Ireland {Howth, Malahide & Kilkenny}

I know, we are super far behind on the blog and there is a lot to catch up on.  To close out Jenn's visit to Europe (after our ski weekend in Austria, and checking out Innsbruck and Munich), we brought Jenn back to Dublin to see our home.

We took a few day trips.  We first drove north of Dublin to Howth & Malahide.  The second we drove southwest to Kilkenny.  We wanted her to get a feel for Ireland, showing her the coast, some castles and the beautiful Irish countryside.

All aboard in the teeny car that takes us far!

First stop, Malahide Castle

Amazingly, this was a private residence until the 1960's

Necessary Irish & EU flag shot

In Howth for lunch.  A cute little seaside village, known for fresh seafood

Howth harbor

The sky wasn't as blue when we went to Kilkenny, but it was still a good day.  Kilkenny is a small medieval country town, known for it's castle, and it's pub lined streets and good craic (good atmosphere).

Old stone buildings and narrow streets

Town center

Kilkenny Castle - also privately owned until 1960's, when it was sold to the people of
 Kilkenny (for £50). It was much bigger than Malahide castle and restored better too.

There are so many incredible churches in Europe. It's not
uncommon to see them at the end of a street.

It was nice to get out of the city for a few days at the end of our Christmas holidays.  It's really fun to end 2012 by seeing a few smaller towns and checking out some castles.

Jenn safely made it back to Colorado to ring in the New Year, after being in 3 new countries, skiing at 2 unbelievable resorts in Austria, drinking a stein of beer in Munich at the famous Hofbrauhaus, and touring a few castles in Ireland.