Being a Pringle in Dingle

Sept 25th-27th

Dingle was by far my favorite place on this trip. Our rental was in the middle of the small town and included 3 bedrooms and a full kitchen! Our lovely landlord left us yogurt, fresh bread and eggs from her own chickens for us to make for breakfast. The town is very close together and easily walkable. Nestled between green hills bordering the sea and port, and colorful buildings lining cobblestone streets, Dingle is one of the most picturesque of the spots we have stayed in. I immediately wished we had more time here.

This was Andrea’s favorite building! So bright and cheery.

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We heard that the local pub hangout was Dick Mack's Bar, which has been operating since 1899 and brews their own beer.

The colors in this town are just amazing

So many choices of whiskey!

Felt very Peaky Blinders in here

After an incredible dinner at the Fish Box, we joined the increasing crowds over at Dingle Pub for live music and drinks, where we met a group of fellow tourists traveling from Florida to share a table with us. They were a bit older than us and seemed shocked and impressed that we were traveling together and rented a car to drive around on our own: I guess it made me count my blessings that I have the means and the friends to make experiences like this happen :D

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We ended the night with a delicious cone from the well known Murphy's Ice Cream shop, which is open late (I think this needs to be recreated back home). And the following morning left town after grabbing coffee at an adorable coffee shop called "a Bean in Dingle" which is just a fantastic name for a shop.

Galway Girls

Sept 23-25

This few nights of our trip were spent in Galway. Galway is a large, bustling city like Dublin, but with a breezy seaside location and a livelier, more easygoing vibe than Dublin seemed to have. Almost all bars in Galway play live music and colorful buildings and cheerful flags decorated the city. We happened to be here during the weekend of the International Oyster Festival, as well as the Culture Day celebration so it was quite busy and rowdy, with street music, larger than normal crowds, public market booths and parades. We got lucky with some of our food choices, finding ourselves front and center of a crew going on their 37th year of singing together (oh my heart).

Our little room was located above a bar in the middle of the busy Main Street of pubs. It was small but a good time listening to the life and the city below. The bar below was a blast and it was incredibly convenient to be able to walk right up to bed after a few pints.

Bonus fun memory: walking to get late night noodles at midnight after the pub, and then sleeping in bunk beds like college roommates.

The beautiful streets of Galway

Completely sober photograph