Ireland Days 6-7 (still based in Dingle)

Day 6 - Killarney This day we took a day trip to Killarney and its National Park area. There were lovely gardens and scenery. We didn't do a lot of the touristy things as a) some were closed as it was a weekday and shoulder season and some needed guides - the kids don't take to that very well! Classic Ireland photo: sheep-blocking-traffic

At Killarney National Park/ Muckross Estate

The Rhododendron that ate Ireland..

Castle at the national park

The "Ladies View" of the area (technically we are on the Ring of Kerry at this point..) Named for Queen Victoria's ladies in waiting who loved it on a trip there..Even in grey, dreary weather is was amazing.

Gorgeous Inch Beach on Dingle - it is SO huge and wide...

After a long day in the car, the boys got a huge kick out me taking their pictures while we were driving..

Just a lovely view of a valley in Dingle..this was fairly regular scenery around the peninsula..

Day 7 - Dingle town - "Fungie" Cruise and relaxing On our last day in Dingle we took a cruise to see the famous Fungie. Fungie is a Dolphin that lives in the bay and is know for being incredibly friendly, and a bit of a show-off. Some think he may have escaped from a dolphin show (not sure how that could happen?) Anyway, he has been a staple of the area for many years...The "deal" is the boat takes you out and it is free if you don't see Fungie. It was a bit of a cold/rainy/stormy day but we made the trip out. We did spot the dolphin, but he wasn't much for tricks our day. He is on the very old side for a dolphin, so I suppose this is to be expected:) It was worth the ride for the view anyway! In the afternoon the boys relaxed at the house while I did some shopping.

Ireland Days 4-5 (based in Dingle)

Day 4 - Galway to Dingle Via Foynes and Listowel We got up and headed to Foynes, which is on the Shannon River and home to the Flying Boat Museum about the Boeing 314 Clippers which landed on the river at this location in the late 1930s-early 40s. They had a full-size replica there! The original airport was also home to the first "irish coffee".

We played at a nearby playground for about 30 minutes after that. It was quite a place - a view of a river, a castle, cows and a car dealer.

From there we planned on heading straight to Dingle, but saw a road sign that said Lartigue Monorail and decided we HAD to check it out. Turns out it was a real monorail from 1888 to 1924 and the only one of its kind in the world. They have created a replica, but unfortunately no rides while we were there as it was a bit off-season. We lucked out and they had opened the museum for a special tour and they kept it open a few more minutes for us. Steve spent some time speaking with the volunteer guide. Latrigue Monorail

Pretty sure this is the only place in the world where you can go to a museum about "flying boats" and steam-powered monorails within an hour:) From there we headed to Dingle and checked into our "little house" as Nate called it. In reality it wasn't all that little but cute nonetheless. Day 5 - Dingle town and Slea Head Drive We started the day almost next door at the Dingle Ocean World aquarium (not sure how we managed to stay virtually next door to 2 different aquariums on our trip!). It was OK, it had real sharks and penguins which was pretty strange for such a small place. We then walked through town a bit and got lunch at a real pub. (This is totally normal thing to do - they are pretty much regular restaurants during the day - kids menus and all). I think Jack might like this picture when he is a bit older:)

The street our house was off of:

After lunch, since it was actually sunny, we decided to do the Slea Head Drive - a famous route/loop at the end of the Dingle Peninsula (where Dingle town is). It is known for its ancient sites and amazing scenery. We were not disappointed.. This is a view from and of the Dunberg Fort...the fort dates to 500bce!

Jack at the entrance to a "beehive" hut - dates to the iron age!

A random old building..

If you enlarge this picture, you can see a surfer down there!! There are a surprising number of surf towns around western Ireland - cold, but great waves apparently.

You may notice Jack is the only one in most pictures - Nate slept through pretty much the entire multi-hour trip:)

Ireland Days 1-3 (based in Galway)

As you all read in my last post - we recently spent 9 days in Ireland! It went better than either Steve or I could have possibly hoped. The boys were fantastic (besides some whining from Jack about various toys he saw along the way). Both acclimated well to the time difference (5 hours) on the way there. They were good on the plane and slept as much as one can on a 5 hour red-eye. (In air time was only 5 hrs 5 minutes to Shannon, where we landed). Day 1 - Sunday Shannon - Cliffs of Mohr - Burren - Galway We had planned on driving straight to our hotel just outside of Galway when we landed, but since it was a sunny day (not in the forecast for the week) we spontaneously decided to follow the signs to the Cliffs of Mohr (which we were supposed to visit later in the trip). We expected this to be a disaster since we just got off a red-eye with kids, but the boys ran around and up more stairs at the site than I ever have seen them before! True to the guidebooks, they were spectacular. The pictures don't capture it well due to the way the light was shining but definitely a must-see if you are ever remotely in that neck of the woods. We spent about an hour there.

We then headed up to Galway through an area called the Burren. We didn't get to the "official" national park area due to sleep deprivation and that the road was closed:) We saw some great scenery though and the boys slept pretty much all the way from the Cliffs to Galway. We stopped at a scenic overlook and dozens of cyclists passed us on what must be one of the best rides ever - super super twisty road downhill with pretty much no traffic and gorgeous scenery!

We checked into our apartment and rested the remainder of the day. Day 2 - Galway We started off going to the aquarium, which I believe is the National Aquarium of Ireland. It wasn't anything to visit the area for, but worth a trip since it was literally across an alley from our apartment. The kids had fun, mainly running around a small kid-size "submarine." We then headed into the heart of Galway and walked around the main pedestrian area. There were many cute shops and old old buildings. We had lunch at a local cafe and visted "eyre square" a main public space. There a playground and an "occupy" campsite there as well. We then went to a large supermarket to stock up on food. It was pretty much like a large grocery here except we discovered there is a plastic bag tax there. (No paper bags seem to exist). You had to be .33euros for a regular old plastic grocery bag! Amazing. It was also 1 euro to use a cart! I managed to find Nate-safe snacks and bread and food for all of us.

Day 3 - Connemara Peninsula We woke up and drove off to do a site-seeing tour of the Connemara Peninsula. The weather didn't particularly cooperate and it was quite cool and windy. We started at the Connemara Heritage & History Center which promised tractor ride since we thought the boys would like that!) and had recreations of ancient and just old dwellings. The main attraction was a tour of Dan O'Hara's house which was the actual (refurbished) house of a man who emigrated to the US in the 1840s and (apparently) there is a famous song about him. The guide told stories and lit a fire (or so I am told, I was chasing the boys and enjoying the scenery!). We had lunch in Clifden - randomly next to people from somewhere around Boston (I eavesdropped a few local references). Then we drove the "sky drive" which was gorgeous, even in the pouring rain. Sky Drive

At Dan O'Hara's - harvesting Peet

"Dan's" chickens & View - there were also wandering cows