Adventures in Ireland

Well the idea of a daily blog clearly went out the window.

Let me start by catching everyone up. Sebastian, Rayray and I arrived in Dublin early Friday morning and the adventure started from the second we arrived. For anyone planning on traveling to Ireland, be sure to plan on paying much much more for your rental car than what you are quoted online. We paid twice as much. Ok back on track. We get our wonderful rental car (KIA Rio), and I jump in the drivers seat first (which is on the other side of the car). Throw it into gear and stall. Start it up again and now we are on our way through the parking lot. We get to the main road and Sebastian and I make note of the large triangles painted on the pavement but nothing registers so I take a right out of the lot and naturally turn into the right lane, WRONG! and into the on coming traffic as well to top it off. So to start the trip, we pay an arm and a leg for a car, and go the wrong way on a one way street in the wrong lane. But no one even honked their horns for flipped me off, everyone just went around me and must of thought, you dumb Americans. Our first mission was to find some food, and well we got lost in Dublin of course. To our surprise getting lost was the greatest thing we could of done. We ended up in the fishing town of Howth where we ate some fresh fish and chips (fries), took some cool photos and headed on our way. This is where the getting lost part got really interesting. We drove in circles for a while, asked for directions, and drove in circles somemore. After a little bit of "oh let just follow those "RAMPS" signs they have to lead us to some main roadways," we asked for directions again, only to be laughed at when we found out that the "RAMPS" signs meant that their was a speed bump coming up and not a road ramp. So yes we were following signs for upcoming speed bumps. Go ahead and start laughing now. So the two girls who told us about the "RAMPS" signs couldn't really give us any good directions so we just drove on in circles. After coming around another bend I noticed an older women waiting at a bus sign and told Sebby to pull over and I would ask her for directions. Well 85 year old Ann Smith decided the best way to give us directions was to jump in the car and ride along with us. As she rested her hand on Rayrays leg she pointed us in the direction we needed to be and jumped out near the shopping center. Now we are rocking and are heading to the other side of the country, Quin just outside of Ennis where we spent Friday night Saturday night and Sunday night in a castle built in the 1490's. So our short 3-4 hour trip across the county turned into 7 hours as we approached roads that no longer existed, burning houses, and crazy crazy Irish drivers on roads just wide enough for our little KIA. Thanks to another fine Irishman who went out of his way to lead us to our road, WE MADE IT!
So Friday night was spend taking lots and lots of photos of the castle, meeting the bride and groom and their friends and family. We made a trip to dinner that night but I don't remember where we went, I'll find out and post it later. Saturday, the day of the wedding started early for some and for Sebby and I just a little later since the night before we spent hours outside the castle taking long exposer photos. Finally we got up and got busy shooting the wedding preparation. The girls got their hair done, makeup done, and continued to doll themselves up in the coach house as the guys hung out in the castle reading women's health magazines and learning more than needed about the female anatomy as Sebby and I continued taking lots and lots of photos. At about 3PM and late I might add, we headed to the Cliffs of Moher and O'Briens Tower where the ceremony took place. The bride (Heather), tossed on her pink winter coat, hiked up her beautiful white wedding dress only to expose the hiking shoes she was wearing, and headed up the way. Tourists were stopping us and asking to get their photos taken with Heather but we finally made it to the top. The guys were already in position as a backdrop of green pasture and cows stood behind the girls as they prepare up the last few hundred yards to the point of the cliffs. The ceremony was short and amazing with a nice crowd of spectators taking photos and taking part in Heather and John's special day.
After the ceremony we hung out and took photos and eventually headed for dinner into the town of Ennis. We ate some amazing food, drank Guiness and had a wonderful evening. After dinner we headed back to the castle where we took more photos, had a few toasts and drank a little Mead before heading to bed. Sunday morning we woke and prepared for a little sight seeing. Sebby and I again got to bed really late (4:30AM) the night before editing wedding photos so we need a splash of some really strong coffee to wake us up. Finally all 15 or so of us loaded into three cars and headed out to do a little shopping. I met a great family Kristen and Gog and their little girls. The family is from Kilfenor which is near the Burren and they invited me to visit them at home and stay a few. (I'll probably be taking them up on that later in the trip). After a few hours of shopping and taking many more photos we were on our way to the Burren and Ballyvaughan, where we climbed rocky hills of limestone, and gazed at the ancient tomb, the 4,500-year-old Poulnabrone Dolmen. After an hour or so of wondering around the grounds and taking a really cool group photos we all gathered back at the Dolmen when Sebby got on one knee and asked Rayray to be his wife. I sprung into action and started taking photos, capturing the moment. As eveyone hugged and congratulated the two I snapped away and finally we headed back towards the cars and on our way to celebrated in the town of Ballyvaughan. As we ate dinner cars went by waving flags, honking horns and hanging from cars as the towns football (soccer), team just won the largest game they have every played. I ran outside and shot some photos of the excitement. Sebby bought a round of Guiness and drank one himself (first ever), as dinner ended and we traveled back to the castle for cake, coffee, tea and more sleep.
Monday we packed our stuff and headed for Ennis for one last lunch with Heather, John, Rich, Georgia, Sebby, Rayray and I. As we made our way through the street of Ennis past all the shops we witnessed a woman fall as Georgia (a nurse) and Heather (EMT) rush to aid her people gathered. The Garda (police) arrived and pleasantly made their way around the gathers. Heather and Georgia continued to aid her as the Garda called for the ambulance. The EMT arrived and Rich assisted them getting the woman, who suffered a stroke, onto a stretcher. We waited until the Garda and EMT thanked Heather, Georgia and Rich and assured that they could take it from there before heading to the SuperMac for a quick lunch. Everyone was pretty shaken up but we enjoyed our lunch, said our goodbyes and soon were heading to Galway. After hours of stopping and taking photos and finding a really cool swimming area where people were jumping into the freezing cold water we made our way to Spiddal where I met some really cool English fisherman. We spent the day along the Galway Bay and the Atlantic Ocean before traveling back across the country toward the Dublin Airport where Sebby and Rayray had to catch their fight to Frankfort at 4A.M. So needless to say we didn't sleep at all Monday night. We did stop at a great cafe/hostel in Gort where we met a wonderful photographer and had great coffee and pizza. We arrived at the airport plenty early and I waved the two good bye. It was 4 in the morning on Tuesday and I needed to find a place to sleep. I headed into Dublin and found a great hotel (Regency Hotel, Swords Rd, Dublin 9. Tel. 01-837-3544), and made it to bed by 5am. It is now 2pm Tuesday (8:00am USA time), and Im sitting in the great lobby of the hotel drinking coffee and typing this log. Today now that I am all rested Im going to head south along the Irish Sea and make a stop in Wicklow, Arklow, Gorey, Wexford, Rosslare, and see what happpens.

