PS I Love Ireland

Ever since the movie “PS I Love You” made me sob hysterically with projectile tears and endless snot, I wanted to go to Ireland.

So I did.

I just spent two weeks traveling the land of luscious landscapes and it did not disappoint! The country was as I’d imagined – stunning scenery of rolling green hills dotted with woolly sheep and little lambs. The air was cool and crisp – or, in the eyes of this California girl, FREEZING (we even had a bit of snowfall!). There was lots of Guinness and Bailey’s and Irish coffee to be had. A handful of new friends to be made. Potatoes were in practically every meal. And the pubs, ohhh the pubs! I spent many a night in awe of live Irish music at the pubs, and even singing along. By singing along, I mean going, “Diddly dyddly diddly dyddly diddly dyddly…yip!” over and over and over again with the obligatory toe-tap and the occasional knee-slap.

I was joined by two most fantastically diddly wonderful travel mates.

There was Vneet from London, who I just re-united with after we met traveling in Australia over a year ago. Vneet is the flashpacker princess and vegetarian, coffee enthusiast and interior designer…and a talking MACHINE if I ever heard one (I say that with love!).

And there was Vneet’s friend Sean, a born and bred Irish country boy she met while traveling in Thailand last year. He’s about as Irish as it gets – drinks Guinness like it’s water, thinks it’s warm enough to wear T-shirts when it’s 10 degrees outside and has an accent so thick, it sounds like he’s speaking a foreign language altogether.

Between the three of us was a perfect blend of personality and travel spirit. I really couldn’t ask for a better group of peeps!

This little roadtrip took us from Cork to Baltimore to Killarney to the Ring of Kerry to the Skellig Ring to Conner’s Pass to Dingle to Doolin to the Cliffs of Moher to Galway and lastly, to Dublin for St. Patrick’s Day.

There was a donkey. A couple castles. Classic drunkard pub brawls. Sandwich overload. An uncle named Bob. My boot on a windshield.

I could go on for ages, but I’m pretty sure you wanna see photos. So here ya go!

PS I kissed the Blarney Stone!
It supposedly gave me the gift of eloquence. And, as it appears, a stupid grin on my face.

PS the Guinness Factory is really impressive and worth a visit.
Even for non-Guinness drinkers like Vneet and me!

PS Ireland is not a cheap place to travel! A shared dorm in a hostel generally cost 17 Euros a night and it really adds up when you’re traveling for awhile. But Couchsurfing saved my ass – and is waaaaay more fun! Here are Vneet and me with our Couchsurfing hosts:

James in Cork

Paul & Lydia in Galway

Cathy in Dublin

To these hosts, to Neil in Kampot, to Taylor in LA, to Andreas in Dublin, to Mary in Carlow, to Damien and Ian and Cieran and April from Cork, to the drunk garda at Dick Mack’s, to the donkey in Clare, and especially to Vneet and Sean:

Thank you for making my trip to Ireland a diddly good time!

PS I love you Ireland