Where in the World are Kelly and Malia: Irish Adventure

For our last order of Dublin business,  we did a walking tour with a doctoral student at Trinity College. She was phenomenal. We took very few pictures because we were so enthralled in the stories she was telling. We learned the history of the neighborhood around Trinity College dating back all the way to the Vikings.  Finally our last stop on our Ireland adventure was the Guiness Store House. We learned how they have been making Guiness for centuries and how to pour and drink it properly. Even Kelly liked it. Although it’s hard not to like something poured in a tiny little glass like this.  The best part of the tour, by far, was the views of Dublin from the top.   Tomorrow, we head home. It was a great adventure.  Thank you Ireland for an amazing visit! 

On our way back to Dublin, we stopped in the city of Cobb in County Cork. We planned this leg because we originally thought the Casey’s were from here. But we learned later they were from County Limerick. We did learn that this was where most people immigrating to the US left through this port. So either way, the family may have been here at one point.  Obvi - had to grab a picture of a Kelly’s restaurant.  After Cobh, we stopped at the Rock of Cashel. We didn’t do the tour inside but checking it out from the outside was worth the stop. We made it back to Dublin! 

Today, we did a self guided e-bike tour around Killarney National Park. It was another rainy one that cut our ride a little shorter than expected, but it was beautiful and we were so glad we did it. The drive through Killarney was breathtaking. The bike ride around even more amazing. Views of lakes, creeks and castles, galore. And we made it home in time for a well earned afternoon beer.   

Our first morning in Kenmare, we decided to play another round of golf. It was very rainy, but we pushed through. It was worth it we only lost a million golf balls in the narrowest course either of us had ever played. All kidding aside, we did have fun and were glad we did it. After golf, we went to lunch at Casey’s. Kelly spent some time talking to the owner and learning about where her Casey’s came from. It was a great visit with great food as well. In the afternoon, we explored a little more. We found the Kenmare Stone Circle. According to ringofkerry.com, “stone circles were built during the Bronze Age (2200 - 500 B.C.) believed to be for ritual and ceremonial purposes.” The rest of the walk about was just quintessential town stuff.   

On our journey to our next Irish home - Kenmare, we drove through the beautiful countryside. I am not going to say it was relaxing due to the narrow, windy roads and not getting used to driving on the opposite side of the road. But it was worth it. First stop - a self guided walk around Limerick Next stop - Adare and some delicious ice cream We didn’t stop in Killarney just drove through (we will visit later), but we were very interested to find out it is a sister city of our home Scottsdale.  And then finally - Kenmare. It was about as cute as it could be. The view from our hotel

Today, we took a walking tour around Galway. We learned about all the original clans of the city. We listened to buskers along the way. Galway was so lovely, lively and welcoming. We finished the day with afternoon tea at the Hardiman.   

Our first day staying in Galway proper, we took a ferry ride out to the Aran Islands.   We explored the island on electric bikes.  On the way back, we were able to see the Cliffs of Moher from the water. The pictures don’t do it justice.