Dublin, Ireland
So I fell in love on Valentines Day weekend, not with a person, but with a country. Ireland has been a dream of mine for years and I finally was able to go for a weekend trip. Granted 3 days is short, but in those three days I tried to make the most of it. I got there on Friday morning and ventured around Dublin. Seeing the Gorgeous Trinity College, Dublin Castle, many different churches, including Christ Church Cathedral and stopping at a little cafe called Peacock Green, that I am now determined to replicate in the states one day. All the baked goods with the homemade jams and the miss-matched china and silverware warmed my heart. My photography moment of fame is catching the horse-drawn-carriage behind my scone at breakfast, that I thought I would share.
That night I went to dinner at a gorgeous Italian place I fell upon, called Fiorentina. Overexcited about the euro exchange rate verse the pound I treated myself to a delicious dinner. I started with the yellow fin tuna carpaccio with an avocado and chili salad. I hadn't realized how much I missed fresh fish, the citrus vinaigrette on top of this super thin tuna that melted in your mouth was perfection. Even the presentation was inspiring, putting it on a gorgeous thin slate rock for a plate. I sat at the bar and befriended the bartender who offered me a taste of his signature cocktail. He created the perfect mix of flavors, starting with house lavender infused gin missed with Amalfi lemon, honey and egg whites, sprayed with a bit of cherry bitters. I know that sounds super weird but it was phenomenal. I then had a nice red Italian merlot and finished with the classic carbonara that was homemade pasta, filled with a runny egg, bacon, cheese and parsley. I know you're thinking, while Italian in Ireland, but I had to, I'm an addict. The entire meal was ridiculously good and got me way to excited for my trip to Italy.
That night Eric arrived, we celebrated with a quick Guinness but had early plans for the next day. We spent Saturday on a tour bus, being typical tourists and loving every second. This tour took us 12 hours around the west of Ireland. Let me just set you in the tourist mood of what Eric and I got to experience. We got onto a fully packed coach bus, getting the last seats on the bus, worried that this was going to be terribly long day. It is 8am and we are both in a sleepy haze, and Micheal jumps onto the mic. He informs us that normally he is a driver, but today he was filling in and was very excited for our trip ahead (he's also doing this while screaming into the mic.) Micheal ,a typical pudgy Irishmen has a strong accent and loved to hear himself talk. He would tell long stories that you would spend 10 min waiting for an epic ending and truly come to nothing. But his passion and love for his country was adorable. He told us about EVERYTHING from the sod, to the trees, to the animals (squealing like a 2 year old every time he saw a baby sheep.) When there were points in the day where we were all trying to catch up on some sleep he would whip out the mic and practice his numerous Ireland Idol auditions, singing songs like LMFAO's "Girl Look at That Body" to "I've Had the Time of My Life" and everything in between.
We started up at the top, in Kinvara. This is an area in Galway, a small boat town, which is surrounded by the Dunguaire Castle and a beautiful fishing harbor. Eric started to have biker's envy, as people cycled by us in the most scenic places I had ever been while I took way to many photos. We were both in awe of such a gorgeous little place.
We moved onto Corcoroe Abbey, this sublime deserted old abbey in the middle of nowhere, very well preserved among the Grey Hills of the Burren. Where we got out and walked over hundreds of years of history. We stopped for some homemade chocolate at the Hazel Mountain Chocolate Shop in small area called Oughtmama (no i'm not joking) where we were surrounded by cows, sheep and rolling hills. Michael is telling us stories about the murders of the maisons that built the rock formations in the area, while requesting a sing-along to "Eye of the Tiger" to "pump us up" for the mini cliffs that were ahead. But we could all block him out to the view of the Atlantic Costal Drive, where I got to see the other side of the ocean that I have swam in my whole life. Michael informed us the mini cliffs where the "appetizer" to the end of our trip, the Cliffs of Moher. We were all amazed by them, taking pictures as if these were the most spectacular thing we had ever seen, unaware of whats to come.
We continued on, passing by a place called Lahinch, which is know for being Ireland's #1 surfing spot and we also saw the The Burren National Park. All leading up to a lunch spot in Doolin, the surf town outside of Lahinch. Along the way we made friends with the people sitting next to us on the bus, Zach and Jewelle, who are both in college studying abroad as well and happen to have a a friend connection with us (always spooky when that happens.) We all ate a yummy authentic Irish lunch before leaving for the cliffs.
I don't know if I can put into words how gorgeous The Cliffs of Moher were. The "mini" cliffs being almost a let down of an appetizer to this entree of a place. The weather was perfection, and you could see everything. As Micheal said, the Cliffs stand at about 214m (700 feet) at their heights point and range for about 8 km (4 miles) over the Atlantic Ocean. Southampton has to watch its back because this place that is parallel across an ocean to our small little town, and is beyond breath taking. Thanks to my lovely dad Mark's genes, my fear of heights came out in spades, especially when the only way to truly see it was to climb over the designated foot path they gave you, along with rest of the tourists to the cliffs edge. After much convincing Eric got me to climb over, but it was 100% worth it, getting some of the most gorgeous pictures of my life. I included pictures of all of this below, I hope you enjoy.
On Sunday we adventured through Dublin, retracing some of my Friday steps for Eric and ending up at the Guinness Factory. This was an awesome experience, the factory has turned itself into a tourist empire. Letting you literally use all of your senses to learn about the process of making a pint of Guinness. You never have to think for yourself, as they have set it up in a 7 floor tower that flows through exhibits/tastings/classes and finally ending in the glass observatory where you are given a pint of the freshest Guinness you'll ever have at the highest view of Dublin. This was the perfect ending to a trip I will never forget. I promise to return to you some day soon Ireland.
