Forty-Third Week in Germany
Tuesday morning, very early, we made our way to Dublin, Ireland. 
We were all very excited and ready to be on vacation. We were debating about whether to see some sites in Dublin before heading South to where our hotel was in Killarney. We decided it was going to be a long day so we just headed South stopping in Cashel on the way. What a great stop! The girls loved seeing the castle there and there was space to climb on rocks, run around, and just let loose which was definitely needed after being in the car, plane, bus, and car again. We grabbed lunch at the bottom of the Rock of Cashel. Then we kept making our way further South West to Killarney. We enjoyed Greg's iPod music selections on our way through the winding, very narrow roads of Kerry. We subjected our children to the music of our childhood - John Denver, "Thank God I'm a Country Boy," and to Neil Diamond "The Jazz Singer." I realize we are dating ourselves quite a bit by telling you this but the girls were having so much fun with it, I couldn't resist. We got to the hotel and relaxed for a bit (well, I relaxed while the girls unpacked their things and essentially moved in) while Greg ran out and got some groceries.
The next day, we planned to do the lakes of Killarney. It was great because we were all alone. We stopped off at a few places to let the girls climb the rocks, listen to nature, and just enjoy being outside. The weather was quite nice, slightly chilly, but very sunny. We crossed a river walking on the stepping stones which I thought was great. We only had one incident where Bailey was trying to show off and part of her shoe ended up in the river. 
Other than that, no soakers!!! The road we were driving on was barely big enough for two cars to pass, so there were no tour buses, and to be honest, we probably only passed about five cars. Luckily, Greg packed a picnic lunch because we weren't finding too many places to stop and eat. We ended our day at Torc Waterfall, where due to poor signs, we hiked for about an hour in the wrong direction. We finally made our way to the waterfall. The view was worth it, but all of us were tired when we finished our hike. The girls were ready to go home and play at the play scape. None of us felt like cooking, so we ordered a pizza. It is such a simple thing to call and have a pizza delivered especially when the people on the other side of the phone speak English. It is a little more difficult in Germany.
Thursday was a bit rainy and colder so we decided to do the Dingle Peninsula. We figured most of it would be in the car, with stop off points along the way. In hind sight, 
it was the perfect day to do this. The landscape is absolutely beautiful, I'm not sure the pictures do it justice. There were interesting stops along the way, like beehive huts that date back to 2000BC. We stopped in the town of Dingle, where the girls got a few souvenirs and we stopped at Murphy's Ice Cream shop. Two guys started the business in 2000 and make flavors unique to the area, like Baileys Irish Cream, and Brown Bread and Guinness. Bailey was very excited to have ice cream named for her. Bailey and Avery were loving Greg's iPod this day as they watched the newly downloaded "High School Musical" and "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang." Don't worry, we made sure they saw some of the scenery as well. When we returned home, the girls were anxious to get out of the car and play in the hotel's play scape. We had Chinese take-out for dinner. Ummm, it tasted so good to me. I have not had Chinese since we moved.
Greg really wanted to do the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren in the lower Shannon Region, but we knew it would be a longer day so we got an early start. It was a fantastic day. 
We got to take a car ferry, highlight until Greg took the girls on top to get a better view and they starting getting splashed. Then, we drove to the Cliffs. It is by far the windiest place I have ever been in my life. Bailey was knocked over by the wind, and while I was squatting holding Bryn in one arm and supporting the stroller in the other, I was completely blown over onto my back. Let's just say it was not Avery or Bryn's favorite place on the trip. They had a great visitor's center though and the view really was breathtaking. It reminded me of Hawaii where the cliffs just shoot out of the water (650 feet). Definitely a must-do, and I'm so glad we did it. We also trekked across the Burren which was interesting and hard to explain. I am going to give the text book definition:
The word Burren derives from boireann, which means "rocky land" in Gaelic -
an apt name for this vast limestone plateau in northwest County Clare.
Glaciation, wind, and rain erosion have formed limestone pavements with deep
crevices known as "grykes." The porous rock is easily penetrated by
rainwater, which has gouged out an extensive cave system beneath the rocky
plateau.
We stopped by the Poulnabrone Dolmen, which means portal tomb, dates back to 2500 - 2000BC. We then made our way to Aillwee Cave, which is one of thousands of caves in the Burren but it is the only one open to the public. When we reached the cave, there was also a Birds of Prey center there and they were having a Bird Show in fifteen minutes, so of course the girls wanted to see it. We stayed for three out of four birds which was lucky because when we got to the cave, a tour had just left and she let us catch up to them. We were worried 
because we knew we had a bit of a drive in front of us and we wanted to make the 6:00pm ferry to make it home around 8:00pm. What an amazing day. We loved the bird show, and the cave was really interesting. The girls got to learn about stalactites and stalagmites, and they even shut off all the lights to let us experience total darkness. Bryn was not a fan of that part. We were pushing it to get back to the ferry on time and made it with about seven minutes to spare. Good thing we skipped the fourth bird in the show, huh.
