Ireland, Part 5

On our last day in Ireland, we drove out the the Cliffs of Moher. It was a very cold day already, but up on the cliffs it was so windy that we thought we might be blown over. However, the views were worth it.

Then we headed to the Burren. The Burren is very interesting. Most of Ireland is so green, but the Burren is completely rocky. People say it is kind of like a "lunar landscape". However, some of the most diverse plant life in Ireland grows between the rocks. Also located in the Burren are several megalithic tombs. We saw the Poulnabrone tomb, which is thought to be from between 3800 and 3200 B.C. !

Ireland is such a beautiful place with so many things to see. We only got to explore the south-western part. I would love to go back some day!

Ireland, Part 4

In the morning, we headed out to Limerick to see King John's castle. They had a very nice audio-visual presentation about the castle's history, which really about how Ireland has so many castles because it has such a violent history.

We hadn't had much of a chance to explore Adare and the manor grounds yet, so we headed back to our apartment. Nic and I went on a tour of the grounds of Adare Manor led by the manor's head arborist. It was so cool. The estate is huge and has such beautiful gardens.

That evening, my parents were so sweet and agreed to watch Max while Nic and I had a fabulous dinner at the manor's restaurant. It was very elegant and romantic. The tables were all lit by candlelight, and the food was so good! We splurged and had the eight course tasting menu. It was our best meal in Ireland, which is quite an accomplishment because we had some great food.

Ireland, Part 3

The next morning, we packed up and took off for Cork and Blarney Castle. This was supposed to be one of our longest day trips, but after being so lost the night before it felt like we got to Blarney in no time!

I wasn't sure if I even wanted to go to Blarney Castle. I just thought it would be a stupid tourist trap because everyone goes there to kiss the Blarney Stone. I am so glad we went! It is a beautiful castle on amazing grounds, and it's no wonder everyone kisses the Blarney Stone. It is very exhilarating!

First, we wandered around the gardens, which were very cool. They had signs that explained the magical things that were thought to happen in the garden.

All of the clovers that we saw in the garden had four leaves. Must be a lucky place!

This stone looks like a profile of a witch.


Then it was on to the castle. What remains of the castle is mostly just the keep, which was built in 1446. There are places that you can explore if you are more adventurous than me, like tiny tunnels that go through the castle wall, but just getting to the top is quite an adventure. The winding stair case is so steep, I wasn't sure I was going to make it! When we finally made it to the top, it was time to kiss the Blarney Stone. To reach the stone, you have to bend over backwards because the stone is lower than the floor you lay down on. You are up really high, and even though there are a couple of bars and a man to hold you, I was so nervous!
Then we drove just a few minutes to Cork. Cork is a really neat city. I thought it was really interesting that it is the second largest city in Ireland, but its population is smaller than Corona! We started out by cruising through the English Market, which is an indoor market with local vendors that sell fresh meats, cheeses, fruits, and bread. We bought enough to have a yummy picnic in the park.





Mom and Dad decided to take a bus tour, while Nic, Max, and I opted for a walking tour. The city is very walkable, and we got to talk to quite a few friendly locals. On our tour we stopped at St. Finbarre' s Cathedral, which has been a religious site since St. Finbarre established his monastery here in 606 A.D. The current building was built in the 1865 and has beautiful stained glass depicting bible scenes. Then we headed to the university, which had beautiful grounds and a lively feel. Once we met back up with my parents, we were looking for a place to eat when one of the local college students suggested one of his favorite restaurants. It was casual and delicious. A perfect ending to the day. I loved Cork.I think I could definitely live there.

Ireland, Part 2

We were very tired from our journey around the Ring of Kerry, so we slept in a bit the next day. The Ring of Kerry was so much driving that we decided it would be nice to do something closer to home. The Rock of Cashel and Cahir Castle are only about an hour drive from Adare, so we felt we picked the perfect destination. The boys identified the most direct route on the map, and we headed out. We were enjoying the scenery so much, that it took us awhile to realize that we weren't where we thought we should be on the map. Luckily, there are a lot of signs even on the back roads in Ireland, so we made it to Cahir but it took a little bit longer than we thought.

