Back home again!!

Well, I'm sad to say our wonderful trip to Ireland ended. The flight back was usual, pretty boring. at the Chicago airport, we called our grandma Marilou (dad's side). No interuptions on that flight either. See everyone reading this soon!!!

-Annika ;)

home at last

Yesterday was the first day in my life that was Twenty nine hours long. The flight was boring but I had a window seat so I was pretty much good. Then we got to the Chicago airport and got our baggage on to our other flight and went to our gate. Our flight  from Dublin got in at about twelve thirty and we left at four fifteen so we had a couple hours to wait. When we got to our gate I saw Shahil (one of my friends from school) coming back from India.

The flight to Little Rock was only about an hour and a half and I still have not been able to pop my ears and its really hard. We took a cab back to our house and went to bed almost immediatly. 

dublins last day

Today was our last day in Dublin and we rushed to see a lot so we got on the bus and headed over to St. Patricks Cathedral. It was really big but we didn't spend a whole lot of time there.

Then we went to Dublin castle and took a tour of the main castle.

Then we went we went over to Dublins early jail and took a tour. The jail was really interesting then we went over to the brewery but it was closed so we headed back to the hotel. then we sat around for a while and walked a block or so to go get dinner. Now where spending our last night siting around and watching TV but it was a really fun trip.

Phillip

The last day

Today was cool. when we woke up, we had a quick breakfast and set out on the way to Dublin Castle. It was really cool. When the castle was first built, it had a big gun powder tower. the castle later burned down, and was rebuilt as a courthouse and manor. It is now used to inaugurate irelands president. after this we visited Saint Patrick's Cathedral. Really cool stain glass windows, and a nice monument to the great saint himself. Next we took a bus to the coolest place yet, the Kilmainham Jail. Apparently, many of the famous leaders of the Irish rebelions were kept and executed there. Really interesting. Hope this blog kept you interested in our trip!!

-Annika:)

the last day

Dublin and a horse ride (continued)

After a quick tour around Galway, we headed for Dublin. On the way, we saw an add for horse rides, It sounded fun, so we hung around and rode horses for two hours.Unfortunatly for us, It rained most of the time we were on the horses. On the way to Dublin, I got so tired I skipped dinner, and lay down in the back seat of the car. After we got to Dublin, We crashed at the hotel. Next day, we get up late, and have brunch in the hotel lobby. Next we went to the National meusam, and saw the book of Kells. Pretty cool. We planned to do some more stuff tommorow. In Trinity College, where they keep the book of kells, There was a huge library with marble busts of all the major writers and philosophers. Even though we only knew half of them, It was really cool.

-Annika :)

dublin and a horse ride

Yesterday morning we got up and got packed. Then we walked around the city of Galway for a bit and took a bus tour.

After we got on the road for about a Half an hour we saw a Horse museum and decided to take a stop. We fond out that you can take horse rides so me and my sister signed up. When we got back from the horse rides we were completely soaked. Then we hit the road for Dublin. When we got to Dublin we turned in our rental car and took a bus over to our hotel and it was lights out.

This morning we got up at around ten and went to see the Book of Kells which is a four volume book that each have at least two thousand pages, and there made out of calves skin and there hand written. Each book has tons of keltic pictures painted by hand and wit complex designs.

We got out on to the streets we went to the museum of natural history but you'll find out about that when my sister posts

Phillip

Seals,more castles, and cliffs

Before today, we hadn't seen any unusual animals on this trip. Yes, Until Today. After taking a short boat ride to Inis Mor, Part of Aran chain of Islands off the coast of Ireland, we rented bikes and rode around the Island. One of the places we stopped was a seal colony. Seals!! I thought they were awesome. everywhere you looked you could see heads poking up out of the water; most of them were pretty far off, but It was really cool. Some, Instead of swimming with their heads out of the water, sunbathed and splashed around on the sandbars. Another cool place on Inis Mor was Dun Angasa. It is a large castle that is very old, and even has started to collapse over the huge cliffs below. The castle isn't really the main attraction, though; it's the cliffs that go at a 90 degree angle into the foaming sea below. We took a lot of pictures, so expect them on faceook when we get back (I can't plug my mom's or my own camera into my dad's laptop). 

-remember to keep up with the blog!!

-Annika ;)

"Different? yes"

Things you don't see in Ireland

1. Dr. Pepper- For the Irish Dr. Pepper is like crack, if you get your hands on it its like gold. I've only seen about five of them

2.Mc, Donalds - thank god, i've only seen five his whole trip

Something you do see

GUINNES BEER

the irish love there guinnes anywhere you go (anywhere as in anywhere) there is something that represents guinnes.

Phillip

 

Inish Mor

We woke up in the bed and breakfast the next morning and left about ten thirty. After we got out of there we went to a really cool water fall that came down from the side of a mountain. Then it was strait for Westport (our next city that we slept in). When we got to Westport we stoped and saw some runes and went to the B & B. After the night at the B & B we drove down to Galway and spent the night in a hotel. The hotel was really nice and it has A large bay window that gives a nice view of the river and other buildings.

