Dublin

Went on a crazy early morning flight to Dublin as we only had two days to jam everything in. The bus into town from the airport took longer than our flight. Found a hostel & ditched our gear, then went on a mission. We went to the zoo which was pretty huge with nice enclosures. We then went to the Guinness Storehouse Museum. There are seven stories of exhibits & you end up at the top of the building in a bar with 360 views & a complimentary pint.
The next day we checked out O'Connell Bridge and statue, then caught the dart to Howth peninsula & enjoyed a picnic lunch near the lighthouse. Back into town for an Irish Coffee, then caught our flights, Lexie back to London, and us back home.

Cobh with Lexie

Lexie came to visit us from London for a week. We went to Cobh (previously known as Cobh, Queenstown, Cove then back to Cobh) for a day, it is small scenic town with plenty of history. It was the last port of call for the Titanic and the Lusitania. We went to the museum which was interesting and had plenty of displays. We then played with a crazy dog in the park for awhile, it enjoyed jumping into the freezing cold sea over and over. We had a look at the Cobh Cathedral, then relaxed with a beer.

We also had a some drinks and went out on the town with our workmate Greg in the weekend.

Youghal

On Ross & Sheryll's last day here we had the day off and went for a drive to Youghal. St Mary's Church and the old city walls behind it were brilliant. After some coffee and cake in a cafe we drove to the Jameson brewery in Midleton. The tour wasn't on until much later so Darren and Ross went on a self-guided one, but Sheryll and Manda's was cut short (by the staff!). On the way back we stopped in at Barryscourt Castle.

Sandy & Dave over for the weekend

Sandy & Dave came over for the weekend from London. Unfortunately we had to work while they were here, but they had Sheryll & Ross for company and went on a few drives around County Cork. On Saturday night we all went out for a drink and enjoyed the night views of Cork. Was great to catch up with them again.

South-West Coast with Ross & Sheryll

Sheryll and Ross came to visit us for 10 days. They hired a car, so on our 3 days off work we went around the south-west coast. Our first stop was at Billinascarthy, the home of Henry Ford's family. We then had a look around Inchydorey Bay and Rosscarbery, before finding the magnificent ruins of Collingers Court Castle. We went to Dromberg Stone Circle (main pic), then on a drive around Sheeps Head Peninsula. We found a place to stay the night in Bantry.
We headed off the next day on route 71 towards Kenmare and then on to the Ring of Kerry. The views around the Ring of Kerry were amazing. We saw the Staigue Fort near Castle Cove and Loher Stone Fort. We drove through Waterville next (Charlie Chaplin's summer home). We went through Ballinskelligs Bay, stopped off at the chocolate factory in Port Magee, drove around Valentia Island then stopped in Tralee for the night. We went to the Abbey Inn for dinner and some Beamish. Darren tried the Irish stew.
We passed a Randy Leprechaun on the way to Dingle and drove around Dingle peninsula on the Slea head drive. We also passed the largest working windmill in Ireland, before driving back home.
Was a wonderful trip, we had some funny moments and the scenery was amazing.

Kinsale

Took a daytrip to Kinsale by bus on one of our few days off in January. It is a small fishing village about an hour away. We went for a walking tour (with a pamphlet) through the countryside around the little peninsula and through the town. Also saw an old closed down convent-turned-lace-factory.

Busy working

We were offered fulltime work with the furniture shop and have only had a few days off. Darren is working hard as you can see. On one of our days off we went exploring around Cork. We are enjoying the city a lot, it seems smaller than it is because we are so centrally located. We are in walking distance of everything (or so it seems) including Manda's new best friend TESCO.