Hi everyone!!  We’re currently adventuring in the amazing country of Thailand!  I’m sitting here listening to the ocean waves with a warm salty breeze trying to remember all the amazing things about Ireland…just a slight contrast between the two countries!  We were told however that we experienced an unusually sunny and warm week driving around Ireland – and it made me want to move until all our new local friends kept reminding me that the weather I was enjoying was not normal, but to expect much more rain and clouds.  Not gonna dampen my spirit – I’ve been wanting to visit the Emerald Isle for a while now and the people we met, the country we saw and the food/beer/music we experienced was wonderful!  You guys may know how much I love all things castles and fairy tales, and I am happy to say we visited quite a few Irish castles along our 600+ journey around the southern half of the country!  Those of you that follow on Instagram saw all of my castle posts from my iPhone, so get ready for some much clearer and better ‘travel’ photos in today’s blog!  (Instagram:  @jessicafreyphotography  or #FreysRTW)

Things I want to remember:

1) Smithwicks is delicious beer….however, don’t do what I did and pronounce it phonetically unless you want to embarrass yourself 😉  It’s “Smitticks”.  Also, do not order Harp….not cool apparently!  Also, found that I do enjoy a half pint of Guinness, but only in Ireland where it tastes so smooth and is awesome!   (Thanks Gleeson’s for the lesson on how to order beer like an Irishman!!!)

2) I may still move to Ireland someday….maybe for a summer home?  I left a part of my heart with Vig & Clare in Castleconnell and loved getting to enjoy meals at their home – great company, conversation and I admire their passion for life and their art!

3) Aparently my heart is happy when listening to traditional Irish music.  Our first night we found ourselves staying with a family on their farm (yeah, airbandb.com!) and while unpacking I just sat and listened to the wife sitting on her porch with her violin playing beautiful Irish tunes!  Also….I made sure to have my iTunes stocked with Irish music to listen to in the car as we drove around the country side. Thanks to my sweet husband for enduring HOURS of traditional jigs and pub music with me!!!

4)  I did not see anyone step dancing.  I’d like to think someday I’ll be able to take hard sole step classes and learn for real, but not gonna lie- I had hoped that we’d just walk into a random pub and there’d be a band and a step dancer waiting for me….too much time at Nine Fine Irishman with Sin’ Re Ra in Vegas I guess!

5) Driving in Ireland is sooooo tricky!  I’m beyond proud of Eric for not only driving on the opposite side of the road, but also for driving a manual – which put him on the opposite side of the car and the stick shift in his left hand.  Try to figure all that out for 600+ miles and return your rental car in pristine shape…..my hubby did it like a pro 😉

———-Our trip:  Flew into Dublin, 1 night in Kilkenny, 1 night in Tralee, 2 nights in Castleconnell outside of LImerick and 1 night outside of Dublin before catching our flight to London!  —————

Once we landed in Dublin and rented our car, we headed to a farm outside of Kilkenny to stay with a family we found on airbandb.com….this is their driveway and farm house!

We visited the town of Kilkjenny the following day….churches, pubs and a castle!

We drove the next day through Cork on our way to Tralee down on the southwest end of the country….this photo reminded me of Annapolis!!  They looked identical 🙂

We stayed one night in a Castlehotel….Ballyseed in Tralee was restored and renovated for guests to experience life in a ‘modern castle’….so much fun and very Downton Abby-ish!‘

One inside shot….I have an Instagram video if you’re interested in seeing more of the inside!

My favorite part of our bedroom….clawfoot bathtum and His and Her’s robes!  Fit for royalty!

Our next stop was Limerick Co. and we journed to Bunratty Castle – another restored to it’s glory days castle that is part of an entire village you can walk through as though you were back in the ‘olden’ days!  Very neat!

I saw this room and immediately went…CINDERELLA’S ROOM!!!  Seriously…..isn’t this where she would’ve slept?!

View of Co. Limerick from the top of the castle…such beautiful countryside!

One of the homes in the town:

The town church

“Main Street”

And it wouldn’t be complete without a stop at Durty Nelly’s!

A pub right next to the castle…..my favorite!

Thanks again for following our adventure!! If you’re on Istagram, we’re posting a ton of current photos and videos from Thailand and soon we’re off to New Zealand!  I’m hoping to blog London, Paris, Disneyland, Normandy and Thailand in the upcoming weeks!

www.JessicaFreyPhotography.com