Ireland

Arriving into Dublin was a first for the both of us. Driving on the other side of the road was also a first (and potentially last). It may have been easier to find a potato during the potato famine then a proper street sign in the city of Dublin. The "20 minute" ride from the airport to the hotel was an all out adventure (and took closer to an hour). Note: when traveling to Ireland bring your own street map. The map Hertz provides is mockery of modern geography. It should be noted that Hertz also had dozens of signs throughout the airport and ride to the rental center for "Never Lost Navigation Systems". When we asked for one, the representative kindly replied - "oh, we don't have any of those". Fitting.

Discovering Dublin: Trinity College tour, the Book of Kells, walked O'Connell street, and Grafton Street. Maneuvering on foot is the way to see this fun city! After catching some of the key sights of Dublin, we were ready to tackle the Irish countryside...

The countryside brought us through towns along the east coast like Wicklow and Arklow. As we drove inward our instincts behind the wheel, proved to be comprised (again). It should have been an hour to our final destination - Kilkenny, but turned out to be a human game of Chutes and Ladders throughout the green fields of Ireland.

Kilkenny was the Medieval capital of Ireland. Town still has a very medieval feeling including Kilkenny Castle, many churches, stables, pubs and ruins. Our favorite Pub was Kyteller's dated back to the 1324, the owner was thought to be a witch. See below for another one of our favorites.


The B&B we choose might be the only B&B in Europe with louder traffic than our apartment in Zurich. The heat was also turned up to sauna like levels. D wanted to ask the Hotel clerk what time the safari would start because it was so hot, however better judgment prevailed. This was the only time D came close to losing his cool:)

We survived rain, roads, sauna conditions, but the locals could not have been warmer or more welcoming. We look forward to returning with a bit more planning on holiday. If you'd like to view a few more of the photos, click here.