Random Ruins/Blarney Castle

Ireland seems to be full of random ruins. Crystal and I pulled over onto the side of the road to check out this one on our way down to Cork. It was a former monastary we think... There were bulls, cows and horses wandering around it as well.








Blarney Castle

We HAD to do this super touristy thing while in Ireland. You can't drive by the famous Blarney Castle and not stop to kiss the Blarney Stone. It was an overcast and slightly rainy day but it didn't put a stop to our wandering the grounds.







My little monkey

This tree was literally connected together by that random branch cutting across.










Kissing the Blarney Stone

Traditional Irish Jam Session

Alfie, Marie (Emma's mother) and myself at Slattery's Irish pub for the "jam" session.

Near the end of the night Alfie had me toasting everyone with, "Ay, The paddys are fucking great" It seems as though most everyone got a kick out of it because they had me repeat it about 50 times.






Tom (Emma's father) and Christopher (Emma's youngest brother)












This was one of the highlights to our trip to Ireland. Once a week or so these people meet up at the pub to play. The night we were there consisted of 3 accordians, 2 guitars, a banjo, a violin, a piano, and bohran (traditional Irish drum see below). It was incredible. They played all kinds of music and occasionally stopped for an older gentleman to sing a tune before the hushed crowd. Never in my life have I seen something this cool.




A bohran, the traditional Irish drum, it is played with either your hand or a small double sided drum stick.











They gave me a go on the bohran after I had finished playing a pint glass with a coin. I wasn't nearly as good of course but it was a lot of fun to play.

Nenagh, Ireland

This is a lookout right outside of Emma's hometown, Nenagh. The rolling hills and random ruins are really incredible.
























Here is an example of an Irish pub storefront. They are all extremely bright colors.

Ireland Day One Part Two

We drove from the Cliffs of Moher into Nenagh to stay with Emma's parents. Before we arrived into the city we stopped so that I could have my first pint of true Irish Guinness. It was quite tasty.







After a hurried dinner of Irish stew we headed out to pick up Emma's grandmother and great aunt Maureen for bingo.

Auntie Maureen, myself and Grandma Margaret at bingo. They play up to five times a week. I am proud to say that I won €10 that night.








Crystal, Auntie Maureen and Margaret before bingo got started.

Ireland Day One

Crystal is not a morning person but who really is at 4:30 AM? We got ridiculously cheap airfare to Ireland but consequently it meant getting up at 4:00 AM traveling by taxi, 3 trains, a shuttlebus and then an airplane ride. The lengths we will go to save a few bucks. It actually just made getting there that much more exciting.






Cliffs of Moher are located on the Western Coast of Ireland. After flying into Shannon we took advantage of the gorgeous day and drove out to the cliffs.











We decided to hike down to the bottom of the cliffs for a better view. The terrain was dodgy at best but I actually made it down and up the cliffs barefoot. You can kind of see Crystal in this picture hiking ahead of me.








The view from the bottom.













The breeze coming off the ocean was a perfect match to the warm sunshine.

Our last night in Bielefeld before our trip to Ireland

Kevin, Kasia (Crystal's friend from Poland), Crystal and Marc at the Beer Garden.











Me, Emma, Andreas and girlfriend. We were sitting outside on a beautiful night in Bielefeld enjoying the beer garden the night before Crystal and I left for Ireland










Crystal in the fountain outside of the Irish pub. Believe it or not this happened before any drinking. It was such a beautiful night I suppose she just wanted to cool off for a bit. Crazy girl.










My first full Guinness. Everyone insisted that I have a Guinness prior to our trip to Ireland so that I could truly appreciate how good the brew is in the motherland...










This is Emma doing an Irish jig for us in the Irish pub. She was helping us get into the spirit for our trip to Ireland. We stayed with her family and friends along the way but more of that in later posts...