Travels

On 9/6 we arrived in Dublin from Cork, which was about a 3-hour drive that we went straight through. We stayed at Temple Bar Hotel which was in the heart of the city and walking distance to anything you could want to find. Anna's parents' did complain that their room heard the live music at the bar below the entire evening but would recommend the hotel for the location. The first stop we made in Dublin was the Trinity College Dublin where it was orientation weekend for the University and thier was a ton of booths set up for students to join various clubs. The highlight of the College was the Long Room Library which felt like you were walking in Hogwart's Library. After finishing up at the Univeristy we did the Guinness tour which was an amazing tour. It was a little commercialized compared to other brewery tours I have done but it was definitely an experience. The views at the sky lounge at the top of tour were the best views you can get in Dublin. We ...

On 9/5 we left Killarney for Cork. Our first stop was the Blarney Castle and Gardens . It is famous for the stone of eloquence found at the top of the tower, legend has it, if you kiss it, you'll never again be lost for words. They also have several gardens to walk through, the one I found the most unique was the poison garden which contained plants from all over the world from an opium plant to wolfsbane. After the tour, we left to check into our B&B. We stayed at which was about 3/4 mile away from the downtown area. The shopping in this town felt like any major city in America. We ate at COQBULL which had amazing rotisserie chicken that reminded me of a place back home in California, Manny's. We, unfortunately, did not give this city enough time and would have to come back to this city if I ever came back to Ireland.

On our way out of Doolin on 9/3, before our drive to Killarney, we went to Burren National Park which is famous for its moonscape views. We stopped in a cute town on the way to Kilkarney, called Ennis and ate at a really good pub called Brogans that may have been the best pub of the entire trip. After lunch, we finished the drive to Killarney. We arrived at our hotel where we stayed right downtown at Foleys Townhouse which was in the heart of everything in Killarney. After the hike, we went to visit Anna's family as Sush's family rented an Airbnb about a mile away from the town where we had dinner and some drinks at their Airbnb. On 9/4, we left early for a hike up Carrauntoohil which is the highest peak in Ireland and about 12.7 km hike. We hiked the devil's ladder trail and got some wet weather for the occasion. Noah, Sunny, Anna and I were not dressed for the elements of this hike and could have been better prepared. Sunny did the entire hike with run...

8/29 - Leave from Detroit,US to Frankfurt, Germany Flight Detroit to Frankfurt 8/30 - Leave from Frankfurt to Dublin, Ireland Flight Frankfurt to Dublin 8/31 - Wedding Day Activities 9/1 - Kayaking and BBQ 9/1 - Leave Galway Drive from Dublin to Galway 9/2 - Leave for Doolin, Cliffs of Moher Hike Drive from Galway to Doolin 9/3 - Leave for Killarney and tour the city Drive from Doolin to Killarney 9/4 - Carrauntoohil hike in Killarney National Park 9/5 - Leave for Cork and tour the city Drive from Killarney to Cork 9/6 - Leave for Dublin and tour the city Drive from Cork to Dublin 9/7 - Leave for US Flight Dublin to Frankfurt Flight Frankfurt to Detroit If I was to go to Ireland again I would aim for a 12 day trip with the following cities Dublin - 1 day Drive to Belfast Belfast - 2 days , 1 day Glenarriff park(6 miles), Dark Hedges, and Giant Causeway Long Drive towards Ballycroy National Park - 1 day Drive to Gallo...

We arrived in Doolin around 1 PM and knowing our B&B would not be ready we just dropped off our bags and started walking to the starting from the B&B to the Cliffs of Moher hike entrance. The B&B had some amazing views and had very clean and tidy views and would recommend this location for anyone going to the area looking to hike the Cliffs of Moher. We were almost talked into pulling a total tourist move and driving to the visitor center of the Cliffs vs doing the entire 3.5 mile hike and I am very happy we opted for the hike as it was not too challenging and the views were worth every step. The hike is unique in that you walk through private farmland and get some amazing scenery of cows, sheep, goats, and horses along the way. The views say everything you need to see. We were fortunate on the day we hiked as their was virtually no fog the entire day and have heard that your views can be ruined when a heavy fog sets. Anna made sure to leave a he...

Galway was the first town of my Ireland vacation that I attended with my girlfriend Anna and her family for their cousins' wedding. Our trip started on August 29th and ended September 7th and we stayed 3.5 days in Galway. We drove straight to Galway (west side of Ireland) from Dublin airport which took us about 2 and a half hours driving. The country is as green as advertised, although I slept through most of the car ride. Driving on the left side of the road as an American is an adventure in itself especially with all of the roundabouts. We stayed at the Hotel Meyrick in the center of Galway, where Anna's cousin Ash, was to be married (have his wedding reception). It is a very historic hotel and central to everything that you would want to walk to while visiting the city. If you stayed during the summer, not having air conditioning could be a bit of an issue but would recommend the hotel otherwise. We arrived at the hotel on Friday around 1 PM and ate breakfast at th...