Irish Road Trip (Part 2)

My family came to visit me during my semester abroad in Ireland.

If you haven’t yet, read part 1 of our Irish Road Trip HERE!

Day 3

We drove around the Ring of Kerry to the start of the Old Kenmare Road hike. We did the hike, then saw the Torc waterfall. This hike was just as pretty as the one we did in the Wicklow Mountains.

Views from the Kenmare road hike

Kenmare road hiking path

Torc waterfall

The second hike we did

We went to the nearby Kissane Sheep Farm at 3 PM for their sheepdog herding demonstration. A bonus was that we got to hold day-old lambs!

The babies!

Me & my new friend

We stopped at Ladies View Lookout (and got coffee at the restaurant next door), then did another short hike. We drove to our castle for the night around 6 PM. You read that right. We got to stay in a CASTLE for the night. I mean, it was a room in the basement of the castle. But it was still in a castle – specifically Ballyseede Castle. We had dinner at Kirby’s Brogue Inn in Tralee. It was obviously a favorite local spot, as it was packed the entire time we were there! This was everyone’s favorite day: we saw beautiful sights, ate good food, and got to sleep in a freaking castle.

Day 4

I woke up feeling like a queen. You know, because I woke up in a castle. No big deal or anything. My family got dressed up and went to breakfast in the elegant Ballyseede Castle dining room (included in the room price). The lovely Esther took our food order, gave us pots of coffee and tea, and led us to the marvelously laid-out buffet table for breakfast appetizers (is that a thing?). I munched on a scone with strawberry jam, drank tea, and ate my main meal of an omelette with aged cheddar and cherry tomatoes. This was definitely the best breakfast of the trip.

We went on the scariest drive of my life to Dingle. We drove through Conor’s Pass, the highest mountain pass in Ireland, on a twisting mountain ledge road. The roads are almost too narrow to fit one car, let alone two going in opposite directions. The only safety precaution from falling to your death is a roadside metal barrier. There are other ways to get to Dingle, but we decided to live dangerously and see exactly how scary yet scenic the Pass was. We stopped to hike up the An Bhinn Dubh (black peak) Summit. It was one of the prettiest views I’ve ever seen (below). Then we drove down the pass and into the colorful little town of Dingle. The “adults” stopped for a beer at Dick Mack’s Pub, while the “kids” went to Murphy’s Ice Cream. I use quotations because my brother and I are both technically adults. Murphy’s was great, besides the fact that the employees thought my brother and I were on a date and asked if we wanted to pay separately or together.

Dingle!

Murphy’s Ice Cream

I devoured a cone full of of brown bread and honeycomb caramel ice cream. Don’t knock brown bread in ice cream until you try it. We walked around Dingle, then hopped back into the car to complete the Slea Head Drive. We stopped the car to go to beaches and to the Gallarus Oratory.

The Oratory

The beach!

We had an early dinner at Sammy’s Beach in Inch. We had a nice conversation with the new owner, who told us his future plans for the restaurant. The portions were big, the food was good, it was reasonably priced, and the restaurant is literally on the beach! I’d go back in a heartbeat. We got in the car again, this time to drive two hours to our airbnb in Ennis.

Day 5

This was our last full day, which everyone was sad about. We spent the morning at the Cliffs of Moher, and it was way better than the first time I went. I could see more than ten feet in front of me this time, and we went to a less crowded spot using THIS guide from my favorite travel blogger.

The cliffs

The cliffs

We spent the afternoon in Galway. We got coffee at Grind, lunch at Fat Freddy’s, and sweaters at the Aran Sweater Market. We spent the evening driving to our home for the night, Mary Lynch’s Bed & Breakfast. The owners introduced us to their dog (Pudge) and made us dinner (veggie lasagna for me).

Day 6

We woke up and experienced the “breakfast” part of the Bed & Breakfast. The owner made us our final meal. Of the trip, not final meal forever. I’m not that dramatic. He made me a mushroom omelet because I’m vegetarian, and the rest of the family got a traditional Irish breakfast. Then it was time to get back to Dublin and face reality. I dropped my family off at the airport and only cried a little bit when it was time to say goodbye.This trip with them was one of the best parts, if not the best part, of my study abroad experience. I got to see my family for the first time in months, I got to see more of my new favorite country, and I didn’t have to pay for any of it (because my parents did lol). Thanks for following along, and look out for my next post about Copenhagen, Denmark! xoxo

Irish Road Trip (Part 1)

If you’ve read my past few posts, you know that my family came to visit me during my semester abroad in Ireland. We explored Dublin, then traveled to London, then rented a car for a week to see the rest of Ireland.

