Travel: Ireland 2017 | offthebeatenpress.com

After visiting both Iceland and England, we traveled along the east coast of Ireland. We started off in Dublin and ended in Cork enjoying the sites along the way! The very first night we got there we met up with some friends from Richmond who had moved there. I was so excited to see them again! It's always nice to have friends in other countries and reuniting again was really special.We had dinner to start across from the ha'penny bridge at The Woollen Mills and then worked our way to the Vintage Cocktail Club, a hidden speakeasy that ended up being perfect. It was gorgeous inside & the drinks were divine. My friends didn't trust me when I first brought them up to the dodgy front door, but were very happy once we were inside. We ended the night in The Stag's Head with a Guinness.The very next morning, two other friends flew into the country to meet us. We let them sleep in a bit and then went straight to the Guinness Storehouse. The storehouse was huge and they did a great job explaining the beer making process, especially how it is different than other types of beer.I also loved the advertising section they had. They highlighted some of the best and most iconic campaigns over the last hundred years.They also taught us how to pour our own beer. Then we went to the top lounge to rest & enjoy a 360-degree view of Dublin.Here are some of the delicious foods we ate. That scone was truly the best I've ever had. It came from Queen of Tarts - where my local friend was actually employed! It was a great spot for desert of breakfast. Lunch was at a cafe called The Fumbally. And we tried an ice cream spot called Murphy's that used local Dingle Sea salt in one of the flavors. Needless to say, we went back twice. For lunch one day weThe next morning, in Dulin, we rose to explore a bit more. We started at a The Irish Museum of Modern Art and then walked a few miles to some gardens.Then, we went to St. Patrick's Cathedral and walked around on a small tour. That night we went home early and watched a movie before a delicious dinner at Union 8 which was close to our AirBnB.When we left Dublin the next morning, we drove to Glendalough in county Whicklow. This part of the country was beautiful. So so green.The ruins at Glendalough Cathedral tell a beautiful story and show glimmers of a historic past.I loved walking through the old graves and crumbling buildings. We were lucky to be there when no one else was. This settlement was from the 6 century!We walked around some of the path's and had lunch at The Glendalough Hotel nearby. The hotel staff was helpful and let us used their phone to make some reservations later in our trip.We drove through the rain on to Kilkenny. Our AirBnB here was at Highbank Orchard. I am so thankful we found this place. The couple's family has lived there since the 1700s and the rooms we stayed in were the formal stables. They use the apples to distill cider & a variety of liquours.Walking through the grounds was a treat. Their tagline was "from pip to sip," which I found super cleaver. The hosts let us do a full tasting of their brandy and apple ciders.We went to dinner in the city of Kilkenny at Kyteler's Inn. This place has been around since 1263. I had a chicken pot pie for dinner as a local band played beautiful Irish music and hymns. We walked around the city and turned in early for another movie night.Kilkenny was really easy to walk around and enjoyable for an afternoon stop.Here are some final shots of our orchard home! I wish we had been able to stay here another evening. Even if you don't book staying here it was a fun place to visit.Before we set out, we took some photos on the stoop.Then we traveled onward to the Rock of Cashel. These structures were equally impressive.You could walk in, our and around every little bit of them. There were graves surrounding the largest buildings too. Each cross was covered in mosses.It truly is amazing to think about how long these large rocks have been around.A family friend suggested for us to eat here at Chez Hans. We mentioned it to our AirBnB host who knew the chef and she mentioned there was a lunch place right next door that we opted to go to instead. Cafe Hans is run by the same people and was open during lunch. We did a three-course menu that was epic (They took cash only so be prepared!). And the tea. The tea everywhere was perfect. It's the thing I've missed the most since being at home.We then worked our way to Waterford to tour the Waterford crystal factory. They showed us the mold that made JMU's football trophy earlier this year.They take your right through all the working stations. It's so impressive to see the skill of these craftsmen. I could have watched them for hours.We ended the evening in Cork. We just spent one evening here exploring the city and walking its cobblestone streets. It was a shame to have to leave in the morning. Breakfast the morning we left was at Serendipity Cafe.I would like to go back to Ireland and spend some more time slowly driving around. If you missed anything from the whole trip, check out the first post about Iceland here and the second about England here.

Travel: Ireland