Tackling Ireland!

Megan's parents rolled into town in mid-June, becoming our first official visitors to Ireland. It was just in time to celebrate the half-way point of our stay here! Though we've had a few visitors drop by for a few days at a time, my folks were the first brave souls to experience a stay in our little town house. They were still smiling when I put them on the aircoach a few weeks later, so I don't think the little inconveniences were too difficult for them! As pictured above, we had plenty of time to enjoy a few pints with them throughout their stay.

It was a hectic but richly fulfilling visit - Megan and fam spent a week and a half traveling around the island. The traveling alone was one of the biggest adventures - none of us had driven on the left-hand side of the road! Kudos to my dad for bearing the burden so well!
Honestly, I could dedicate an entire post to each of the places we visited - each site provided another layer of perspective to add to my understanding of Ireland's complex history. Here are a few of the highlights:

The Highlights - a few of our favorite adventures:

• Touring Waterford's crystal factory - home of the famous crystal factory - the tour is great, I don't care what other people say. It is so interesting to see the crystal being made - these people are artists!
• Getting doused in the Ring of Kerry (pictured above before the rain rolled in) - this was the rainiest day, which was a tragedy, given that this is one of the most scenic areas of the country. I swear that photo above isn't a postcard! Too bad most of the drive was shrouded in fog.
• Dolphin-watching and discovering Irish music in Dingle - A small town snuggled up to a picturesque bay and surrounded by lush, green hillsides. Fungie the dolphin has been swimming by himself in this bay for around 20 years - we got some great photos - of is dorsal fin. We had a great night in the pubs here too listening to traditional music.
• Picnicing on Great Blasket Island - Also in the Dingle Peninsula - this island, now abandoned, once housed a small community whose people retained the original Gaelic language. Three people living on this tiny island went on to write internationally renowned novels! Their empty houses now lie vacant, but are fascinating to explore.
• Cliffwalking at the Cliffs of Moher and the Aran Islands - The famous cliffs are undergoing renovation, so the experience there will be vastly different from what people have been able to see up to now. Due to heavy tourism, they are walling off parts of the cliffs to prevent erosion - very sad!
• Soaking up Derry - tension from the Troubles were much more evident to us than we had expected. The impact of the conflict exhibits itself in many ways - through the people, political murals and graffiti. Though our experience was eye-opening and somber, I found this to be one of the most thought-provoking places we visited.
• Cracking up at Carrickfergus - the name of the town made this destination a requirement for my family! It's a seaside town with a large castle that's been restored. Displays there were rather cheesy, I suppose because the castle is used for lots of school field trips.

All in all it was a great visit. My mom put together a great slideshow of the trip on Kodak EasyShare, complete with commentary on a lot that we learned about the sites we visited. Although it took us nine months, we're glad to have finally taken the opportunity to see the rest of the country.