Last day in Ireland

We had our last full day in Ireland on March 25th

We started the day with a delicious breakfast 

well I should back up and explain the hotel we stayed at 

Last year from June-Dec I was an unpaid marketing intern for the vacation rental company Resortime.com

as a thank you I received 2 nights at one of their properties 

So I chose The Cliff Town House in Dublin

On our way out of the hotel

It's located on St. Stephens Green within a short walking distance to Trinity College and some awesome shops

And when I say short walking distance I mean it 

We seriously walked down the street for 3 min and were right next to a mall and a bunch of other designer shops 

anyways we started off the day with a delicious breakfast

My yummy breakfast that I couldn't wait to eat that I forgot to take a photo of it 

The not so great photo
 I took with my phone
of the lovey room we had breakfast in 

Nathan had the Irish Breakfast and I had Eggs Benedict 

Both were amazingly yummy 

and it came with fruit, juice toast and pastries 

Our first stop of the day was actually a short drive outside of Ireland 

Bru na Boinne and the Neolithic hill or chamber tomb Newgrange

Which was the only attraction we visited that accepted credit card 

thank goodness or else we wouldn't be able to get in

What Nathan and I really found interesting about the site was that the inner tomb inside the mound is older than the Pyramids 

the history of the site was pretty fascinating to learn about 

There are giant stones surrounding the base of the mound that have worn carvings 

The best preserved carving was on the entrance stone 

They took small groups into the tomb 

The pathway in was narrow and once you get into the central tomb its surprisingly small for how big the mound it 

The inner tomb is built without a seal meaning it's rocks stacked on top of each other 

another cool aspect is that the chamber is solar aligned 

meaning that opening above the entrance aligns with where your feet are at inside the tomb 

so on the morning of the winter solstice light enters in the top tunnel and illuminates the inner tomb 

they simulated what it would look like inside the tomb 

so for a few moments we were in complete darkness 

you don't want to go inside if you are claustrophobic 

They actually have a lottery to take people in the tomb during the solstice 

however our guide was saying that there are many times 

that it's the solstice and it's too cloudy or fogy for the sun to even illuminate the cave 

Newgrange was definitely one of our favorite places we visited on our trip 

Nathan was interested in the structure and I was interested in the history 

It was then back to Dublin where we rushed to Trinity College 

so I could see the Book of Kells before they closed for the day 

Well we got there with 15 min to spare only to find our that the credit card machine at admissions was broken

alas it was not meant to be 

but seriously why couldn't they charge my admission through the gift shop 

I was so tempted to try to sneak my way in 

but the admission guy was a jerk and was watching me closely 

but seriously so lame 

Nathan asked if I could just go in and look real quick and still got shot down 

oh well 

After that we took a couple pictures around the college and ended our night by seeing 

The Hunger Games 

Yep we really couldn't wait a couple of more days to see it at home 

but it's kinda cool to say we saw it in Dublin 

the movie theater we went to was a lot nicer than any theater I have been in the states 

It was a couple stories tall and served good looking food 

like Ben and Jerrey's and had a bar and lounge area 

Anyways the movie was great 

and we ended our relaxing night with gelato 

Which wasn't as good as the stuff I would get weekly in Siena 

but it was still pretty good 

Overall it was a nice and relaxing evening especially after all of our crazy sightseeing we had done throughout the trip 

The next morning we had another delicious breakfast before checking out 

and then it was off to the airport 

Nathan bought an Ireland magnet with our last 3 Euros 

it was then goodbye Ireland 

and Hello London for an hour 

before we boarded our non-stop back to San Diego

Don't we look hot at the airport 

our flight home was a little delayed which Nathan wasn't too happy about 

because right after we landed we went straight to Nathans soccer game 

where he played the last half hour 

That boy loves to play soccer 

Overall it was a fantastic trip and I am so happy we were able to do it 

I know Nathan wasn't that excited to visit England again after going on a month long study abroad there 

but he said seeing me look like a little kid in candy shop was worth it 

England has always been on the top my list of places to see and I am excited to cross it off 

So whats next for the Fields 

Well with little Fields on the way

 we are going on a very relaxing cruise to the Bahamas next month

and I have a girls trip to Hawaii 

a weekend trip to Miraval thanks to the Ellen show 

and first up the Welk Resort and a weekend in Palms Springs 

What can I say we are living it up before baby changes our life forever 

but we couldn't be happier about the new changes that will come 

As for international trips

next on the list is either China, or Germany

We have contacts in both countries that we want to use before it becomes too late
If you want to read more about Ireland check out some of our older post here, here, and here
If you want to read about our England adventure check them out
here, here, here, here, here, here, and here 
a note on our England posts
they were all done on my phone with pictures I took on my phone
eventually I would like to share some of the photos I took in England with my good camera 

Day 3 Ireland March 24th

Day 3 in Ireland was a churchish kinda of day 

We started our day at the

Rock of Cashel 

It has undergone multiple uses over its history 

but it was lastly an Abby or a Church

something religious 

since it has a graveyard 

Anyways this place like all of the other attractions we went to in Ireland 

was cash only 

seriously it is 2012 

no one carries cash anymore 

and when you leave in 2 days you don't want to have to pull out more money 

Anyways I honestly don't remember too many cool facts about this place 

except that they said it got cold a lot  

Nathan being the structural engineer was more interested in how the church was built 

rather than what it was used for 

We were bummed that none of the places we visited on our entire trip offered the structural plans as souvenirs 

