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Friday, March 4, 2011

Flash Bulb Friday


I've decided that the month of March is going to be "Flash Bulb Fridays from Ireland" in celebration of St. Patty's day! My first major international trip with Puff was to Ireland in April/May of 2009. We got a spectacular deal on a package that included airfare, rental car, and vouchers for bed & breakfasts all over the country. I spent hours and hours researching (and creating a spreadsheet) for the route we wanted to take, how to get from place to place, which B&B to contact, and what was cool to see in each city.
 
The third day we were in the Emerald Isle, we embarked on our first leg of the famed Ring of Kerry. One of my favorite stops on the entire 10 day trip was the little village of Cahersiveen. It hadn't been a very planned out day and when we stumbled across this adorable, colorful "main street" we had to stop. We wandered along a little river and had delicious pastries from a local bakery. We checked out a little church and then hopped in the car to drive across the river to the ruins of Ballycarberry Castle.
 
We had seen all of one mention of this place in a guidebook, and it was a small mention, but the above photo just proved to me how fantastic the unexpected can be when you're traveling. We never intended to stumble across this gem, but after driving tiny back roads through someone's farm and then trudging through mud to check it out, I finally found the Ireland I had hoped to find.
 
And it was amazing.

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