Day 7, Dingle/Cliffs of Mohr

Today we drove around the Dingle peninsula before we left town. We drove along the cow path of a road and looked out on the Atlantic coast. It was well worth the extra drive because the sites were breathtaking!

After the Dingle peninsula, we decided to head north to see the Cliffs of Mohr. It was so windy!!!

After a long, long drive in the mini bus, we couldn't stand to be in the car anymore! We stopped in a little town called Ennis to find a B&B. We were unsuccessful in finding a B&B as easily as every other town. Luckily - we stopped to ask gentleman if he knew of any B&B's in the area. We suggested one just outside of town then offered to take us there! He rode with us to the house, which unfortunately had no vacancies. So he offered to take us to a different house. At first, I was hesitant to let a complete stranger get in our vehicle and take us to a house in a small town.......it sounds like a beginning of a horror movie. But what we have found is that Irish people are just NICE. In America, if some tourist asked us where a B&B was, we would either ignore them or point them in the direction. Never actually see that they arrive to their destination! It was amazing! After we settled, we decided to find some quick grub and hit the hay early. I wasn't feeling pub food so Kurt and I set out to find something different. I hear the Hallelujah chorus when we found a pizza place!!!

Day 6, Dingle

We had a late start out of Killarney...luckily, Dingle was not a far drive. Dingle is a peninsula on the South West coast so we were excited to see the ocean! We stopped at a beach to take pictures of these massive waves. These waves were coming in on top of each other and were gigantic-I've never seen anything like it before. We parked the van at a store/cafe to take pictures of the beach. I didn't even make it OUT of the van before I was pelted with sand in my face/eyes. My mom then had to lead my blind butt to the store while I tried to shield any bare skin from the death sand. ((If you are a fellow contact wearer, then you know how awesome sand in your eyes feel)) We all rested in the cafe and I looked through the pictures...some surfers wrestles their way to the water. They were practically crawling to shield the sand and to keep their surf board from flying away. It was hilarious! They made it, by the way.

We piled into the mini bus and continued to Dingle. Now, we've been planning to go to Dingle the entire trip. Of course we made jokes....."Can't wait to get some berries from Dingle" "Dingle hangs off of Ireland" you get the picture. We believe that postcards and t-shirts would sell like crazy if it said something like "Welcome to Dingle! Where the berries are brown and smell like shit" but what do we know? Uncle Vic, Kurt, and myself didn't get too experience Dingle too much that day. We got pretty comfortable in Murphy's Pub at lunch and remained there until after dinner...It was an interesting experience as we were sitting in the corner booth and in walks a group of people from Shelbyville/Waldron....It's a small world, after all!

Kurt had to wear my glasses to block the sand from getting in his eyes.

Day 5, Killarney

Our 5th day of our trip happened to be September 11, 2011 - the 10 year anniversary of 9/11. I walked in on our B&B host, Sheila, watching the memorials on TV. As we sat with her, I realized how big of an effect this attack had on the world. We talked to several people on our trip that gave their condolences and shared what they were doing when they heard about the attack. Entire towns shut down for memorials. It was refreshing to know that even though we weren't in our home land on such a day, that we still were comforted by our neighbors.

We stayed at Sheila's B&B again this night. We had a wonderful dinner at The Flesk! Earlier in the day, the boys played golf at the Mahoney Inn Golf Course where the Irish Open was held. Kurt couldn't stop talking about how amazing the course was.

Day 4 - Blarney

Today we woke up and loaded the mini bus. We made plans to visit the Blarney Castle and the Woolen Mills. The Blarney Castle was the first (and only) castle we visited while on our trip. It was beautiful! To get to Blarney, we drove through a small town with tight roads and all of a sudden - bam! There's the castle. The walk up to Blarney reminded me of something right out of a movie. The gardens and lawn are well kept, there are large trees, and small brooks.

We thought this tree was so neat! 

We felt like Forrest and Jenny in the tree

It was a lot of fun to imagine how the rooms might have been set up throughout the castle. The spiral staircase to the top of Blarney was tight, narrow and the stairs were short. At some points, I had to walk up on all fours. I don't know how they were able to walk up with armor or large dresses on! Once we arrived to the top, I had to catch my breath. Not because of the dizzy, claustrophobic walk but because of the height! I'm not usually afraid of heights but I was standing on the roof of an ancient castle with holes all around the perimeter. I got two stories of what these "holes" were for....my Uncle Vic told me he thought the holes were for pouring hot water or grease down onto intruders trying to scale the castle. My dad told me it was their gutter system..........I'm believing the hot grease story because it's more imaginative! We all took turns kissing the Blarney Stone!