Saturday was our last day in Killarney, so we had to do the Ring of Kerry. It is really something to see. It is beauty in its purest form but once again, I'm not sure the pictures do it justice. Some of the stops along the way included the Kerry Bog Village, which had a village of Thatched roofed cottages, and Valentia Island, which had the Skellig Experience Center. I highly recommend the second of the two stops. We were sad to learn that the sea was too rough that day for a boat trip out to the Skellig Islands, but the visitor's center 
was great and had a very informative movie about the Monks who spent years and years building steps up to the peak, where they eventually built a monastery during the 6th century. As we were leaving Valentia Island, we were halted by a motorcycle, who informed us that we needed to pull over because in about 3 or 4 minutes 200 bikers were going to be racing towards us taking up both driving lanes. We thought of you, Ry-guy. We continued around the Rin
g until we reached Kenmare, where we ate a late lunch at Wharton's Fish and Chips. Yum. On our way out of town, we stopped by Lorge Chocolate, where we had seen his Chocolate Easter Eggs earlier in the week at Murphys. That was my Easter present to myself, a large chocolate Easter Egg filled with truffles.
That evening, we made our way to the Bantry House, where we arranged to stay for our last night in Ireland. The original Queen Anne house was built in 1700 and has been inhabited by the White family since 1739. I was a little nervous staying in a bed and breakfast, specifically this house, but they assured me children were welcome. And, I must say they went out of their way to make sure we felt welcome and comfortable. Mr. White, himself, walked us in and showed us a common room where there was a refrigerator with milk, etc. for the children. We woke up at the Bantry House Easter Morning, which was apropos for our three little girls who thought they had turned into princesses. 
The Easter bunny remembered to come and bring Easter goodies, including a Disney Princess Chocolate Egg decorating kit, which was a huge success. The girls wanted to dress up in their Easter dresses for breakfast. They looked really cute. Breakfast was wonderful. There were pastries, fruit, cereals out on a few tables, and then we also ordered eggs, bacon, sausage. They were very well behaved which let me breathe a sigh of relief. We were treated extremely well at the Bantry House and I would recommend it again and again. We took a short tour of the home before we had to get on the road. We still had a long drive back to Dublin in front of us, and a plane trip, and another long drive back home.
We arrived home at Midnight on Easter Sunday and we were all so glad that Easter Monday was a holiday. Greg was supposed to make another trip back to the US but luckily his trip has been postponed. Ireland was truly a great vacation for us. We loved having a week to just enjoy the outdoors. I know, sounds weird coming from me, but it was great.
We were all very excited and ready to be on vacation. We were debating about whether to see some sites in Dublin before heading South to where our hotel was in Killarney. We decided it was going to be a long day so we just headed South stopping in Cashel on the way. What a great stop! The girls loved seeing the castle there and there was space to climb on rocks, run around, and just let loose which was definitely needed after being in the car, plane, bus, and car again. We grabbed lunch at the bottom of the Rock of Cashel. Then we kept making our way further South West to Killarney. We enjoyed Greg's iPod music selections on our way through the winding, very narrow roads of Kerry. We subjected our children to the music of our childhood - John Denver, "Thank God I'm a Country Boy," and to Neil Diamond "The Jazz Singer." I realize we are dating ourselves quite a bit by telling you this but the girls were having so much fun with it, I couldn't resist. We got to the hotel and relaxed for a bit (well, I relaxed while the girls unpacked their things and essentially moved in) while Greg ran out and got some groceries.
The next day, we planned to do the lakes of Killarney. It was great because we were all alone. We stopped off at a few places to let the girls climb the rocks, listen to nature, and just enjoy being outside. The weather was quite nice, slightly chilly, but very sunny. We crossed a river walking on the stepping stones which I thought was great. We only had one incident where Bailey was trying to show off and part of her shoe ended up in the river. 
Other than that, no soakers!!! The road we were driving on was barely big enough for two cars to pass, so there were no tour buses, and to be honest, we probably only passed about five cars. Luckily, Greg packed a picnic lunch because we weren't finding too many places to stop and eat. We ended our day at Torc Waterfall, where due to poor signs, we hiked for about an hour in the wrong direction. We finally made our way to the waterfall. The view was worth it, but all of us were tired when we finished our hike. The girls were ready to go home and play at the play scape. None of us felt like cooking, so we ordered a pizza. It is such a simple thing to call and have a pizza delivered especially when the people on the other side of the phone speak English. It is a little more difficult in Germany.
Thursday was a bit rainy and colder so we decided to do the Dingle Peninsula. We figured most of it would be in the car, with stop off points along the way. In hind sight, 
it was the perfect day to do this. The landscape is absolutely beautiful, I'm not sure the pictures do it justice. There were interesting stops along the way, like beehive huts that date back to 2000BC. We stopped in the town of Dingle, where the girls got a few souvenirs and we stopped at Murphy's Ice Cream shop. Two guys started the business in 2000 and make flavors unique to the area, like Baileys Irish Cream, and Brown Bread and Guinness. Bailey was very excited to have ice cream named for her. Bailey and Avery were loving Greg's iPod this day as they watched the newly downloaded "High School Musical" and "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang." Don't worry, we made sure they saw some of the scenery as well. When we returned home, the girls were anxious to get out of the car and play in the hotel's play scape. We had Chinese take-out for dinner. Ummm, it tasted so good to me. I have not had Chinese since we moved. 
