Christmas Unwrapped!

Ireland wasn’t originally in our Christmas plans but as Amanda will post in a few weeks our decision to end the lease on our car caused us to adjust our holiday plans a bit. So rather than Ireland over St Patrick’s Day, it got moved a few months earlier in the calendar. Despite the rough start crossing the Irish Sea and a number closures due to the Christmas holidays (Waterford Crystal factory, Bushmills Whiskey Distillery and Trinity College Dublin where the Book of Kells is kept) we still had an amazing time. It was also a great place to celebrate our 9 year anniversary!

Grandma Theresa had been telling us how wonderful Ireland is since we discovered that we would be moving abroad in early 2011 but we’d never managed to make the trip actually happen until now. Thankfully, we were able to extend our stay here and spend enough time in Ireland to see all four coasts and most everything in-between. It really is a beautiful country and the people truly are remarkably chatty and inquisitive. 

To close out our series of Christmas posts here are a few bonus pictures that we couldn’t quite fit in our previous adventures but were some of our favorites regardless.

A rainbow in Ireland on Christmas day! Lucky much?

Looking out over Cashel.

I'm not the only one who makes crazy faces!

Looking back inland from the Coastal Road in Northern Ireland.

The darker the color the older the Whiskey. Also check out how much has evaporated out of the darkest barrel.

Need a chimney sweep?

Discount scaffolding! Apparently UK Health & Safety doesn't extend to Dublin.

Okay, perhaps I make a few more funny faces than Amanda.

Umm, Stick!

Relaxing by the fire. Such a beautiful smile!

The Spire, Dublin.