Somehow we survived:

• a week of non-stop family time
• driving on the “wrong” (left) side of the road
• my navigation “skills”
• two lane roads that were narrower than a one way street in the USA
• standing along steep cliffs
• long periods of time without internet or signal
• kissing a (probably) germ-infested stone
• … and more

Enjoy a description of the first few days now, then click HERE to read about the rest of our trip. I combined our travels into 2 posts because 1) I took a lot of pictures, and 2) I know you don’t have the attention span to read detailed descriptions of seven entire days. Thank me later. 😉 

Day 1 of the Great Irish Road Trip

We awoke bright and early for a trip into the Wicklow Mountains. We stopped for breakfast at a welcoming coffee shop in Bray called Finnbee’s, a 40 minute drive from Dublin. I consumed a latte and a yoghurt parfait as fuel for our morning of hiking.

Breakfast at Finnbee’s.

The beach in the town of Bray.

The drive from the town of Bray to the Glendalough Valley in the Wicklow Mountains took another 40 minutes. The drive was eerie, as we didn’t see any other cars. Or trees. Or wildlife. Or really anything except snow-covered hills! We kept stopping the car to take pictures, as the area was beautiful in a post-apocalyptic yet peaceful way (that sentence makes sense in my head – hopefully the pictures will help you understand what I mean).It started hailing as we arrived in the Wicklow Mountains National Park parking lot. Not a good sign. However, the hail stopped a few minutes later… so we bundled up in three jackets each and began our hike. We decided to hike Spinc and Glenealo Valley. The path led us 9 km (like 5.6 miles) around a lake and through woods, to an old mining town, past some streams and up a mountain, then back down around the other side of the lake. It was one of the best hikes I’ve ever done, despite the moody weather. We saw sheep, feral goats, and deer.

So pretty.

The old mining part of the hike.

Part of the Wicklow hike.

A river and mini waterfall on the hike.

We needed warmth and food after our 3+ hour hike. We headed to Glendalough Green Café thanks to a recommendation from my dad’s friend. Every single one of us ordered vegetable soup with brown bread, and it really hit the spot. Our next stop was Kilkenny; we spent an hour walking around this small town. We drove to Waterford (home of Waterford Crystal) for dinner at The Munster Bar. I got the sweet and flaky goat cheese tomato tart with salad.

Kilkenny Castle.

A church in Kilkenny.

Waterford Crystal harp.

Dinner at The Munster Bar.

We drove to our final destination after dinner: Big Mick’s, an old barn-turned-cottage and our airbnb for the night. The cottage is on a working dairy farm, so the next morning my brother and I were able to tour the farm and milk a cow! Breakfast after our tour included eggs fresh from the farm, Irish soda bread the host’s friend made, yoghurt, and black tea.

One of the 2 horses at Big Mick’s.

Breakfast with a view at Big Mick’s.

Day 2

We were sad to leave Big Mick’s, but excited for our day ahead. We drove to Kell’s Priory (an old monastery),Rock of Cashel, Blarney Stone and Gardens, Cork, and ended at our day at a new airbnb. We had lunch at Bowes & Co. Café after our Rock of Cashel guided tour – I highly recommend both the tour and the restaurant (especially their brown bread).

Kells Priory and the surrounding sheep.

Rock of Cashel.

I thought Blarney Castle was so cool because it was so old! We walked up narrow staircases to the top of the castle, where I kissed the Blarney Stone. It was by far my worst kiss. 😉 Rumor has it that kissing it gives you the gift of gab though (being able to flatter someone), which isn’t a bad thing. There was a poison garden next to the castle, full of “toxic” plants like marijuana, rhubarb, and wormwood (where you at, Harry Potter fans?). Blarney Castle was definitely my favorite part of the day.

Kissing the Blarney Stone.

The legend of the stone.

My least favorite part of the day? Trying to find our airbnb. We typed the airbnb house name into Google maps and drove to it. WELL, turns out there are two houses with that name in Ireland. Meaning, we drove to the wrong house. And the other house was 40 minutes away. And it was getting dark. And we were hungry & had frozen pizza thawing in the car. SOooOOo the fam was not happy. BUT we finally arrived to the airbnb at like 9 PM & made pizza like ½ hour later (once we figured out how to use the oven). It was a mess. 

