Last European Vacation for a while!

Warning: This will be a long post! We spent the majority of last week in Ireland. I have to say that is an amazing country and if you EVER get a chance to go, GO!!! We left on Tuesday. We flew to Madrid and missed our flight to Dublin so we had to stay in Madrid for the night. It was completely the airline's fault and of course, being in Europe there was absolutely no customer service so we had to pay to go to Dublin and pay for a hotel in Madrid that night. No worries...we hit up the Hard Rock Cafe in Madrid and just made a night of it! Wednesday was St. Patrick's Day and yes we spent it in Dublin Ireland. What a chance of a lifetime. It was crazy, but so much fun and a great experience! It was also Ben's birthday so yes, he turned 30 on St. Patrick's day in Dublin. He said by far it was his favorite birthday! We spent Wednesday just walking around Dublin. Here are some pictures.






On Thursday, we took an all day tour to the west coast of Ireland. The main stop was the Cliffs of Moher which were beautiful!






We also saw the Dunguaire Castle in Kinvara Ireland.



Corcomroe Abbey



The Leamanagh Castle



The lady that lived in the Leamanagh Castle was believed to be killing off her husbands. Her third husband fell from the highest point of the castle and died. It's believed that she pushed him.

Next was Kilfenora Ireland. This is where the original Celtic crosses or high crosses are.




Next we came to Lisdoonvarna Ireland. Every year in September, they host Europe's largest Matchmaking Festival. Yes, everyone at the festival is single and they all hang out for the week. The tour guide said it can get pretty wild!

Next we came to Doolin Ireland. If we ever get a chance to go back to Ireland, we will stay at a bed and breakfast here. We ate at this great little pub. The food was so good!



Ben finally got his cornbeef and cabbage which in Ireland they call bacon and cabbage.




On Thursday after the tour, we hit up the Dublin Hard Rock Cafe. It wasn't my favorite one so far. It was very small and the things inside it weren't taken care of.
On Friday, we toured the Guinness Storehouse before returning to Spain. Although I'm not a big fan of Guinness, it was a very interesting tour! They have spent a lot of time and money putting together this museum!






We we could definitely have used a couple more days in Ireland. There was so much that we didn't get to see and do. Hopefully, one day, we can go back!