Day 10

Sara and I are on US soil! We're in Chicago and will be boarding for Minneapolis soon. I can't believe 10 days have gone by. This has been an AMAZING trip. Megan has been an unbelievable host. Everything was ready when we got there--even a snack bag so we could munch while on our travels across the country. She made us feel so welcome and it was obvious she has taken quite a bit of time preparing for our arrival. There isn't anything I would change about our time in Ireland. Sara and I turned out to be fantastic traveling partners. We saw so much of this beautiful country, I feel like no stone was left unturned. And we ate delicious food every meal. Except for some wind and rain yesterday, we had great weather--even saw the sun on several days! Megan has lived here for almost 5 years. But for me, it was on this trip that I've truly realized that she really does live here. With her husband. And this is her home. Her future is here.

Megan, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Day 9

Sara and I decided to eat our way through Dublin today, focusing on desserts. Our first stop was to a shake shop. I got a strawberry shake, so since it was dairy and fruit, it didn't really count as a dessert!


Then we went to a Butler Chocolate shop and got a couple of truffles...and then was told we weren't supposed to take pictures inside.


We walked a bit to the Queen of Tarts. I had a warm apple tart and Sara had a blackberry apple crumble.






Then it was on to another bakery called Golden Cookies. I got a chocolate eclair and Sara got a custard-filled pastry. We went outside to take a picture, and Sara's fell out of her parchment paper and I inadvertently stepped on it. Oops! So I shared my eclair. This is a picture of all the options.


Then about 4pm we decided to get some real food, so we went to a pub and shared an order of fish and chips. Yummy!

We got back on the light rail and met Heidi and Trevor at the train station. We made one more pit stop and I got another chocolate eclair (because I had to share my first one!) and Sara had a lemon cupcake. Here are a couple pics from the train ride.





We got back to Megan's and she had salad and lasagna waiting. It was an awesome meal--and Sara and I had seconds! Then we cracked open the two desserts we bought earlier in the day--a lemon cake and a chocolate pudding cake with a chocolate ganache. Sara topped off her two slices of dessert with a HUGE bite of whipped fresh cream. I took a photo of that on her camera, but here is my last bite!


Another great day! Sara and I kept repeating that sentiment all day. We've been awesome travel companions and Megan is a fabulous tour guide!

Day 8

Wow. Day 8. This morning Megan and I went to the airport to pick up another college friend, Heidi, and her husband Trevor. Where was Sara you ask? Sleeping. Lazy bum! We came back to Megan's to let them clean up, ten we drove about an hour southwest to an area known as Glendalough. One of my best friend's in-laws are Doyles and they trace their roots to the area. The area is beautiful. There's a ruin of a church that was built in 1214. Sara and I took a lot of pictures of headstones that said Doyle. This one was marked 1697!





Heidi and Trevor were trying to get a nice picture of the two of them, but there were two yahoos in the back, ruining it!





Megan got some super powers while we were there-- :)





After walking around we stopped for some lunch. We were able to eat outside. It was a beautiful, sunny day! Sara enjoyed her locally-caught trout.





I went for an evening run tonight around Megan's neighborhood. Found these poppies growing near a gate.





Tomorrow the plan is to walk around Dublin. I think Sara is going to be my traveling partner. Heidi and Trevor are going to do a hop-on, hop-off bus tour, as they've never been to Dublin. Megan is going to take the day to catch up at home after being gone for a week.

Another great day.

Day 7

Went for another morning run today. Decided to take a picture of some sheep along the way. It was much cooler and damp out this morning.


We left Megan's in-laws today, after a very nice stay. PJ and Bridget are wonderful hosts an made us feel very welcome. We headed to neighboring town Westport, to do a little shopping. I had been thinking about something to buy as a special item as a remembrance of the trip. I bought enough Ireland paraphernalia the last time I was here! I decided that if I found a locket that I liked, I'd get it. After a couple jewelry stores, I found one!


The picture doesn't do it justice. Hard to take a picture of it, because it's so reflective!

We started to make our way back to Dublin, but stopped in Knock. Back in the mid 1800s, 15 people saw an apparition of the Virgin Mary. It was a pretty impressive shrine that's been set up. Below is a picture of what was seen, but in statue form.


He next picture is of holy water. At the many religious stores outside the shrine, you can buy containers and then fill them with holy water. Megan was a great daughter-in-law and got some holy water for her in-laws.


Another friend from college, Heidi, and her hubby will be flying in tomorrow morning!!

Day 6

(posted a day late)

Went for a morning run through Louisburgh today. Snapped a couple of pictures along the way.





Sara grew up on a dairy farm, so Megan's father-in-law called a couple of people and we were able to tour two farms today.

