Ireland
Dublin
Dublin. I don’t know what it is about this city, but i could just walk around it for days. I stayed in a small apartment right in Temple Bar, which is a walking area only with restaurants, pubs, and shops. Some feel its touristy, but the look of the cobbled stone streets and colorful buildings and the proximity to the river, were just perfect to me.
Trinity College Library. The College itself is very worth walking . Beautiful grounds, but the must see for me was the library. So much history and so unique.
The rest of these photos are Christ Church Cathedral. Just down the street a short walk from Trinity College or Temple Bar. The grounds are so pretty , but the inside is amazing. And underneath there is a Crypt, the longest one in all of Britain or Ireland constructed in 1172-1173. The crypt contains various historical features including a mummified cat and rat that is referred to in James Joyce’s writings.
“The Church” is actually a historic 18th church later purchased and transformed into a unique restaurant and bar in the early 2000s.
Dingle
Driving west out of Dublin we headed toward a town called Dingle. I had seen photos and loved the look and quaintness and colors of the buildings. We found this amazing drive up a narrow mountain road north of Dingle called Connor Pass off the Wild Atlantic Way to this view above the lakes. From Dingle we did a drive called Slea Head westernmost point of the Dingle Peninsula. As you know most people go to the Ring of Kerry, but we had limited time and our hotel owner told us Kerry was very busy and a lot of traffic and Slea Head was a smaller version of it with the beauty but not the hype and tourists. No photos here but it was perfect and didn’t take a whole day!
Doolin
The next day we headed to Doolin, as small town 4 in Clare County next to the Cliffs of Moher. We stayed at this quaint B&B in the countryside with lovely views.
Cliffs of Moher
This was without a doubt the highlight of my trip, and one of the most spectacular , adventurous things I’ve ever done. For those of you that don’t know…the Cliffs of Moher , were famously called “the Cliffs of Insanity” in the movie, the Princess Bride that came out in 1987. Anyhow, I knew we could go to the visitor center like you read about in the tour books, but I had searched for more information and found on a personal travel blog, that you could actually hike along them from Doolin or Liscannor. The Cliffs run about 14 kilometers and at thier highest point are about 700 feet. We chose Doolin as our starting point and had to ask the locals in town how to find the entrance to this hike. I would say this is only safe to do in good weather, our day was questionable with the wind and some rain. If you are afraid of heights, this is not the hike for you! You are often walking close to the edge but there is also something to hold onto. Its about 4 miles from Doolin to the visitors center and from there you can take a bus back to town, or keep going. The views were breathtaking, nature at its best.
