Our Vacation Called Life: Aug

Oh Ireland, where do I begin?? The countryside in Ireland is so beautiful; everything is green and lush!! Everyone we met along the way was inviting and interested in our story. I really felt at home! I would absolutely love to go back and visit again some day. This whole trip came to be because Notre Dame college football team was playing the first game of their season against the Navy in Dublin, Ireland. Jeff is a huge Notre Dame fan and Adriane's sister lives in DC and has several friends that are all Navy grads. Planning a trip around the game was the perfect excuse to go =) I went over a few days before the game with Adriane and Aubrie to do some sightseeing. Then Jeff met us over there for the game, and afterwards he and I were able to enjoy some time sightseeing across the countryside.

Some fun facts....

The country of Ireland is only half the size of the state of Arkansas.
The population of the entire country is just under 5 million people....that's roughly the size of the state of South Carolina or just the two cities of Chicago and Houston. Quite small in comparison to the US when you think about it like that!
There are about a million more sheep than people in Ireland!
Over 80% of the population is Catholic.
The architect for the original white house was James Hoban from Kilkenny, Ireland.
Ireland was the last state in Europe to pass a law allowing divorce. It was passed in 1995 and the first divorce wasn't granted until 1997.

Stopped off at a local pub for a pint and some lunch. By the time
we were finished here we had made friends with all the locals!

My first proper Guinness was in Ireland, how fitting and delicious!!

Upon entering the park to see the waterfall pictured below, we had to laugh at this sign. Am wondering what events took place to need a sign that states "No Antisocial Behavior"
as the first rule?!?

Powerscourt Waterfall is the highest in Ireland at height of approx. 400 feet.

Standing in front of the waterfall

So the best way to really get around Ireland is to rent a car and head out exploring. They really don't have a lot of highways to get around the country, so a lot of time you are driving on local country roads. Keep in mind two very important things when considering driving in Ireland.
1. They drive on the left hand side of the road.
2. There are almost no shoulders on the road and in many instances the road is barely wide enough for two cars to fit next to one another. See picture below!!

I should also mention they aren't a very good judge of a "safe" speed limit either!! Think how most times in the US when you are approaching a serious curve in the road that there are multiple warning signs including ones that recommend the top speed you can safely take the curve?! Okay, well in Ireland that's just crazy talk! The most you get is a sign painted on the road that includes (but is not limited to) "slow bend", "severe bend", or "dangerous bend"! No where is there any guide on whether a "severe bend" is worse than a "dangerous" one. I even think a few slow bends should have been labeled "severe"!!! You could even be approaching one of these so labeled "dangerous" bends only to see a speed limit sign read 120km/hr. That's 75mph!!! We would be lucky to take the curve safely going half that speed!! I can laugh about it now, but it was definitely a little stressful driving over there and I even enjoy driving!!

What's really funny is that if I could drive and take pictures at the same time I could have an entire album of hilarious street signs from our trip. They don't mark their bends very well, but they give you warning of all sorts of other things you might find on the road....cattle, sheep, horses, ducks, horse drawn buggies, jockeys horse back riding, and so many more. We joked that it was like playing a video game obstacle course and you never knew what they might throw out on the road in front of you.

This is what the typical roads looked like once you got off the highway. There is no shoulder on either side. The road isn't really marked. If you meet a big truck on the road you have to slow almost to a stop to pull over as best you can into a bush so the truck can squeeze by you! It's really quite an adventure!!

I so wished we would have had time to check this place out for lunch. Love the name!

My first Irish stew of the trip, delicious!! Love that I got a little shamrock biscuit on top!

Beautiful scenery

I looked everywhere, but couldn't find a single one!! =(

We saw sheep grazing everywhere, but only once in the whole week I was there did we have any actually walking down the road that we had to avoid hitting.

Here were our accommodations in Doolin. It's a pub downstairs and a tiny hotel above. It was a great little place to stay and the live music downstairs was fantastic!!

If I were still working I think I would have to hang this sign outside my cube! =) I love it!!!

After a few days of sightseeing we were headed to Dublin to meet a group of the girls' friends from DC and Jeff for the football game. I've never been anywhere yet in my travels and saw more Americans than actual locals; however, this was the case in Dublin the weekend of the football game. It was crazy busy and I think most of the true Irish hightailed it out of the city!! hahaha Regardless it was so much fun!! All of the pubs were packed and people were just having a great time everywhere. Not to mention that Notre Dame won the game so Jeff and I were even more excited!!