Ok Im in for the night. FINALLY! It's 1:00 am here and about an hour ago I had an old Irish man slam a B&B door in my face because..well I don't really know. Im pretty sure I woke him though so maybe thats why.
So today I traveled through Bray, which has a beautiful mountain line, stopped in Mt. Kennedy, not very exciting, and than went over to Newcastle on the Irish Sea coast along Coast Road. I found a very very small single lane dirt road leading to the sea and followed it for a while finally reaching the end. This place was amazing. I was the only person for as far as you could see. A very small village (3 house), were all that was visible. I made a few friends, a black dog and a beagle looking dog. I sat around and played with them a bit before they got bored and ran off. Walking along the sea I stopped and picked up some really cool looking rocks. All you could hear was the waves washing in and sinking back out making a really pretty sound as the water washed back through the rocks. The was very relaxing and calming. This is a place I would love to visit again in the future, but finding it might be a little difficult. It's between Newcastle and Rathnew. Oh I made a few other friends at this stop as well. A heard of cows that when I approached their fence I thought they were going to continue running through it and over me. I guess the only time they see people is during feeding time.
After about a few hours I was back on the road and heading toward Wicklow where I stopped and drank a Bulmers Beer, its a cider style beer, which I didn't know and will never get again. So continuing on, I followed the Coast Road past the Brittas Bay, through Arklow and stopped for the night in Wexford. The only thing open is a Quality Hotel that costs way to much but the manager gave me a HUGE discount and a pretty expensive traveling book that he had. For Wednesday Im going to head to the Rosslare Harbour and head toward Cork where Im going to try and stay a night. This has been quit the adventure, it would be better to have some company though.
More to come!
Well so much for making it to Cork. I found a small road Faha that lead up the Monavullagh Mountains and spent the day hiking around and chasing the mountain sheep. Im pretty sure their wasn't any other human any where near where I was but if their was Im sure I made a pretty funny sight trying to sneak up on those sheep. The mountains were amazing. Huge waterfalls came down leading to a really pretty river. This river came in very handy the next day as I used to to wash up and brush my teeth. Pretty refreshing, fresh mountain water. So as you guessed, I ended up staying the night in the mountains and damn did it get dark, and cold.
Well lets see what else will happen today.

