I scream, you scream, the police came, it's awkward" |
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| Feeling the Guinness barley at the Guinness brewery tour |
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| Under a fountain emphasizing the importance of good quality water to make their dark brew |
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| This Guinness guy had 21 kids (with the same wife!!!). Sadly, only 10 survived. |
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| Tasting time. |
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| This is how much Anna is enjoying a brewery tour! |
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The marketing exhibit for Guinness - whoever thought a talking oyster (yes, that is what is behind Jane) would be an effective marketing ploy??? |
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| Roof top view |
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| Sad faces - brewery tours are boring (Regan isn't with us - she spent the day with an Irish friend) |
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| On our way back to our hotel - sleepy, sleepy Anna. |
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