Finally caught up!

Hello everyone! Once I finish this post the blog will be officially up-to-date on all my spring break adventures! Finally! As you can tell, I was pretty busy for my 2 weeks of break. Class trip, then Italy, then my family visited! So the morning after I got back from Florence my friend Ashley and I headed to the airport to meet my mom, dad, and Andy! While waiting we played fun people watching games such as Rugby fan or Not a Rugby fan (Ireland played Wales that day) and American or not an American (more entertaining than the rugby game). Finally they arrived and we got our rental car. Now this shows how good a friend Ashley is that she would be willing to ride in the rental car with us in Dublin where they drive on the left and not the right like we Americans are used to. Dad did fine though. No accidents or anything like that.

Ashley and I spent the day dragging my very jet lagged family around a very crowded Dublin (because of the rugby match that day and St. Patrick's day coming up). We gave them a little walking tour and then I took them to the Guinness Storehouse that afternoon where I was the only one to drink the complimentary pint of Guinness. Disappointing, isn't it? But I guess I understand because it is an acquired taste and I only just started to not mind drinking it this past month. We ate dinner at a nice Italian place near the hotel that night so my poor family could go to bed early.The next morning everyone woke up feeling much better--no more jet lag! We drove to Galway, checked into our B&B there and then just walked along the Salt Hill Prom and through Galway. We got dinner at a really cool pub and then headed back to the B&B to go to bed early.

The next morning the plan was to drive to the Cliffs of Moher and then do the Dingle Peninsula. Driving to the Cliffs of Moher was a bit of an adventure. We somehow ended up driving on a little one-lane road through the Burren, where there really isn't anything. Thankfully the GPS got us to the Cliffs just fine. The Cliffs of Moher were really cool and were something that I had not done yet. We had nice weather which was good because it can get pretty windy and cold up there. From there we drove down to the Dingle Peninsula which took a lot longer than we anticipated. So we didn't get to spend any time in Dingle but did get to drive the Slea Head Drive on the peninsula. I'd done that on my class trip just about a week before but it was still just as beautiful. We headed to Killarney then because all of us were pretty tired and hungry and crabby.The next day we headed out to Muckross House and Torc Waterfall before driving through Killarney National Park and doing the Ring of Kerry. Again this was a lot of fun even though it was WINDY out! We ate lunch at a nice local pub called the Blind Piper and had great seafood chowder. Another great dinner in Killarney that night was followed by some traditional Irish music. The first pub we went to had way too many Americans in it for my liking. Thankfully, we stumbled upon the place the locals go and had a lot better time there.
The next morning it was time to leave Killarney. We made a stop in Kinsale, a cute little fishing village, on our way to Waterford. There we got a walking tour from this really nice, really funny, and really knowledgeable local guy. From there we drove to the Rock of Cashel, ruins of a cathedral and also where St. Patrick baptised the king of Munster. That night we were staying in Waterford...in a castle!! It was on its own little island with a car ferry over to it. We ate dinner that night at the hotel. It was so nice! We had a four course meal, started eating at 7 and weren't done till 9:30! Probably the fanciest dinner I've ever had.

And then it was time to head back to Dublin. We drove through rain that morning (the only rain while my family visited!) but thankfully it had stopped by the time we reached Dublin. That afternoon we saw the Book of Kells and Trinity Library, which was awesome especially for someone like me who loves books! We also went to Christ Church Cathedral and St. Stephen's Green. That night we ate pub grub at one of my favorite pubs, O'Neills.
So that was it! It was a whirlwind tour of Ireland but we had a great time! I was so happy that my family was able to come visit! And now I've caught you up on all the goings on of my spring break!