Ahhh, the final morning at the most amazing and beautiful place in the world. We ventured up to the roof to watch the most incredible sunrise. It is such a wonderful way to start the day, a moment and pause in life, to reflect on our blessed life and good fortune. It was one of those moments that you just wish could be frozen in time or remember and relived every morning.
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| Sunrise over Cashel |
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| Love at sunrise |
After a final hearty Irish breakfast cooked by Margaret, we got on our way to head back to Dublin to drop off the rental car and enjoy the final stop of the trip. It was with heavy hearts that we left, as it was the beginning of the winding down of the trip. Neither of us were ready for this trip to end.
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| Where to? Wait, Johnstown?!?!? |
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| Random ruins along the way |
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| Kilkenny Castle |
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| Kilkenny Castle |
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| Kilkenny Castle |
After a brief stop in Kilkenny, to enjoy the castle and walk around the grounds, we headed into Dublin. After dropping of our belongings, we immediately headed out to walk around. Our pad was right outside of the gates of Trinity College and on the edge of the popular Temple Bar area.
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| Department store in Dublin |
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| Dublin Castle |
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| Dublin Castle |
We stopped in
Simon's Place in the George's Street Arcade for some absolutely fantastic cappuccino. It was busy and popular, definitely a local hub, and awesome. Everyone was raving about the food, but we did not try it. Unfortunately, we did NOT make it back here at any other point in our time here, and this is a bad thing. I really wanted to go back, it was that unique of an experience.
After more meandering around Temple Bar, we finally headed into
Cornucopia for dinner. When traveling, it seems that the meals you chose to eat (or what people seem to cook for you) are very heavy and rich, and I get to the point about over 4th day where I just need/crave/absolutely-must-have vegetable and light fare. Cornucopia was the most delicious vegetarian and vegan restaurant that I highly encourage you to visit. Even Adam (my ravenous carnivore) enjoyed the fare. We enjoyed a mole corn spanakopita, potato salad, barley and sprout salad, hummus plate with olives, and a chickpea salad. They were all small plate, so you got to try many different things without gorging yourself.
We ended up at a very local pub 'The Lord Edward', to enjoy some pints of Guinness and Bulmers while watching the Ireland vs. Germany soccer match. We really enjoyed the camaraderie with the locals and were conversing the entire time we were there. That was one of the BEST parts of Ireland, as soon as anyone heard the American accent, people were pulling up chairs to talk with you and share their own stories of their time in America. This is how we got all of our information on what to do and where to go. We never had an itinerary for the next day, we just came upon recommendations and followed the advice. It made for the MOST amazing of experiences.