Day 3

The next morning was better thanks to a lovely breakfast provided by our host and an exciting day ahead! We had scrambled eggs, yoghurt, granola, lemon bread, and coffee. We spent the day exploring Killarney National Park and the surrounding area. It was our favorite day, and you can read more about it HERE, in part two of our great Irish adventure!

God Save the Queen (from Brexit)

My observations on London:

1. It’s an old city. Like, 1600 years old. Therefore, it has a lot of old buildings and historical monuments.
2. It’s a fun, vibrant, busy city. People are everywhere.
3. It has a killer food scene, with lots of vegan and vegetarian options. You know I made a multi-page bulleted list about London’s vegan restaurant scene.
4. Everyone is fashion-forward… so dress to impress.
5. Brexit is confusing Londoners and the rest of the world alike.

My family arrived to the city starving for food and knowledge. Naturally, the first thing we did was eat at Nando’s, a London staple known for their special sauces and “peri-peri” chicken. My mom and I split a quinoa salad (so ~healthy~) and a veggie burger with sweet potato wedges. The salad was crunchy but tasty, the sweet potatoes were delightful, and the burger bun was scrumptious (the actual burger was not because it tasted like straight smoke). After lunch, we checked into our hotel, St. Ermin’s. It was very classy.

It was finally time to explore! Our hotel was a short walk from Westminster Abbey (pictured above), Big Ben, and the Parliament Building (containing the House of Lords and the House of Commons). Big Ben was under restoration, so unfortunately we didn’t really get to see it. We went into the House of Lords (no photos allowed, but it was boujee) and watched them discuss various current events. Fun fact: about an hour after we were there, nude protestors put on a show in the House of Commons.

The London Eye!

Big Ben? Is that you?

We went back to the hotel for happy hour, which is every Monday-Thursday from 5:30-6:30 PM. I ate the prettiest chocolate mousse tarts. On a sugar high, we walked to the one and only London Eye ferris wheel. I learned two important things: the London Eye is actually owned by Coca-Cola, and it’s ridiculously expensive to ride (£30 per person). Because of this, only my brother and I went on the half-hour Eye ride. Seeing the city from above as the sun set was the perfect way to end our first day in London.

 

The London Skyline from the Eye.

Me!

 

Day 2

The day began at the gym, as my mom and I never miss a chance to work out together. We had some homemade scones for breakfast before heading to the Tower of London. We started out on a guided tour with a Beefeater (like the gin), but the tour ended early due to rain. The grounds contain an old moat (now covered in grass), the White Tower (with a dungeon in the basement now converted into a gift shop), a church, an old armory, and the Crown Jewels! Seeing the Jewels was my favorite part.

The Tower Bridge is next to the Tower of London, so we walked across it to go to by Chloe. for lunch! Chloe is a chef, cookbook author, and my celebrity girl crush. She started the by Chloe. restaurant chain, which now has 2 London locations. Obviously I forced my mom to go to one with me. We split the guac burger, sweet potato fries, and the spicy thai salad. Good meals don’t end without dessert, so I also got a latte and a cinnamon espresso chocolate chip cookie.

Me + the food.

Smiling about our food.

We spent the rest of the afternoon, like 2 hours, at the British Museum. The name is ironic, as there honestly isn’t much “British” stuff inside. The museum contains the Rosetta Stone, Egyptian hieroglyphic tablets, Greek statues, Japanese paintings, Chinese pottery, Native American apparel, and more. It was interesting to see so many historical objects, but I prefer art museums.

We walked around Covent Garden, Chinatown, and Piccadilly Circus before it started to hail. We took cover in Spaghetti House, where we had a lovely Italian dinner. We hit Trafalgar Square on the way back to the hotel for the night.

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Day 3

We only had a half day in London before heading back to Ireland, so we made the most of it by going to see the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. I’m glad I got to see such a revered tradition… but I wouldn’t watch again because it involved a lot of standing around, waiting, and jumping up and down to get a good view (short people problems). The whole area was teeming with people, and the actual changing ceremony took about forty minutes.

We didn’t get to see the queen, but we did get to see her gardens. We walked through Buckingham Palace Gardens, Green Park, Hyde Park, and Kensington Gardens. We also went to Harrod’s Department Store (last picture) to get a look at what luxury looks like. We had a quick lunch at Shake Shack, my brother’s favorite restaurant chain, before heading to the airport to begin our Irish road trip.