I find it was hard to buy souvenirs because they are all dust collecting nick-knacks 

I enjoyed the carvings on some of the tombs and the old cemetery 

For some reason I think it's cool to look around these old graveyards 

some of the markers were actually pretty recent 

There was an old ruin in view from the cemetery at the Rock of Cashel 

 Our next stop was Jerpoint Abby 

But not before we got lost 

and took a 10 min break to figure out how to navigate our way to the Abby 

 

It has some pretty old carvings 

and some of the carvings you could tell what it was displaying

In the picture above, there used to be carvings on each side of the pillars 

The carving above is to show the sin of gluttony 

Most of the Abby was destroyed 

but it was still interesting to look around 

this place also was cash only

luckily I think it was only a eurro each 

because I believe at this point we were down to less than 10 eurro in cash left 

We found a cool train bridge for Nathan since 5 years ago he took advance bridge design while studying abroad in England 

Wow 5 years ago Nathan and I were dating 

crazy!

We ended our day by driving to Dublin 

Day 2 in Ireland Day 9 of our trip

It was another long driving day in Ireland 

I do have to say it is nice that the round-a-bouts are named

 

even if the name is usually something that I don't dare try to pronounce 

but when you are using printed Google maps directions and a compass on the iPhone, things get a little confusing 

We usually have to ask for directions once and usually it's when where trying to find our next hotel 

we really needed a GPS 

But anyways on Friday March 23rd 

we left Galway and headed to the Cliffs of Moher 

It was a spectacular sight 

and freezing cold 

it was also pretty windy 

luckily it didn't start raining until after we left the cliffs

we have seriously lucked out with weather this trip 

I was expecting rain everyday but have been pleasantly surprised 

and my eyes were getting super watery that it looked like I had a black eye of mascara 

If you have been to the cliffs in the past 

you might notice that there is a new addition of a fence to keep tourist from getting too close 

I guess they have had quite a few deaths at the cliffs 

which I was thinking if the ground did give way and you fell would there be anything you could do to survive 

I think I would think that whatever was gonna happen next would probably hurt a lot 

is that what dare devils think about when their tricks go wrong?

food for thought

so you are no longer to go out as close as others did in the past 

which if you remember from the last post that husband has a fear of heights 

so he was perfectly ok with staying on the path

me on the other hand 

am a little bit of an adventure 

I was the kid that wanted to be Indianan Jones when I grew up

So I saw that there were a tourist on a trail that was closed to the public

and quickly joined others in exploring the closed path along the cliffs edge 

I think I almost gave Nathan a heart attack 

are conversations would go as followed 

n: ok that was your last picture lets go 

c: wait let me get one more further up (I walk further down the closed trail)

n: ok you got your picture 

c: let me look a little longer (I move closer to the edge)

n: ok you have looked enough (walking as far away from the edge as possible)

Nathan says that while I was exploring 

he was thinking that 

he wanted to tie me down from getting too close to the edge 

understandable for someone who is afraid of heights 

I do have to say that I maintained a safe distance while exploring the closed area

I really wasn't that close to the edge

there were other tourist that scared me with how close they were getting 

but the cliffs were a spectacular sight for sure

I would like to see what it's like looking from the ocean up

I think that would be an equally impressive view 

I guess I will just have to watch the 6th Harry Potter movie 

From the Cliffs of Moher it was off to Blarney Castle 

Blarney Castle is famous for the Blarney stone 

legend states that if you kiss the stone you will gain the gift of gab or eloquence 

So that is what we did 

the stone is at the top of the castle 

you have to lay on your back and scoot far back so you can kiss the stone 

funny thing is that I was scared to lean back but Nathan was fine 

I think it was because its not something that I really have control over 

the castle was cool to see but I particularly liked the underground tunnel 

not all of it is open to the public

but there is a tunnel leading from the castle underground to some caves 

they said in the past when the castle was under siege 

people escaped the the treasure in the tunnels 

and the invading army had no clue where everyone and everything went 

There was also a poison garden 

it has things like nightshade and other poisonous plants you hear about people killing each other with in old stories 

Nathan and I thought it was funny they had a cage with some of the 'hallucination' plants 

but there was a sign stating that the marijuana they had grown was confiscated by the Irish police 

we thought it was funny 

the grounds of the castle were pretty fun to explore 

there were some wishing stairs

 if you climb up and down without opening your eyes your wish will come true 

It was a little scary 

as cool as the castle was the most annoying part was they did not accept card 

cash only was a theme in Ireland for attractions 

and when you forgot about your automatic student loan and mortgage payment go through while your on vacation 

and your transfer from savings doesn't go in for another day 

at one point I think we had $0 to our name 

it was a little scary but luckily everything worked out 

but seriously the entrance to Blarney Castle wouldn't accept credit card but the gist shop would? 

lame 

plus when its the end of an international trip who really wants to take more cash out 

not me 

We spent the evening getting lost trying to find our B&B in Cork 

and eventually having lunch/dinner at a little restaurant

that thankfully took credit card