Mom and Dad come to Ireland!

Well, here I am writing from the middle of Switzerland!  Its been awhile since I have written, I have been real busy being a crazy world traveler!

So. Mom and dad came to Ireland at the end of March.  It was such a whirlwind of fun and adventures with them, I don't even know where to start!  I met them in Dublin the day they flew in and we started our adventures right away.  We walked around Dublin for a bit and I let my parents marvel at the very old buildings all over Dublin while I led them around for the evening.  We found a really nice pub in the heart of town for dinner with live Irish music.  It was the perfect introduction to Ireland for my parents!

The next day we headed out into the misty rain for a walking tour of Dublin.  It was very interesting to learn a bit more history of Dublin from a real Dubliner.  My dad loved it as he is a real history buff! We were ready for some lunch afterwards to warm up with some homemade soup and brown bread.  My dad fell in love with brown bread and Im pretty sure he had it at almost every meal.  Wish I could bring some home for you dad!

After that we went to go pack up and head to our train that would take us to Cork.  In typical Mork style, we ended up running for a few minutes to make the train just in the nick of time.  LOL.  It was grand.  We were so excited to find our seats and see that our names were next to them because my dad had booked the tickets ahead of time.  We got to Cork around dinner time and of course it was raining pretty steadily.  Welcome to Cork, mom and dad! Ha... We headed out into the rain to find a place for dinner and ended up at a place that serves really good crepes.

Our b&b was the best! Our hosts, Olive and Kieran were so kind and helpful giving suggestions and just having great conversation together.  We always had great breakfasts and they were so welcoming. Olive even let me borrow a suitcase for my travels! Such kindness...

Anyways, the first day in Cork we headed to the airport to pick up the rental car and we were ready for adventure! My dad was great with driving on the wrong side of the road and I think he maybe kinda liked it? We began the trek to the Cliffs of Moher and it ended up being such a perfect day.  I like to think my parents fell in love with Ireland just as much as I have in that one day :) We did some cliff walking and taking pictures and just admiring the beauty of the cliffs, ocean and sunshine.  We did some exploring around the area and ate at a pub in a small Irish town called Doolin.  Once again the brown bread emerged and seafood chowder also became a favorite for both my mom and dad.

The next day we decided to tour the Beara Peninsula and part of the Ring of Kerry.  It was a lot of driving for my dad but he was a trooper! I loved it because it was a new part of Ireland for me and the scenery was of course beautiful.  We drove up and down and through the mountains and saw so many sheep! My mom and I had a good time capturing funny pictures of all of the sheep.  We stopped at Ladies view on the Ring of Kerry to take a few pictures as well.  That night we ate at a nicer restaurant in Cork and I loved having them both in my city and being able to have good conversations with them.  We ended the night at a favorite pub of mine listening to live music from local musicians.

On my dad's last day, I gave them a tour of Cork! We started at my school, UCC, which I hope was fun for them to see where I had been spending some time this semester.  I brought them to the English Market, O'Connails hot chocolate, Carrolls, and a few other shops and bookstores.  And showed them some of my favorite places in Cork.  We ended that evening with dinner at another favorite pub with really good pizza and a soccer game on TV.

I absolutely loved showing them around my adopted country and city. I can only hope that they can see why I have fallen in love with Ireland in their snapshot view of the Green Isle!

Walking in Dublin!

Trinity College Library

Cliffs of Moher!

Cliffs of Moher

North Face Ad?

Dad, loving his fish and chips

Road tripping on a beautiful day

Mol's Gap on the Beara Peninsula! They got to experience some real Ireland wind.

One of the many sheep :)

My parents loving their homemade hot chocolate!

After my dad left, my mom and I headed to England! A different post to follow for that trip :)
I am loving Europe and all of the unique differences each country has to offer.  I cannot believe I have been blessed with this opportunity and it is all just going so fast! Before I know it i'll be back in Ireland and then back in the states.

I had such a grand time mom and dad, thanks a million for making the trip over to see me and have some adventures in Ireland!

Sending my love to family and friends back home!