Greg really wanted to do the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren in the lower Shannon Region, but we knew it would be a longer day so we got an early start. It was a fantastic day. 
We got to take a car ferry, highlight until Greg took the girls on top to get a better view and they starting getting splashed. Then, we drove to the Cliffs. It is by far the windiest place I have ever been in my life. Bailey was knocked over by the wind, and while I was squatting holding Bryn in one arm and supporting the stroller in the other, I was completely blown over onto my back. Let's just say it was not Avery or Bryn's favorite place on the trip. They had a great visitor's center though and the view really was breathtaking. It reminded me of Hawaii where the cliffs just shoot out of the water (650 feet). Definitely a must-do, and I'm so glad we did it. We also trekked across the Burren which was interesting and hard to explain. I am going to give the text book definition:
The word Burren derives from boireann, which means "rocky land" in Gaelic -
an apt name for this vast limestone plateau in northwest County Clare.
Glaciation, wind, and rain erosion have formed limestone pavements with deep
crevices known as "grykes." The porous rock is easily penetrated by
rainwater, which has gouged out an extensive cave system beneath the rocky
plateau.
We stopped by the Poulnabrone Dolmen, which means portal tomb, dates back to 2500 - 2000BC. We then made our way to Aillwee Cave, which is one of thousands of caves in the Burren but it is the only one open to the public. When we reached the cave, there was also a Birds of Prey center there and they were having a Bird Show in fifteen minutes, so of course the girls wanted to see it. We stayed for three out of four birds which was lucky because when we got to the cave, a tour had just left and she let us catch up to them. We were worried 
because we knew we had a bit of a drive in front of us and we wanted to make the 6:00pm ferry to make it home around 8:00pm. What an amazing day. We loved the bird show, and the cave was really interesting. The girls got to learn about stalactites and stalagmites, and they even shut off all the lights to let us experience total darkness. Bryn was not a fan of that part. We were pushing it to get back to the ferry on time and made it with about seven minutes to spare. Good thing we skipped the fourth bird in the show, huh.
Saturday was our last day in Killarney, so we had to do the Ring of Kerry. It is really something to see. It is beauty in its purest form but once again, I'm not sure the pictures do it justice. Some of the stops along the way included the Kerry Bog Village, which had a village of Thatched roofed cottages, and Valentia Island, which had the Skellig Experience Center. I highly recommend the second of the two stops. We were sad to learn that the sea was too rough that day for a boat trip out to the Skellig Islands, but the visitor's center 
was great and had a very informative movie about the Monks who spent years and years building steps up to the peak, where they eventually built a monastery during the 6th century. As we were leaving Valentia Island, we were halted by a motorcycle, who informed us that we needed to pull over because in about 3 or 4 minutes 200 bikers were going to be racing towards us taking up both driving lanes. We thought of you, Ry-guy. We continued around the Rin
g until we reached Kenmare, where we ate a late lunch at Wharton's Fish and Chips. Yum. On our way out of town, we stopped by Lorge Chocolate, where we had seen his Chocolate Easter Eggs earlier in the week at Murphys. That was my Easter present to myself, a large chocolate Easter Egg filled with truffles.
That evening, we made our way to the Bantry House, where we arranged to stay for our last night in Ireland. The original Queen Anne house was built in 1700 and has been inhabited by the White family since 1739. I was a little nervous staying in a bed and breakfast, specifically this house, but they assured me children were welcome. And, I must say they went out of their way to make sure we felt welcome and comfortable. Mr. White, himself, walked us in and showed us a common room where there was a refrigerator with milk, etc. for the children. We woke up at the Bantry House Easter Morning, which was apropos for our three little girls who thought they had turned into princesses. 
The Easter bunny remembered to come and bring Easter goodies, including a Disney Princess Chocolate Egg decorating kit, which was a huge success. The girls wanted to dress up in their Easter dresses for breakfast. They looked really cute. Breakfast was wonderful. There were pastries, fruit, cereals out on a few tables, and then we also ordered eggs, bacon, sausage. They were very well behaved which let me breathe a sigh of relief. We were treated extremely well at the Bantry House and I would recommend it again and again. We took a short tour of the home before we had to get on the road. We still had a long drive back to Dublin in front of us, and a plane trip, and another long drive back home.We arrived home at Midnight on Easter Sunday and we were all so glad that Easter Monday was a holiday. Greg was supposed to make another trip back to the US but luckily his trip has been postponed. Ireland was truly a great vacation for us. We loved having a week to just enjoy the outdoors. I know, sounds weird coming from me, but it was great.
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