Thursday, April 30, 2009

Our Last Days in Ireland

Waking up Sunday morning I was super eager to get back down to the beach. I mean come on, I lived in Oklahoma my entire life and we are nowhere near the ocean. Oisin's parents live blocks from the coast, so we hopped out of bed (well more like dragged ourselves or me dragging poor Jonny) and headed for the beach. Sadly it was drizzling, but I wasn't going to let that stop us. We walked the back roads because we were told there was an incredible view..... and it was true.

It was incredible to be at the top of this hill and to see the view of the ocean all around us.
I'd love to have a beach front home, boy what I wouldn't do to live near the water.








Jon and I could have stayed at the beach all day, but the fact that it was raining was not fun. We decided after about an hour that it was time to make our way back to the house. When we arrived, Oisin's mom had cooked a ginormous Irish breakfast. And OH my gosh was it amazing! We had bacon, eggs, yogurt, toast, tomato on the side, tea, coffee, and orange juice. I was stuffed, and so thankful for the big breakfast. It was definitely much needed fuel for the body!

After breakfast we said our goodbyes. We were so thankful for having met Oisin's parents. They were so kind to have us and to take such great care of us. I definitely look forward to going back and visiting them soon. Not to mention eating her amazing food, she's an outstanding cook. For both dinner and breakfast there was literally nothing left on my plate. I felt like a fatty, but I couldn't help it, it was just so darn good.

Ois took us to Malahide Castle near Port Marnock. It is a beautiful castle, still intact. It has been turned into a museum.

My hair was a mess in these pics,
it had gotten wet at the beach and turned into a Medusa mess.
Here's Oisin and I in front of the castle.
We were sad to have to leave Port Marnock and our great friend Oisin, but we had to head back to Dublin, there were still a couple of things we wanted to see and do. Ois if you're reading this.... "TANKS" FOR EVERYTHING!
I gave him a hard time because of his accent. The Irish don't say the word "Thanks" they say"Tanks." I absolutely love the Irish and listening to them talk. I could literally listen to them all day long. I even practice talking like them so I can sound as cool as them. No lie, I want to talk like Brad Pitt in "Snatch." How awesome would that be!

Anyway, before I lose my train of thought, Oisin dropped us off at the train station, where we took the Dart back to Dublin. From there we checked back into our hotel, showered and were back out on the town in no time.

Before we had left home, Jon purchased tickets to the Guinness Storehouse and we were SO excited to see this. The museum was awesome. It was neat to learn the time line of Guinness and see all of the old machines, old bottles and labels, etc. Here are some pics.



Yummy Guinness

After the Guinness Storehouse we headed toward O'Connell Street. My lovely blogging friend Casey, told me about Penny's (an awesome clothing store... THANKS CASEY) and I really wanted to check it out before we left. Well I am so glad that I did. There clothes are so stinkin cheap! I bought 4 shirts and wish I could have bought more!! Jon had to remind me of the weight limit on our bags, we were already so close to the limit, so I had to limit what I bought :(
I have decided that next time we visit Dublin, I am just going to bring a bag and the clothes on my back, and buy everything from Penny's!

We stopped for fish and chips on the way back to the hotel. Again it was rainy and icky outside so we decided to just take it easy and watch English speaking television in our hotel room. (WHAT A TREAT!)

Monday morning we woke early, grabbed breakfast at the hotel, packed and checked out just in time to walk to the bus stop to grab a ride to the airport. Of course it was sunny the day we are leaving..... but I did capture a couple more pictures so I can prove the sun actually does shine in Dublin ;)

We were SO HAPPY that we were able to visit Ireland...........
But SOOO SAD that we had to leave.......
All I can say is that it was an amazing adventure
and I can not wait to go back!


Hope you guys enjoyed our recap! Thanks for reading about our trip!


21 comments:

valerie said...

Oisin's mom sounds like my kind of woman. ;)
I love the beach too and would love a home on the beach with a beautiful view. Awwww.....
I'm so glad y'all had a great time. I'm sorry the weather was a little icky, but it certainly looks and sounds like you had an amazing trip.
I loved reading about what all you did each day.
Love,
Val

Unknown said...

yayy for Day #3! Absolutely gorgeous pics of the ocean & beach! And your friend is just the sweetest thing for being your semi-tour guide! :) You two def. deserved a wonderful trip such as this! I loveee the pics of you two at the end of the post! haha..so stinkin' cute!! :)

Unknown said...

I'm with you on loving the accent over there. I can't wait to go just to be surrounded by it:p Gosh that sounded like such a wonderful time!!! I probably would have hung onto the last object in Ireland on our way out refusing to leave, ha ha! Tanks for sharing this with all of us! Hee Hee, I found a way to through (tanks) in there:p

Kelley said...

Oh goodness, you're pictures on the beach are just beautiful! It looks like you guys had an awesome trip!

katie + bret said...

It sounds like you guys had a wonderful time!! Love the pictures and your husband is such a good picture taking sport!!

Gleatie said...

Your pictures are AWESOME! I can't wait to hear all about it tomorrow!

JennyLee said...

Those castles are gorgeous!

Megan said...

You mean the beach in Ireland is better than our dirty Oklahoma lakes?!?!? :-) LOVE the pictures, so beautiful and looks like you guys had an amazing time!

Skeller said...

What an amazing weekend! Truly a fabulous way to celebrate a birthday!!!

Candice said...

How nice to have had a place to stay and your own personal tour guide! I'm so glad you got to go to Ireland and that you had such a great time! Thanks so much for sharing it with us. I loved getting to see the pictures and hear stories!

Lindsey said...

Amazing!!! What a fabulous time!!! I want to LIVE in that castle, ha!

Kelli said...

Your pictures are amazing!! I love those shells you founds.. they are so pretty!

Emily said...

gosh... all thte pictures you captured are beautiful my friend! U should do a collage in your house on a wall or something with them.. what kind of camera do you have? Also, how did you do your pictures small and in a row like that on blogger???

d.a.r. said...

Oh my gosh, I need to go to Ireland now!! I love all of your pictures and thanks for telling us all about you trip. Amazing!!!

Crazy Shenanigans-JMO said...

I for sure need to go to Ireland and the Guinness brewery!!!! It looks like you had an amazing vacation!

Jen McCrady said...

i am so jealous of your travels!!!! ryan and i are both irish, and we've been DREAMING of going to ireland someday!

Naturally Caffeinated Family said...

gorgeous gorgeous pics! it sounded like soo much fun!! i bet the fish and chips were so yummy!

msprimadonna67 said...

Your 'happy' and 'sad' pictures cracked me up. What an amazing trip! Someday hubby and I hope to visit there as well, and now I'm even more excited thinking about vacationing there: )

The Purple Carrot said...

Awwww those are such wonderful pictures, Steph!! I'm glad you guys had such a great time : )

Have you seen the movie Once? "Tanks" reminded of it ... my husband and I LOVE that movie.

Courtney said...

SO beautiful!! Sounds like you've had an amazing time!!

Casey (@ Chaos and Cardboard) said...

Ahhh. Penny's. Heaven. I only had 15 minutes in there because we had to catch the LUAS, and then the weight restrictions (dang you Ryan Air). Tear. I asked if they had an online shop and they laughed at me. Tear again. Guess we will have to go back!