6 Day All Ireland (Paddywagon Tours)

Just finished up the 6 Day All Ireland Tour which was really a lot of fun. We started the day with a quick tour around Dublin and a stop at the Guiness Factory and Storehouse.  Walked through the factory, learned all about the process of making Guiness Beer and ended the tour with a pint at the Gravity Bar. The Gravity Bar was on the top floor of the factory and had a great view of Dublin.  Next we were on our way over to Belfast with a few stops along the way.  At Derry we had an opportunity to take the black taxi tour, which takes you to all the murals around the city and the peace wall.  

Second day of the tour we were on our way to Derry, with stops at the Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge and the Giant's Causeway.

  Both points were amazing, I really need to post pictures to show how amazing it all looks.  I wish they gave us more time in the area, I didn't get a chance to walk to all the points of the Giant's Causeway.  I suppose i'll just have to go back there another time.  The Carrick-A-Rede bridge was this tiny rope bridge that connected a small island.  It was too windy and wet so they wouldn't let us cross anymore, but some people managed to cross anyways.  The Giant's Causeway use to be the site of glaciers, until a volcano erupted and froze in these crazy looking formations.  It was cool.  We finally made it to Derry, just in time for our walking tours.  Our tour guide's name was Rory and he took us around the walled city going through all the history and Bloody Sunday.

Third day we made our way to Gilway, which was a college town. We got to the town pretty early and I used it to catch up on things, while others shopped around the city. Had dinner at the pub and we all went drinking afterwards.  In order to get into the clubs for free or for a discount you needed to get your hand stamped by one of the promoters on the streets. We tried to see who could get the most stamps.

Fourth day we made it to the Cliffs of Moher, which was absolutely amazing. Luckily it was a nice day, with sunshine and no rain.  Did you know that the Cliffs of Moher were used in the Princess Bride movie, the Cliffs of Insanity.  Princess Bride being one of my favorite movies, I took tons of photos.

After the cliffs we took a ferry across the Shanon River, I've never rode on one of those ferries that carried people and cars so I was pretty excited. Finally made our way Annascaul, which was a small town we were staying at.  This town was tiny, it had one street and 9 pubs.

Fifth day we were on our way to the city of Kilarney. We drove around the peninsula and got to see the sleeping giant and the three sisters.  The story behind the sleeping giant is that he crossed over from Scotland over to Ireland looking for his lady.  When he made it over he found that she was already in love with another man, he couldn't go back home the way he came because everything was destroyed (Giant's Causeway) and he stayed in Ireland resting.

The island really does look like a giant sleeping with his arms folded on his chest.  After the drive around the peninsula, we made a stop in the town of Dingle for some lunch at the local pub called Murphy's.  It was a nice little fishing town to have lunch and explore. When we got to Kilarney, we went on a horse drawn carriage around the National Park.  It was a nice ride, the park is beautiful with lakes, islands, deer, and so much more. This was our last night together, so we went to the pub McSoley's and had a good time.

Last day we stopped in the city of Cork to check out Blarney Castle.  In order to get to the Blarney Stone you had to climb up the winding steps of the tower, it was pretty steep and tight.

  The stone is on one of the walls with a hole right underneath it.  In order to kiss it, you need to lie on your back, grab the iron bars, and tilt yourself upside down and kiss the stone.  The story is that if you kiss the Blarney Stone you will either get the gift of gab or Irish luck.  I realize that hundreds of people have probably kissed this stone already, but I just had to do it. Had some time to walk through the rock garden, walked down the wishing steps and found the stone witch. Finally made it back to Dublin and this was the end of the tour.  I met some people that night for one last guiness and went to bed early to catch my flight to Scotland.

I met so many people on this tour, it was definitely the best way to start my Europe adventure.  Meeting all these people reconfirmed my reasons for traveling and helped me realized how sheltered I've been. I'm hoping the rest of my trip goes as smoothly and well as it did in Ireland.  Next stop Scotland!