Greetings from Ireland!

We are having a great time in Ireland. :) We have seen lots of beautiful scenery. I can't believe it is already Friday. Time is flying by. We have met lots of friendly people, both local and fellow tourists.

We left Sunday morning and didn't arrive in Ireland until early Monday morning. It was a long day of travel. We left the Dublin airport and headed south to Nire Valley. We admittedly weren't fully enjoying ourselves that first morning since we were sleep deprived and had dealt with a small amount of stress at the airport trying to figure out the best way to get foreign currency. Reuben was still adjusting to driving on the left side of the road (a task made more difficult by sleep deprivation and busy Dublin roads). However, we finally made it to our first B&B a few hours later and went straight to bed.

Once we rested for a bit we were able enjoy a cup of potato bacon soup. We went to bed early and woke up the next morning well adjusted. We went for a beautiful walk around the countryside of our B&B (Glasha Farmhouse). It was located in Waterford County in the Nire Valley.

We took a trip into Clomnel nearby and toured the town. We found an internet cafe since we had to go online and pay the toll road fee before 8 p.m. (we made use of the internet time other ways as well. lol)

This first B&B was pretty amazing. We had a nice room downstairs kinda off to itself (there were more rooms upstairs, and only one other one downstairs with us).
:)

We had a small jacuzzi bath, which was especially nice after 24 hours of travel. The hostess, Olive, was very kind and her B&B had tons of awards she had one (best B&B breakfast, 5 diamond accommodation rating, etc.) We spent three nights there. We went down to Waterford, one day and toured a museum that had some interesting Ireland historical information. The place we wanted to go there had delayed their opening by a few weeks, but we made the most of it.

The food at the B&B was amazing. The breakfast left you content until dinnertime. :) It was kinda sad to leave, but we knew we were on to more Ireland adventures.

We left Glasha House to head to the Kerry Peninsula. Along the way we went through Lismore and saw the outside of Lismore Castle.

It is very impressive and has nice trails for walking by it. Then we headed on to Blarney Castle.

This castle allows for complete tours and the option of kissing the Blarney stone at the top of the castle. The castle was really cool. It looks like they are in the state of repairing it so there was some minor scaffolding around it, but not enough to block it's beauty too much. We climbed all through it and made it to the top.


We watched a few people kiss the stone, but neither Reuben and I really felt up to it. It is rather an intimidating process (see pictures below).

They have you lay down on your back and then a man helps support you while you suspend yourself and lean over and kiss the Blarney Stone:


This is the view from the bottom of the castle:


This is how tall it is. Not a view I want to see hanging upside down:


After the Blarney Castle we headed onward to the western most point of Ireland. We arrived at the Beach Cove B&B at about 8:30 p.m. last night. It is beautiful as well. The B&B is right across the street from the beach and we have a nice view from out our window.


Today we had a pretty restful day. We got up and ate breakfast at our B&B. Not quite as amazing as Glasha House, but still very good. Then we headed across the mountain pass (a very narrow two lane road that cuts across and over the hills) to Portmagee and Valentina Island.

We toured the Island by car, driving around its perimeter. It is very beautiful.


We also drove into a slightly bigger town to get gas and use the ATM. We bought some Irish wool yarn so I can make a scarf or hat out of it. We ate lunch in town before returning to our Beach Cove B&B. We are taking it pretty easy. We walked around the beach and looked at the local sheep (so cute!).



We plan on having a restful evening before we pack up and continue our travels tomorrow. We are headed to the town of Dingle. Dingle is pretty authentically Irish and we hope to be able to soak in the local pub and music scene while there.

Not sure if I will be able to blog again before I return. Thought I should do so while I had the chance! :) Reuben is going to post our pics on Snapfish...we will post the link if we get a chance.