Ireland 09

Mike and I had the amazing opportunity to go over to Ireland and London with my parents. After getting through a couple of anxiety attacks over leaving the kids, we were ready to go...:) Ireland was our first stop. We stayed about 15 miles outside of Dublin at a golf resort. The hotel was beautiful! Ireland has to, by far, be my favorite place. It was chilly and drizzly there, but is was awesome! The countryside was breathtaking! There were castles everywhere. I guess I'm more of a country girl than a city girl. We visited a few castles, and went into Dublin for a day. Mike was brave enough to rent a car and drive (they drive on the left side of the road). Which he did a really good job. Charleville Castle, by far my favorite castle. Pretty much untouched, except for the owners. Becoming Jane and Northanger Abbey were filmed here.
This room was still in it's original state, even the walls. This was the Den. The ceilings had amazing detail.

This was the great Hall, or ball room

My parents and I at the Cahir Castle, in Cahir Irleland. The funny thing was, this castle was smack dab in the middle of the town.

Cahir Castle

This is the Rock of Chashel. I was walking through the burial part of the grounds, and there were tombstones as late as 2007.

This is one of my favorite pictures. It's a good representation of how green and lush Ireland is. This was an abbey that was built off of the Castle.

Rock of Cashel

This was inside the St. Patricks Cathedral. The masonry and architecture was so amazing, but it just seemed really dark and drab to be a church.

We also saw the Dublin Castle. The artwork was unbelievable. Can you tell I'm into castles? I think everyone was castled out by the time we were done, but not me. I could have seen 100 more!

My mom and I at Trinity College

Trinity College

Downtown Dublin