First holiday recap

After nearly a month in ireland, Sarah was getting antsy to do something. Somehow government visits, setting up utilities, buying cars was not spiritually satisfying. School was also looming, starting next Friday so no time like the present for a summer holiday.

Originally we were thinking of heading out to Galway (Easy trip on the M6). Then we looked farther west to the the Aran Islands (of sweater fame). When doing our research their were 3 islands to choose from Inishmore, Inishmaan, and Inisheer or in Irish terms Inis Mór, Inis Meáin, and Inis Oírr,  I ended up choosing Inisheer because we could get a boat that would take us to the Island for 4 hours then a 2 hour trip back via the Cliffs of Moher. I reserved  ferry tickets and B&B so we were ready to go.

Day 1
We planned or first day to stop at the walled city of Athenry on the way. We had meant to go there last week during National walled towns day but our car insurance wasn't ready so we stayed local for the Maynooth tour last weekend. Turned out to be a good choice to go on a weekday.
First stop in Athenry, the playground next to the castle. Yet another park with a zipline (Oregon pay attention, these are great and work in all weather even if our weather was sunny this day). Then we went around Athenry castle. It was more than a ruin and was quite a good site.

Next stop , the Athenry heritage centre. Seemed a bit pricey and on the surface looked a bit hokey.
First stop was the costumes

I'll admit not my usual cup of tea. Sarah as a former S.C.A member was all over it as were the kids.
Kids also got to try on some armor and yield some real medieval weapons

Then some time at being royalty, not that different then there normal pampered existence I'd say.

The dungeon , fun stuff like stocks and a neat new punishment device where two quarreling people are locked together for a week. They have to learn to cooperate to eat, sleep and other stuff...

Lastly to seal the experience they had archery lessons included.

even a balloon pop for Jack and Audrey.Kids had a great time and they'd love to go back. 

 Then the second half of our drive to our B&B where we ran across a random castle on the coast tat was quite spectacular

Day 2
Woke up early , had some beautiful food at the B&B

Then off to the Doolin Ferry and Innis Oirr

the Ferry was appropriately the Jack B. When we arrived at Inis Oirr it was raining a little so we grabbed a guide bus/van for a quick tour around the sites. 

shipwreck

"beach"

castle

more castle

sunken church

Then on to the boat again for the visit by the Cliffs of Moher. Definitely the way to see them up close and personal. 

Then an evening meal followed by a little traditional music.

Day 3

We hadn't fully figured the return day out. We decided to head out into the Burren which is the geographical area in this part of Ireland. First stop was Caherconnell fort. One of 600 stone forts that once stood in the area.

One of the amazing things we had being seeing on this part of the trip is the stone walls. All stacked with no mortar. 

After the fort we headed to the a dolmen called a Portal Tomb

The dolmen also happened to be in a great area of the Burren that showed the limestone erosion patterns the Burren is famous for.

That about wraps it up. We had about 2 hours from their to home. Turns out 2 hours is about the limit for Jack on road trips without a break. A bit squirrely at the end of it. .

Overall a successful weekend. Good weather overall, a few surprise finds and some lessons learned.

next adventure school... starts Friday

still many things left on our to do list
1- European pin and chip credit card
2-bank account for Sarah (has been harder then you think)
3- another visit to immigration office
4- visit to social welfare office
5- driving lessons/licenses
and more...