Picked up Rani's cousin Heather and her son Graham in Dublin, did not let them rest, and immediately took them to the oldest thing we could find: the Brownshill Portal Tomb, just around 5000 years old.
It was a little off-centered, so I had to adjust the 150 ton capstone (largest of any in Europe) before we took the photo.
Old shit!
Lots of other old things to see: abbeys, priories, castles, ancient stone circles, and chalets.
16th century Irish warriors went barefoot and bare-legged!
Cute, colorful seaside town of Kinsale.
The courtyard of our hotel in Cork, featuring a natural waterfall!
Ancient bog elk from Kilkenny Castle, with antlers spanning over 3 meters.
Ridiculously large toilet, made for a royal visit before they really knew what to do with toilets.
Boats, jaunts, cable cars!
Some of the many alternative forms of transportation we sampled. Cruised by the Cliffs of Moher, around Lough Leane in Killarney, sea safari around the Blasket Islands. Also took a jaunt, which is a horse-drawn cart (they do not have a good reason for calling it a jaunt, according to our teenaged driver) around Killarney national park. The Ballaghboy Cable Car, Ireland's only cable car, connects the mainland to Dursey Island, and it's one of the only cable cars in the world that connects two landmasses over the ocean. Seems like a great idea, but the cable car only carries 6 people at a time, and takes about 20 minutes for a round trip. We got right on and out to the island, only to be greeted by a long line of people waiting to get back. We had to wait there for about two hours (and most of us forgot to bring jackets)!
Wildlife!
Dolphins!
Seal colony on Blasket Island
Whiskey!
Super fun visit to the Jameson distillery in Midleton. Huge water mill, giant copper stills, the angel's share, and a really interesting tour. We also did the premium tasting, which was informative and engaging. I love the smell of whiskey barrels in the afternoon...
Pubs!
Good food, good drink, good music, and good craic! Taught the youngster to play hearts, and visited Sean's bar, the oldest bar in Ireland, and maybe the whole world after they finish the archaeology.
Epic Battles!
Paid a visit to Linen Mill Studios, where Game of Thrones was filmed. Got to see real sets and costumes from the show, Rani was entered into the hall of faces, and I even turned into the Night King for a second. This was a lot of fun.
White walker attack! I held him off for a bit...
Then milady came in to finish him off.
And we claimed the Iron Throne for our very own!
Miscellaneous!
We really thought we found my dad at in the backyard of this hostel...
Climbed to the top of the Guinness Storehouse. Not as cool as the whiskey tour, but fun.
Yeah, we did this, too...
Told you it was hobbits! One thing that stuck out to us from the moment we set foot on this island, and that I will always remember about the Irish people, is how polite and helpful everyone was. I think that fits.
Epilogue
The cousins took off, and we moved to a sort of dingy (but huge) suite and lived it up for our last few days of summer. By lived it up, I mean we got some massages; spent some time in the spa's "thermal suite", which had themed showers and water jets I won't soon forget; got some room service; moseyed around Dublin a bit; Rani got a new tattoo...
Then, travel-weary and yearning for their own beds, showers, and toilets, your intrepid adventurers boarded the morning plane back to the land of toil, dust, and heat. We're ready for what is probably our last year here, and excited to start writing the next chapter.
