Cliffs of Moher in Ireland
Our friends warned us that our whirlwind life of travel would end when our son arrived, but I was and am determined to prove them all wrong. Travel doesn’t need to end when you have a baby, but your mindset about travel does need to change. Your African safari and Amazon River cruise may be distant memories, but you’ll discover a new world that you hadn’t seen before when you vacation as a family.
For our baby’s first international vacation, our main concerns were flight time, ease of getting around the country, and costs. We chose Ireland because of the 5.5 hour flight time from New York city, the short driving distance between the main historic sites, and the lower costs compared to other European countries.
Being the consummate overplanner, I compiled my packing lists and our day-by-day itinerary. I outlined every possible scenario in which an eight month old might lose it (lack of toys and entertainment, too much time in the car, boring food choices, bad weather). I wrote down three goals: (1) sightseeing in Dublin, (2) kissing the Blarney Stone, and (3) viewing the Cliffs of Moher. As long as we accomplished those three things, we should be happy.
My husband and I chose Ireland because of the distance mainly but discovered that it is an underrated country. The landscape is lush and green (as beautiful as New Zealand), the food is excellent (too many stories of the potato famine danced in my head), and the memorable sites are numerous.
Sunday, 10/11/09
We arrived at 7AM at the Camden Court Hotel in Dublin after a red eye flight. I was exhausted as I did not sleep at all on the flight because I was holding our son most of the time. Adding to the pile of reasons why a red-eye flight might not be advantageous is that we had to wait over three hours in the brightly lit and loud hotel lobby for our room to be ready. In the past, we would have dropped off our bags and explored the city; however, that is hardly a plan of action with an eight month old.
We arrived at 7AM at the Camden Court Hotel in Dublin after a red eye flight. I was exhausted as I did not sleep at all on the flight because I was holding our son most of the time. Adding to the pile of reasons why a red-eye flight might not be advantageous is that we had to wait over three hours in the brightly lit and loud hotel lobby for our room to be ready. In the past, we would have dropped off our bags and explored the city; however, that is hardly a plan of action with an eight month old.
After finally getting into our small room and sleeping for a few hours, we did mange to go to St. John's Green, which was walking distance from our hotel. The little one loves nature, especially sitting in the grass, which means that we spent more time on this vacation relaxing at parks and playgrounds than rushing through cathedrals and castles.
Monday, 10/12/09
We began the day with the Dublin Pass, a double decker bus tour of the city's main attractions. We caught the bus at St. John's Green and hopped off a couple of stops later at the Dublin Castle. We found out that most of the castles require you to reserve a set 45 minute to 1 hour tour group in order to see the inside. We quickly dropped the castle idea because we did not expect our son to sit still or be quiet through an organized tour. Being new parents, we were not quite ready for the glares and sympathetic looks this would engender. We walked around the outside area and then headed to St. Patrick's Cathedral. The Cathedral was beautiful with gorgeous stained glass windows and grand architecture. We happened to visit at lunchtime at which time there is a prayer service; the melodic voices vibrate through the building.
We began the day with the Dublin Pass, a double decker bus tour of the city's main attractions. We caught the bus at St. John's Green and hopped off a couple of stops later at the Dublin Castle. We found out that most of the castles require you to reserve a set 45 minute to 1 hour tour group in order to see the inside. We quickly dropped the castle idea because we did not expect our son to sit still or be quiet through an organized tour. Being new parents, we were not quite ready for the glares and sympathetic looks this would engender. We walked around the outside area and then headed to St. Patrick's Cathedral. The Cathedral was beautiful with gorgeous stained glass windows and grand architecture. We happened to visit at lunchtime at which time there is a prayer service; the melodic voices vibrate through the building.
We left there and walked past Christ Church Cathedral, which is the older of the medieval cathedrals and the official seat of the Church of Ireland and the Roman Catholic archbishops of Dublin. We decided going inside one cathedral was enough as it was sometimes tricky to navigate with a stroller. Luckily, we had brought our compact and lightweight umbrella stroller because doorways and sidewalks were narrow and there were lots of up and down steps.
We finished the day with a visit to the Guinness Storehouse where we learned the history of the brew and that Guinness was celebrating its 250th anniversary in 2009. This is definitely a site more for the parents, but my son loved the indoor waterfall. My husband learned to pour his own pint while I lifted my self-imposed ban on alcohol to have a few sips of Guinness. I am not a beer person, but I do like Guinness. The building, by the way, is quite impressive. There is a 360 degree view of Ireland from the bar at the top of the building and a free pint is included with entry into the Storehouse.
We left Dublin in the morning via car rental and drove down to Kilkenny on our way to overnight in Cork. Kilkenny Castle is an imposing site. We toured the exterior of the castle and the grounds.
We made one more stop in Cobh, a seaport town on the south coast of County Cork. There is not much going on there except that the Titanic's last port of call was to Cobh on the morning of April 11, 1912. The colorful buildings are indicative of many of the small towns of Ireland.
A ten minute drive from Cork city is Blarney Castle, which houses the famous stone of eloquence. We stopped here, of course, to kiss the Blarney Stone. We had not realized that the stone was at the top of the castle and the climb to the top was challenging, especially for my husband who was carrying our son up the narrow, winding stone staircase. The experience reminded us both of La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona although that climb was more claustrophobic, more rigorous, and longer. We made it to the top not a moment too soon. The Blarney Stone is still set in the wall below the battlements. To kiss it, you have to lean backwards while lying down and hanging in the air as some guy holds on to you. Once kissed, the stone bestows the gift of eloquence. Check that off the list.
Thursday, 10/15/09, Hotel Galway
Outside the town of Killarney is an expanse of rugged mountainous country, enormous lakes, and green woodlands. The focal point is the Muckross Estate, which we viewed from the outside. We stopped at Ladies' View overlooking a beautiful green valley. Ladies' View provides a good view of the Lakes including the Gap of Dunloe, the Black Valley and Ross Castle. We stopped at one of the lakes to take a boat ride from a elder Irish man who said he'd been giving tours for 65 years. It probably wasn't the best idea as our son lost it about 20 minutes in, but I felt sympathy for the old man standing outside in the cold.
Friday, 10/16/09, Hotel Galway
The Cliffs of Moher stretch for 8km and rise up to 702 feet above the Atlantic Ocean at the highest peak. The cliffs consist mainly of beds shale and sandstone, with the oldest rocks found at the bottom of the cliffs. From the top, one can see the Aran Islands, Galway Bay, The Twelve Bens, the Maam Turk Mountains in Connemara and Loop Head to the South. The main reason I wanted to see the cliffs is because I'd been to the Dover Cliffs years earlier and so I'd gotten it into my mind to visit the Cliffs of Moher, also. And then, once I found out that the cliffs were featured in The Princess Bride, that cemented my need to go there. The cliffs were also featured in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which I found out after the trip.
Saturday, 10/16/09, Bunratty Castle Hotel
Our last day in Ireland. Although we had a great hotel room, this was the most manufactured, tourist trap portion of the vacation. Bunratty Castle and Folk Park is a recreation of 19th century Ireland, with a village and townspeople acting the part. It's sort of like Plimoth Plantation. The saving grace was when we stopped at a pub because my husband wanted to make sure that our son visited his first Irish pub. 
I bought a bookmark with a lucky shamrock and the following Irish blessing.
May you live as long as you want,
And never want as long as you live.
