Dear diary

Wow, where do I start with Ireland.  Such a beautiful country.  Flew into Dublin 15 September, hired a car, and the 5 of us took off that day – Dylan, Liz, Viv (Liz’s mum), Courtney and I.  First stop was at a gorgeous wee place called Westport, so pretty and quaint.  Weather was great.  Sat in a wee bar at the waterside and supped the afternoon away on Guinness.  Next morning we got up and headed for Galway, via Connemara, a beautiful lake/hill area.  Roads are about wide enough for 2 cars and no more. We had great digs right down by the sea at Galway and had a brilliant night out at O’Connors pub with a live band.  They loved our accents so much they let us behind the Bar to pour our own Guinness.  Brilliant night.  Still great weather.  Wandered around Galway town the next morning then headed off to Killarney where we stayed 2 nights.  Stopped along the way and looked around castles etc.  Next morning out to Muckross Castle, Torc waterfalls, walked through part of Killarney National Park, drove part of the Ring of Kerry, a picturesque drive through mountains and lake country.  Stunning.  Still good weather.  Had a great car, a  Nissan Quaskai, so all us *girls* sat in the back yabbering and poor Dylan and Courtney were in the front trying to tune out.  Happy days.  We left Killarney Friday morning and back to Dublin and had our first (half) day of rain since we’ve been here, and even then it was gone the next day.  diet not going so well, but doing tons of walking, so hope not too much damage to repair when we get back