Exploring Ireland

A few weeks ago I went on a little tour of Ireland with my mum. We got the ferry with our car to Dublin and left 8 days later from Belfast, stopping in Galway and Donegal on the way. Every night we stayed in places found through Airbnb and had such an amazing time! We finished in my boyfriend's home town in County Down. These are a few photos from a lovely mother-daughter bonding trip.

 Dublin
We got there pretty late so our hosts recommended we go just round the corner to The Oarsmen for dinner, such a great meal! The next day was mainly for shopping and a little bit of site seeing. That night we did an organised 'Musical Pub Crawl' that involved two local musicians providing an insight into traditional Irish music with information on the history and instruments of which they played at each venue. They took us to three pubs that apparently 'even Irish people still go to... not your typical Irish theme pubs' -The Oliver St John Gogarty, The Ha'penny Bridge, and Brannigans (a little outside of the Temple Bar area). This was honeslty the best night! It was so much fun everyone was really up for it (especially after a few Guinesses) and with around 50 people from all over the world there was a great atmosphere. They even taught us a song or two! Needless to say the CD became our soundtrack for the rest of the road trip.
The only thing I would recommend against is parking in St.Stephens Green multistory... €19 for 4 hours!

Pub Crawl, Alchemy Juice Co., Powerscourt Centre - Dublin

Trinity College & Molly Malone

Galway
Our next stop was Galway. We stayed with a lovely family who provided us with some great local knowledge of where to go. To have an explore around the town we parked in Eyre Square which was exactly where we wanted to be, right in the centre! (and for a quarter of the price we paid in Dublin). Galway has a very quaint sea-side town feel, but with all the amenities of a city. My mum and I instantly fell in love. Although there are a lot of tourists in Galway, it doesnt feel tacky, just buzzing! There are plenty of places to eat, especially in the Latin quarter, however we had an amazing lunch in Sheridans Cheesemongers. If you're a fan of the wine and cheese combination, you cannot afford to miss this place! However it's tiny, so get there early if you want to get in for dinner! (They don't take reservations). That night we'd become a bit sick of eating in restaurants twice a day everyday, and so we decided to get a takeaway from a local fish and chip shop and eat on the promenade wrapped up in a blanket! Perfect (but VERY windy!). The best part about Galway for me though, has to be finding an Inglot store, I was in my element (post coming soon).

Sheridans Cheesemongers -Galway

An 'interesting' sign we still don't understand -Galway Bay

Ballyshannon
Ballyshannon is a small town in County Donegal, which was our next destination. We chose to stay in Ballyshannon so that it would break up the otherwise 5 hour drive from Galway to the north coast. I'm so glad we found the airbnb house here because not only did we drive through 4 counties that day (through Galway, Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim and into Donegal) we also got to see the stereotypical Ireland. We were just surrounded by rolling green hills and loughs; the scenery truly was spectacular.
For dinner that night we told our host upon our arrival we wanted to go to a fish restaurant. Straight away she rang the three in town to see which she could get us a reservation at considering it was a Friday night. We ended up at the Creevy Pier Hotel; my mum is still raving about the trout she had to this day!

The Twin Loughs - Lough Conn

Before dinner in Ballyshannon (Co.Donegal)

Outside the fish restaurant - Creevy Pier (Co.Donegal)

 Northern Ireland
The following morning we started our journey to meet my boyfriend, Callum, at the Giant's Causeway on the north coast. The whole trip we'd been incredibly lucky with the weather, and this day was no exception! We played frisbee on the beach in Port Rush and enjoyed a drink on the deck chairs outside Babushka Kitchen Cafe. Then drove to the Giant's Causeway which is a must see if you're in this area; the strangest natural rock formation with a great story. That night we had a relaxing evening in at Callum's parents house after a long day of driving.

Whilst in Northern Ireland my mum really wanted to see the Titanic centre, and I'm so glad we did go! I wasn't to keen at the thought, how can a whole museum be dedicated to the Titanic? But I was wrong. They did it. They did it really well. The rest of the day in Belfast was spent in Victoria Square... shopping of course. We loved Avoca, really great shop/cafe (although rather pricey) full of cute things, many of which you won't need but will want nevertheless.
After a lot of days in the car, Callum and I decided to take my mum to our favourite place, Murlough Beach. The dunes are covered in heather as you weave through them to get to the gorgeous stretch of sand. Followed by a competition at Castlewellan maze to see who could reach the middle first! (I won!), and a stroll around Delamont Country Park. For our final dinner we went to a local restaurant near Strangford Lough called Balloo House and had an amazing meal, mum had freshly caught langoustines that hold the title of the best she's ever had!

Balloo House

 

Castlewellan maze

Not many Brits take the time to explore our own nation which I think is a real shame. Everyone's dying to get somewhere exotic (or atleast with guaranteed sun). It has only been since starting uni and therefore travelling the UK more that I've appreciated how much we have to offer.