Hello everyone!

Another lovely day on the Emerald Isle.

Jimmy and I got up early this morning and ditched the family in search of a true Irish fry breakfast, and did we hit the jackpot.

The Shire is hobbit themed (although to be Frank it was a bit light on the hobbit theming. Still cute, though, and the Irish breakfast was perfect.

I also got a yummy cappuccino, which was exciting as all of the coffee shops have been closed due to Christmas. Things are finally reopening!

I had seen a bakery when wandering the Christmas lights in Killarney with yummy looking Yule logs, so we wandered the cute downtown in search of the bakery.

I found the bakery and got a delicious treat

I also found a great sheep

We headed back to the cottage, and met up with the family who were getting packed up to leave our place in Killarney and head north to the coastal town of Doolin.

We got all packed up, and Aunt Anita threatened to take over Jimmy’s job of driving, which felt ill advised.

Luckily, Jimmy came out and was able to take over.

A little bit about our cottage in Killarney now that we’ve left it: it was a little set of stone cottages called The Priory set just outside of the main town. It was adorable.

To break up the drive we had some events planned along the way.

First, a couple of pictures from the car:

Our first event was a traditional afternoon tea at a hotel in Limerick. I’d booked this particular tea because they had an option for children called Prince and Princess tea.

We showed up to the hotel and put at a low table with some cute but fabulously uncomfortable chairs.

After moving chairs a bit, my brother in law ended up with Mom and Aunt Anita, and Jimmy ended up with my niece, Evie and her two guests.

I got to sit next to my sister, and the two of us proceeded to make the biggest mess of the bunch as we tried each of the tea treats.

Here’s the crew in a video

We all started out with a palette cleanser: mulled wine sorbet for the adults, and a banana caramel milkshake for the kiddo

The teatotalers in our group didn’t care for the taste of the sorbet, but I enjoyed it and Jimmy ate two.

My niece did such a great job practicing her manners, including the napkin dab after taking a bite.

Then the main attraction arrived.

We all enjoyed tasting all the treats, my niece particularly loved her tea and gingerbread.

And she enjoyed pouring the tea

We all did a teatime cheers

We all are as much as we could, but there was so much food and the server was kind enough to offer to box the leftovers up so we could take them with us. My sister and I hadn’t expected to be offered to go boxes, so we had scarfed everything.

My niece was a bit overwhelmed by the whole experience and didn’t eat much, so we made a quick pit stop at McDonalds as we headed to our next destination: Bunratty Castle.

We got to the castle and were told they were closing early due to a big wind and rain storm coming through. Which was sad.

However my mom and aunt finally got to do some shopping in the gift shop (they’ve been wanting to shop the whole trip and this has been the first open shop), and I found a field of beautiful sheepies.

By the time we left the gift shop, the rain had started.

The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful, with one specific exception:

We were driving down a small one lane road, when coming in the other direction there was a giant train of tractors. And when I say train, I mean like over a hundred tractors, some of them decorated with Christmas lights.

We had no choice but to pull over and watch, with no clue what was happening. Here’s a part of the parade:

At the next town we went into a grocery shop where we were told that this is an annual tradition to honor a local teenager who died in a tractor accident a few years ago, and they raise money for family’s of people injured or killed in farming accidents.

We made it to our next accommodation in pouring rain and roaring wind. It is a house on a hill overlooking fields and the ocean, and the wind shook the rafters.

Our Airbnb host met us and told us about the house, and assured us that he built the house and it is solid. He also told us it was the first one he built…

Doolin is a resort town in summer, famous for its tradition music and pub scene. Our host told us it’s sleepy in winter, but the pubs are all doing live music for the week between Christmas and New Years. He called his favorite pub, and we were assured there would be music beginning at 9pm. He also told us that our niece would be welcome to stay late and hear the music.

His exact words: this is Ireland. We start ‘em young here.

My niece has been jet lagged and staying up late, and with a bit of convincing my mom and aunt decided to join us for dinner, drinks, and music.

My aunt found the perfect place to sit

And we also found a fitting poster

My mom tried her first sip of Guinness (not her thing)

And we had a great moment cheersing. The milk is my niece

I got some great fish and chips

And then we waited

And waited

And waited

At 10:15pm the musicians finally got going.

While waiting, my niece took a series of fun pics with my phone.

She loved the kissing pics and we all had to take some.

She also loved the music.

Here she is toe tapping with me

Here she is dancing with her dad

And uncle Jimmy

And here are the musicians. They were a lot of fun.

My niece was still going strong, but it was way past my bed time, so we made our way home to our stormy house on a hill and went to bed.

Goodnight