Hope everyone enjoyed the blog and thank you for checking it out. Check in now and then for normal updates and to follow our lives.
Cheers!
- Shalyce
Location:Foxworthy Ave,San Jose,United States
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Home sweet Home!
Well we are home safe and sound. I owe you guys a couple more posts on Ireland but just wanted to let everyone know we are home and getting back in the swing of things. On to the next adventure and wedding planning. I will catch up on the blog in a few days but until then get ready for engagement pictures, pick up the pups, start boot camp and on yeah catch up on work things.
Hope everyone enjoyed the blog and thank you for checking it out. Check in now and then for normal updates and to follow our lives.
Cheers!
- Shalyce
Hope everyone enjoyed the blog and thank you for checking it out. Check in now and then for normal updates and to follow our lives.
Cheers!
- Shalyce
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Cork, Blarney Stone and Killarney
After finding breakfast and our rental car in Dublin we got on the road to Cork. Cork is a fairly small town but another location crazy about their rugby! Kyle and I overheard at dinner that Cork was playing Saturday in the Europe semifinals, so we hurried back to our B&B to look up how we could go watch. We stayed at the location below, very old home run by two Lithuanian woman. Ours is the room on the '1st' floor (European first is our second) with the bay window. Lovely breakfast but definitely the most uncomfortable bed yet, sorry Paris this bed had you beat.
So back to the rugby, we looked into the tickets and unfortunately they were going to be playing in Dublin! Of course, the place we just left! Why not?! Oh well, continue on with our fun as planned.
For the rest of the evening we headed back into the town center and stopped off at the cathedral, HUGE! We just missed gnu inside but we peaked in and the stained glass windows looks amazing, oh well, next time and next cathedral, sure that isn't the last one we will see.
I skipped ahead a little earlier about dinner, we stopped at a pub and met two very nice americans, father and daughter, here in Ireland to research their family history. Kyle enjoyed the lamb stew and I had a cottage pie (shepard's pie basically), excellent!
On our walk home I got a night shot of the cathedral, a little shaky but still a nice shot. Back to the room for some sleep before on to Killarney.
Slight detour on our way to Killarney, can't come to Ireland a SECOND time and not kiss the blarney stone! Here is a shot of Kyle and the tower behind him. Not only is the experience of kissing the stone awesome but the grounds and gardens surrounding the tower are beautiful. I can post more pictures of that another time.
Not only is the experience of kissing the stone awesome but the grounds and gardens surrounding the tower are beautiful. I can post more pictures of that another time but here is a sample of the cool shots.
And here is the money shot! That's me in the purple, kissing the stone. No wonder the blog is so wordy this post, right? I am now blessed with the gift of eloquence. There was absolutely no line for the stone, we totally lucked out!
Since we were in the neighborhood, a trip to County Cork wouldn't be complete without a stop at the Jameson's distillery. See picture below of Kyle at the enterance.
Oh yes and me, the one that dislikes whiskey, was an official taste tester and now have a certificate to show for it :)
Before leaving cork we booked a room in Killarney and we ended up with the location below. They only had a family style room so we were living in luxury, well at least had a ton of space! This by FAR had the best bed of the entire trip. The problem with being so far north is that it stays light until well after 11pm and gets light again around 5am...throws me off and I wake up several times a night thinking we have over slept. Oh well, one of the perks to look forward to going home, there needs to be something, right? Oh yeah the pups too.
As you can see in the picture above, the hydrangea bush in front of the B&B was huge! I took some close up shots to show off the true colors, that's all I'm going to say about the next couple pictures other than I wish I had such great luck with these flowers.
For being a small town the center of town was hopping! It may be due in fact that they are hosting the Irish open next weekend, but it was crazy busy and the food was ridiculous expensive! We took a walk along a river trail in the national forest directly across the street from our room. This was one of the views of the town cathedral along the walk, probably can't see in this size picture but there are several deer in the meadow.
Part of the walk was along a 'river', the shades of green are amazing! The dogs would have had a blast in this creek.
After a dinner of burgers and donners, we headed back to the room for some blogging on my part and a little Die Hard action for Kyle, great way to relax after a busy day.
Going to do some hiking tomorrow and make our way up to Galway and the cliffs of Moher tomorrow. Having a blast in Ireland, can't wait to share more :)
- Shalyce
So back to the rugby, we looked into the tickets and unfortunately they were going to be playing in Dublin! Of course, the place we just left! Why not?! Oh well, continue on with our fun as planned.
