The End Of A Magical Trip

This is the last of our trip to Ireland. It was incredible and we’re REALLY looking forward to going back. Just gotta say, Thanks a Million to my “cousin” aka step aunt, Alicia for letting us take over your house and all the help! Such an easy hostess! Those are the kind I love! 🙂 Now come visit us!! 🙂

If you missed the other days of our trip you can start here!

On day 7 we woke up and I ate breakfast VERY slowly considering my horrendous night with food poisoning. Will never eat salmon in that place ever again!!!

We walked around Galway and looked at the shops. This place was swarming with a million musicians and these guys really caught my eye! Hard to balance and play passionately if I do say so myself!

We went on our way back to Dublin. Toblerone full of whiskey and beer and me full of a queasy stomach. After we dropped the car off we went straight to Howth where the rich and famous of Ireland reside and took a walk around before heading to a Mexican restaurant. The views around the harbor were incredibly beautiful. We got there just in time for the sunset.

After a quesadilla or two we headed to a bar which was fun. Filled with old guys singing all sorts of songs, drunk as can be. Then an American family started piping in and being all whacky. They were from Minnesota and the “mom” made sure everyone knew it. Flashing around her “American Ethnicity” a little to much. We had to get out of there because that was BEYOND annoying.

The next morning we had a little time before our flight and we headed to Dublin once again. This time I was specifically searching for a bookstore where I bought the most amazing book when I was young. It was called, “Under the Hawthorne Tree” about children during the Irish Famine. Then we got there and I didn’t realize how huge the Grafton Street area was. That definitely wasn’t in my memory.

Then we stopped and got a listen to the band Request street performing. I had heard them on the radio before and really liked them. You can definitely tell the difference between just your average street performer and signed band!

We met up with the prostitute fish monger, Molly Malone, got some Subway (insert choir singing) and got our parting drink, Guinness. It really did start to taste like water by the end of the trip. We had one last shot of Jameson and headed to the airport.

What an absolutely amazing trip for us. We’re thinking about all the things we need to do next time we’re there. More drinking, perhaps?! I drank whiskey the entire trip and I won’t drink it anywhere else. Well…maybe if it’s Jameson. This country has a magical side to it. It truly does. The people are kind and incredible story tellers. It’s a place I wish I could call Home!

Until next time, Readers!!! xoxoxoxoxoxo

Spice Gets Engaged!

Moving on with our journey through Ireland, I wanted to get to the greatest part!!! So… ON WITH IT, right?!

Day 6 started with us in Kenmore at our B&B called the Hawthorne House where I had porridge with cream and brown sugar. DELISH!  It was pouring rain so the morning of shopping in the town was out of the question so we just jumped in the car and headed towards Galway. Of course stopping  along the way to check out what there was to see!

We hit up part of the famous Ring of Kerry. This “ring” is just a loop you drive around but as you’re doing so you hit all the best parts of Ireland. You see mountains, waterfalls, the beach, ocean,castles, lakes, rivers, green hills, etc. To do the whole thing would take about 4 hours driving and of course to add in stopping for pictures so we decided to just head on our way to my favorite place in the world! But first some shots from the piece of The Ring of Kerry:

And a stop at the Killarney National Park to see the Turoc waterfall which just so happens to be hidden among a fairytale land. Like seriously…fairies live here. I can feel it! See for yourself!! And Note: I did nothing to enhance these pictures. It was literally that green. In fact, these were taken with my iPhone!

See what I mean?? Fairies. Definitely leprechauns and fairies. After being totally blown away by this whimsical fairyland we drove on towards the next destination. My favorite place in the world….*drum roll*…..The Cliffs of Moher.

When I was young my dad brought me here and I knew I always wanted to get married there. I thought it was the most incredible place I had ever seen (and for being 12, it was!)

Check this out…a little bit of old school for you:

It was just as I remembered. Most places where we once were able to lay close to the edge was now blocked off….for obvious reasons. Lots of death is happening up in here. Dumb tourists as you know. But it was fun to relive a memory I had since long forgotten!

We walked our way up to O’Brien’s tower. Just a small place to get a better view. To really feel like you’re on top of the world. As we headed into the tower the man at the door asked for 2 Euros per person to go all the way to the top. Toblerone, being the Schwaebisch German that he is would not want to pay 2 Euros for views that we could see on the ground as well. I told him the situation and he immediately said, “Yeah ok! Let’s go!”  So I was shocked and starting to get a little suspicious. Odd behavior for him!

So we head up to the top and there is a small platform that can hold maybe 3 people at most so we had to wait our turn to get up onto this platform. We were packed like sardines at the top of this tower and finally it was our turn. We stood up there and Toblerone snapped away with the camera as I was off in my own memories snapping away with my iPhone. At this point there was only one other man up top really getting into taking his own pictures. Whether they were any good or not, we’ll never know! As I’m turned away from Toblerone he says, “I’m just going to switch lenses real quick.” Again, I thought it was strange that he was telling me that. Then all the sudden I hear a big *THUD* and I hear a sweet little voice say, “Babe?”

With that I turned around and realized the loud thud was Toblerone’s knee hitting the platform and there he was with a little box in hand. I don’t remember exactly what he said but it’s the same as most I would assume! The man that was still on top of the Tower came over to us and he said, “Is this a happy moment?!” In broken English. He tells me to hand over the camera which I did and although the angle wasn’t so good at least we have the memory.

It was a beautiful moment! Getting married in Ireland would be out of the question considering the two other countries our families come from but an Engagement was the most perfect thing for me. I’m a lucky girl!

After the moment of shock we walked around the Cliffs. Toblerone almost tripped off the side which was very close to becoming a tragic wedding proposal day! He is a bit clumsy at times 🙂

Then it was time to go celebrate the Engagment (EEEEE!!!!) and head into Galway for a nice dinner. We found a cute B&B, got settled in and had dinner at a bar/restaurant. Toblerone had the steak and I had salmon.

We ate and went out in search of a cool bar which we did find. A huge place called Skeff Bar where we got to pour our own pints from our table. Such a cool contraption. I’ve gotta get one of those put into my dinner table!

We walked around Galway a little bit and I tried to remember the place from when I was young. I started to feel a bit yucky so we went back to the hotel where I was plagued with food poisoning until 4 or 5 in the morning. Nonstop puking for hours. I was exhausted and had to get up at 9am for breakfast the next morning. Lord help me!! What a dream on our Engagement night.

All in all it was a magical day! From fairy land to fairy tale Engagement… life was good on June 18th! A happy Irish girl indeed!

Until next time, Readers!!!! xoxoxoxoxoxo