Destination: Ireland: Dublin (3 nights), Connemara (3nights), Killorgin (3nights) Scotland: Edinburgh (2nights)

Transportation: Flight to Dublin, Rental Car in Ireland; Flight to Edinburgh, travel the city by foot

Accommodations : Bewleys Hotel Dublin Airport, Dublin; Corner Stones B&B, Connemara; Hillcrest B&B, Killorgin; Sherwood Guest House, Edinburgh

Duration of Trip: 11 Nights

Ireland/Scotland Pictures

Itinerary and Summary

Day 1: Left the house at 6pm to drive to Karlsruhe airport. Our departure time was 9:25pm but we did not leave the airport until 12:20am arriving in Dublin at 2:30am. Once we got the rented carseats in the rental car, John got behind the wheel and started his learning curve of driving on the left-side of the road. We had a GPS but our hotel was new and we could not find it. The girls and I got to bed around 3:30am but John had to get back in the car and drive to Tesco for diapers and juice.

Day 2: We were up by 8:30am and took a shuttle to Dublin airport and hopped on a double-decker bus and went downtown. We ate breakfast at The Queen of Tarts. Did a tour of Guiness and ordered Guiness in the 360 degree view bar. Went to St. Patrick's Cathedral and played at St. Patrick's park. Walked by the Dublin castle down to the Temple Bar district. Ate at Hungry Harry's Pizza then made our way back to the hotel. My take on Dublin is that it's not too family friendly. I'm used to lots of walking space and plazas with no car traffic. For me Dublin is a place to go with friends for a fun weekend.

Day 3: Time for some serious driving. After a quick stop at Tesco for breakfast food and diaper cream (Sudocrem, so happy to find it) we started our 3.5 hour drive. The bigger N roads of Dublin took us to the smaller R roads and things got a bit interesting. Not only are the road narrow and curvy but they have divots in them (so you continuously "lose your stomach"). I thought I'd like to try getting behind the wheel and drive but after hearing what John was complaining about: 1) Shifting gears with his left hand 2) While in the left-lane focusing on the right side of the lane 3) all the round abouts 4) finally when a car drifted into our lane (while John was passing) and hit us - I decided our family would be safer with me in the passengers side. Julia also got car sick. This is the first time any of us has gotten car sick. The streets don't have shoulders so as Julia was getting car sick we couldn't do much until we found a farmer drive-way, which would take a couple of minutes. Needless to say the drive was 3.5 but felt like it was 8 hours. We finally arrived in Connemara and found our Bed and Breakfast. It was a nice B&B with a good location and good views. We recommend it. We ate outside at a little resturant, The Currach Restaurant then did the Upper Diamond hike at Connemara National Park.

Day 4: We ate a big Irish breakfast then made our way to the Kylemore Abby and Gardens. The Abby is gorgeous and is till functioning as a home of the Irish Benedictine Nuns and girls school. We then drove into Clifden and the girls fell asleep in the car. We drove Sky Road and took in the Atlantic Ocean views. We ate at wonderful restaurant , The Derryclare then drove to Omey Island. During low-tide the water recedes enough for you to walk to the island. We walked over and hiked around the island. After walking back to our car we decided to drive over to the island and take some family photos. We stopped for snacks and ice cream sandwiches and went back to the B&B for the night.

Day 5: Off to the Aran Islands. Left the B&B at 9am drove for 1 hour 15mins to the Arandirect Ferry. The Ferry ride took 45mins. Once on Inishmore Island we rented bikes. Mackenzie had an extended bike off John's and Julia had a bike seat behind me. Our first stop was the Cliffs. We rode about 4 miles to the cliffs (a lot of the ride up hill) the scenery was amazing. The ocean water was so blue, the Irish stone walls zig zagged through the green landscape and the weather was perfect. Once we parked our bikes we had to hike up a good size hill. We were very proud for Julia, she hiked the whole way up holding John's hand. The cliffs were both beautiful and scary. We wouldn't let the girls get any closer than 50ft of the cliffs (there is no barrier). We made our way back riding our bikes by the beach and Seal Colony. We ate at the Old Pier Restaurant and did a little window shopping at the Aran Sweater company. This was Kristin's favorite day of the trip.

Day 6: Driving day. Drove from Connemara (Central West Coast) to Killorglin (Southwest Coast). We had bad weather, rain and fog. During the drive we stopped at the Burren and Cliffs of Moher. The Burren has a stone-hedge that in 4000BC was used as a tomb. Remains of at least 33 people were found there. The Cliffs of Moher are double the size of the Cliff at Inishmore Island but because of the weather they were not as striking. Took a ferry over the Shannon River and ate at Coffy Cafe in Killrush - it was terrible, don't eat there! We arrived at our B&B around 6:30pm . We do not recommend this B&B. The bedrooms were clean but run down.

Day 7: Dingle Peninsula. Absolutely beautiful. We woke up to good weather and it stayed with us all day. Our goal was to drive around Slea Head and on the way stop at Inch Beach. Inch Beach was beautiful, I've never been to Hawaii but that beach is what I expect from Hawaii. The rolling green mountains in the background the crystal blue water, just beautiful. We spent about an hour at the beach then made our way to Slea Head. We selected a parking area that had a beach and a hiking path. We saw a surfer trying to catch some waves then started hiking. The weather was perfect and our views were breathtaking. Once on top of the mountain we could see the Blasket Islands. Our camera could not capture the beauty of this place. On our way down the mountain we ran into a German speaking couple which was a lot of fun, the first time we heard German on the trip. We drove into Dingle town and ate at Harringtons Fish Restaurant. After eating we drove up Conner's Passage. Very narrow and sometimes only one lane. We got stuck in one lane as on coming traffic was heading down the mountain. John and Mackenzie hiked to a hidden lake then we drove down Conner's Passage; the views driving down the passage were so beautiful they nearly brought tears to my eyes! This was John's favorite day.