For the rest of the evening we headed back into the town center and stopped off at the cathedral, HUGE! We just missed gnu inside but we peaked in and the stained glass windows looks amazing, oh well, next time and next cathedral, sure that isn't the last one we will see.
I skipped ahead a little earlier about dinner, we stopped at a pub and met two very nice americans, father and daughter, here in Ireland to research their family history. Kyle enjoyed the lamb stew and I had a cottage pie (shepard's pie basically), excellent!
On our walk home I got a night shot of the cathedral, a little shaky but still a nice shot. Back to the room for some sleep before on to Killarney.
Slight detour on our way to Killarney, can't come to Ireland a SECOND time and not kiss the blarney stone! Here is a shot of Kyle and the tower behind him. Not only is the experience of kissing the stone awesome but the grounds and gardens surrounding the tower are beautiful. I can post more pictures of that another time.
Not only is the experience of kissing the stone awesome but the grounds and gardens surrounding the tower are beautiful. I can post more pictures of that another time but here is a sample of the cool shots.
And here is the money shot! That's me in the purple, kissing the stone. No wonder the blog is so wordy this post, right? I am now blessed with the gift of eloquence. There was absolutely no line for the stone, we totally lucked out!
Since we were in the neighborhood, a trip to County Cork wouldn't be complete without a stop at the Jameson's distillery. See picture below of Kyle at the enterance.
Oh yes and me, the one that dislikes whiskey, was an official taste tester and now have a certificate to show for it :)
Before leaving cork we booked a room in Killarney and we ended up with the location below. They only had a family style room so we were living in luxury, well at least had a ton of space! This by FAR had the best bed of the entire trip. The problem with being so far north is that it stays light until well after 11pm and gets light again around 5am...throws me off and I wake up several times a night thinking we have over slept. Oh well, one of the perks to look forward to going home, there needs to be something, right? Oh yeah the pups too.
As you can see in the picture above, the hydrangea bush in front of the B&B was huge! I took some close up shots to show off the true colors, that's all I'm going to say about the next couple pictures other than I wish I had such great luck with these flowers.
For being a small town the center of town was hopping! It may be due in fact that they are hosting the Irish open next weekend, but it was crazy busy and the food was ridiculous expensive! We took a walk along a river trail in the national forest directly across the street from our room. This was one of the views of the town cathedral along the walk, probably can't see in this size picture but there are several deer in the meadow.
Part of the walk was along a 'river', the shades of green are amazing! The dogs would have had a blast in this creek.
After a dinner of burgers and donners, we headed back to the room for some blogging on my part and a little Die Hard action for Kyle, great way to relax after a busy day.
Going to do some hiking tomorrow and make our way up to Galway and the cliffs of Moher tomorrow. Having a blast in Ireland, can't wait to share more :)
- Shalyce
Location:Ross Rd,,Ireland
Ferry and Dublin
After a quick 45 minute ride on the subway and another 2 hour ride on the train we reached Holyhead and our ferry to dublin. The ferry ride was very pleasant. The seas behaved and the seating we got was perfect. Here I am enjoying the start of the 'cruise'.
After a rainy walk to our hotel, we headed out for the only logical tourist location in Dublin...Guinness! We missed it on our last trip to Ireland so we weren't going to let that happen again!
This one is for you Christine :)
Good tour but lots of reading,Kyle and I are bigger fans of the locals showing us around and giving us the flare that goes with it :)
After the free pint in the gravity bar we headed for the other staple of Dublin, Temple Bar. We actually go in to the bar this time. We were amazed, last time we couldn't even see the door. We had our own little nook at the bar where I enjoyed a cider with ice (or two) and Kyle a Guinness and a couple Jameson's on ice. Good thing we were walking back to the hotel.
We enjoyed the live local music and then called it a night, great start to the Ireland part of the trip. Heading out to Cork in the morning for more adventures:)
- Shalyce
After a rainy walk to our hotel, we headed out for the only logical tourist location in Dublin...Guinness! We missed it on our last trip to Ireland so we weren't going to let that happen again!
This one is for you Christine :)
Good tour but lots of reading,Kyle and I are bigger fans of the locals showing us around and giving us the flare that goes with it :)
After the free pint in the gravity bar we headed for the other staple of Dublin, Temple Bar. We actually go in to the bar this time. We were amazed, last time we couldn't even see the door. We had our own little nook at the bar where I enjoyed a cider with ice (or two) and Kyle a Guinness and a couple Jameson's on ice. Good thing we were walking back to the hotel.
