Tralee and towards the Dingle Pennisula

This being our last exploring day we decide to head towards Tralee as we wanted to see more water and walk on a beach. As well as not being too far from Adare. I was also itching for a good bit of fresh seafood. It was very foggy and we delayed our start a bit to hope for the fog to clear. We've had the experience of rain, snow, fog and sunshine while on this trip. It's been lovely. So we made it to Tralee with out any difficulties but it was just past noon and we didn't see any place that caught our eye to eat. So we decided to head towards Castle Gregory. As we were heading out of Tralee we ran across this beautiful sight.

Buzz and Woody were very excited about this windmill. They thought I had a made a wrong turn and that we were in Holland. Or maybe back on the island of Mykonos. Sorry boys. We were in sunny Ireland.
Here's a photo of the Windmilll without B/W

We had a beautiful drive towards Castle Gregory and we were going to plan to drive to the Dingle Pennisula. The waiter we had last night said it was about 2 hours to drive around the Pennisula and it was absolutely lovely.

So off we went. Woody was ready to dance a jig on the dash of the car, he was so excited. He wanted to dip his boots in the Atlantic. I had to remind him that it was the same Atlantic as we have in New Jersey but some how he thought it was a bit more exotic. I had to agree.
So here are few photos from our drive:

So we made it to Castle Gregory and low and behold there was NO place to eat. It looks like a great spot come summer but most everything was closed, except for a market and so we each grabbed something to eat at the market and decided to head towards the Dingle Pennisula. Alas the pass to the pennisula was closed, I'm assuming because of the snow. So we headed back towards Tralee but then I saw a sign for a beach and decided to do a bit of four wheeling and we parked and walked towards the beach. It was beautiful but don't take my word for it:

I have no idea what this is above, but it fascinates me as well as grosses me out at the same time.

After many shells gathered we walked back to the car

On our way back home we stopped to back off to take a few more photos of the valley. My camera lens was very dirty so I'm hoping that Laura, Tammy or Alaina have some better photos.

Then we went back into the land of fog and rain. 

We stopped at I think it was Newcastle but don't keep me to it as I can't remember what I had for lunch some days. 

We arrived back in Adare safe and sound. When we had dinner at "our" pub the owner asked us where we had traveled to today and we told him. He asked if we went out to the Pennisula and we told him it 

the pass was closed. His reply was "Oh now that's too bad since you was only about 25 minutes from the other road at Castle Gregory." DUHHH Jennifer. It's a Pennisula, more than one way to get there. Well it will be something to check out next time we visit Ireland. It was a lovely day.  Tomorrow we fly home via Shannon Airport to JFK, for Alaina, Tammy and Laura they fly on to Seattle, I will take the train from Penn Station and head back to Hershey. 

Dublin or the quest to find U2

  The Liffey in Central Dublin


We got up not terribly early and went on the road towards Dublin. I have to say I was excited because the map had said "MOTORWAY" that's equivalent to our highways. YEAH!! Highway driving. Oh how short lived that was as we were on the highway for bout 10 miles and then because of construction we were detoured ( is that a word) onto a simple country lane. Granted it was quite beautiful. You could see snow  on the higher ground and it was really quaint. We made it into downtown Dublin rather easily. Laura being the ever efficient navigator got us where we needed to be. We parked the car and then made our way to the Temple Bar area of Dublin, in search of THE CLARENCE HOTEL, owned by Bono and The Edge of U2. The one thing Peter asked me was if I got into Dublin to bring him back a postcard from THE Clarence Hotel. Well we did better than that we brought him back the bill to our scones and tea. : )  Just think Bono or The Edge could be looking at the receipt from our outing. And a bag they gave us with our left over scones. They were massive.

The Clarence Hotel

Buzz and Woody enjoying a spot of Tea

 Laura, Tammy and Alaina in the Temple Bar area on our way to Trinity College

After our scrumptious tea and scones we paid the bill and heading towards Trinity College through the Temple Bar neighborhood. It was eclectic and lots of  enjoyable cafes and people watching.

