PIctures! Part 1 of 3: Ireland

I finally got enough time to put some pictures up! Unfortunately, it's not enough time to put them all up. So I'm doing this in three parts: Ireland, Scotland, and Hilton Head, just so you know. I'll put up the other two parts as soon as I can! And these aren't all of my pictures, although there are a lot, so I'm posting a link to my facebook album. I'm not sure if it will work if you don't have a facebook account, but it's worth a try right? So here it is:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=110055&id=699981749

If that doesn't work, let me know. And if you want I can email you with the album. K k k??? Loves you all.

And now for Ireland:

DUBLIN:

Dad by Christchurch Cathedral.

Christchurch Cathedral

Dublin castle

I heart Gothic Cathedrals

Irish rainbow in the back!

Mmmmm... Fish n' chips

My friends Lady Martha Temple and Pistacchio gelato.

Temple Bar

Dublin sunset

Dad sometimes didn't want to smile for a picture...

The Wicklow Mountains. Beautiful!

The road through the Sally Gap

P.S. I Love You anyone???

KILKENNY:

Kilkenny Castle on the river.

The rose gardens of the castle

I also heart Celtic crosses, so you'll see a lot of them.

Jerpoint Abbey

St. Canice's Cathedral.

I also love stained glass lancets...

Dad climbing down the tower (I guess this picture should be rotated...)

On top of the round tower.

St. Canice's

Another Irish rainbow! This time in Kilkenny.

The Rock of Cashel

The Romanesque cathedral on the Rock of Cashel

The Irish countryside is BEAUtiful!

DOOLIN:

Some Irish cows

Which way shall we go???

Yet another beautiful Irish rainbow.

We loved how the sun was coming through those clouds onto the water. It made for a great picture.

I would definitely live in this cottage...

The beautiful town of Doolin.

The Cliffs of Moher!

I think dad was a bit scared to be up so high. :)

Yes, we did in fact go past the sign that said "Extreme Danger" to see the beautiful views. We're thrill seekers, I know.

TRIM:

Hangin' out at Trim castle.

Trim castle

Our last night in Ireland. What a fabulous trip!!!

Pictures of Scotland and my visit to Hilton Head to come. But for now, I have to go to work. ha.

I'm home!

I'm home! And I have so much to blog about. But I think it will have to wait for a little bit because I have to go back to work. Boo. I'll just say that that trip was the best trip of my life! Loved it. I'll put up some pictures too. Stay tuned!

I thought I loved Kilkenny...

But today we discovered an even better place. It's called Doolin. It's on the west coast of Ireland just north of the Cliffs of Moher. I haven't seen the cliffs yet because we got here later than we thought, so that will be in the morning. But we did stop by Cashel today and visited the Rock of Cashel. It was really great. It is an old castle/cathedral/abbey that was started in like the 7th or 8th century and was just built upon over and over again until about the 16th century. It was on top of this big hill/rock in this little town of Cashel. It is largely in ruins now, but there was a Romanesque cathedral in there that was pretty well preserved. The bigger Gothic cathedral lacked a roof and parts of the walls were gone. And there was a tall round tower that was still nearly perfect. The tower was built in 1102 and they said it is the oldest part still standing. Cool! Anyway, we went on a great tour of that, took in the views, then headed down the hill for a fabulous lunch in a little cafe. Then we got on the road and came to Doolin. I love Doolin. So much. It is this little tiny town bustling with people. There are no large buildings, just small houses and B&Bs that spot the landscape. We just walked up the road a ways looking for somewhere to go eat tonight. We found a pub just down the road that will have some really good live music tonight. Sweet! So I'm excited for that. Then in the morning we will go to the Cliffs and then drive to Trim where we will stay for our last night before heading back to the states. I think it will be quite sad to leave this place, but on to bigger and better things! As always. :)

Oh yeah!

I forgot to mention one awesome experience we've had while on this trip. The day we were in Stirling in Scotland, someone recommended we drive out to this small town called Callandar. We didn't really know what to expect when we got there, but after driving about 30 minutes, we arrived. There wasn't a whole lot there but a little main street with some shops and cafes and a church. As we drove by the church, there was a sign that said "Rob Roy Visiting Center." I, not knowing who Rob Roy was, just kind of it, but when dad saw it he got really excited. Apparently Liam Neeson played Rob Roy in a movie about his life, and dad loved it. So after we decided to keep driving a bit, dad told me about Rob Roy and how he was one of those "freedom from tyranny" guys in the 1700s that led a revolt against the nobles of Scotland. Cool. So we drove on this small road that went past this big lake. We almost stopped and turned around a couple of times but for some reason we just kept driving. After driving past Callandar about 15 minutes, dad saw a sign that said "Rob Roy burial." Wha?! So we pulled off, drove down this tiny one-laned road, and came to this old church in the middle of nowhere. Dad said this was one of those moments for him that you experience every now and then while traveling where you can't explain to anyone what you feel or experience while there. It was pretty neat. Rob Roy was buried there next to this little church in this little cemetary with an amazing view of the Scottish Highlands and a gorgeous lake. I thought I should just mention this because it was pretty cool that we just happened upon this place. Loved it. :)

Kilkenny. A town I love.