We enjoyed the live local music and then called it a night, great start to the Ireland part of the trip. Heading out to Cork in the morning for more adventures:)
- Shalyce
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Liverpool
We stopped for the night in Liverpool to drop off the car and catch a train to Holyhead for our ferry ride to Dublin.
We walked around Liverpool and saw the sights. No football games were going on, but it is obvious they are very into their soccer.
We also didn't see any Beatles but the city is pretty unique. Take this picture, the old buildings in the background, modern condo/office builds and the old time fishing vessels in the fore ground.
Didn't get a chance to go up the tower but it is a prominent back drop of the city. We could always tell our way back to our hotel.
We got another interesting hotel, old hotel that seems like it would have been a real hot spot in it's day but now it is a little creaky and kind of dingy. This is our room...very high ceilings and interesting paint job.
Did a little reorganizing of the luggage and then hit the sack for our early or ing ride to the ferry.
Time to leave one island for another :)
- Shalyce
We walked around Liverpool and saw the sights. No football games were going on, but it is obvious they are very into their soccer.
We also didn't see any Beatles but the city is pretty unique. Take this picture, the old buildings in the background, modern condo/office builds and the old time fishing vessels in the fore ground.
Didn't get a chance to go up the tower but it is a prominent back drop of the city. We could always tell our way back to our hotel.
We got another interesting hotel, old hotel that seems like it would have been a real hot spot in it's day but now it is a little creaky and kind of dingy. This is our room...very high ceilings and interesting paint job.
Did a little reorganizing of the luggage and then hit the sack for our early or ing ride to the ferry.
Time to leave one island for another :)
- Shalyce
Stirling Castle and Glasgow
The next day we mad our way down and across to Glasgow. We stopped in Stirling and visited the castle there.
This is a picture of Kyle in front of the entry way statue.
This is the king's living quarters, he didn't live long enough to see it finished or possibly ever spend a single night there but it was the home of Mary Queen of Scots.
We took the audio tour, in this picture there is a great view of the city below and the monument to brave heart. This is the sight of the famous battle and the movie inspiration. The sun was out, makes for a wonderful squinty picture!
Glasgow wasn't our favorite but we ended up with a very interesting room at a best western. The building had half floors and was truly a maze to navigate. But it worked and we slept good.
For our last night in Scotland, we opted for a low key dinner that night, self portrait :)
This is inspired by my mother...cheese, pear, humus and a bottle of wine. Hit the spot.
These little cows were our neighbors, the bull wasn't happy about the picture but the cows came over for a pet pet.
Kyle woke up and went out played a round of golf, he was drenched when he came back but what an experience.
On our way out of Glasgow we stopped at their cathedral, very pretty. No guide or official tour so we looked around and took some pictures and then got on the road to Liverpool.
Kyle took a picture of me, proof that I am here too :). The windows in this cathedral were beautiful, and the outside is getting a face lift a the moment.
Scotland was amazing and I would highly recommend it to anyone that is thinking about coming here.
I did a lot of reflecting and thinking about my grandpa and his family here. Amazing to see all the history and remember those we love. Miss you Gramp!
- Shalyce
This is a picture of Kyle in front of the entry way statue.
This is the king's living quarters, he didn't live long enough to see it finished or possibly ever spend a single night there but it was the home of Mary Queen of Scots.
We took the audio tour, in this picture there is a great view of the city below and the monument to brave heart. This is the sight of the famous battle and the movie inspiration. The sun was out, makes for a wonderful squinty picture!
Glasgow wasn't our favorite but we ended up with a very interesting room at a best western. The building had half floors and was truly a maze to navigate. But it worked and we slept good.
For our last night in Scotland, we opted for a low key dinner that night, self portrait :)
This is inspired by my mother...cheese, pear, humus and a bottle of wine. Hit the spot.
These little cows were our neighbors, the bull wasn't happy about the picture but the cows came over for a pet pet.
Kyle woke up and went out played a round of golf, he was drenched when he came back but what an experience.
On our way out of Glasgow we stopped at their cathedral, very pretty. No guide or official tour so we looked around and took some pictures and then got on the road to Liverpool.
Kyle took a picture of me, proof that I am here too :). The windows in this cathedral were beautiful, and the outside is getting a face lift a the moment.
Scotland was amazing and I would highly recommend it to anyone that is thinking about coming here.
I did a lot of reflecting and thinking about my grandpa and his family here. Amazing to see all the history and remember those we love. Miss you Gramp!
