Wet, wonderful Ireland!

Despite all the traveling we have done since I arrived here about six weeks ago, our trip to Ireland was the first time I actually got a chance to visit a new country (not true for Daniel though... he has added multiple new countries to his resume since he arrived in April).  One of the many reasons we love traveling is that it gives us an opportunity to explore more of this vast planet.  Whenever we are asked if we have visited a certain place that we haven't been to, our response is always, "No... not yet."  Basically, we are hoping to go everywhere we can while we are here.  So, needless to say, we were very excited about going to Ireland for the first time.

Daniel actually had to take off for the Emerald Isle on the evening of Monday, Sept. 8, but I followed shortly the next day.  Thankfully, I had a travel buddy this time... my friend, Stephanie (who also happens to be the wife of Daniel's boss).  Since we knew our husbands would be both be very busy with the work conference, we thought it would be alot of fun to explore Ireland together.  So after a quick hop, skip, and jump, we found ourselves landing in Kerry, Ireland.  Not surprisingly, it was pouring down rain when we landed... and it rarely stopped the entire time we were there!  But, hey, it's Ireland... I think it would be a little disappointing if it was sunny and 70.  Ireland seems to be the only place were a rainy vacation is perfectly acceptable. And in the end, all the rain definitely did not dampen our spirits.

In order to explore as much of Ireland as possible during our trip, we rented a car at the airport.  I am just grateful that Stephanie was brave enough to drive on the left-side of the road!  Maybe on our next trip I will give it a try.  So off we went to check out the Dingle peninsula, which had been highly recommended by friends and guide books alike.  Since it was raining sheets out still, we weren't really able to stop and take pictures on our way to the town of Dingle, but the drive along the coastline was beautiful.  When we made it to the town of Dingle, it was still raining, but we braved the weather and walked around for a while. 

As you can see, it is a quaint little town.  Lots of colorful buildings and cute little shops.  More than just being picturesque, Dingle has an active fishing industry. In addition to the fishing boats, there are also many sailing boats.

Here are a couple shots of me near by Dingle's harbor.  I am smiling because it actually stopped raining for a few minutes!  Also, here is a pic I took as we were leaving the Dingle peninsula and heading north toward Adare, where we were staying.  Everything is so green and lush.

On Wednesday, we decided to head to the northwest coast of Ireland to see the Cliffs of Moher, which are reportedly one of the nation's most visited attractions.  On the way, we stopped by Bunratty Castle.  We were hoping to go in and see it, but we discovered that you had buy admission to the adjoining folk park to check it out, so we took a pass.  However, I snapped this picture of the castle before we continued our trek to the coast.

Once we made it to the Cliffs of Moher, it actually stopped raining for a while.  But man, was it windy up there!  Even still, we throughly enjoyed the view.  It was neat to think that we were looking back toward the States from the other side of the Atlantic.  Now I just need to go to Asia to visit the other side of the Pacific.  As the photo below shows, the cliffs are dramatic and stunning.  

That photograph displays what the southern cliffs look like.  Also, here is a shot of Stephanie and me as well as a shot of the cliffs while looking north.  The observation tower seen on top of the northern cliffs is called O' Brien's tower.  Finally, here are is a pic looking east back toward Ireland.  As you can see, the sun was even trying to come out at one point!

Wednesday evening we actually had a chance to spend some time with our husbands at a BBQ at our hotel.  I used the word "hotel" lightly because it was in fact a beautiful place called Adare Manor, which is where the Irish Open is hosted everywhere.  While we did not stay in the manor house, pictured below, the villas we stayed in where not too shabby either.  The manor house was built between 1832 and 1852 by the Earl of Dunraven.  The Dunraven family still owns most of the nearby village of Adare, but the manor has since been bought by the hospitable Mr. Tom Kane, whom we met during our stay there.   

On Thursday, we decided to stay close and just check out the village of Adare.  In addition to browsing the little shops and such, we had an opportunity to see the nearby ruins of the Desmond Castle.  It was built around 1200 by the Normans.  It was used as a feudal settlement, and over 800 families lived within its walls at one point.  A couple of centuries later, it was destroyed by Oliver Cromwell.  And across the Maigue River was the pretty Augustinian Abbey, which was built in 1315 and is now used as the local Protestant church.  It was very interesting to learn about the history of the castle and the surrounding area.  

While it is a very wet country, Ireland really is a wonderful place.  The people there are sooo friendly, and the whole county is incredibly charming.  Before we left, I was planning out where we'll go and what we'll see on our next trip to the Emerald Isle.  I am already looking forward to returning.  Well, it seems that all this traveling we've been doing will slow down for a little while, but don't worry, I am already starting to plan our next trips.  We are looking into going to Morocco and Malta over the holidays!  Until then, I will do my best to find fun and interesting things to blog about, so please stay tuned.  Well, I hope you enjoyed this post, and thanks for reading!  