Cahir Castle was one of my favorite places we visited. It is a huge castle that is very well preserved. There weren't very many people there, and it was fun to wander around the castle pretty much on our own. It was interesting to see all of the effort that went into making a castle defensible.

After we'd had some lunch we continued on to the Rock of Cashel, which was only a few miles away. The Rock of Cashel was a fortress at least from the 5th Century, when it is said that St. Patrick baptized the King of Munster there. The castle was given to the Catholic Church and most of what remains today was built in the 12th and 13th centuries. It is situated way up on a windy hill. It is very dramatic looking!

Our journey home was quite an adventure. Once again, we thought we'd located ourselves on the map, and started on our way. We soon realized that we had no idea where we were and started following the signs. Well, the signs weren't as reliable as they had been on the way there. We'd see a sign for the town we were heading toward saying it was 7km away, and the next sign we'd see would say it was 16km away. We were all getting restless, but there was nothing to do but keep following the signs. After looking at several maps on the computer when we got back, we think that we must have been zig-zagging back and forth. Our hour long trip home took almost two hours!

Ireland, Part 1

My camera has been broken, so I'm just getting around to blogging about our wonderful trip to Ireland. It may be boring, but I'm going to be fairly detailed because I'll forget all the details if I don't record them while they are fresh in my memory!

We had a great time! I was so worried about flying that far with Max, but even with a full day of travelling he was a very good boy.

Max relaxing with Daddy on our 7 hour layover in NY.

We finally arrived in Shannon, Ireland in the morning on Sunday. We picked up our totally sweet mini-van and brave Nic drove us to our apartment in Adare on the left side of the road.

We arrived in Adare exhausted, but were pleased with our place. It was a 3 bedroom, 4 bathroom apartment situated on the grounds of the beautiful Adare Manor. Our apartment was bigger than our house!

Max hanging with Grandpa in our apartment.

The Manor House

We all took a big nap and woke up in time for dinner. We decided to take a look around the village of Adare. Adare Manor was built by the Earl of Dunraven in 1832. He also designed the servants houses surrounding his manor to look like little thatched roof English cottages. It is one of the most picturesque villages in Ireland. We had dinner in a cute little place called the Blue Door. The food was fabulous, and it was warm and cozy. Max was a little bit restless, but he loved to go outside and look in the window at his family.

The next morning we got an early start to drive the Ring of Kerry. It is a beautiful drive around the coast and countryside. There were lots of cute little towns to take a look at, too.

At lunch, Max got his first taste of potatoes. We thought it was fitting because they serve them with everything in Ireland. He was not a fan.

My favorite stop of the day was Staigue Fort. It is an old ring fort probably built between 300 and 400 AD. It is off the road a bit, and you can just walk in and climb around. The walls are 18 ft high and 13 ft thick in places.

It was a very full day. Driving the Ring of Kerry takes 4 hours if you don't stop at all, and we had to drive an hour and a half to get there!

To be continued....

7 months old

At 7 months months old Max took his first trip out of the country. He turned 7 months while we were on our trip to Ireland. He was such a good boy.

Max has been scooting around and trying to push up on his hands and knees.

He babbles a little bit more. His favorite sound is "ga".

He can sit for as long as he wants without falling over.

He loves to clap his hands.

He eats three little meals and drinks juice and water from a sippy cup.

He is getting so big!

6 months old

Max is now 6 months old. I can't believe it!

At 6 months, his favorite food is carrots. His least favorite is peas.

He's a very happy little guy.

He loves to play with his toys.

He rolls around really well, and loves to look at the underside of furniture.

He is getting so big! He can sit up on his own for a few seconds.

He can even put his binky in his mouth all on his own.

Seriously, I just love this little guy!