- Shalyce
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
St. Andrews, Arbroath,and Auchmithie
From Edinburg we head North to St. Andrews, world famous home of golf. This year they held the open at Royal St. Georges but every 4-5 years it is held at St. Andrews so we had to check it out. Kyle is standing on the top of one of the pro shops, spectacular views of the course and the ocean. The weather wasn't the nicest but the course was still packed.
Here is me braving the rain for a shot with the course in the background. Fun story about reaching that pro shop, we literally drove on a road across the 18th faraway...we had no idea what we were doing other than Tom Tom said to take that road. I noticed some golfers as we were crossing and we could tell that we were on the but it wasn't until we were in the pro shop and saw the course map that we realized what we had done. Oops but what a story!
After visiting the course we went into the town of St. Andrew and saw the cathedral. It is in pretty bad shape but it was gorgeous and the location right next the the cliffs and the ocean are amazing. The rain made it a little less enjoyable to visit but we made our way around and enjoyed the sites.
To stay true with the 'home of golf' theme we had for the day, we headed north to a little fishing village called Arbroath. We found a place to stay, not the most character at this one but it was a bed and shower. Once our hints were unloaded we headed to the local course and rented clubs and headed out to our first links course experience. As you can see in the picture of Kyle and the flag, it was a tad bit windy.
This course had their own little St. Andrews bridge :)
They also have some wicked bunkers...Kyle was the first to experience one, extremely tough to get out of...
I should know I landed in one as well...
As we headed back into the 'clubhouse' (possibly the smallest clubhouse in all of golf) we started chatting with the owner and he gave us a suggestion of the location Of the best eatery in the 'town'.
He phoned the restaurant and said we would be coming, they get really busy is what we were told. He then wrote down directions to the restaurant, "turn right at the garage, turn left at the raspberry bushes". Thankfully we have TomTom and it was able to get us to the town...probably about 15 buildings in total in the whole town.
We put our order in and then went for a walk to see the cliffs and views, too bad it was later in the evening because the puffins were already asleep. That would have been something to see!
We shared an appetizer of garlic mushrooms and a bottle of wine. Kyle had a killer cheesy fish stuffed with prawns and I had traditional smoked Salk on and salad. We were spoiled a second night in a row, wonderful food in the tiny town of Auchmithie.
Another wonderful day in Scotland! Head out in the morning for more site seeing and a night in Glasgow. Enjoy the latest blogs and more to come when I can.
- Shalyce
Here is me braving the rain for a shot with the course in the background. Fun story about reaching that pro shop, we literally drove on a road across the 18th faraway...we had no idea what we were doing other than Tom Tom said to take that road. I noticed some golfers as we were crossing and we could tell that we were on the but it wasn't until we were in the pro shop and saw the course map that we realized what we had done. Oops but what a story!
After visiting the course we went into the town of St. Andrew and saw the cathedral. It is in pretty bad shape but it was gorgeous and the location right next the the cliffs and the ocean are amazing. The rain made it a little less enjoyable to visit but we made our way around and enjoyed the sites.
To stay true with the 'home of golf' theme we had for the day, we headed north to a little fishing village called Arbroath. We found a place to stay, not the most character at this one but it was a bed and shower. Once our hints were unloaded we headed to the local course and rented clubs and headed out to our first links course experience. As you can see in the picture of Kyle and the flag, it was a tad bit windy.
This course had their own little St. Andrews bridge :)
They also have some wicked bunkers...Kyle was the first to experience one, extremely tough to get out of...
I should know I landed in one as well...
As we headed back into the 'clubhouse' (possibly the smallest clubhouse in all of golf) we started chatting with the owner and he gave us a suggestion of the location Of the best eatery in the 'town'.
He phoned the restaurant and said we would be coming, they get really busy is what we were told. He then wrote down directions to the restaurant, "turn right at the garage, turn left at the raspberry bushes". Thankfully we have TomTom and it was able to get us to the town...probably about 15 buildings in total in the whole town.
We put our order in and then went for a walk to see the cliffs and views, too bad it was later in the evening because the puffins were already asleep. That would have been something to see!
We shared an appetizer of garlic mushrooms and a bottle of wine. Kyle had a killer cheesy fish stuffed with prawns and I had traditional smoked Salk on and salad. We were spoiled a second night in a row, wonderful food in the tiny town of Auchmithie.
Another wonderful day in Scotland! Head out in the morning for more site seeing and a night in Glasgow. Enjoy the latest blogs and more to come when I can.
