Ireland - Take 2

Day 3

Malahide

We work up early (jet lag is a serious thing) and got on the road. On the way out of town, we visited Malahide Castle. It was a beautiful day and a great way to start our first full day in Ireland.

Malahide Castle

Mom and me in front of the castle

I thought this was so cool, how they grew flowers in the shape of star.

Beautiful entrance to the castles graveyard.

Rock of Cashel

We left the Dublin area and began to travel south. We stopped at the Rock of Cashel, a beautiful historic site on our way to Cobh. We didn't tour the Rock of Cashel, but the beautiful weather provided us a chance to take some photos.

From the car, a dark look at the Rock of Cashel

Statue at the Rock of Cashel

I thought these ladies were so cute, sitting by the Automatic Barrier sign.

One of the older buildings, below the main structure.

View from street level - near the shop.

Cobh (Cove)

Leaving the County Tipperary, we traveled further south to our destination for the night - the seaport town of Cobh in the County Cork. We checked into our B&B, wandered around the town and grabbed dinner at the local hotel. Not many places are open on Mondays in Ireland.

Our luggage in stuffed into the back of our "Minibus".

Cathedral of St. Colman

Beautiful view along the water

Day 4
Cobh

We had another beautiful day to explore the city of Cobh. Cobh has a lot of interesting history, including being the last port of call for the Titanic as well as the closest port to the Lusitania disaster. We had the opportunity to take a walking tour of the city called "The Titanic Trail". We also viewed the beautiful St. Colman's Cathedral and visited the Heritage center which explained the Titanic, Lusitania & coffin ships (refering to the ships that carried Irish emigrants escaping the effects of the potato famine). We ended our day with a drive to Kinsale- a nearby seaport village. We shopped and ate dinner in Kinsale and then went back to Cobh - for our last night in the area.

Immigration Building that processed people leaving on ships - including the Titanic.

Memorial for those lost on the Titanic, dedicated by the only living survivor of the April 15, 1912 disaster. Interestingly enough, we did the tour on April 15, 2008 on the 96th Anniversary of the sinking.

Statue to memorialize the fisherman in nearby villages who saved many aboard the sinking Lusitania.

Aunt Mary, Me and mom outside St. Colman's Cathedral

View of the harbor from above - said to be the second largest natural harbor in the world

Ariel view of the town

Statue on the waterfront of Annie Moore and her brothers. Annie Moore was the first person to be admitted to the United States of America through the new immigration centre at Ellis Island, New York on 1 January, 1892.

Mom & me in Kinsale

Ireland- Take 1

(After some interesting suggestions about how blog about my trip, I saw my friend Jess Hawaii blog & thought it was the way to go. A few short blogs, breaking up the trip. Thanks for the idea, Jess.)

Day 1

Depart US for Dublin, Ireland- I met up with my Mom and the rest of our tour group at the Newark airport for our overnight flight. Our tour guides were my Aunt Mary and Uncle Gerry so it was a family affair. A few weeks before we left, I found St. Patrick's Day shirts on clearance at Target and we thought it would be funny to wear them on the trip. We got a lot of looks from other people in the airport - it was pretty funny.

Yes, we know we are wearing the same shirt. (My Aunt, My Mom and me)

Day 2

Dublin, Ireland

We arrived Dublin in the morning. We drove to Malahide (a small town outside of Dublin) where we were to stay our first night. We stopped at a cafe for our first meal - a traditional Irish Breakfast. After checking in to our first B&B, we drove around Malahide & Dublin for a quick view of the sites. Since everyone was tired from the jet lag, we had an early dinner.

Our first Irish meal.

At the Malahide B&B. Heated floors = Heaven

Quick look of the Guinness Brewery in Dublin.

At our first Pub dinner, I had my first Irish Guinness. It was also my last. Don't judge people. Everyone told me that Guinness in Ireland tastes like Chocolate Milk. Let me be the first to tell you- it tastes like Guinness.

I Heart Ireland

Well, I'm home from vacation and back to reality. Trying to figure out the best way to tell everyone about the most amazing 10 days. I have about 500 pictures.... hummmm.

Bulls Game- Home Opener!

Our view from the cheap seats. Such a nice stadium, there are no bad seats.
View of the new famous Bull in left field.

Doug & I went to the Durham Bulls home opener with our friends Jason & Chad. Such a great night in Durham - beautiful weather. Wish the Bulls could have pulled out the win, but we had fun anyway. The $8 tickets are a bargain - they come with a free fireworks show. Can't beat that!

Willie's Life Jacket

Doug decided that Willie needed a life jacket. Here is the test run.

Relay Success!

Our view of Duke Chapel while walking around the Quad.

Me standing at the arch - the beginning of the relay in my HOPE shirt.
Flags that represent people who are currently fighting the disease.
We're off! The beginning of the Relay.

I want to thank everyone for support of my Relay for Life goal. It is certainly a tribute to my father that I was able to raise over $1,000 for the American Cancer Society. Thank you for making me the top money raiser at the event - I was so honored to walk for all of you who donated and in memory of my dad. It was certainly a memorable event and despite the rain delay and cold weather - it was a great triumph. Thank you!

Anniversary at the Melting Pot

(photo by www.rachelleb.com/)

It is our 2 year anniversary on Tuesday, but because Doug is on nights - we had to celebrate our anniversary this weekend. We went to a wonderful dinner at the Melting Pot on Friday night. It was our first time to try out this fondue restaurant - and it was a hit with us! We had heard that it can get really expensive, so I was happy to find a coupon which gave us a nice dinner at a reasonable price. It was a great way to begin our weekend and our 3rd year of marriage.