Day 8: Filled up on Gas and drove the Ring of Kerry. We didn't have any good maps so we stopped at Pat's Crafts Shop for Maps and Postcards. We stopped in Cahersiveen for a picture of the Monks in a Boat statue then decided to visit Bearberry Castle and Stone Fort. The castle and stone fort were good stops. Next stop was to Skelligs Chocolate Company - handmade chocolate; delicious. We made a quick stop at Ballinskelligs Beach so Kristin could get Mackenzie and Julia a shell. We ate at Lobster Bar in Waterville then drove the Coomakista Pass at took pictures. Went to Sneem for walking and ice cream. Then made our way to Killarney National Park. It was 6 pm when we arrived at the park and we hiked until 7:30pm. On the drive back to the B&B we were listening to the radio and they were interview a girl named Jessie, she had just won a singing contest (similar to American Idol). As we were listening to the interview we saw a few billboards with Jessie on it, as we made our way to the center of Killarney we saw lots of cars and there Jessie was on stage being interviewed and then started singing. We rolled down our windows and heard her live.

Side Note: While in Ireland we saw many signs for the Lisbon Treaty. With the European Union still in the development stage the EU was trying to pass some EU laws (similar to the USA Federal Laws). EU Laws ranging from abortion to fishing restrictions. The tricky thing is Ireland's constitution allows the Irish people to vote on every Treaty. Not all EU countries had the opportunity vote on the new EU laws. Ireland voted while we were there. We heard a lot of coverage over the radio (it was great, if we were in Germany the Lisbon Treaty would have been on the media but we would not have been able to understand it fully - but being in an English speaking country we had the chance to learn about issues in the EU government.) Well Ireland voted No to the Lisbon Treaty and the EU was disappointed. The EU has poured money into Ireland improving roads and infrastructure . It was a step back for the EU and they will have to spend some time with Ireland and work out some path to set the EU laws.

Day 9: Travel day to Dublin. We woke-up early, ate breakfast, checked out and made our way to Dublin. Kristin wrote postcards on the drive. We planned on stopping half way for lunch but decided to drive the whole distance and stopping in Malahide a cute small town just north of the city. We ate at a great little French Restaurant . There was a picture hanging right by our table that looked just like an Aimee Rudge painting. Mackenzie with her funny stomach: ate her sandwich and then threw it up on her plate. Her stomach is very sensitive with textures. We walked to a big park and playground - it was fun to play. Clouds came as did the rain and we made our way back to the hotel. John went to return the rental car the girls and I showered. Once John came back we went down to the lobby for a couple of drinks and used our iphones to check email.

Day 10: Flight to Edinburgh was short and easy. Once in Edinburgh we took the bus to the city center and walked to our bed and breakfast. As we walked we took in the atmosphere of Edinburgh - what a beautiful city with all the old buildings. Our b&b was just as beautiful and we highly recommend it. We ate at the City Restaurant then started walking. Since Scotland is apart of the United Kingdom and the UK is close with the USA we saw a lot of American stores and Pizza places. Seeing these places had a similar feeling of going back to your old stomping grounds... "look theres Papa John's, Oh, the Gap... this is great!" We walked to the Palace then down the Royal Mile. We did the Whisky Experience, saw a street performance and went into some of the Closes. We walked up to the Castle but it was closed so headed to Prince Street Park and played tag and ran up and down the hill. Such a beautiful park with the Castle in the background. We made it home and the girls fell asleep - John and I watched a little of the Euro2008 then fell asleep.

Side Note: This whole trip in Ireland and Scotland the day light is much different - the sun comes up at about 3:30am and goes down at 10:00 pm - you need good window blinds or shades... I'm surprised that in Ireland and Scotland they don't use the blinds similar to in Germany where if you close them your room is darker then the dead of night...

Day 11: Last full day of vacation. Ate breakfast and took the park trail to the city. We walked by the Palace and made our way back to the Castle. On the way Kristin ran to the Gap to buy socks for Julia and John checked the bus schedule for tomorrow's departure. We walked up to the Castle and heard the 1pm cannon. We ate at the Filling Station then walked to Carlon Hill Park. Mackenzie met a friend, Kiera, and they played a while. On the walk back to the b & b Mackenzie asked "When are we coming back to Scotland, Mom?" to which I replied, "Well, Mackenzie, when your in University you can come to Scotland with your friends and without your parents." Mackenzie put a smile on her face and said, "That would be good". Just planting the seed to get Mackenzie out in the world... We went to bed early because we had to leave at 5 am the next morning.

Day 12: Made it home without delays. It was refreshing to be back in Germany. The first time I really felt like Germany was home. I love hearing the German language... Living in a country that isn't English speaking is a challenge - if you don't like to challenge yourself you wouldn't like it. Right now I welcome the challenge and it's good to be back.

Next trip: Paris in July