- Shalyce
Location:Scotland
Edinburgh Day 2
Day 2 in Edinburgh... Rain! We hopped the bus to the city center to go exploring.
First stop to get out of the rain, the whiskey experience. You start your tour with a ride in a whiskey barrel, very mr. Toads wild ride feeling but very explanatory on the process of making whiskey.
At the end of the tour you are taken into a room with the largest unopened collection of scotch whiskey, a Brazilian man collected them and sold them to the museum for an undisclosed amount of money. There were thousands and thousands of bottles. My favorite had to be the bottles shaped like highland terriers, Scotty dogs!
Kyle in the hall of whiskey, he said he was in heaven...hehe
I didn't much care for my taste but Kyle finished off for me. I tasted from the lowlands, supposed to be more citrusy and Kyle tasted from the region of Islay, much more smokey flavor. They both tasted like whiskey to me, but Kyle loved his taste.
When we left the whiskey experience the sun was out so we headed to the Edinburg castle. We loved it, what a wonder tour. Took about 2.5 hours, so much to see and tons of Scottish history involved.
Kyle posing with Mont Meg, huge cannon, something Ike 70tons. They used human power to move it around...needless to say they didnt use this cannon very much, it could fire only 7-8 times in a DAY. Not what you call efficient.
This is a picture of the war memorial...tribute to the Scottish so Odets that have fallen in all the wars in history. Breath taking and sad all at once.
Panoramic view of Edinburg. We didn't feel like we scratched the surface of evert ing you could see in the city. But we had so much fun and were so blessed with beautiful weather for the most part.
To round out the day we returned to a restaurant we passed earlier in the day and it caught our eye. Seriously the best food of the whole trip, up to that point ;) The bowl of mussels was outrageous! White wine sauce with garlic and jalepenos, to die for...yummy. But wait, to top it off the gnocchi we had was gave the dishes I had in Italy a serious run for their money. Creamy bleu cheese and spinach gnocchi, delicious doesn't do this dish justice! Everyone that goes to Edinburg needs to eat here. http://gordonstrattoria.com/
Dinner down, it was laundry time! We did the essentials...unfortunately they weren't dry by the morning so we have had them spread out in th car drying since...hehe, a little oakey but it gets us clean socks and undies.
In the morning we head out to see St. Andrews and then adventure out see what we can see. We are having a blast!
- Shalyce
First stop to get out of the rain, the whiskey experience. You start your tour with a ride in a whiskey barrel, very mr. Toads wild ride feeling but very explanatory on the process of making whiskey.
At the end of the tour you are taken into a room with the largest unopened collection of scotch whiskey, a Brazilian man collected them and sold them to the museum for an undisclosed amount of money. There were thousands and thousands of bottles. My favorite had to be the bottles shaped like highland terriers, Scotty dogs!
Kyle in the hall of whiskey, he said he was in heaven...hehe
I didn't much care for my taste but Kyle finished off for me. I tasted from the lowlands, supposed to be more citrusy and Kyle tasted from the region of Islay, much more smokey flavor. They both tasted like whiskey to me, but Kyle loved his taste.
When we left the whiskey experience the sun was out so we headed to the Edinburg castle. We loved it, what a wonder tour. Took about 2.5 hours, so much to see and tons of Scottish history involved.
Kyle posing with Mont Meg, huge cannon, something Ike 70tons. They used human power to move it around...needless to say they didnt use this cannon very much, it could fire only 7-8 times in a DAY. Not what you call efficient.
This is a picture of the war memorial...tribute to the Scottish so Odets that have fallen in all the wars in history. Breath taking and sad all at once.
Panoramic view of Edinburg. We didn't feel like we scratched the surface of evert ing you could see in the city. But we had so much fun and were so blessed with beautiful weather for the most part.
To round out the day we returned to a restaurant we passed earlier in the day and it caught our eye. Seriously the best food of the whole trip, up to that point ;) The bowl of mussels was outrageous! White wine sauce with garlic and jalepenos, to die for...yummy. But wait, to top it off the gnocchi we had was gave the dishes I had in Italy a serious run for their money. Creamy bleu cheese and spinach gnocchi, delicious doesn't do this dish justice! Everyone that goes to Edinburg needs to eat here. http://gordonstrattoria.com/
Dinner down, it was laundry time! We did the essentials...unfortunately they weren't dry by the morning so we have had them spread out in th car drying since...hehe, a little oakey but it gets us clean socks and undies.
In the morning we head out to see St. Andrews and then adventure out see what we can see. We are having a blast!
- Shalyce
Location:Scotland
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