Luck of the Irish

When we decided last September that we would travel to Europe in January, naturally Paris was top of the list.  However, I was feeling a little antsy because of the 8 times I have been to Europe it has been Paris only (with the one exception of a quick jaunt to London).  The entire country of Italy and the city of Barcelona are on top of my list, but I have to go in the summer so I can experience the amazing beaches.  The hubs has always wanted to go to Ireland, so we decided our trip would be Paris/Ireland.

After 5 days in Paris, it was off to Ireland...

2 things I realized quickly.

The first, Ireland was exactly how I imagined, quaint little villages nestled in between rolling hills...

the second, I really really liked Ireland.  Not necessarily the big city of Dublin but the countryside, specifically Galway, where we spent 3 days...

Ashford Castle could not have been more opposite Paris.  It was in the middle of nowhere, next to a village with a population of 100, and not one shop within a 20 mile radius...

In some ways it was just like Paris though...

I actually enjoyed the change of pace.  Paris was go go go from the moment we got up until the moment we went to sleep.  Ireland was so laid back.

We went on walks...

we took a boat ride on the surrounding lake...

view of our castle from the lake...

and what was the most amazing part of the trip, falconry...

Falconry, which is big in Galway, is the catching and releasing of falcons.  We went on a 2 hour walk guided by the birds.  If the falcons were stubborn and would not come back to you, we were loaded up with some treats to bribe them...

baby chicks and quails.


It was such an awesome experience, I did not want it to end.  Our last morning, Dr Beautiful and I went on a walk and decided we absolutely needed to come back here with our children, and soon!!