Well I finally made it to Cork and basically just drove around it and through it looking for a place to sleep for the night. No such luck. Everyone is either full or closed. Oh so I managed to smash up the front left side of my wonderul KIA. Well its not really that bad. I turned to wide and bumped into a painted brick wall. Remember Im driving on the opposite side of the car, so give me a break. I scrubbed all the white paint off the front of the BLUE car, so hopefully the rental doesn't catch it. . Continuing on...I headed out of Cork and started heading back north-east. I stopped in the tiny town of Urlingford for coffee and a bathroom. I pulled into a super cool town called Mountmellick around 11:30am on Thursday. I parked the car and wandered around the town for a few before heading into a pub and scored a room for the night. The bar tender told me to park my car around the back of the bar so I grabbed my camera and went to get the car. I had to navigate through this tiny alley to get to the back and as I did I passed a group of school girls on lunch break. One said hi and I replied and when I did all their eyes lite up and one girl was like " are you from America", I said yes and I swear every girl in the town came out of the wood works and started asking me 1000 questions. I told them I was a photographer and they wanted me to take their picture, so of course I did. Well they went back to school and I wondered around the town for a bit. I met this awesome old man, 85 years old actually, and we shared a pint of Guinness together. He kept saying "your a fine young lad", haha I guess I tricked him huh. Well we drank a bit and watched some horse racing for a bit and finally I wondered on. I spent most of the day just running the streets and taking all sorts of pictures. Finally I made it back to the pub that I was staying at and met a few really cool locals. One who I called Cotton because I couldn't understand his accent, gave me all kinds of awesome history about Ireland and their culture. We spent the night drinking and playing pool and eventually I headed up stair for bed. Way to late and after way to many Guinness's. The guys all gave me either email address and phone numbers so I will definitely have to keep in touch with them.

Traveling on....
Well its Friday night now, and today hasn't been so good. I spent an hour puking in a shopping markets parking lot. Not sure what I ate but damn that sucked. I found a pretty cheap B&B and took a few hours nap in the town of Kildare. After waking up and taking a much needed shower. I hit the town. Last night the room I staying in in Mountmellick was pretty scary so I just slept on top of the blankets and didn't stick around very long. But it was nice to sleep in a bed for a change. Kildare is a pretty cool little town, very touristy but I like it. I has a ton of pubs and shops. It worth checking out. Off to bed for now.

Saturday..well I have to meet Sebby and Rayray back at the Dublin airport at either 4 or 5 I cant remember. I better be there at 4 just in case. Today Im going to go check out the Japanese Gardens and Tully National Stud ranch. Should be pretty cool. Kildare is famous for their race horses.

Well Im back in the state now so Im going to finish up Saturday and Sunday, so hopefully I didn't bore you to much with my journey. This was a trip of a life time, but I wouldn't suggest doing it on your own like I did for the most part. Having company would of been really nice and a second pair of eyes for navigating is always helpful.
So I go to the airport at 4, an hour early, and Sebby and Rayray were super happy that I was still alive. We dropped off the rental car and they gave us a clear slate. So they didn't catch the fact that all the clear coat was rubbed off and the bumper pushed up a bit so I got pretty lucky. They signed off on it so Im in the clear. We took a bus into the town center of Dublin where we figured we would have no problem finding a room for the night. Well we were WRONG. The Police (the band) was in town having a show so every place in Dublin was booked. After about 30 minutes of call around, the hotel we were at finally pulled some strings and gave us a room. But it was a room at 250 euros. Thats a shit ton of money. But we needed to sleep so we took it. After we all got cleaned up we headed downstairs for dinner. After dinner we took to the streets of Dublin. This place is crazy. Well let me say that Ive been to Mardi Gras before and Dublin was pretty close to that amount of craziness. We spent the night wondering the streets and just taking it all in before heading back to the hotel where they were having a huge party, and went to bed. Woke up at 630am on Sunday and flew home where I have to go through a special screening for hoof and mouth disease because I was out playing with cows, sheep and horses. Lets hope everything is clear huh. Well thats that now back to work and back to the real world.
After all this here is a link to some (well a ton) photos. http://www.craigwatsonphotography.com/Ireland/

p.s. a few images in the beginning are Sebbys