Kurt kissing the Blarney Stone

Maxine's turn!

**Everyone else is on our other camera

After the castle, we took a tour of the Blarney House. It was a gorgeous house that is on the grounds of Blarney Castle. The tour was "o.k." because a family still lives in the house so rooms were limited to tour. Once we finished our visit to Blarney, the girls were anxious to visit the Woolen Mills for sweaters! This store was enormous! Filled with Irish wool sweaters and linens. We must have spent a good hour or so combing through the racks and racks of various souvenirs. I saw my dad hauling a cart behind him at one point.........These sweaters or linen are really the best souvenirs for your visit to Ireland. They are something you will actually use and might even pass down.

The Blarney House...can you believe people really live in this house?? 

It's true. 

We jumped back into the mini bus and started out journey to Killarney. We stayed at an amazing B&B! Sheila, our host, served afternoon tea and cookies and would sit down for conversation. Once we rested up, we went into town for dinner. Tooooo much Guinness this night......

Day 3, Waterford/Blarney

Day 3, Waterford to Blarney

I was pretty excited about Waterford. While the boys played golf, the girls went into town to take the Waterford tour and shop :) I accumulated a few Waterford pieces from our wedding and was pumped to pick out something from the actual Waterford factory. (I sound like an old woman...) Mom, Maxine, and I took the tour on how the crystal is made. I found it pretty interesting because although they have incorporated some machines for the process, they still use original tools. We have the technology to melt, shape, and cut a piece of crystal to your liking without it ever touching human hands...but is that really something special? Hell no! I want the piece where someone actually took the time to blow the glass to a particular shape, a different person sanded it down and then someone else gently cut every line to make the vase, bowl, or whatever just perfect.

 Mold for "American Football"

2012 Superbowl

 Drawing lines for the cuts, by hand

 Cutting

 More cutting...

I tried to stick around to see a mistake

Waterford Chandelier. 

It will be mine....oh yes, It will be mine.

After a day of shopping, golfing and touring we made the voyage to Blarney! We didn't have any accommodations arranged so we picked up a Bed and Breakfasts of Ireland book....we went down a list of potential B&B's and came across an old farm house. They only had 2 rooms available but 1 room had 3 twins and a double bed. We took the offer and decided to hit a pub (surprised?). This particular pub was a reeaaalll Irish pub. It was on the outskirts of Blarney and the majority of the crowd was locals who were regulars. We made friends with 3-5 of them and had a great night out. Kurt and I always get the same reactions when meeting someone....A. that we're 24 and B. that we're married. We usually get "You look like babies", "You're too young" something along those lines....but here at the Waterloo, I got told to F off by Stephen the drunk road constructor. I loved him in an instant :) I hope to make it to the Waterloo in Blarney again before we leave!

Day 2, On the road...

Day 2 - Travel

Today we woke up early and hit the road :) The long, skinny, winding road...it was basically a cow path.

We stopped at Glendalaugh for breakfast and to site see. This is by far one of my favorite places. It's a beautiful valley and is full of green grass, rivers, and waterfalls. We walked around a Monastic site and a lake. I have never breathed fresher air before! We took some great photos but they are on the other camera...I'll upload to Facebook! Here's one from the digital camera:

It looks a little fuzzy but that's just the rain

We hopped back in our mini bus and drove into Killkenny. We got a little thirsty!

Don't judge our appearances. It was a long, rainy day!

Next we drove into Waterford. We checked into our first B&B of the trip. Ilene was our hostess and it was wonderful! We went down town for dinner where Kurt had his very first fish and chips. It was an entire deep fried fish! After dinner, we ducked into an old pub to pound some Guinness and Bulmers (for me). **Bulmers is an Irish cider similar to Woodchuck's....it gets the job done, know what I'm sayin** The pub looked like every pub in Ireland - cobblestone floor, lots of wood, fireplace, Irish music playing, and lots of drunk men singing very loud. We loved it! This particular pub reminded me of the St. Paul Tavern (hollaaa!) because there were dollar bills everywhere. People had signed them and stuck them all along the rafters. We'll have to check to see if ours still hanging in a few years...

The Allen's Family Vacation 2011 - Ireland!

