Itsie-bitsie, teensie-weensie ROADS

- October 04, 2015

Someone needs to explain to the Irish that the width of a road cannot be less than the width of a vehicle.

Now that that is off of my chest, Ireland is wonderful! I met mom in the airport the evening of September 30 and we have been road tripping ever since. We drove to Cork for two nights, Killarney for one night, Kinvarra for one night, and now we are in our accommodation in Garvagh (Northern Ireland) for tonight. Along the way we have visited:

- Blarney Castle (and kissed the Blarney Stone)

- the Rock of Cashel

- Cahir Castle

- St. Finn Barre's Cathedral (in Cork)

- drove the Ring of Kerry

- Staigue Fort ( Iron Age stone ring fort)

- Cliffs of Moher (hiked 4 miles from the visitors centre to Doolin)

- DANGLED MY FEET OFF THE CLIFF

- Spend the night in a traditional thatch cottage with a castle view out of our bedroom window

- visited the Ceide Fields (6000 year old Neolithic settlement preserved by a bog)

A lot for four days, right? We're both tired. We're both sick. We're both going to wake up at 8 am to explore Northern Ireland. NO EXCUSES DEBBIE.

Now, if you're interested in visiting Ireland- listen up. Driving is definitely the best way to get around. You can go where you want and do what you want WHENEVER. Unfortunately, it is a bit difficult for those of us who are used to driving on the right hand side. You can get used to it for sure, but in all honesty I am completely anxious the whole time mom and I are driving. I know she is as well. As the driver, she misses so much of the view of the countryside. As the passenger, I lose a whole lot of my sanity. If you are an aggressive, comfortable driver- this is fine for you. If you are timid- find another way. There are roads smaller than our back alleys that are ALSO two-way WITH a speed limit of 100km. Did I mention they also zig zag, loop and backflip all over the place? It's nuts. There are tons of bus tours out of main cities and even smaller towns if you're not interested in losing your lunch on every swerve with a rental car.

Another note for anyone interested. The Ring of Kerry is over rated. Our first host told us this, but we did it anyways. It was stressful to the max and you only got peaks of good views every now and again. I have heard the Dingle Peninsula has much better views (and fewer tour busses on tiny roads). Unfortunately we didn't have time to find out for ourselves.

What should you ABSOLUTELY NOT MISS? The Cliffs of Moher. Never in my life have I been so in awe of nature. We parked our car in the visitor centre parking and hiked from there to the town of Doolin which is at the bottom of the northern decline of the cliffs. It was about four miles, and at times you were literally right on the edge. Like, right.... there.... :|. In Doolin you can catch the ferry out to the Aran Islands (we didn't have time:( ) and you can purchase a locally made knit sweater and they are woooonderful. But expensive. But worth it. We too a local bus back to the cliffs and were on our way from there.

I'm excited to see what Northen Ireland has to offer. The closer to the coast we get, the more the landscape starts to look like I am in Westeros... how suspicious.