Day 4

Today was an amazing day and it will be tough to beat.  Today we visited the Aran Islands and were able to climb to Dun Aengus.  We started the day off by getting on to the bus at 8:30 (which was great because usually we are leaving at 8:00 every day).  The first stop was a place for the women to do some shopping.  Julie has been saying all along that she wanted to get an Aran sweater and she finally did.  It looks really nice.

Once the shopping trip was over, we all got back on board and went to the dock to get on the ferry.  It is a 45 minute ferry ride to get to the Aran Islands and the one we went to today only has a population of 350.  The ferry ride went by fast, but we only wished that we could have sat on top and had a better view.  When the ferry landed we went for a light lunch at TI Joe Watty's where we had sandwiches, soup, and Lance was able to finally drink a pint of Guinness in an Irish pub.  He was happy about that.

After the light lunch, we were taken by bus to Dun Aengus.  It is a really dangerous climb with loose rocks and no clear paths to climb.  We decided that Julie should sit this one out, so Lance did the climb while Julie sat with some of the other ladies in the group and shopped and ate.  It was about a 30 minute walk to the top and it wasn't easy, but the view at the top made it all worthwhile.  Enjoy the pictures and video Lance took from the top for Julie.

Lance just sat on top and took the view in for nearly a half hour and then began to climb back down.  Once he was down they all got back on the bus and visited a few more places on the island before boarding the ferry back.  We decided that we wanted to sit on top of the ferry for the ride back and we were not sorry.  As we crossed Galway Bay we were able to see some dolphins swimming beside us and tons of jellyfish.  It was just an overall amazing day.  If you want to see all the pictures we have taken make sure to click on our Flickr link.

Day 3

One thing Lance dislikes more than anything is techno music.  Why is this important.  Well we were woken up at 2:15 in the morning by techno music shaking our bed.  Apparently there was a wedding going on in our hotel and the reception was right below our room.  The techno music went on until 3:00 in the morning, so just like the night before we didn't get a lot of sleep.

Today we started out day off by traveling through the county Mayo.  It was absolutely beautiful and just what you imagine when you see the movies and think of Ireland.

After stopping frequently and getting some great pictures we may our way to Kylemore Abbey.  This is a castle that was built in the late 1800's and is now run by nuns.  It was an amazing site and we thoroughly enjoyed it.  We were able to go in and explore the castle and had a little lunch there also.  This has been the highlight of the trip for us so far.

When we got back on the bus we headed to our next destination of Galway where we are going to be spending the nest two nights (we are excited about this because we can actually unpack our suitcase.  Before getting to Galway though we stopped at a marble shop.  The owner gave us a tour of the shop and showed us how they make the items that they have.  It was actually very interesting and in the end Julie bought a very nice ring from the store.

We made our hotel in Galway around 3:30 and then hopped on the bus at 5:45 so we could go on our first excursion.  The company that we go through sells different things you can do at night and we decided that tonight was one we wanted to go on.  We went on the Dungaire Castle banquet which was a meal and a play at Dungaire Castle which was built in the 17th century.  Once we entered the castle we were each given a glass of wine and had music played for us on a harp.  Once we finished our wine we went upstairs and had a meal of salmon, soup, chicken, potatoes, green beans, apple pie, and all the wine you could drink.  Let's just say Lance was very happy at the end.  The play was great and we both had a fantastic time.  All in all it was a great day.

Day 2

Today got off to an earlier than expected start when the fire alarm went off in the hotel at 2:15 in the morning.  Naturally being the people that we are, we weren't going to go down in our pajamas so we changed into clothes.  Hey if we are going to burn up, we are going to look nice doing it.  The problem is that the rooms don't start until the 4th floor, so before we decided to take off for the stairs we saw a big congregation of people looking over the railing to see what to do.  Naturally what does Lance do, he takes out his camera and films it and takes pictures of the scene.

Initially they told us it was a false alarm and to go back to bed, which Julie did but Lance stayed up to watch.  Ten minutes later the tune changed when the fire department showed up and we were all told that we had to go outside.  Lance went to get Julie and we made the trek down 4 flights of stairs to get outside.  Once we got outside it was quite the scene and naturally Lance again videotaped it and took a selfie next to the fire trucks.

They finally started letting people back in at 3:45 which was great, but the escalators and elevators were not working which was a problem when we were on the 4th floor and Julie's legs were killing her.  Finally at 4:15 in the morning they came up with a solution and drove Julie around to the employees entrance and took her up in their private elevator.  We finally got to sleep around 5:00 and got up at 6:15 to get ready for our 7:00 departure.  It was a crazy night, but one we will not forget.

