Spring Break Day 5: Dublin to Dingle

Holy wow, friends and family. Today involved being in the car a lot more than any of us would have liked.

The hotel at which we got our directions to our real hotel. Da and I went back to the guy who helped us out, and thanked him again :)

Shopping on Grafton Street: my new favorite cafe name!

The shirt in Carrol's that Joe and I tried to convince Da to buy :P

Me and the W.B. Yeats 'sculpture' in St. Stephen's Green... abstract, to be sure.

THE SUN.

The fam is still in love with the concept of driving by random ruins :)

For a stretch break, we stopped in Cashel to see THE ROCK.

It was a little bit of a hike to get up there, but worth it!

Plus it was really nice because the sun stayed with us!!!

Ma and Da making the hike :)

The 12th century St. Patrick's high cross -- unique because of where the weight of the sculpture is held. Instead of on rings, the weight was held up by two posts on the side, said to represent the two other men crucified with Jesus. FUN FACTS!

Family in front of the Cathedral :)

Interior of the Cathedral

Lack of ceiling and the conical tower on the side

Ma exploring in the Cathedral

The arch here was where the rope for the bell hung down into the Cathedral itself -- more fun facts!

The source of all the fun facts -- Da reading the Rick Steves travel guide aloud

Been a while since we've had a 'taking a picture while taking a picture' picture...

The graveyard here is famous for having a large amount of well-preserved high crosses as gravestones... very pretty.

The Cathedral from the outside

Proof that we still had sun later in the day, too -- it was coming in and out for a while, behind clouds and whatnot, but it was nice to have around. We did spend a great deal of time in the car today: we left Dublin around 11:45, stopped at Cashel for maybe 2 hours, and got to Dingle by 7:15. WOO.

Joe spent a good deal of the trip sleeping, and since I was bored, I spent a lot of the trip taking pictures of him sleeping. This is my favorite.

Hills on the way into Dingle from Tralee

"WHAT IN GOD'S NAME DOES THAT SIGN MEAN?!?! WHAT FRESH HELL IS THIS??"

Dinner at Doyle's in Dingle -- I had the bacon and scallop salad!! (so much alliteration -- but so good!)

Joe's dessert of vanilla pannacotta. Super yum.

Joe's enthusiasm for his stick of chocolate.

My dessert -- something like mousse but also like cake. I forget the title, because it was very spiffy, but it was ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS. With raspberry sauce and white chocolate ice cream to boot.

Favorite store I've seen on this trip as of yet -- Foxy John's bar and hardware store.

Our inn for the evening! Has its own pub, and a laundry facility. Very nice...

...if a little cramped. Three beds, a bathroom, not much else. A definite change from Number 31, but since it's only for the evening, it's not a big deal. A comfy place to sleep is all we really need :D

 So. Another long day, full of fun and car travel. Tomorrow, I'll be reporting from a castle. There's a distinct possibility that I'll be able to shoot some bows, for a small fee of LOTS OF MONEY, so stay tuned!!!

-S