First Stop; 34 Hours in Ireland

This November we took our first trip without our tiny humans, it was part work trip for me and part birthday present to myself.  I saved up ALL my henna money from this year to help finance this trip and even though there were a few times I thought I was totally crazy and should focus on debt and savings, I'm so happy I chose to go with my Husband for some much needed alone time. We arrived in Dublin at 5 am, where we were greeted without our luggage.  We got our rental car and set off to our first destination on our trip; Waterford. 

I drove last time I was here, so this time I let Husband practice left side driving.  Not only is is a unique challenge to drive on the opposite side, the Irish are quite quick at maneuvering though round abouts and narrow winding roads, it can be very intimidating as well.

The first thing we noticed was all the fog near the coast.  We pulled over a couple times just to get some photos.  

 Like this rolling hill with fog and cattle.  so dreamy.

We got to our Castle Hotel and knew it wouldn't really be an option to check in early but wanted to see if our room would be ready after a couple hours so we could relax and get settled from all the jet lag and driving.  Our room wasn't ready, so we opted for a walk around the grounds, and found frosted fields and warm sunlight.  

We found fairy houses and saw some deer.  

This poor uprooted tree from the storms that hit Ireland after the Hurricanes in the U.S. moved up the Atlantic Ocean. 

We stopped in Waterford for a drink at The Grattan Pub after a walk around the castle grounds. 

 I love the Waterford Castle Hotel because of the ornate details like this wallpaper and engraved knife.

Husband was so reluctant to join me for tea time, but obviously I convinced him and we had a truly decadent time.  I love Irish scones and clotted cream.

 I don't know why he doesn't look more impressed with this desert, but I assure you we ate everything on the plate, and enjoyed it.

Somehow this butterfly was trapped in the hallway window, so I opened the latch to let her out.

 Husband picked up some Irish Whiskey for our enjoyment in the evening.

 Everywhere you turn in the hotel is more detail and another beautiful view.

Morning espresso + henna.  

 I wish I could have taken this couch home.

 // details in the bathroom.

This was the study in our suite, on the opposite wall is a painting of a women, damaged with age her mouth appears to be missing, it was the creepiest painting I've ever seen.  I couldn't sit in there with her, or bring myself to capture it in an image.  Sorry, but you'll have to go there to see it.

Less creepy graffiti on the drive back to Dublin when we stopped in Kilkenny. 

 We made an impromptu stop in Kilkenny and didn't know where to park, but a nearby church had parking so we stopped there and walked to the medieval mile.

 loved the dragon shadow on this wall.

 and this hidden graffiti behind a construction wall.

 the nearby birds were friendly, probably hoping for food.

 caught grammin.  J/K he was documenting for his blog contributions to Oppositelock.

I actually had so much planned for our trip and time in Dublin, but when I travel with my Husband it always a low key go with the flow experience so we didn't do anything on my list but found little gems on our own.

We made it back to the airport in time for our flight, and asked about our luggage, turns out they tried to deliver it to our castle hotel, but obviously we had already checked out, so to bag limbo it went.  Next up our time in London.