Happy Monday my friends! If it feels like I’ve been sharing details from my trip forever you are right – I feel it too! My apologies if you’re over it already, I promise things will be back to normal soon.
So the real deal here is that I struggled with naming this post. It could have easily been called “Meeting Dave and Dawn” because honestly that was a huge high point! I’ll get to that in a minute though.
When last we left off, we had just boarded a train in Killarney and set off for Dublin. Upon our arrival I realized that Dublin seems like such a big city compared to sweet Killarney. We checked into our hotel and set off to explore!
Trinity College
Trinity College
The River Liffey
Our first stop was the beautiful Trinity College. We were in line to see The Book of Kells but it was rather late in the day and after being informed we’d have less than 20 minutes once inside we decided to skip it. Instead we found ourselves across the street at The Irish Whiskey Experience. I’m not sure what that says about us but it is what it is.
Afterwards we had dinner and then crashed for the evening. We had an early tour in the morning. Here’s where the story gets fun! We met our new best friends – haha!!! This tour involved a train ride and we were lucky enough to meet Dave and Dawn. We hit it off immediately and ended up following them around hanging out with them all day. I swear they said they didn’t mind! In many of the photos from this day you’ll see Dave’s orange hat.
We felt like we knew Dave and Dawn forever!
On the train we sat with a sweet young man who had a guitar. He serenaded us! My BFF Dawn took this!
Seriously, how sweet is this?
The weather was not ideal for this tour but despite the rain we had fun! A bus met us at the train station to whisk us away for a day of adventure. Our first stop was Bunratty Castle. It was beautiful and furnished which was unlike all the other castles we’d seen.
Bunratty Castle
A tapestry inside Bunratty Castle
Beautiful study inside Bunratty
The highlight for me (well, besides meeting Dave & Dawn) was the Cliffs of Moher. Now, you’ll hear people say that in Ireland the weather changes quickly. They aren’t exaggerating, it does. When we first arrived at the Cliffs it was so foggy we couldn’t see a thing! We were so disappointed but we took pictures anyway.
When we first arrived at the Cliffs…
A few minutes later!
Breathtaking!
Well, within 10 minutes the weather had completely changed. Look at these photos! The Cliffs of Moher are absolutely breathtaking! The view was spectacular and we could hardly believe our good fortune!
After leaving the Cliffs we made a pit stop at a very interesting site. It honestly looked like we had landed on the moon!
Isn’t this incredible?
We boarded the bus and set off to Galway to explore and have dinner. Here’s how we knew Dave and Dawn were our people: we discussed dessert BEFORE dinner! Ha! But we did have a great dinner and then ice cream at Murphy’s afterwards.
Dinner!
Delicious ice cream at Murphy’s!
We think we might be related!
After a long bus ride back to Dublin we parted ways with our new friends and promised we’d stay in touch. I gave Dawn my card so she’d have my number. Had we not already been booked on another tour for the next day I know my husband would have wanted to hang out with them again! The rest of our trip consisted of my husband asking repeatedly, “Have you heard from Dawn yet?”
We had another early tour the next morning. The weather was perfect – cold, yes, but sunny and clear!
Rock of Cashel, also known as St. Patrick’s Rock
Rock of Cashel
We also made it to Blarney Castle and I kissed the Blarney Stone! 
Kissing the Blarney Stone!
Even better than kissing the stone was walking the gorgeous grounds!
We also stopped at Cahir. Once we boarded the bus and began the return to Dublin I spotted something…
My beloved late father’s name!
Seeing that hit me hard! We were moving and couldn’t get pictures so my husband immediately began searching online. He was able to find some photos for me.
On our final day we had no plans so we were free to roam about the city! We decided the hop on hop off bus was a great option so that’s what we did.
We made a pit stop at Tower Records to indulge my husband’s need for rock.
Inside Tower Records, Dublin
The best meal we had in Dublin was at an Italian restaurant called Pacino’s. It was delicious!
Pizza at Pacino’s
The cathedral at Christ Church
Then we set off to visit Christ Church and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Both were absolute works of art!
Inside Christ Church
Inside St. Patrick’s Cathedral
By the end of the day we were exhausted. We decided to have dinner at our hotel, pack, and then go to bed early.
The next morning we flew home. We did have a stop back in London where I checked off the last item on my to-do list: I had a Pimm’s cocktail! It was very good! It seems like each book I read that takes place in London involves a Pimm’s cocktail.
Pimm’s Cocktail at Gatwick Airport
And finally that’s it! In case you’re wondering, Dawn did text once they returned home from their trip. So yes, our friendship will continue, lol. Has that ever happened to you? You meet friends while traveling? I swear some people are just easy to get to know and we really felt like we had known them FOREVER. I think those around us figured we had been friends a long time and were traveling together. Getting to know them made the trip so much fun!
If you missed the other three recaps of the trip you can find those here,here, and here. It really was a spectacular trip and I thank you for indulging me!
