Ireland Week. . . Part 2

For those of you who commented, yes, my hair is quite darker. Still not sure what I think. Two days before we left to Ireland, I went to the salon to get my highlights touched up. I'm naturally

a blond, but usually get highlights to make my color a bit prettier. I told my hair colorist to do whatever he wanted. He got really excited, because apparently he's always pictured me with dark hair. So, here it is. The good news is I can always go back eventually.

:-D

After a day of sightseeing in the country, a night out in the city was in order. My cousin brought us out to a couple of bars, and we had a great time talking and enjoying the city life.






Taher has a friend from high school living in Ireland, and one night he went out with him to watch a futbol (that is soccer for the Americans) match. No worries. . . Taher is not taking a picture while driving. The steering wheel is on the opposite side as ours, and the driving is on the left-hand side. Now THAT took some getting used to.





After our night out in the city, we decided to do a day of sightseeing in the city. We visited the famous Kilmainham Jail. This jail played an important part in Irish history, as many leaders of Irish rebellions were imprisoned and some executed in the jail by the british. This jail was build in 1796 and it was a very interesting tour. I learned so much about the unfortunate history of Ireland during this tour. The British imprisoned and executed the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising here. So so so interesting. I love history.






The next day, Taher and I decided to do a tour to the west coast of Ireland. Dublin is located on the east coast and is on the Irish Sea, and we thought it would be fun to check out the west coast and see the Atlantic. So, we got up early in the morning, and loaded on to the paddywagon and headed west.



The drive west was spectacular. We stopped in Limerick Ireland along the way, and the entire drive was full of beautiful countryside. Unfortunately, we also dealt with the tourist from hell. There is one in every tour, right? Taher even managed to snap a picture of her. (I apologize if this is anyone's Mom or Grandma)



So, a little about this woman. She was sitting near Taher and I on the paddywagon, so we couldn't help but overhear her. First, it started with her comments about our tour guide, who I thought was wonderful. He was telling us the history of the land, and he was obviously Irish (seeing that we were in Ireland) and she was making fun of how he talks. He was pronouncing "th" like "t" and that wasn't okay with her and she kept commenting on it. And loudly! She then started insulting all French people. At one point in the tour, we drove by a bar run by President Obama's relative, as Obama has Irish heritage. Everytime our tour guide would say Obama, she would hiss. . . loudly. Okay, I don't care what your politics are, just please have respect for the tour guide. So yes. . . This was the "ugly American" of our tour.


Moving on to our wonderful trip. . . :-D


We then stopped at a traditional Irish restaurant in Doolin Ireland and had a delicious lunch. Yummy Irish food. MMMMM.






At this point, we were SO close to our final destination, which is the number one tourist site in Ireland (The Cliffs of Moher) but we had one more stop first.



We stopped at a beautiful location right on the Atlantic, and instead of the trees and greenery like on the east coast, the landscape was all rocks. And like Taher does in every location we visit, he wanted to show his love for me.









After driving all day long to get from the east coast to the west coast. . . We were finally at our place of destination, the Cliffs of Moher. It is one of those places that pictures cannot even do justice. You sit there, and take in the scenery, and then snap photos, and then look at your photos, and know very well that nothing can capture what you are seeing with your own eyes. Nothing. It was THAT beautiful. I can see why it is the number one site to visit in the county. Gorgeous. Beautiful. Overwhelmingly Large. Wonderful. Taher and I took around 50 pictures of the Cliffs of Moher, and it was hard to narrow the pictures down, but I tried.











(Click on the pictures below to enlarge. You can get an idea of how big the cliffs are by seeing the teeny tiny people standing on top of them)















It was a wonderful day in the country. We arrived back to Dublin fairly late this night. We went back to my relatives house, and CRASHED. After a full day in the country, the next day was all about the city life.


To be continued tomorrow. . .