Chasing Leprechauns in Ireland

Irish road block! Mario and I were so excited when we saw all these sheep in the middle of the road!

I've been in Ireland for 7 days now and on the 27th I am flying with my mom and Mario to Scotland. Ireland is absolutely beautiful and we have been so lucky to have nice weather. The Irish are so friendly and kind. I really LOVE Ireland; I will definitely come back one day. So that I won't write too much, I will give you a short summary of what we have been doing.

Dublin-Dec. 20 to 23
In Dublin our hotel was in Temple Bar, which is the main club and bar district of all of Dublin. One of the largest and most popular clubs was right beneath our hotel and every night we could hear the thumping of the techno music....which I can not stand. Anyway, Dublin was so much fun and so beautiful. It is not your typical capital city. The buildings are of normal size, the streets aren't very crowded, and the people are so friendly and polite. The city is very beautiful and we were able to see a lot in such a short time. It is one of my top 3 favorite cities in the world! I liked it that much. :D

We visited Trinity College where we saw a copy of the book of Kells, visited Merrion Square Park, Stephen's Park, Grafton Street where all the shops are, the Christmas markets, the old Dublin Castle and the new palace, Liffey River, Ha'Penny Bridge and the Guinness Storehouse. I really enjoyed everything we saw. We had a blast! I really loved the old Georgian homes with the colored doors. On our last day, my mom decided it would be easiest and cheapest to travel around Ireland if we rented a car, so that's what we did. It was very weird seeing the steering wheel on the other side of the car and driving on the other side. It was fun though seeing my mom trying to figure her way around Dublin. It was a sad day to leave this city.
Trinity College...I really liked the campus.

The beautiful Stephen's Park.

I loved visiting Merrion Square Park and I really liked this Oscar Wilde statue.

The Georgian architecture in Dublin was absolutely beautiful and it was so much fun to see all the different colored doors.

For my mom's b-day, Mario and I took her out to dinner to see Irish dancing and listen to Irish music. It was really fun and the performances were great! Here you can see the Irish dance group that performed.

This is the Irish band that performed during the dinner.

Here we are!

The only remaining part of Dublin's old castle, the rest was burned down due to a fire in the gun powder room...how horrible is that?!

The Liffey River and Ha' Penny Bridge.

Mario and I had a lot of fun at the Guinness storehouse...of course my mom didn't get any.

Bunratty and Shannon Dec 23 to 24
Bunratty Castle and Folk Park was one of the places my mom really wanted to visit and it was absolutely beautiful there. Bunratty Castle and Folk Park has been preserved as an old medieval town (it's all dressed up and decorated from that time period). I guess normally there are people dressed in period costumes playing different roles in the small village that is a part of Bunratty castle, but I think that because of the holidays no one was there. We were able to see the entire castle and the rooms were decorated appropriately. The "village" was very small and there were a variety of farm animals within the park. We took some really fun pictures while we were there. Enjoy!
Bunratty Castle
Bunratty village
Mario on one of the canons in front of Bunratty castle
The old village in Bunratty Castle
Mario and I "drunk" in front of a Bunratty bar.
Mario and mom at top of castle.

Cliffs of Mohr & Killarney Dec. 24-26
On our way to Killarney, we went to the Cliffs of Mohr which were beautiful. It was very foggy, but it made the illusion of the cliffs even more mysterious. The views were gorgeous and Mario and I made a friend there too...with a sheep herding dog! We named him O'Brien; he needed a good Irish name. We stopped at a small bar to get some drinks before our long drive. We got into Killarney around 4pm and were welcomed by a huge and very elegant hotel.

This evening we just stayed at the hotel and relaxed for Christmas day. On Christmas day, we drove around the Ring of Kerry and into the town of Kerry as well. It was absolutely beautiful! Everything you imagine Ireland to be. We stopped so many times to walk around and take pictures of the landscapes. We even had a few traffic jams due to sheep....Mario and I were so excited and decided to record what was happening. The owner of the sheep was herding them with his car...I guess it is the modern way, no?

Then we returned to the hotel for a very nice and filling Christmas lunch. The food was delicious. We relaxed for the rest of the evening.
Mario and I in front of the Cliffs of Mohr
Our new friend O'Brien
Cliffs of Mohr
Killarney National Park

On our way to Killarney we stopped at a small town called Adare, it was adorable!

Ring of Kerry
Church in Killarney
Christmas lunch, it was so beautiful!!!

Blarney Dec 26
On our last day in Ireland, we said goodbye to the beautiful city of Killarney and drove to Blarney to visit the Blarney castle and to kiss the stone! For those of you who don't know, if you kiss the Blarney stone you will be given the gift of eloquence...unfortunately, it didn't happen to me...hehe! Anyway, the castle was pretty cool to visit. It was in ruins and it wasn't decorated like the Bunratty Castle, but it was still really cool to visit. Then we got to the top and I prepared myself to kiss the stone. It is a little nerve wrecking at first because you have to lay down on your back and kiss the stone upside down at the highest point of the castle. The good thing is, that I didn't notice until I watched Mario kiss the stone first, is that there are bars that prevent you from falling. Thankfully, that diminished my nervousness. It was really cool to do something different like that. My mom chickened out at first, but then she decided to do it, so we went back and we all kissed the stone!!!
Blarney Castle
Mario sitting in the dog kennels
Me kissing the Blarney stone!
View of Blarney castle area from top of tower.


I will be sad to say goodbye to Ireland, but I'm hoping one day I will be able to return. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that you will enjoy the new year! I send you all my love!

Besos, Celeste