I definitely must say this Kilkenny place is now one of my favorite little foreign towns I've visited. Coming just behind Oia in Greece, York in the UK and Amboise in France. Actually, I like it better than Amboise and York. So I think it is number 2 now. Last night after signing off, we went to dinner at this pub just up the street called "the Field" and we had the best Fish n' Chips and Coke Lights of our lives. So delicious. Then we just strolled a little bit and called it a night. This morning was a leisurely morning. We got up around 9:30 and went to Kilkenny Castle, which is now one of my favorite castles I've been to just behind Chateau du Chambord and the Edinburgh Castle. We went on a self guided tour through that and then sat in the Rose garden for a while. It was gorgeous. Then after strolling through the massive castle grounds park, we got in the car and drove south to the Jerpoint Abbey. Now I, being an Art History major, loved this place. It was this really old abbey that was built I think in about the 1100s. It was used up until about 1540 when King Henry VIII came and discontinued its use. It is now mostly in ruins and only the tower had a roof over it. The guide told us about all of the carvings and areas and their significance. Loved it. Then we got in the car again and drove through Mount Juliet. Supposedly it's like a world-renowned golf course that Tiger and all the champs love. Then we came back to Kilkenny and went to St. Canice's Cathedral, an old English Gothic cathedral that was gorgeous. I have always loved cathedrals but I love visiting them more now that I know more about the style of architecture and stuff. The stained glass was magnifico, the vaulted ceilings were massive, and dad liked looking at all of the tombs there and telling me how each of the people died. We had fun. There was a rope that led up to the bell tower that said "please do not touch" and dad told me to pull it. He said, "Come on, that'd be the ultimate door-bell ditching! Pull it and then run!" And then we laughed about that for a while. Outside the cathedral there was an old round tower that we could climb. It was built in 892. 892, not 1892. So we were a little freaked out as we climbed up the ladders to the top. It gave us a great view of the city of Kilkenny though. And now we are here, in this little internet cafe. I love this city. I think it might be sad to leave it tomorrow, but we are on to bigger and better things. Such as the Rock of Cashel and the Cliffs of Moher!!! I am so excited to see the Cliffs of Moher. We found out a little while ago that it is a nominee to become one of the new seven natural wonders of the world. Awesome. Can't wait. And this may be the last time we have internet before we get home, so the next post just might have pictures! And I'll be visiting my dear friend Kaycie in SC so there will be posts about that as well. We are having a fabulous time! I love Ireland! :)

I met Prince William!!!