S'mores in Switzerland!

First of all, I would like to start this post by saying all of this traveling is quite surreal!  Daniel and I just cannot believe the opportunities we have had already, and we are just getting started!  We are incredibly grateful for the blessing of these experiences... we just hope we can make the most of them while we are here.  So far, so good :)

Our most recent expedition found us heading south toward the beautiful country of Switzerland.  The last time we were there together was back in 2002 during our European backpacking trip.  While I remember the countryside being absolutely gorgeous, I also remember the prices there being very high.  Therefore, camping seemed like a good alternative, and Labor Day weekend seemed like the perfect time.  A group of friends from here on the siedlung decided to join us, and after gathering all the necessary materials (including an insane amount of food :), we were all set to leave on the morning of Saturday, August 30th.

Eight of us piled into two cars and we started the trek down to Bern, which ended up being about a 5 hour drive, including stops.  Once we got there, we set up camp at a campground near the Aare River, which runs right through the capital city.  The campsite is actually quite close to downtown, so we decided to have dinner in the city and walk around there that night.  I know, it is not really "roughing it," but it was nice to see a little bit of the town and to enjoy some pretty good Italian food... we decided to save the fondue for our next trip to Switzerland.

Sunday is when the real fun began.  We headed further south toward a town called Kandersteg. This where we started our hike into the Alps.  We actually rode a gondola a few hundred meters up the side of the mountain; otherwise it would have taken all day just to get to the top. Here is a picture of our group right before we started the hike.  From left to right is Jamie, Alexis, Jane & Joe M., Daniel & me, and Heather & Matt O.  

And then we we were off!  The views on the way up to the summit pass were pretty awesome, as you can see.  Also, there were some very pretty alpine flowers, and the geology was so cool!  Some pretty crazy folding and faulting transformed the sedimentary rock layers up there in the past.  Yes, I really am a science nerd :)

 

After a while into the hike, I turned around and took this photo.  I think it does an excellent job displaying the beauty of the Alps!

Once we made it to the summit pass, we had lunch and enjoyed the view overlooking the alpine lake there.  Here is a photo of Daniel and I as well as one of our whole group at the top.  And no, Daniel and I didn't plan to match... sometimes these things just happen!

On the way back down, we had another good photo opportunity (top).  Also, here is the view from the base of the mountains, looking back toward the town of Kandersteg (bottom).

Once we got back to Bern after the hike, we decided to cool off in the Aare River, which was literally right next to our campsite.  When I say cool off, I really mean it because the river was a chilly 66 degrees F (but that was just a taste of what was to come during the white water rafting trip!).  The river has a very strong current, so it carried us a ways down river and then we had to walk back, but it was a lot of fun. 

We actually jumped off a bridge into the river (don't worry it was only about 12 feet above the water), and I am hoping to get some video of this from our friend, Jamie, so hopefully I will be able to post that on the blog soon.  On Saturday night, we enjoyed the normal camping fare, including roasted hot dogs, and of course, s'mores!  They definitely hit the spot after a full day.

On Monday, we headed toward Interlaken, which is considered the "adventure capital" of Switzerland.  This is where we got outfitted for our white water rafting trip.  In addition to the eight of us, there were two other "civilian" couples who went on the trip with us, for a total of 14, so we split into two rafts.  Our boat included our friends, Heather and Matt O.  Here is a pic of all of our raft members nice and dry... but not for long!

The river we rafted on is called the Lutschine, and it flows down from a glacier in the Alps. As I mentioned earlier, the Aare River in Bern felt pretty cold, but it didn't even come close to the Lutschine, which was a freezing 42 degrees F!  For some crazy reason, we actually jumped in the river for a swim toward the end of our trip... it was ridiculously cold, but it definitely made the experience a memorable one!  Following are a bunch of shots taken by one of the guides from the rafting company.  I think they show our experience pretty well... as you can tell, we had a blast!

 

After the white water rafting trip, it was time to head back to Frankfurt.  As all the pictures show, we had an awesome time in Switzerland!  We definitely look forward to going back there, and hopefully that will include going skiing in this Alps this winter... we will see.  Well, there is no rest for the "weary" and believe it or not, we have yet another trip just around the corner.  Daniel has a work conference in Limerick, Ireland, next week, and once again I will be joining him.  Needless to say, we are both looking forward to our first trip to Ireland!  As always, look for a post and pictures from the trip here on the blog in the next couple of weeks.  Until then... God bless!