The Adventures of Big Red in Ireland!: April Showers bring May flowers?

Hi! Sorry it's been a few months since I've posted a blog but the Irish lads and lassies are keeping me busy over here!

You probably want to hear about how St Patrick's day was celebrated in its home country. Well, I think I was expecting a little more to be honest. I went to Dublin to watch the Parade but there was hardly any Irish culture in it. Loads of bands and color guards from America were in the Parade and a few random people and things whom I had no idea what they were. Temple Bar District was more packed than Halloween in IV so I was kinda not into it. Basically, dublin is full of tourists and high school girls dressed in crop tops and shorty shorts (in the rain mind you) trying to get free drinks from the older lads. Do it once, don't need to do it again, but how many other people can say they were in Ireland for St Patrick's day!?

Now the highlight of my time over here so far was when my mom and grandma came to visit for two weeks! We seriously had the best time ever. They arrived on Thursday April 23rd even though their flight left America on Wednesday! We got a rental car and my mom made me drive he whole time since I was used to the roads. She kept telling me to stop driving into the ditches but she didn't realize how dang small the roads are! She got to meet both of my host families the first day and it was probably 70 degrees outside so mom had a lovely photo shoot with the kiddos.

The next day we drove to Belfast and they got to see the northern part of Ireland through one of the hop on hop off bus tours. We visited 'Crumlin Road Gaol' and saw exactly how 17 men were executed: it was a very intense experience. The next day we drove to Dublin and did another bus tour in the rain! Mon and grandma got to see all of Dublin in like 6 hours. We got stuck in traffic on the bus for awhile so I accidentally fell asleep. We stayed at Bewleys hotel by the airport and met the Irish Paralympics soccer team who were staying on our floor. It was an early night for us because we had to be up early the next day for our flight to London!

Our flight left Dublin at 7 in the morning and we arrived to London at about 10. We took a taxi to our hotel and found that it was within walking distance from Kensington Palace! So we went and did the tour of that and saw where Queen Victoria grow up and we believe that Kate and William were in residency whilst we were there since she had her baby only a few days after we left. That evening, we took the tube to Westminster and saw Big Ben! Mom and I took a ride on the London eye and were in awe of the beautiful city! After that, we found a lovely place for desert and then headed back to our hotel. We got up the next morning to catch the hop on hop off bus and met a lovely lady from Virginia. We went to see the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace and then went to St Paul's Cathedral! Mom and I walked over 500 stairs to get to the top and boy did we feel accomplished! It was another early night for us since we had to be up at 4 in the morning to catch the Euro Star to Paris!

The Euro Star was a fun experience even though we slept nearly the whole way to Paris. The hotel we were staying at was gorgeous and we even got a purple room! We had a tour booked for the Eiffel Tower at 12 so as soon as we got in, we headed there. We had the best tour guide, Roman who was cute and funny. Hehe. Then we decided to get lunch so mom could have her Croque Monssiuer. After that, we took a cruise down the Siene river and got to see all the lovely bits of Paris. Mom and I realized that we were a walk away from Notre Dame so we went and checked it out. It was magnificent! Then we found a lovely place for dinner where we each had a glass of wine and I had steak! Omg yum!! The next day, we went back to Notre Dame after having the best quiches ever for breakfast and then we headed off to the Louvre Museum. It was so overwhelming but it was great to see the Mona Lisa and Napolean III's apartments. Our flight was that evening so we didn't get back to my house in Tallanstown until about 1 am.

The next day started our adventures in Ireland! I made mom and grandma a FABULOUSLY Irish breakfast and we headed off to Roscommon for the first of two castle stays. We landed at Kilronan castle and were overwhelmed by its beauty. I finally felt like I was where I belong as a future Queen. There were lovely walking trails we could take and just gorgeous scenery. Too beautiful to explain. We headed off to Conemara the next morning which took us on a long drive up The Wild Atlantic Way. We finally decided to end our tour at Kylemore Abbey to see what used to be a famous girls school. There was a huge garden as well that mom and I only walked half of. Unfortunately, on the shuttle ride back to the parking lot, a girl threw up so we got out of there as quick as possible and laid our heads down in a hotel in Galway that night.

The next day was one of my favorites as we headed to the famous "Cliffs of Moher". It was raining when we left but when it was time for our Cliff Walk, the rain had subsided and we just had the wind to worry about. Grandma decided that a three mile walk would not be appropriate for her so she got a ride into Doolin to wait for us. Mom and I and a group of Germans were lead by Stephen through the Cliffs down to Doolin which took about two and a half hours. We were then escorted to the pier where we waited for a boat that would take us on a mini cruise to see the cliffs of moher from the bottom. It was pouring down rain but mom and I decided to stand outside to get some great pics and we ended up talking to the crew men the whole way. When we got back to the pier, there was a car waiting to take us back to the parking lot and we were so overjoyed. The driver ended up being the father of one of the crew men so we had a few laughs on the short drive back while mom tried not to have a heart attack from the crazy driving. Our night ended with a lovely dinner in Ennis and a stay at our first Bed and Breakfast.

Breakfast the next morning was home cooked by the B&b owners and we were still not sick of traditional Irish breakfast! We headed to Blarney Castle to kiss the stone and even got grandma to do it! We stayed in Portloaise (port-leash) that night and once again had an amazing dinner. Our final drive was up to Monaghan for our stay at Castle Leslie. We arrived before check in so we walked around the castle a bit before I got hungry. So we found a little pizza place that was set up in a house like estate. It was quaint and cute and the owner's girlfriend waited on us because apparently all the workers were too hung over from the May bank holiday to show up for work. Typical. We got back to the room about 4 and all of us fell asleep til about 6. Mom and I went to go pet the horses on the estate and I grabbed a drink at the bar whilst she had some coffee. Then I went and got grandma and we had dinner in the bar. Not too shabby I must day.

The next day was their final full day in Ireland. So I took them to dundalk to do a little bit of shopping and then we headed to my second family's home for yet another home cooked meal! Niamh made us steak and garlic bread and chips and loads of the best stuff which was by far the best meal we had this entire trip! It was so nice to enjoy our last meal with everyone there and just being able to remember all of the great things I got to do with my mom and grandma.

They left me the Wednesday morning and it was quite bitter sweet but now there's only about 3 months until I see them again! I officially got bit by the travel bug and have booked a trip to Rome with Megan next week and a trip to Germany in June where Helena will be joining me!

I seriously have been so blessed these past 9 months and won't know what to do when I have to leave. For now, I'm living every second as best as I can and not leaving with any regrets!

check out photopaige.smugmug.com for more pictures of our trip!