It's a Long Way to Tipperary!!!!!

We are traveling around the fascinating country of Ireland, the people, the culture and the countryside are awesome.  We are staying in Tipperary, yes of the same name as the song!  We are centrally located in the south middle part of the country which allows us to take day trips to just about all parts of the island.  We have been to Dublin but found it to be another big city with a few tourist things to see but what we really enjoy is the small villages, the countryside, interacting with the locals and most of all the beauty of Ireland.  Every turn of the road is a new adventure and we guarantee you that the pictures do not depict the beauty of this country.  Every chance we get we have interacted with people in the pubs, along the streets or in the shops; they are very outgoing friendly and willing to share their stories and their history of their country with us.  One of our favorite trips is along the Ring of Kerry and the Wild Atlantic Way of western Ireland.  Rugged beauty, towering cliffs and wide valleys mark this part of the country.  We have posted a few pictures on Facebook and a few here but we have literally taken hundreds of pictures, making Tom pull over to the side of some very narrow roads.   We have stopped old and young people in the villages to ask their favorite place to eat and have always ended up with the best food at a reasonable price along with a little history lesson.  BTW...Guniness is the favorite beer and Tom and George have mastered the art of ordering it with at least one meal a day.  Another little tidbit of information we gathered is that Jameson whiskey is not distilled in Dublin.  We toured the Jameson Distillary outside of Cork and discovered that they are the only Distillary in the worl that distilled Jameson whiskey...of course Tom and George volunteered to taste three different whiskers, a Scottish, Jack Daniels Black and a Jameson 3 year old ....Jameson won hands down and they had another shot just to be sure.  

To say we are having a wonderful time, enjoying each other's company and exploring Ireland would be an understatement...we will have many memories of this trip and most of those in addition to what I have already said, will be of the laughter and the drives along some of the narrowest cowpaths a car can go on while meeting another truck, car or tractor coming at you. 

Can you believe a Swiss Chalet in the middle of Ireland...you never know what you will find when you ask a local about the surrounding area.  Interesting local sights, great places to eat or a place to enjoy a Guiness.j

Here it is ----the world famous Blarney Castle, home of the Blarney Stone.  George had to kiss the Blarney Stone (although he never has had a problem dispensing a lot of blarney).  so it was up to the top of the tower, lay on you back, stretch outside of the wall and raise your lips to the Blarney Stone.  That hole at the top of the tower is where he kiss the stone.

West coast of Ireland along the Wild Atlantic Way on the Ring of Kerry.  The terrain varies from gentle sloping pasture land, deep gorges, towering cliffs, or wide beaches...a fascinating drive around western Ireland.

Stopped along the Ring of Kerry -- What no guard rails!!!

Enjoying the seabreeze in the Atlantic, heading towards the "Cliffs of Moher"

The Cliffs of Moher on the Ring of Kerryb

The birds using the Cliffs as a sacturary 

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The village of Dingle on the Dingle peninsula, West Coast of Ireland on the Ring of Kerry.  Avery colorful village with the typical narrow streets.

Pasture lands for the millions of sheep we saw throughout Ireland.

We have only a few days left in Ireland as we will board the ferry on May 1st to sail back to England for four days before crossing the channel to Pick up another car in Calsis to begin the continent part of our adventure.  If that part of our excursion is anything like the month and half we will have spent in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland, this 3 month trip will go down in our book as historic!  We will keep you posted and hope you enjoy our pictures and adventures.  Stay tuned, there is a lot more to come from the four crazy old people traveling together in Europe!