Castles, Fairies, Celtic Crosses, Harps...

Arrival

arrival in Dublin around 3 in the afternoon. Having taken possession of the room at the lovely b&b of Mr Niall (Fairview Lodge) we went out for a stroll along O'Connel street and Grafton Street and had dinner in Temple Bar, the pub area. There was a lot of activity, shows, groups of women celebrating hen parties and they were wearing the same t-shirts with > written on them (our hen party) and cowgirl hats, pink feather boas and they were queuing to get into the venues. Obviously it was full of lots and lots of young people outside the pubs (because inside they were packed) talking and drinking...

Picking up the rental car and...OFF!!!

departure for Kilkenny. Visit to the very lovely little town, the castle and its park which are worth the ticket price and the Kilkenny Design Centre which is right opposite and offers all the typical crafts of Ireland. It is, however, a very expensive centre. Arrival at the b&b in Callan, 15 minutes from Kilkenny, and then back to the city for dinner at the magnificent Langton's restaurant (wonderful meat and heavenly desserts like strawberries in a wafer basket with cream and creme brule with cream...) suggested to us by Mrs Margaret, the owner of the wonderful b&b >. On our return the lady prepared a real Irish Coffee for us and we watched a video about traditional Irish shows in her lovely sitting room.

The Medieval Banquet

Setting off along the scenic route from Callan to Cashel (again recommended to us by Margaret) with stops among the meadows full of cows and sheep (watch out for the fence wires, they're live, we found out the hard way!). Visit to the Rock of Cashel, a wonderful piece of Ireland's religious history and culture, and then off to Limerick. (We left right away because we didn't like it, it's very industrial.) Back on the road to Bunratty Castle. After checking into the b&b we rested and then went to the medieval dinner at the castle. (not to be missed. It costs 50 euros but includes the visit to the castle and the park + dinner and the typical show) The food was delicious and the show engaging and hilarious. Even my husband, who doesn't understand a word of English, had fun and loved the music (popular Irish music and harp)

Le scogliere!!!

Off to the Cliffs of Moher with a stop in Ennis, really lovely. Visit to the cliffs, we stayed for an hour wandering around enjoying that breathtaking view! Then we visited Doolin and the Burren. (at the cliffs you have to leave your car at the Visitor Centre paying 4 euros and then walk. Go early in the morning or at sunset, otherwise there's a huge crowd!)

La città più bella: Galway

Off to Galway with countless stops in the Burren for photos and to touch firsthand that very strange "lunar" landscape made of black stones overlooking the sea. We also stopped at another castle and then enjoyed a nice little tour of Galway (the center and the walk along the river are really lovely, the cathedral is remarkable too) and Salthill, the seaside area of Galway where we had our wonderful b&b.

Cavalli, folletti e gaelico

September 1st, morning on horseback in the bay, among beach, sea, inlets and little woods...a fairy tale come true (30 euros per hour) then off to the fabulous Connemara, the most beautiful part of Ireland with signs all in Gaelic. To do a nice tour you have to head for Maam Cross, continue to Kylemore and visit the abbey (it takes an hour and a half to see the abbey and gardens). It will be hard to leave there because it's a place that seems straight out of a fairy tale book...but if you can, get back on the road towards Clifden and come back down towards Galway. (We did all this from 12 to 7). Along the road that leaves Galway and goes towards Clifden there's the airport that with small charters takes you to the Aran Islands. We skipped them entirely because it was all very expensive and both the landscape and the archaeological sites are identical to Connemara and Clonmacnoise.

If you have time though, go!!

da Galway a Dublino

We take the road to Dublin but with a mandatory stop at the most famous and most evocative archaeological area: Clonmacnoise. (It's near Athlone.) It's an ancient ecclesiastical site built on the riverbank and represents the cornerstone of Irish history. The three primary Celtic crosses are also preserved there (the North, South and Scripture crosses). I've attached a few photos!!! We then continued to Dublin and went to dinner in a pub in Temple Bar (in the main little square, Temple Bar square) where we ate some superb meat and desserts.

DUBLINO

Full tour of the city with the hop on hop off tour (costs €12.50) that lets you get off and on for 24 hours at the stops planned by the tour which of course cover all the important points of the city. (The Guinness Museum, we recommend skipping it...14 euros to see nothing and drink 1 Guinness on the top floor...there's also a board where you can leave messages and they're all in agreement about the rip-off we were handed...). In the afternoon we set off to see the coastal part of Dublin and we basked in the seaside towns like Howth and we visited the castle at Malahide. An immense park, a beautiful little town and an equally evocative castle. The rich live in these areas and so it's all in > style:-)

si parte...che tristezza!

We had the usual lavish breakfast from Mr. Niall, we left him a gift for the kindness he showed during the 3 days we stayed there and we set off for the airport. We'll definitely be back because I've traveled a lot but in Ireland I found the synthesis of everything I look for in a vacation! (Apart from Dublin airport which is terribly disorganized with check-ins!).