Tourist in My Host City

I’ve been bopping around Europe all semester. I hadn’t done much exploring of my “home base” country until I had the chance to show a few special visitors around this past month! I’ll be honest… I was getting pretty homesick since I hadn’t seen my family or best friends for more than three months. Traveling is extremely fun, but it’s also tiring and sometimes an emotional rollercoaster. I can’t tell you how wonderful it was to have my family come visit me in Ireland for ten whole entire days. It was also fabulous to have my name twin come visit from her home base of England!

Here’s a recap of their time in Dublin. 

My visitor for the first part of the weekend was my friend Ellie. Ellie and I met in Austria and became fast friends due to our shared name and love of travel.

We enjoyed two full, fun days together.

• Street food on my school’s campus – Ellie fell in love with Korean barbecue.
• Murphy’s, the best homemade ice cream in Ireland. Their brown bread flavor sounds strange… but it slaps (that’s slang for “great”).

Falafel from a street stand.

Honeycomb caramel & brown bread ice cream from Murphy’s.

• Walking around St. Stephen’s Green Park and O’Connell Street, home of the giant spire.
• Jameson Distillery Tour. I would rather vomit than drink whiskey, but I loved this tour. It was so interactive: we experienced the company’s 200+ year history, felt barley, and smelled distilled vapors with our guide’s help. It was a fun and interesting tour, especially since brewing and distilling are part of my college major’s curriculum. *It was easy for us to get tickets for this tour, as we just booked it online a few hours before.

• We explored the many bars of Temple Street and listened to the traditional music within them.
• Shopping and walking around Dublin.
• Day trip to Howth, a coastal village next to Dublin. We explored the harbor and walked around the Howth Cliffs. We had a late lunch at Crabby Jo’s – good food but extremely slow service.

Howth Harbor.

The walk to the Howth Cliffs.

I was sad to see Ellie go early Saturday morning, but I was excited for my family’s arrival the same morning! My family and I celebrated seeing each other, plus my mom’s birthday, with marvelous donuts from The Rolling Donut. 

We spent the rest of Day 1 doing touristy things around the city.

• The Book of Kells and the old library at Trinity College. This ended up being my least favorite thing we did… so it’s good that we got it out of the way early! The experience was €13, and all we saw was an old book. Don’t get me wrong – the actual book (well, now divided into four manuscripts) is pretty cool. It’s an almost perfectly preserved masterpiece of drawing and lettering on calfskin that was created in a monastery around 800 AD. The library’s “Long Room” is beautiful as well, full of over 200,000 ancient books and artifacts like The 1916 Proclamation. However, I didn’t think the experience was worth the price of a nice meal.
• Christ Church Cathedral and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. We examined the exteriors, but didn’t go inside because I’ve already seen more cathedrals than I can count.
• Lunch at Pifko. Dad got to try his first traditional Irish breakfast!

Pifko lunch.

Our lovely cheese plate with ingredients from Tesco (grocery store).

• Phoenix Park. We enjoyed the greenery and the Wellington Monument, the largest obelisk in all of Europe!

Matching jackets!

The Wellington Monument.

• Temple Bar, possibly the most touristy yet iconic area in all of Ireland. It’s a street full of old pubs, live music, and people from all over. I love the area, but I don’t go there much because it’s a tourist trap and everything is overpriced.
• Dinner at the Airbnb. My family was exhausted after more than twenty-four hours without sleep, so I made them a cheese plate and tacos before their early bedtime.

Day 2

• Grafton Street, a busy pedestrian street with shops and street performers galore.
• Walking around St. Stephen’s Green Park and the Royal Hospital Park.

• Kilmainham Gaol. Touring this old jail was way cooler than I thought it was going to be, and I learned so much 20th century Irish history. Everyone in my family recommends this experience. *If you go, you must book tickets online in advance.

The center of the jail, now used as a movie set.

A hallway in the jail.

• Guinness Storehouse Tour. I like the taste of Guinness better than Jameson, but I liked the Jameson tour better. The actual Guinness tour was self-guided, but a guided tasting and a drink in the sky bar (either Guinness or Hophouse 13) were included in the ticket price.

Guinness Storehouse!

It’s Guinness O’Clock.

The brewing process.

The brewing process.

• Dinner at the Brazen Head, the oldest pub in Dublin! We had a hard time getting a table here because it was so busy, but the wait was worth it for the food and atmosphere.

After a few days in Dublin, my family and I took a trip to London! Watch out for my next post about London and the surrounding area. Spoiler alert: it was awesome.