When we finally departed the hotel around 7:15 we headed to Kilare to see the Irish National Stud Farm.  We weren't really excited about this, but we both actually really enjoyed it.  It was interesting to listen to the stories about the horses and to walk the grounds.  Shameless plug alert:  Lance took some really great pictures so make sure you check out the Flickr link on the right hand side to see the pictures.

After we finished at the Stud Farm, we loaded the bus again and went to Stokestown.  This was a two hour drive, so we caught up on a little bit of sleep along the way.  Once at Stokestown we got a little bit too eat and Lance had his best meal so far this trip:  Lamb Special.  Lance is not a big lamb fan, but he really, really enjoyed it.  When the meal was finished we took a tour of the Stokestown House which is a restored 1740's mansion.  The history behind it was amazing and the architecture was incredible.  

Finally we made our way to Claremorris and checked into our hotel.  Tonight we had a dinner with the group and it was really good again.  You can see the menu and we both made sure that we used our beverage coupons on alcoholic beverages:  Julie was a white wine and Lance was a Guinness.  Lance made sure he told the waiter that he wanted it cold though because some places in Ireland serve it warm.  That's it for Day 2, we'll blog again tomorrow.

Day 1

Well after more than 24 hours we are finally in Dublin.  We arrived at 7:20 in the morning Ireland time and began the process of getting through customs.  Once we deboarded the plane, a kind Irish gentleman offered to give us a ride to the customs gate.  At first we declined, but he told us it was a long way to get there and it was a good thing we listened because it would have been over a mile walk.  He was a nice man, but the vehicle he gave s a ride in was beyond strange.  It was a golf cart with the passenger parts surrounded by plexiglass, it was like we were riding in the Popemobile.

We finally arrived at our hotel around 9:30 and were told that the rooms wouldn't be ready until after noon.  Our tour director told us some things we could do around town and how to use the light rail that was right outside out hotel.  We are always up for an adventure, so we decided to give the light rail system a try.  We had a great time riding it and walking around town and even hitting a few coffee shops as you can see from the pictures.

We met up with our group at 2:45 and were given a tour of Dublin.  The architecture was amazing and click here to see pictures Lance took from the tour.  After the tour we had dinner with our complimentary drink and you can see from the menu pictures that we had some really great choices.

Now it is off to bed and tomorrow boarding the bus with our driver Norby, tour guide Katherine, and 38 of our new friends.

Check out the Flickr link on the side for more pictures from today edited by Lance.  There was a lot of architecture pictures we took today.

Flying Day

     This picture was taken at the beginning of our plane trip and I can guarantee you that we were not smiling at the end.  Our flight from Kansas City to Newark was delayed by an little over an hour, but we were still thrilled to get this dream trip going.  Newark wasn't that bad either, except that Lance had a headache and went to buy some aspirin.  He came back with Extra Strength Midol for cramps and Julie couldn't stop laughing for hours.  When we boarded the plane for Dublin is when we ran into problems because the seats were so small.  Unfortunately Lance had the middle seat and the other seat was occupied by a pretty obese teenager.  She was a very nice girl, but there just wasn't any room for Lance to get comfortable and sleep.  He occupied his time by catching up on some movies he had been wanting to see;  Deadpool, Daddy's Home, and Superman V Batman.

Preparation Day

It has finally hit us that this trip we have been planning for almost a year is finally upon us.  Today was preparation day and it was pretty hectic to say the least.  What did we do today, well let us break it down for you:

• We did laundry to make sure that we had clean clothes for the trip.
• Julie went and got her nails done.  They are a lovely shade of green.
• Lance went to the thrift store and bought himself a few pairs of jeans because apparently in Ireland the highs in the summer only hit the mid 60's to low 70's.
• We went and printed off our boarding passes.
• We contacted Verizon and got our phones on an international plan for a month.
• We went to the bank to get some money out.
• It dawned upon Lance that he should probably contact the bank to make sure our debit cards would work in Ireland and also to let them know we would be in Ireland so they wouldn't think our cards were stolen and disable them.
• Lance went and mowed the grass so it hopefully won't get too long before we get back.
• We charged all the camera batteries and made sure we had the memory cards.
• We made sure the dogs had enough food and wrote a lovely note to the dogsitter.
• Last, but not least we packed.

All in all it was a long day, but we feel like we are ready and super excited for tomorrow.  Below is our packed luggage, some practice pictures Lance took of our dogs, and the fortune we found in our fortune cookie at lunch (it is the first one we are ever going to follow).

Welcome

Welcome to our blog about our trip to Ireland.  A year ago my wife and I decided that we wanted to go somewhere overseas.  My wife said that she always wanted to go to Ireland because she had friends from college that lived there and all the pictures she saw were beautiful.  Being the good husband I said yes and we booked our whole vacation through Globus.  This blog is going to document our vacation for all of our friends and family to see.  So enjoy.