Ayonna

Oh, what a sweetie! 2 month old Ayonna slept through 3 clothing changes without a peep. She woke near the end of the session; still with no crying! Lucky Mom - hope she continues being such a good baby...

Dublin Holidays

The holiday lights in Dublin were spectacular. The after Christmas sales weren't too bad, either.

Dublin

Last stop - Dublin is a big, metropolitan city - but lots of history & great, old buildings. We did some shopping & more eating; chips (fries) with every meal!

My personal fave

I absolutely ADORE this town. When we went to Ireland 4 years ago, I fell in love with Cobh. I never dreamed I would be back. Not sure what it is about this little town, but it is my favorite place in the world. There is a lot of history there- it was the last port of call for the Titanic (supposedly where "Jack" ran through the streets before getting on board - in the movie). Also, the Lusithania sank just off shore & the survivors & deceased were brought into the town. Unfortunately, we didn't have as much time here as we would have liked, but was glad to show it to the girls. St. Colman's Cathedral, which sits atop a hill overlooking the town, is unbelievable! Can't imagine how they built something like that back in the Gothic period - no hydraulic tools, etc. Amazing!

More Blarney

When we stopped to get this shot of the Blarney sign, we noticed a car that had hit a tree head on - causing a big commotion as we pulled off the side of the road, which was covered with black ice! The accident must have happened earlier - no sign of anyone - we discovered that the damaged cars sit there for a long, long time before a wrecker comes...not sure how long the rescuers take to get there. We drove even slower...

Blarney

We made it to the Blarney castle an hour before it closed, so we made a hasty tour through it. It was kind of cool to see it at night. The huge estate pictured belongs to the family of the Blarney castle owners. We opted NOT to kiss the actual Blarney stone after hearing what the locals do to the rock as a prank on the tourists -
Still ICY - as evidenced by Taylor slipping - yes, with my camera dangling from her hand!

Kinsale

Again, with the icy roads. We wanted to hit Kinsale, Cobh & Blarney all in one day - we made it, but Joe was pretty stressed after driving about 20 miles per hour around icy bends all day!
Kinsale is a quaint waterside town - unfortunately, mostly closed up for the holidays also. Do wish we had more time to spend just "shooting", but we needed to get to Blarney!

Our Christmas Present

The best Christmas present- a double Irish rainbow. Somehow while driving (on the wrong side of the road), Joe was the only one to spot this. Of course, we pulled over, jumped out of the van like maniacs and started running around taking pictures like crazy. The locals must have thought we were "mad". When we drove down the road & spotted a cemetery, I made Joe stop again so we could get shots of the rainbow with celtic crosses in the foreground...Merry Christmas to me!!!

St. Stephen's Day in Killarney

Everything remains closed on St. Stephen's Day (Dec. 26th) until late afternoon when the pubs open. Supposedly a big drinking day in Ireland - when isn't it, though?!
We found a pub that had live traditional Irish music. We didn't even try to keep pace with the drinkers at the next table - they were seriously celebrating the Holiday!
Dinner at Good Friends Chinese Restaurant - it still amazes me that the best Chinese food I've ever had was in Ireland

Cliffs of Moher

We pushed our luck with the roads & headed out to the Cliffs of Moher. We really wanted to see this site, so we passed the many smashed & overturned vehicles & kept driving up the mountain roads. True American tourists! The Cliffs were quite the site, but my favorite are the castle ruins just randomly dotting the countryside.
The girls "jumping for joy" at getting back in the van for another 2 hour drive!