YVONNE PLEDGER's (mypledge) Blog

The Camden Court Hotel in Dublin was our home for the remainder of the trip.  My friend Jean's grandson is in Med School there so we spent a few extra days to spend time with Dustin and his girlfriend Katie.  We traveled through County Wicklow, known as The Garden of Ireland.  First stop was at G...

We headed for Waterford today.  We enjoyed a coast ride to the historic port city, known for its exquisite crystal.  Vikings settled in the eighth century and bestowed the name "Vadrafjord," and proceeded to exact tribute from the native Celtic tribes of the area over 200 years.  Anglo-Normans br...

Our second day in Cork, we took a ride to Cobh (pronounced "cove").  Cobh is a picturesque town that served as the main harbor for the city of Cork.  It is dominated by the spire of St. Colman's Cathedral.  Cobh was a major emigration point for families who left the country during the Great Potat...

From Killarney we headed for Cork.  We stopped at a working sheep farm and really enjoyed the sheep dog demonstration with Ireland's finest Border Collies in action.  The farmer was a kick, and oh wouldn't it be nice if our children ( and grandchildren) would mind as well as those dogs!!  They lo...

Today was an Optional Tour of Dingle Peninsula.  First stop was at Tralee's Kerry the Kingdom Museum.  The medieval village was a fascinating recreation.  Life like figures and dwellings of long ago. Dingle Peninsular is rugged mountains and  a most spectacular coastline.  We viewed the famed Bla...

Our first full day in Killarney included the Ring of Kerry.  That route included a combination of ocean, islands, mountains,  and ever changing weather.  We made many stops, the first town was Killorglin where a eight arched bridge crossed the River Laune.  The road decends from high above the ba...

Today we enjoyed a walking tour of Galway.  The narrow lanes, wood and stone shop fronts, resturants and pubs have an personality all their own.  I loved the "olde worlde"  atmosophere.  In the evening we enjoyed a typical Irish Ceili, at the Padraicins, which is the celebration of the harvest an...

Today we enjoyed a walking tour of Galway.  The narrow lanes, wood and stone shop fronts, resturants and pubs have an personality all their own.  I loved the "olde worlde"  atmosophere.  In the evening we enjoyed a typical Irish Ceili, at the Padraicins, which is the celebration of the harvest an...

Actually the first two days were mostly traveling.  Day three the real fun began.  Up for breakfast at 7am and on the coach at 8:30.  (There were optional tours, this was one of them and well worth the extra bucks)!  We began our day with a boat ride on the Lough Corrib, Irelands premier fishing ...

I recently had a great experience of traveling to Ireland.  My first Europeon experience!  It was a 14 day tour and shared with my very dear and long friend Jean that lives in Northern California.  We flew from San Francisco to Dublin on Aer Lingus in 10 hours.  Transfered to Shannon for a 45 min...