dublin

after visiting western ireland and touring the countryside we departed galway {along with the most expensive rental car ever} and hopped the train to dublin. it was not at all what i expected. dublin is a large metropolitan city similar to any large city here. we didn't even feel like we were in ireland.

we hit the temple bar district for dinner when we arrived...

the next morning we went to trinity college and to see the book of kells. we had a great tour guide, stephen, who is a grad student there...

then of course we had to tour the guiness brewery…

and hit the rooftop bar for a fresh brew...

and paid a visit ireland’s oldest pub…the brazen head….

on sunday we went to church at Saint Patrick's Cathedral and had the best lunch / shopping experience ever at avoca...much like anthropologie but four floors of it....

more countryside...

{it is going to take me a year to recap this trip at the rate i am going}

our second day at the castle, michael booked a fly-fishing trip with our guide syrl. {he kept wanting to call him syrup}.

later that night we had the best dinner of our stay in ireland at the owenmore restaurant at the hotel. we had a fabulous view, good wine, and great food.

the next day we packed up and left early and headed up past clifden to a town called cleggan where we went horseback riding along the countryside and on the beach. {i think the helmets add a nice touch}

we decided to make the several hour drive to see the cliffs of moher {a must see} before calling it a day. it really was beautiful.

i made the executive decision {since I was holding the map} for us to drive a different route on the way back. it was a secluded drive along the rocky coast and just beautiful. all was well until michael thought something was wrong with the car. we pulled over and he got out and said our tire was on fire. hmmm. lovely. only we had already used our spare so here we are stuck in the middle of nowhere. luckily a very kind man, jimmy, came out of his house just as we pulled over to the shoulder. however, he did not have a phone {??!?!} so he told us to walk up the road to johnny’s house that he would have one. we walked to johnny’s and he told us we were in the town of fenor, he let us use his phone and after about an hour help arrived. we piled in the tow truck to drive an hour back to kilfenora to get new tires for the rental. we finally arrived back in galway around 9pm, absolutely exhausted.

07.16.10

happy 30th birthday dani!!!
dani and i met at the beginning of our freshman year at auburn. she has been a great friend for the past 12 (seriously?!!) years. even though we don't get to see each other as often now, we do try to go on a trip once a year (thanks to her awesome four seasons benefits). so here's to you dani - i hope you are enjoying your day off and gearing up for your trip to italy!

sipping on a mixed berry mojito (best drink ever!) at four seasons in santa barbara last year.

countryside

after galway we rented another car and drove through the beautiful countryside of ireland to our next destination, ballynahinch castle in recess. i loved seeing all the sheep , stone walls and rolling hills while driving along the coast.


we stopped to check out roundstone, a small fishing village. we grabbed some lunch and a bulmer’s {irish cider and the closest thing i can drink to a beer}


we had a little time before check-in so we drove on to kylemore abbey. it was gorgeous! and even got to see a few nuns walking the grounds.




we finally made it to ballynahinch. when we checked in our room was pretty warm so the bellman opened the windows. i noticed a thermostat on the wall and saw that you could make it cooler so i turned it all the way down. we decided to walk around while the room was getting cool. when we came back the room was HOT so i asked michael to tell the front desk that our air was not working. he came back laughing and said they did not have air conditioning and that they had just turned on the heat. nice.


we decided to out to dinner that night and as we were leaving we noticed we had a flat tire. we went back and had someone come out and put our spare on and we were off again. we went to the town of clifden for dinner where we ordered a {$40} pizza that looked and tasted just like it had cut up hot dogs on it. we were glad to get back to the hotel and call it an end to the day that was going downhill....fast.

galway

an intro...when we arrived at jfk we noticed our flight had been delayed to dublin. well, delay after delay after delay we still didn't have a plane! then delta decided it would be sweet to downsize our already full plane to dublin. yes, delta that makes perfect sense to downsize a full international flight for people who have spent thousands of dollars on tickets. {sorry still venting}. well, the first seats went to first-class and some other ranking system that did not include us. we are all waiting around this tv screen for our names to pop up as the chosen winner for a seat. then the unthinkable happens and the screen just says "flight full". that was it. so off we go with about 50 others and get in line for our $400 voucher and hotel room for the night when we hear our names. never have i ran so fast. we were the last ones called and they closed the cabin door behind us. even sweeter we got exit row seats! i really do swear michael has the best luck. had it just been me they would have ran out of the vouchers before i got one.
sooo, to make a long story even longer... since we were four hours late leaving JFK we now missed our train in dublin to galway. michael rented us a car and off we went on our own. me with the map {never good} and michael in the driver's seat {again, never good}. needless to say, it was very scary interesting riding on the 'wrong' side of the car for the first time with someone who is was driving on the 'wrong' side of the road for the first time. we eventually made it to galway and it was definitely worth all the frustration!...

SO we started our trip off in galway which means the "city of tribes" and michael's family - 'lynch' just happens to be one of the tribe families that built the city of galway way back when.

flags of the tribes in eyre square:



it is a beautiful city with a small-town feel that sits on the water with shops, cafes, and pubs lining the cobblestone streets.




spanish arch hotel - where we stayed a couple of nights.




national university of ireland, galway:


a beautiful walk along with water in salthill:



we were starving when we arrived so we hit up lynch's cafe for lunch. the food wasn't the best but when the owner found out michael was a 'lynch' he told him the history of the cafe and gave him some information on the lynch family. of course it quickly became michael's favorite.


the church the lynch family built - st. nicholas' collegiate church:


it also holds lynch's window {where the mayor of galway hanged his own son for murdering a spanish man}


we passed a tour group one day that were stopped in front of the lynch castle and michael listened in on what the guide was telling and it turns out that when the lynch family was living there a fire broke out and their pet monkey carried their baby to safety. so there is a monkey holding a baby on the front of the castle. {michael of course thought it was the best story ever and i couldn't stop laughing}


we went to a baroque orchestra concert one night at the church - please note the guy's face in the background - this was right before he told michael photos were not allowed. yes, in the middle of the performance. if i could have crawled under my seat i would have.


and what trip to ireland is complete without a picture with a leprechaun??

going to the chapel...

and we're gonna get married! that's right - michael popped the big question at lynch's castle while in galway, ireland. it was the perfect proposal and I was definitely surprised! here is a picture of us outside the lynch castle the day after the proposal:


right now the only plan we have is to have a small wedding next summer {2011} at the chapel of transfiguration right outside jackson hole, wy:


needless to say we had a wonderful trip and i will be posting pics and re-capping it soon!