Grand Ireland

We started off with 2 days in Dublin, checking out Trinity College (University of Dublin), the Liffey river, Millenium needle and St Stevens garden. We got a tour around the University from a local Arts student (can't hold that against him) which was very informative. We learnt about teacher/student shoot outs, the superstitions of the bell tower, special exam privelages such as a glass of claret and various disasters. At the end of the tour we were able to see the book of Kells - absolutely stunning.

Liffey River, Dublin

Following Dublin, we hired a car and drove down through the Limerick and Tipperary Counties to Killarney (narrowly avoiding being squished on a bridge by a truck). We spent another two days there, discovering the town and surrounds. A day was spent driving around the ring of Kerry plus an offshoot Ring of Skellig, to view the lovely coastal scenery such as Dingle Bay; and various ruins.

We saw Ross Castle before making our way to Cork - the second largest city in Ireland. Walking around Cork, we enjoyed the St Fin Barre Cathedral, the Roman fort, rivers and a chocolate cafe. Lots of constuction was going on to improve the centre and there were lots of people milling around. On our way out after staying one night, we detoured to Blarney Castle, which I kissed with the help of a technician to hold my legs (to make sure I didn't fall as you have to bend over backwards over a drop to kiss it properly).

Around Cork

Contiunuing on to Waterford, we stayed nearby at Dunmore East at a B&B overlooking the bay. We walked along the 'beach'... at least it did have sand. The next morning we traveled back into Waterford town to go to the crystal factory. An hour tour of the factory was quite interesting and there were so many lovely things in the showroom, but too heavy to take backpacking (the reason we used to console ourselves after we realised we couldn't afford anything).

Dunmore East Bay

We then traveled straight to Rosslare and had a long evening walk around the sleepy town's cliffs. Not being content with only walking along the cliff, we decided to pioneer our own path down the cliff face to the sandy beach below (Australians and their beaches - sheesh).

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and Judy