To end our 2 and a 1/2 month adventure in Europe, we boarded our Norwegian air flight to Dublin. Ireland is a new country for all of us and Ariana’s 20th country! We were excited to be meet my parents who were joining us for this last leg. We arrived to a typically rainy Dublin and rented a large 7-seater to ensure we’d all fit comfortably. I was excited to drive through Ireland on the other side of the road and not have to catch another flight for 10 days. We picked up my parents from their hotel in central Dublin and drove straight to the town of Kilkenny 1 hour 45 mins away. It worked out great since the kids napped after the flight and were overjoyed to meet Dada and Dadi. We stayed at the Springhill Court Hotel which was quite nice and had a pool and spa and most importantly a playground. As soon as we arrived we could tell the Irish were super nice and kid friendly, which was a pleasant change from the recent countries we’d been to where it seemed like they had forgotten how to smile. We spent our first evening eating at Lemongrass, an Asian fusion restaurant, in the heart of Kilkenny. We loved the food and the town with its castle and quaint brightly colored beautiful houses (which we learned through our travels was typical of Irish towns). Anjali and I put the kids to sleep and enjoyed a Guinness at the hotel bar with live Irish music!

Next morning we woke up to an average breakfast in the hotel, before going into the town of Kilkenny. Street parking was easy and we started by walking the grounds of the famous castle from the 12th century. My parents took the kids on a chu chu train tour of Kilkenny which they really enjoyed as it gave them a flavor of this unique town. Anjali and I meanwhile walked through the quaint streets and explored the local Abbey and the church, both of which were worth a visit. Kilkenny was my favorite little town in Ireland! After about an hour of exploration, we drove to the Rock of Cashel that was on our way to our next stop at Kilbrittain. The Rock of Cashel is a historic must-do site, a medieval rock castle, overlooking vast meadows and fields with cows and sheep. Walking through the rock got us hungry and we ate at an Irish pub. The pubs became our go to for meals since the atmosphere, food and service were uniquely Irish and very relaxing. We were also pleasantly surprised to find Indian curry in many of these pubs. After filling our stomachs with yummy food and Guinness, we drove for about 2 hours to our B&B in Kilbrittain called Seafield farmhouse. It was located at the southern tip of Ireland with stunning views of the bay and ocean, hundreds of cows, bright green meadows and to the kids delight had its own dog. The host was very sweet and welcoming as well. Oh yes – and the rooms in Ireland were large unlike much of Europe. We were in love with Ireland to our delight and it was very different than our travels in the mainland. We ended the night with a ocean view dinner at the Pink Elephant with great wine and local food.

We woke up to cows mooing and birds chirping, ate some home made scones and breakfast, and set forth to explore the nearby town of Kinsale. Weather was typically Irish and wet, so we first decided to go to the Charles Fort, a rock fort overlooking Kinsale and the south of Ireland. The kids loved their time here playing with the grandparents and running around with umbrellas in the light rain. We stopped in the town for lunch to devour some pizzas, only after a stop in the playground!

Our stop for the next couple of days was on the west coast in Castlemaine and it was a couple of hours drive from Kinsale. We decided to drive further to the stunning Dingle peninsula since the kids were sleeping. This wasn’t originally part of our itinerary but we were so glad we did this. The Slea Head drive at the tip of the peninsula is one of the most amazing drives I’ve done. It’s extremely narrow and we often got stuck and had to back up – but still worth the drive. We ended our drive at Coumeenoole, a gorgeous view of Skellig Michael and the great basket islands. We drove an hour back through the town of Dingle to the Murphy’s Farmhouse B&B in Castlemaine where we stayed for 2 nights. We ate at yet another local pub that night called Anvil while thoroughly enjoying the live music!