This morning we got up and went down to breakfast. Then we caught the bus and went down to the docks. There are three islands off of Galways coast called Inish Mor, Inish Eir, and Inish Orre which we decided to take a day to go to. the island of Inish Mor is pretty big so we only went there but it was still really nice.  Before we got there the Irish rescue team decided to show off. There helicopter hovered right above the ferry staying at the exact same speed and lowered down a person then, they lowered a basket and brought him back up. It wasn't much but it was still really cool. We got to the islands and got some bikes to ride around with and decided to go see two places, The seal colony and Dun Angasa. if you want to hear more about our visit to Inish Mor than watch for my sisters posting.

Phillip

Castles and Causeways

After we got up after the rainy day at the horse stables and New Castle, we went to the beach. I collected A few rocks and shells (though "A Few" is probably an understatement). After this we drove to a small castle and hung around to take pictures. Later on we stopped again in Down Patrick, where St.Patrick is buried. Next, we drove to a town on the coast called Portrush and retired in a small guest house. When we woke up, the sun shown through the large bay window in the room, and we ate a hardy breakfast. The most anticipated part of our trip was next. Giant's Causeway. It was AMAZING!!!! huge steps that lead all the way to Scotland, and all naturally formed by the earth. If you ever go to Ireland make sure you visit it. The same day we also took a short hike aross a rope bridge that spanned between two Islands (eeek!)and visited a large castle by the name of Dunlace castle. It was huge! I thought it was really cool. It was made of stones from the causeway. After that we went back to the guesthouse to change into bathing suits, and build a sandcastle on the beach. We woke up the next morning, to drive to a small town and take a ferry across an inlet from the sea.Then we went to a walled city called Londonderry, and took a walking tour. Lots of rich Irish history. We drove from there to Ardura and slept in a Bed and Breakfast. Remember to keep up with the Blog!!!
-Annika :)

1/2 the way there

we had a nice flight to Chicago and had dinner in the Chicago airport. We got of the ground about fifteen behind schedule but the flight was nice. After the plane ride we got our rental car and went a historic site called Knowth and Newgrange.  When we got to the house (a friends house that were staying at) we got a full tour and got to see the pets including the goat, baby goat (awwww !!!) dog and four cats. We talked until about ten thirty, and it was just starting to get dark. In West Ireland sunset is'nt till about ten o' clock. We woke up at about ten ate breakfast and went back to sleep for an hour, then we got back up had lunch and went out to the horse stables to see there horses. After we went to the stables we went into the near by city called Newcastle. we hung around in Newcastle for a while and then went back to the house and had a cook out outside and stayed up till about one. The next day we got up around nine and milked the goats then we got the dogs and went down to the beach. we walked along the beach and threw jellyfish into the water because they had gotten washed up. then we said goodbye and headed up to Portrush (if you have no idea were i am look on a map of ireland). We stayed in a guest house that night and got a good night sleep. When we woke up the next morning we got breakfast and headed toward the Giants Causeway, the rope bridge, and Dunlance Castle (if you dont know any of these places check them out cause there awesome). We had had a pretty full day so we headed back to the guest house and got to bed. While on the way home my sister (Annik) wanted to go to the beach so we got our swim suits and went to the beach (do not do this it was cooooold). Today we got up and left for Artera which was about a three hour drive. we stopped in London Derry and had a walking tour around the city (which holds the record for longest seige and its walls have never been breeched). Then we drove the rest of the way to Artara, got to our Guest house and now I am typing this blog

We will still be posting until we leave

Phillip

Oh, check out my sisters and moms blog for info about Giants Causeway, Rope Bridge, and Dunlance Castle

Tired, But having Fun

The flight was comfortable,and the time passed quickly. I didn't eat to much on the plane, we had had dinner in the airport. Got about an hour of sleep. When we got there we got our rental car, and then went to a stone age burial tomb that was a pretty large tourist spot. It was called Newgrange. Newgrange was cool, the people built the main building under a large hill, where they did religious ceremonies and kept their dead till the winter solstice. At the winter solstice, the sun would shine in across the floor of the cave under the hill. Later, we went to Elinor and Allen's house to hang out for a while, and then sleep. The next morning Phillip and I woke up at 10:30 and got dressed, only to take a two hour nap. After this, around 3:00 we went to the horse stable. After visiting the stables we took a walk along the beach in a small  town called New Castle. We got some tourist innformation and arranged hotel spots for thursday and wednesday. I also got a glass worry stone, and a shamrock keychain. To hear more about the horse stables and another part of  Newgrange, called Knowth, read Phillips blog.

-Annika W :)

Getting Ready to go to Ireland!

Passports - Check!
Airline Tickets - Check!
Hotel Reseverations - Check!
Rental Car - Check!
Learn how to drive a stick shift on the left side of the road - Michael's Checklist!

Still need to finish the school year (and pass!), pack suitcases, finish reading up on Irelend, and we're off. We're leaving on June 4 and arriving in Dublin on June 5 to meet Michael who's been there since May 11. Hope we don't get caught by the jet lag. Check out our postings of pictures and commentary about our adventure. We'll be back on June 16.

Phillip, Annika, Judy (and Michael) ;) :P 0:-)