Ireland: What's not to love?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Ireland is one of my favourite travel destinations for so many reasons. It has great hiking and biking trails all over the countryside, lush green fields and peat bogs, deep history with ancient castles and prehistoric forts, plenty of pubs ( it almost seems there is one pub per person) with yummy Irish beer, traditional music with fiddles, tin whistles and the bodhran, rugged coastlines with whitesand beaches and steep cliffs, vibrant towns such as Galway and Dingle, country roads that are two lanes but aren't even suitable for one car, sheep everywhere, Aran sweaters, a stone you can kiss (that millions before you have already done) which gives you the gift of eloquence, Irish whiskey, great literary writers and poets, friendly people, Irish breakfasts with black and white pudding, etc. So much fun.


This is the Western Way Trail. We didn't see a single other person during the entire 25 km/15 mile hike. Highlights included the views of the surrounding mountains and lakes, fields of peat and heather, curious sheep and the pub at the end of the walk. Guinness never tasted so good!









Reflections on the Connemara Peninsula. The picture speaks for itself.













This was my favourite pub, located in the town of Dingle. It was a hardware store and pub combined. I could sit and have a Guinness and buy nails at the same time. What an ingenious idea.










Traditional Live Music in Doolin. The pub was hopping and the band must have played for more than 5 hours. Great dancing music! Too bad my Irish dancing lessons didn't go so well.











Cliffs of Moher. Just some of the impressive coastline of Ireland. They stretch for 8 kms/4.9 miles and rise up to 214 metres/700 feet above the Atlantic Ocean.













Outside of a pub. This was one of my favourites with the white and red decor and Guinness poster.













Cheers,
Meg