Isn't it funny when you are on a family vacation and something happens and you think "omg I feel like the Griswold's!!!" That's how I feel every single vacation with my family and I love it. No, we haven't had to strap any dead Aunt Edna's to the roof of our family truckster but there are still more vacations to come. Not only are the National Lampoon's Vacation movies my favorites (Family, Christmas, European, Vegas, and don't forget the made for TV ones) but I happen to think I have some hilarious family members. I often find myself wondering why we haven't been asked to do a reality show...



The next few blog entries are of our Ireland Family Vacation!!!
Kurt and I traveled the coast of Ireland with my parents (Steve and Mary Jane) and my awesome Aunt Maxine and Uncle Vic. It was a blast and we made many many memories :)

Day 1, Dublin


Today we decided to tour around Dublin and give ourselves an extra day before hitting the open road. We took a bus tour that aloud us to hop on and off at any site. If you get off the bus to look around, another will be along to scoop you up to your next destination. Very touristy BUT it is highly recommended because it is a cheap and reliable way to get a look at the city and learn what exactly you are looking at. If you are lucky, you will have a comedian for a driver! You get a 2 day pass on this bus which means you can split up the sites. We weren't all that interested in walking around every statue so we soaked in the view and rode our happy butts to.....THE GUINNESS BREWERY!

Guinness was pretty neat! It is somewhat interactive and very educational. I'm sure any brewery tour is exactly the same but hey we're in Ireland and it's the Guinness Brewery. We learned what all went into Guinness: barley, hops, and good ol' H20. You walk through the process of how the ingredients are prepared, the beer is fermented, yada, yada, yada then you get a sample :) I don't necessarily care for Guinness but I will say after 2.5 weeks, it's growing on me. After we walked around other exhibits, we had a big decision to make. Where to drink our FREE pint of Guinness. You can A. drink a pint on the top floor (the highest point in Dublin) or B. learn to pour your own and receive a certificate for "Pouring the Perfect Pint". Of course I wanted the certificate...what can I say? I'm a sucker for free souvenirs.

The 6 Steps to Pour a Perfect Pint:
1. The glass must be a clean and dry 20oz. tulip pint glass
2. The glass must be at 45 degree angle
3. Fill the glass 3/4 of the way
4. Let the beer rest and form the head
5. Top off the beer - it should be just above the rim of the glass
6. DRINK!

Here we are angling our glasses

 Allowing the beer to rest

 Topping it off

 The perfect pint! 

 Cheers!!!

We also stopped by the prison, we saw the Spire or the Stiletto in the Ghetto, Molly Malone, and various gardens and churches. It was a looong day!!! We wrapped up the night with a special 5th Anniversary dinner for Aunt Maxine and Uncle Vic! :)

Ireland!

We made it!!!!

We landed in Dublin yesterday around 8AM. The flight was great - it was over night so we slept the majority of the way. While it was 8AM here, it was 3AM in Indiana. We were exhausted! We settled in our new house, took a nap, and set out to find some grub. We walked around for awhile, trying to get familiar with the area and to look at all of the different buildings.

Today we are going to find a grocery store and pick up some other things we need. I am adding a new hair dryer to the list because it blew up as soon as I turned it on. Niiiice. It's been fun to try some of the things around the house. Most are the same as the States but some are complete opposite! Obviously the plug ins are different, we have converters but the current is soo strong (hence my dead dryer). The electric shower was pretty crazy. It's just like a phone booth - teeny tiny and the doors fold in. To turn the shower on, you push the "power" button. The water comes on and it sounds like a big motor. I didn't mess with any of the dials because honestly, I have no idea what they mean. I can tell one is for heat but there is another one with #'s 1-10?? I'll ask someone later...

Which brings me to our roommates! We have yet to meet any. We met our landlord last night and he used to stay in the room we are renting. He's moving out but stayed on the couch last night. We asked about the others but I still don't know?? He speaks English but his accent is so thick and he speaks really fast....I just nodded. I'm still so confused but hey I'll figure it out eventually! We can just pick up words here and there when speaking to others. Kurt and I just look at each other like "uuhhhh...." and then try to piece together the conversations afterwards. We'll get the hang of it! Until then, I'll just look like a bobble head :)

Later this afternoon my parents and Aunt and Uncle are arriving. Yiippeee!!! They've had a hard time with their flight. They were supposed to fly out of Indy grab a connection flight in Philly and then jet off to Dublin. Well they missed their connection so they had to fly to Chicago then London and finally land in Dublin. I'm sure they will be exhausted but I'm making them push through because time is limited for them! I can't wait to see them  and start our touring :)