Another great day!

Day 5

We actually had to set an alarm clock this morning...but it wasn't until 8am. There was a consensus however, that we don't like waking up that early! We packed up our things and picked up a bit, then drove 45 minutes to a car ferry. Taking the ferry saved is quite a bit of time. We continued north to the Cliffs of Moher. What a beautiful place!








After that our journey continued north to go to Megan's in-laws in Louisburgh. Bridget made a wonderful shepard's pie for supper. We are hoping to climb Crough Patrick in the morning, but the weather might not be conducive. I am hoping to at least be able to go for a run. Might have to settle for some shopping in neighboring Westport!

Day 4...round 2

Well, just as we were thinking we weren't going to see Fungie the dolphin on the boat tour, he showed up! Even if we hadn't seen him, the scenery was beautiful. The boat rocked a little, but not enough for any of us to feel sick, but we took this picture for fun anyway!


Our tour around Dingle continued with LOTS of opportunities for pictures. All of my pictures that I've posted have been from my camera phone. There will be much better pictures posted when I get back.


Tomorrow we'll make our way to the Cliffs of Moher and then up to Louisburgh. That's the town where Megan studied in college (and I went to visit 10 years ago!) and where she met Paul (her now husband), and her in-laws live.

Day 4...so far

It's 1:30pm and we're visiting the Dingle peninsula. We've stopped for some ice cream and will be going on a boat tour, point to see Fungi the dolphin. Google it--it's a pretty cute story! Here we are with the bronze statue.


This just might be the crazy picture of the day! The weather was cool and misty this morning. But now the sun is shining. It's a beautiful day to be touring the countryside!

Day 3

(I had to post this late, as I wasn't able to get any wi-fi on Tuesday.)

I could get used to this...got 10 hours of sleep last night! Just after waking up, I went for a run through the streets of Tralee. I only put one of my ear buds in--wanted to be able to hear the cars and stay alert. The whole cars going on the opposite side is confusing! It was a great run.

We then got in the car and headed to Killarney, (which, by the way, the song "Christmas in Killarney" is not known!), where we toured the Ross Castle. Amazing to see what a castle built in the 1400s looks like. Then we went to Mucross House & Gardens, which is a beautiful estate. This picture is one of the views from the estate.


This next picture is for my dad. The decorative grass looks similar to the pampas grass that was in our property in Grand Rapids.


Megan drove us on a windy, narrow road up to Ladies View, which is a look out point. It got its name from when Queen Victoria came to the area for a visit in 1861, her ladies-in-waiting that went with her really liked the view. We were getting a little silly with the cameras at this point!


(Dad, I got this idea from when we did a similar picture at Tischer's Creek!).

Day 2

Well, we woke up this morning after 11 hours of sleep! We headed south of Cork and went to Kinsale. It was a cute little town with lots of fun shops. After an afternoon of walking around, we went northwest to Blarney. I kissed the Blarney stone! Did you know you have to lay on your back and bend backwards, at the top of the castle to kiss it?! Here's a couple of pictures of our time at Blarney. The guy I asked to take this picture was great! He took several for me.


This was was to show where you go to kiss the Blarney stone. Are at the very top in the center there's a little hole? If you look close, you can see a silhouette of a guy--he's the guy that helps you lean back to kiss the stone!


It's 8pm now and we are headed to Tralee, where Megan's mother in law owns a house. We'll be there for next 3 nights. Good night!

First Day in Ireland!

Sara and I have had a first great day in Ireland! We both were able to get some sleep on the plane, which was good. Megan picked us up at 8:20am and we headed back to her place.


We then got in the car and headed towards Cork. On our way, we stopped at the Rock of Cashel, which was a really neat castle.





We went off looking for something special (I'll say what it is if/when we find it), and stopped at this overlook.


On our way back down, we got close up to this sheep.


We're staying in a hotel in Cork and do some sightseeing before heading to Kerry. So excited to be here!!

A Project and a Fun Weekend!

Isaac has been asking "How many days until Halloween?", so on October 1st we made a paper chain. It's been great! He is very excited to rip a link off each morning and he doesn't ask anymore!

Later that evening, Lindsey came for a visit. We were at Eddy's baseball banquet, so she met us there. I really appreciated her coming. Piper decided she wanted to go potty every 10 minutes during the presentations, we were on the opposite side of the room from the bathrooms, and I was wearing shoes that must have been made by the devil. My feet were killing me by the end of the night. It was nice to have an extra set of hands (and feet!). The next day we went to the ballfield for a bit to watch the alumni games and then headed over to a local ski chalet where they are having a fall fest on the weekends. We had a great time!