 Alaina walking the Temple Bar Alley

A sighting of Bono? No just a performance artist. : )

 The doors to higher learning, Trinity College

As we were taking these photos of Buzz and Woody another tourist stopped and smiled and said "Toy Story, Buzz Lightyear. " in a rather heavy Italian accent.  After taking the photos we were on the quest to find The Book of Kells. Which was located in the same building that holds the bookstore. Here's a link for info regarding Trinity College and The Book of Kells
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/ireland/dublin-trinity-college.htm

You aren't allowed to take photos of the exhibit or of the Library which is amazing. If you're in Dublin take the time and walk around Trinity College and stopping at the bookstore and library. 


Next stop we will be heading towards the Dingle Pennisula.

staying in for the day

 

Buzz and Woody happy that we were staying out of the car today

After another night of driving in the night and feeling I don't know how many times that someone was crossing into my lane, the ladies and I decided to spend the next day in Adare and to do a little window shopping in town. We also decided to head to the golf club and check our email as it was one of the few spots that had wifi.
It snowed and was quite nice to just relax and not have anything to do. Which also means I didn't take many photos. I know. I kept telling myself I would get back down and take more photos of the village but I didn't so the next best thing was for me to have this link so that you could see the village of Adare
http://www.adarevillage.com/
Sunday we will head into to Dublin in search of the book of Kells and the hotel that is owned by the Edge and Bono.

THE CLIFFS OF MOHER

 

The Cliffs of Moher

After our adventure to Blarney Castle as well as many wrong turns to get to Middleton, where one of the Jamieson distilleries is located we returned home after some white knuckle driving and passengers in front and back very very quiet. I think they were scared out of their wits because there are no lights on any roads in Ireland. Let me repeat this, on those little tiny horse and cart roads, there are NO LIGHTS!!! With that and the constantly reminding myself "left side of the road, left side of the road." mantra we did arrive safely home.  Although if there had been a bottle of whiskey there at home I would've taken at least two fingers worth to settle my nerves.With that being said we decided to get up early and make the trek to the CLIFFS of MOOOOrrrrrrHHHHHEEER.  It's actually pronounced MORE, but I kept getting these visions in my head of Sam and Frodo tossing the ring off the cliffs of Moher. I was determined to re-enact with Buzz and Woody. Alaina found this quite funny as she does find her aunt rather odd I felt I was living up to her expectations.  That aunt Jenn she's the quirky one. 

Anyway, we traveled and made it up to County Clare in record time. The scenery was awesome!! We parked the car in the car park, and walked up to the visitors center and we were thankful that it was open because it was a tad windy out there among the cliffs and bern. After making our rounds in the gift shop we ambled our way towards the cliffs, cameras at the ready and buzz and woody in my pocket along with the ever important tissues. Laura and Alaina, being the smart ones, also brought a cup of coffee with them to warm their hands. Coffee didn't taste that great but it did keep their hands warm. 

 

buzz and woody trekking through the high weeds to throw the ring off the cliff

We enjoyed our time and took tons of photos. Well maybe not physically tons but quite a few.

After we walked about for about 45 minutes or so we went back to the visitor's center and we proceeded to buy out the store with knick knacks  for  our loved ones back home and to warm up. 

After we lugged our packages back to the car we decided to head to Galway, I have to say I only took a picture in Galway, but it was a great place to visit and as my sisters informed my niece, she was able to see the inner NYC cab driver in me in action. We hit the city around
rush hour traffict. I don't know what comes over me it must be all those years driving a swedish tank and feeling invincible. I weaved in and out of traffic, I think I may have even used my horn. Anyway we walked about the Eyre Square area and had dinner at a restaurant that dated back to the 1400's. Pretty cool. And the food was absolutely delicious.  

 

Buzz and Woody at the restaurant in Galway.

Well below are some more photos of the Cliffs of Moher and the surrounding area. 

Enjoy!

 

  

  

Woody getting ready to toss the ring from the Cliffs of MOOOORRRHHHER

 

Laura with the hot coffee to warm her hands and Tammy

 

The watch tower

 

the chubby quirky one

 

Tammy and her daughter Alaina

 

Woody discussing the merits of keeping the ring, like not being thrown into jail for littering. 

 

in the background are the Isle of Aran

 

Just liked the look of the clouds on this one.