Over March break Damien and I traveled to England and Ireland for ten days. We spent the first four days in London followed by a couple of days in Dublin to visit Damien's friend and finally the last few days on the west coast of Ireland near Galway. It was a wonderful vacation!
I hadn't been to London since I was six years old so I was eager to go back and visit it as an adult. It is a great city! I had a lot of fun rediscovering the places I had already been and exploring new areas of the city. We spent four full days there, but only scratched the surface. Here's a little taste of what we saw:
I love the double decker buses! Unfortunately, we didn't get to ride one. Next time, I guess...
The quintessential phone booths of London - I had to take a picture!
The gardens at Kensington Palace were right near our hotel so we often walked by them on our way to other parts of the city.
This is the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. During the winter months, the guards dress in gray instead of red.
This is one of two marching bands that precessed in during the changing of the guard ceremony. They played all kinds of music including Pirates of the Caribbean and New York, New York. I'm guessing this was added in to please the tourists...haha.
Check out those hats. I need to get one of those!
The changing of the guard ceremony was much more elaborate than I expected and lasted a full hour! Next, we continued our tour of the city stopping often to take pictures.
Big Ben
Westminster
St. Paul's Cathedral
Tower Bridge
Tea time! This was one of my favorite parts of our time in London. On our last day in the city, after walking around in the rain all day, we stopped and had tea at a cute tea room near our hotel. The little girl in me was very happy. I don't think Damien was quite as excited as I was...haha...but I think he secretly enjoyed it nonetheless (Who doesn't like scones and clotted cream?).
After four wonderful days in London, we headed to Dublin to visit one of Damien's childhood friends. Aurélien, showed us all around the city and took us to a few local pubs where we heard some wonderful Irish music. He, also, took us to his favorite fish & chips shop in the city. It was delicious!
While in Dublin, we visited Trinity College. The campus is beautiful and is home to the famous Book of Kells. Unfortunately, due to security reasons, the Book of Kells wasn't on display the day we went (go figure!), but we did get to see the old library.
In order to see as much of Ireland as possible while we were there, Damien and I decided to rent a car. Despite the challenge of driving on the opposite side of the road for the first time along with my horrible navigation skills, Damien did a great job!
While staying in Dublin, we took a day trip to Wicklow National Park about an hour outside the city. On our way we passed many signs like these where the names of the towns were written in English and Gaelic.
Along the way there were many photo opportunities (one prettier than the next) so we stopped a lot.
We did some hiking while in Wicklow National Park and this was definitely my favorite part of the trail. For about a mile or so, we hiked right along the edge of these cliffs that overlook this beautiful lake. Despite the rainy weather, the views were spectacular.
The sun came out just long enough for us to take one picture!
After a few days in Dublin, we headed west. We stayed in the little village of Oughterard about an hour outside of Galway. This is our B & B. It was great!
Every morning when we left our B & B the horses next door would greet us.
The west coast of Ireland is breathtaking! The countryside is covered with green pastures, old stone walls, and sprinkled with quaint little villages full of cozy cottages and stunning castles that seem to appear out of nowhere on the desolate country roads.
One of the most famous castles in the Connemara region is Kylemore. It is now an abbey owned by the Benedictine nuns, but was once the home of Mitchell and Margaret Henry, a wealthy British couple. They first visited the Connemara region on their honeymoon and fell in love with the area. In fact, Margaret loved it so much that her husband built her a castle there. Construction began in 1867 and lasted until 1871. Unfortunately, Margaret didn't have much time to enjoy Kylemore because she died in 1875, just four years after it was finished. She left behind her husband and nine children. Mitchell Henry was devastated by his wife's death and sold the house soon after she died. However, before he did he built a beautiful miniature cathedral in her honor. Mitchell Henry never remarried and is now buried along side Margaret at Kylemore.
Kylemore Abbey has a rich and complex history, which makes it all that more intriguing. Damien and I went on one of the many rainy days we had while in Ireland, but somehow it seemed appropriate for our visit. The stormy weather added to the intensity of this place and we, too, found ourselves getting caught up in the Henry's tragic love story, as so many people do.
The last place we visited was the Cliffs of Moher. Damien's friend recommended we go and it was well worth the visit!
We spent the afternoon hiking along the cliffs admiring these incredible rock formations and breathing in the clean, fresh ocean air. We even stayed long enough to see the sun set. It was a great way to end our trip!
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