Leaving Ireland – On To London

February 19th
We’re sitting in the Dublin airport waiting for our flight to London. It’s Alex’s 15th birthday today (she’s spent at least three of them in the air flying somewhere)! This morning Matt and I made her a card that is a collage of all things relating to our travels in Ireland (country map, ticket stubs, photos, flags, etc). She loved it.

A few days ago, we left Dublin and headed to Killarney, driving on the left side of the road. Matt did a stellar job driving us and I, of course, navigated. The girls and I were his cheering section and biggest fans. Every time we arrived somewhere safely and with no car damage, there were praises a-plenty. We did have a little minor run in with the law, (we stayed a little too long in the right lane of the freeway), but with Matt’s sweet charm and his LA County Sheriff’s badge, we were given a friendly warning and a good old Irish handshake. The luck of the Irish was definitely on our side.

Killarney turned out to be a really nice surprise. Such a beautiful little town. Our hotel, the Killarney Royal, was a perfect hotel experience in every way. We drove over to Ross Castle and walked around the lake for a while, then had a great dinner and played a few mean games of Hearts (a family favorite) in the hotel lobby by the fire with a couple pints of Guinness. On Sunday we drove along the north coast up to the Cliffs of Moher, which are truly indescribable. We walked up both sides of the viewing points which are both completely breathtaking. We were so happy we made the time to view the cliffs because they really are amazing and unique.

Monday we headed out of Killarney toward Cork to visit the Blarney Castle and yes, kiss the Blarney Stone! We got to the castle and we were literally the only people there! We had the whole castle to ourselves and we had so much fun exploring every inch of it. When we got to the very top, we again, were the only one’s waiting to kiss the Stone. It was a great moment as a very cute elderly Irishman (I’m a little partial to them) helped us get in position to give the Stone a proper kiss. We jumped in the car and headed back to Dublin.

It’s such a nice time to be traveling in this part of the world because there are really very few tourists. It’s so leisurely and easy. The weather has been really mild and even the Irish people keep commenting on how good it’s been. The temp is about 45-50 degrees and we haven’t had an ounce of rain. Lucky so far!

February 20th

We’re in London this evening and we’ve just had a great day with my dear friend, Lisa Chisholm and her daughter Madeleine. We spent the day touring the Tower of London (so chilling to see the very spot where Anne Boleyn was actually beheaded) which was really fascinating – such a rich history of England’s monarchy. We then took a boat ride up the Thames, got off at Big Ben and walked around one of our favorite areas of London, Neal’s Yard. Tomorrow we’ll spend the day at the Tate Modern Art Gallery, the British Museum and the launderette! Yes, it’s time to do some housecleaning!

Last night Matt surprised Alex, and us, to a special birthday dinner at Nobu, London. Matsuhisa, Nobu’s original restaurant in Los Angeles, is Alex’s favorite, so she was really happy when the cab pulled up and she saw the Nobu sign. How many kids can say they had breakfast in Dublin and dinner in London on their 15th birthday? Not too shabby.

More photos below!
Traveling Toledo’s