Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Ireland - October 2012

Vicki and I were lucky to get away for a week or so to visit Ireland. My parents offered to watch Kyra so it was very nice for us to spend some time together and experience a place we have both wanted to visit for some time. We mostly ate, drank, hiked and drove around; not necessarily in that order. The weather was quite good we were told, which meant we saw some sun everyday. It was actually quite pleasant and although it rained every day as well, the climate was very tolerable. We both found Ireland to be very rich in beauty, history and culture. The people were very welcoming and merry. The beer did not disappoint and to my surprise, the food was excellent. Please enjoy the following pictures, they speak for themselves but I'll add a little bit of commentary anyway. Enjoy!
Hope you can read fast, intersections like this one above are the norm. A few hours south of Shannon is the quaint little town of Kenmare. As it is widely knows as the culinary and artistic capital of the country, it had to be our first destination. View from the window of our B and B below.
There are more sheep in Ireland than people. Here is one of them.
To fight off jet lag, on our first day we took a little drive around part of the Beara Peninsula. We found a nice little coastal hike with this cool seaside cave.
We were rewarded with some great sunshine on our first day throughout our hike along these cliffs.
I felt compelled to share this one with all the "Soaring-Shu Shu" followers.
View of Kenmare River on our drive around the Ring of Kerry.
Stone pyramids in a random coastal town.
This fort was built in 400 AD and is still standing.
The beaches were actually quite nice. The water is relatively warm due to the gulf stream that brings warm currents all the way up from the Caribbean.
Vicki on her favorite beach
Cemetary on cliff overlooking beach. I'd not have a problem being buried here.
Vicki on Ring of Kerry road with farms in background.
Big cliffs, Ireland has lots of cliffs.
Ireland also has lots of beers. They are really good about matching the beer with the glass. Makes it hard to hide what you're drinking. We mostly only drank Irish beers, but we were surprised in the abundant availability of Budweiser and Coors. Found it a bit disappointing that they would allow such grog adjacent to great stouts like Guinness and Beamish.
We took many wrong turns and many "roads to nowhere". This one paid off with some cool lakes and nice views.
One of our favorite places in Ireland was here at The Gap of Dunloe. We almost didn't take the time to see it and that truly would have been a travesty.
Vicki really liked this valley. It was quiet and pretty.
Our B and B in Kenmare was awesome. The lady, Hanna, who ran the place was very welcoming and sweet. Her meals were outstanding and kept us going the whole day strong. Vic and her really hit it off and she is a great lady that we will always think of when we reflect upon our time in Kenmare.
View of Killarney National Park from a hike we took
It rains a lot so lots of stuff is green, like these trees.
Muckross House-the main estate in Killarney National Park
We spent some time in Kilkeney. They have a castle there. This is it.
They also have this tall thing, which we climbed.
In Dublin this prison housed all sorts of important Irish prisoners, but also petty theives. Many of them were fighting for a free and independent Ireland. The tour there was almost over informative. Mind blowing to hear such tales in their history. I cannot do it justice. If you are interested please research the Kilmainham Jail.
We had some good times soaking up Irish culture in many different pubs. This is one of them.
And this is one too.
We went to several drinking establishments. One of our favorites was The Long Hall.
Last Guinness in Ireland, things tend to get a bit blurry after that.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Random 2012

Here are some things we've been doing in no particular order.
Kyra got a bike for her birthday, but I think she likes the helmet the best.
We visited my parents in Florida in January. We had lots of beach time. Kyra likes to play in the sand with Pa Pa.
We do lots of painting. Van Gogh is still her favorite. Here Kyra delves deep into her blue period.
One of her first toys was this 3 Little Pigs set that she still loves to play with.
We spend lots of time at the zoo.
Mimi came up to visit and took Kyra to the Majic House. Here they see how big of a bubble they can make.
Sometimes its just fun to wear a helmet.
There's nothing like Fritz's Frozen Yogurt after a swim at Pops and LeeLee's
Cousin Time
Chasing Bubbles
Learning to swim with mom on Mimi and PaPa's lake
Kyra loves to go cart. We would have won too if uncle Jason hadn't cheeted.
Not sure if we like the bumper boats. Didn't know spectators could fire back.
Colorado lake with mom
Kyra likes roller coasters, especially if she can have one all to herself.
Picking berries with Ramona
Camping is fun.
We also spend lots of time at the Botanical Garden
Most of all, Kyra likes to swing!!