And we're getting married in the morning!!! See?! Disney movies can be like real life!!!
HA! I wish.
But we did see Prince Charles, and I shall tell you the tell... (pictures still to come since we haven't gotten to a place where we can upload them from my memory card)
We left Dublin Thursday morning and flew to Edinburgh, Scotland/UK. After getting our cool car, whom I named Karl (he was a VW Golf, way great car), we drove to Stirling. I love Stirling. We first drove up to the Castle rock and went through the castle. It was a pretty cool castle that overlooked amazing views in the valley. I think the best part about Stirling, however, was the William Wallace monument. Dad had told me there was one there and it was pretty great, but I had no idea how great it was. And since William Wallace is pretty much my hero (Braveheart is my favorite movie) you can imagine how excited I was as I looked out over the valley and saw this huge tall tower on this huge rock-like hill. I asked dad what it was and his reply, "That's the William Wallace monument." WHAT?!?! I got really excited. So we drove to our B&B, which was this really cute little house run by a lady named Joan, and checked in, rested up a bit since we were still recovering from jet lag, and then drove to the William Wallace monument. P.s. you could see the monument out of our room window. Best thing ever. Anyways, we got to the monument and climbed the hill. The tower at the top was huge! We climbed the two hundred and sixty-something stairs to the top, stopping along the way to read about Wallace's life and details of the battle of Stirling. And I saw William Wallace's sword! 5 and 1/2 feet tall! So so cool. I definitely took lots of pictures of it. And when we climbed to the top of the tower and overlooked where Wallace defeated the English at Stirling, I definitely yelled "FREEDOM!!!" at the top of my lungs. After apologizing to those giving me weird looks, we climbed back down the stairs. That night we got an excellent night's rest and drove to Bannockburn the next day where Robert the Bruce defeated the English in 1314 winning the Scots their freedom. We went into the visitor's center where a man dressed as a medieval army commander gave a somewhat gruesome demonstration of the weaponry that was used at the battle. But it kind of gave you an idea about what it was like at the battle. And I love seeing history recreated. Maybe not so gruesomely... but anyway. After Stirling we made a quick stop at Deep Sea World for my bosses because they told me too and it was pretty cool, and then drove to Edinburgh. We dropped our bags off at the guest house we'd be staying at and rode the bus to the Royal Mile. We walked up to the castle and went on a tour there. I think this is one of my favorite castles I've been to. And we saw the royal jewels of Scotland. Cool. Then we walked back down the Royal Mile, grabbed some dinner, and then picked up our Gathering passports for the events the next day. And now for the Gathering:
One of THE coolest things of my life! Complete with the Heavy-weight world champion Highland Games, LOTS of kilted men, a visit by HRH Prince Charles himself, and pipe bands pipe bands pipe bands!!! I loved every minute of it. And so did dad. The first day of festivities, we found some seats in the Highland Games arena and watched the stone putting events (these huge men throw huge stones) and I couldn't help think of Braveheart: "You dropped your rock." Anyway, a huge pipe band then came marching into the arena and an old british woman next to us says "Well it looks like their getting ready for Charles to come." Fricka-WHA?!?! is what went through my mind. We turned to her, "Prince Charles? THE Prince Charles? As in the next King of England?!" And she nodded yes. Dad made a lifetime friend with this 85 year old woman named Dorothy Whalton p.s.. So he comes marching in wearing a kilt, gave a speech opening the gathering, and then left shaking hands as he went. We were like twenty feet away. Oh and his wife Camilla was there. But after that we wandered around and listened to the different bands and groups performing. We got some lunch, and then headed back to our inn to get ready for the parade. After getting all dressed up in our tartan Kilt and Skirt, we headed back to the gathering to eat some dinner. And a bird pooped on dad's shirt. Ha ha! Very funny. We laughed for a while about that. But then we met up with the Forbes clan to march in the parade. And it was funny, because we all looked alike, even though we were from all over the place. Ha! We were placed behind the Lonach Highlanders and pipe band. They are one of the very few highlander armies left and we later found out that most of them were from the Forbes clan because the head of our clan is always their patron. So we marched past Holyrood Palace, through the gates, and on up the Royal Mile towards Edinburgh castle. We were quite surprised as we came through the gates to see the mass of people that were jam-packed on both sides of the street to see the parade. We felt like royalty, and I even did the beauty-queen wave once or twice. As we marched up behind the pipe band people cheered and waved and some even yelled "Yeah Forbes Clan! Way to go Forbes!" And we got "Heathens!" once. Pretty sure I'll be looking in the geneology history to see what that was about... But we later learned that there were over 50,000 people watching and participating in the parade. It was madness. But cool madness. So up and up we marched, past old medieval buildings, shops and cafes, and chapels and cathedrals that stretched to the sky. It was one of those moments you have while traveling that you just can't really describe to anyone it's greatness. I'll remember that forever. The parade ended in the castle esplanade where we took our seats for the pageant. It was cool that we were right at the gates of the castle. The show was pretty fabulous. Oh and right before the show, we met Malcolm Forbes from our clan. He was standing in his father's place as head of the Forbes clan because he was too old to make it to the Gathering. So his father is Lord Forbes, head of the Forbes clan and he lives in Forbes castle in Aberdeen! Awesome right?! So that was a fabulous night.
The next day we went to church and then to the Rosslyn Chapel. Da Vinci code anyone? It was a beautiful chapel with amazing architecture and carvings inside. It was mostly covered though on the outside because it's undergoing a huge restoration project. But we both loved that. Then we went back to the gathering where we watched more Highland games and pipe bands. Then we climbed this huge hill overlooking Edinburgh. It was so gorgeous up there! You could see the whole city. Dad was kind of freaking out though because it was so high and there were dead-drop cliffs at the top. But it was amazing. And very windy. But amazing. So then today we flew back to Dublin, drove through the Wicklow Mtns (where they filmed P.S. I Love You), and then on to Kilkenny, where we are now. The Irish countryside is beautiful and I am loving every minute. I can't wait to experience more of this beautiful place. Dad and I make a great driving team. He's the great driver, and I'm the great navigator. We got here without the GPS that was taking us the wrong way at first. We got skills. Anyway, we're havin' fun, lovin' every minute, and we'll post pictures asap. May the luck o' the Irish be wit you all! :)