So lucky – the weather is beautiful! Only one day of rain so far!

Up and at it early again. Headed out at 9:00 to meet our tour bus to go to The Dingle Peninsula. Took a chance on a local tour company recommended by a taxi driver and it paid off. Such a great guide. Morris was so proud of his country and funny – lots of folklore and stories. Hairy roads to navigate in a full size coach but soooo glad we are not driving anywhere. left at 10:00 and got back at 6:00 so a full day for sure! Such beauty everywhere. Words cannot describe it! Lovely sandy beaches all along the coast – Atlantic side so too cold to swim most of the year, but amazing coastline.

The coach made lots of stops to stretch, take pics and eat and visit villages. We had fresh cod at a fish and chip stand in Dingle and it was delicious. I ate just my fish – no fries!! I bought a few little souvenirs at a gift store.

We decided to eat at home tonight so had some crackers, cheese, dry sausage, fruit and a glass of wine. Oh yes, and a coffee and jam donut!! Lloyd, Eldon and Kathy headed out for a drink and to find some music at 8:30 tonight. I opted to stay in and do some wash, write the blog and crash!

Off to do a tour of the Killarney National Park tomorrow and a cruise on the Lakes of Killarney. Kathy and I are going to try to see some shops tomorrow as well. The boys want to find another bowl of chowder! They are pretty easy to please!!!

Sending good thoughts to everyone!!

Love, Karen and Buzz (Lloyd) xxoo

Another fun day today. Kind of foggy and humid at first but by noon it had cleared up and stayed around plus 16 or 17 all day. Lovely weather for wandering and walking!

Took a coach from the bus station in Limerick to Killarney today. It took two hours but saw Lots of small towns, some lush green hills and lots of sheep and cattle along the way. We have learned that “an express bus” simply means that you still stop at all the small towns, and there are lots of them, but you travel on a motorway (highway) in between the towns!!

After getting in at the bus station, we had a bite to eat and then figured out how to get to our next accommodation. Took a cab and checked in. Park Place Apartments is a building managed by a company who rents out the suites. Our apartment has two bedrooms and two bathrooms, laundry in the suite and the usual fridge, stove, etc. Very very handy to the charming downtown area. Small narrow streets with tons of shops and pubs. We grabbed some groceries for our breakfasts and then returned to our digs to book some tours for the next couple of days. Had a small rest and then headed out to stretch our legs in Killarney National Park. Lots of walking trails along the river. Ended up back downtown at a pub for a drink and to listen to some live traditional Irish music until 8:30 and then for chowder and fish cakes before heading back to the apartment.

Made some calls home and sent some emails and now we are all off to bed to get ready for tomorrow!!

Hope everyone reading this is well!! Lots of love from the Barter’s and The Findlay’s! 🥰🥰

Delicious breakfast – great coffee and so much food! The hosts are lovely and so helpful! Nora basically planned our day for us, which included a lot of “steps” but we did it all!!

Headed downtown right after eating to visit St. John’s Castle – like a museum inside with a lot of history! Very interesting. Then on to The Hunt Museum/art gallery. Two floors of artifacts and paintings. Everything from brooches to pottery. A third floor had a special exhibit of 62 paintings from two well known Irish artists – John Malory and Walter Osborne. A guide did a tour and talk of the paintings and even Eldon and Lloyd thought it was amazing. Most of the paintings were from private owners who lent the pieces to the gallery to make up the exhibit. 1.5 hours!

Next, The Milk Market, a large outdoor market with veggies, food, cheese, crafts etc. Dairy is quite cheap here so bought some delish cheese with croissants! Crowded, but fun! 1 hr.

Headed to the local bus station to catch a bus to the small town of Adare, the prettiest town in Ireland, some say. It was a 30 minute bus ride and was lovely with thatched roofs etc. Walked the town, had ice cream and took the bus back to Limerick.

By this time, 5:00 p.m., we were leg and mind weary! Decided to head back to our rooms for a rest and ordered in food! Lloyd and Eldon went for a stroll to buy some sweets and we enjoyed coffee and a treat in our room while discussing the next days plans. We even watched a bit of a championship rugby game!

Off to bed to rest our tired bones and dream of tomorrow’s adventures!

Love to all!!! 😍😍

Said goodbye to our firstAirbnb and trucked our luggage down the cobbled streets to catch our bus from Belfast to Dublin – by coach – 2.5 hours and then switched coach lines and headed to Limerick which took another 3.5 hours – or was supposed to take that long. Ended up an hour later because of Friday traffic at both cities!! Pretty crazy.

Arrived safely – after almost losing my patience with a lady in front of me who decided to put her seat back so far I couldn’t move. Despite my asking her to fix it up a bit, twice, she chose not To! In the end, I just reminded myself I was on vacation in Ireland and moved on to watching the amazing scenery out the window. All is good!

Our host, Nora, at our new airbnb is amazing and the spot is in an old Victorian house. We are up three stories. We followed her recommendations and ate at a great restaurant with seafood chowder and then headed to a pub with Irish music and had a Baileys coffee. Kathy had an Irish coffee and the guys had rum. Dad and I each tried Guinness at the restaurant. I enjoyed it but I felt so full after!! Dad, not so much loving it, but glad he tried! Trekked back to our room and dropped into bed!!

Long, long day but such fun!

Part of the fun of travelling is learning how “others” live and accomplish simple daily tasks – like a modern shower with lots of silver bars, none of which give you the desired effect for a warm shower. How to get the toast to pop down – oh but wait, before you do that, turn on the the fuse switches! Or, how to get the top off of the To Go soups we purchased. Oh yes, I also earned that pulling your suitcases down cobblestone sidewalks are very hard on their plastic wheels!! AND, none of us ever figured out how to get the TV on, but in fairness there were no instructions!! Never mind, lots of laughs!

It was a rainy cool day yesterday, the 12th, but we hopped on the Tour Bus which took us on an 8 hr. Tour of Northern Island taking in the Giant Causeway, some castle sitings, little villages, Game of Throne filming sites, a bowl of Irish Stew that was delicious along with a scone, and finishing with a spectacular tour of the Antrim Coast! It did stop raining about 2:00 p.m. in time for the drive along the coast. My but the greens are beautiful!!! Good news, our coats are waterproof!!

At the end of our day we were all too pooped to go pub hopping and chose a quiet evening at our Airbnb. Bought some take out soup and sandwiches and enjoyed a glass of wine!

All in all, a very fun day, despite the rain! I hope to post some pictures later in the day!

Hugs to all. Xxoo

As I said, …..

Well, we have established already, very early into our trip, that we clearly have two Thinkers and Two Drinkers!! Please check out the photos on the “media” tab.

Had a great day, of which I will share the details later, but this is at the end of a long day!! An 8 hr. bus tour with lots of walking!!!

Love to all!

Up and going at 7:00 a.m. this morning. Ate in our cute little kitchen – had bananas, scones and cheese with OJ and coffee! Headed off to our Black Taxi Cab tour of northern Belfast – a real educational experience. So much info to digest. We then headed to a tour of the CrumLin Road Gaol – it was a great tour and superb coffee and muffin were eaten in their little coffee shop.

We had a taxi take us to George’s Market which was supposed to be amazing but someone forgot to tell us it is only open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday!! Oh well, off we set out to walk back to our apartment after grabbing some salads and snacks for lunch.

Then we headed our weary feet home for a rest!

Eldon, Kathy and Lloyd then headed out again to take a trip on the Hop On Hop Off bus and I chose to rest a while and choose a restaurant to eat at tonight. After much consideration we went to a superb seafood restaurant called City Fish. It was a lovely spot within walking distance and the food was SUPERB! We wandered around in Victoria Square, a walking mall closed off to traffic. It was lovely. Kathy and I found a Pound Store (actually called that 😂 instead of Dollar Store). Quite the place!! Lots of Galaxy and Flake products Trisha!!

Heading off to bed now. Tomorrow is our bus tour to The Antrim coast, Giant Causeway. It will be a 7 hour day so here’s hoping for sunshine! Planning to hit a pub tomorrow night for some live music!

Stay tuned……..

Hi fans!! We arrived safe and sound in Dublin yesterday. Great smooth flight!! Lots of laughs already – mostly trying to figure how to start the shower and the stove. All is good – nothing burned out or down yet!!!

We’re off on the Black Taxi Cab visit in historical Northern Island today with a guide. We were too tired last night to try Guinness but today might be the day! Apartment is lovely!! No complaints yet.

Eldon and Kathy say hi!!