Ireland Giveaway Winner

Congrats to Ashley, the winner of the Ireland gift giveaway! Thanks to all those who participated and I promise I'll write a real post soon.

Fun with Google Analytics Part Two

Things have been pretty boring on this blog so I figured we'd have a laugh at the expense of others. Well, I don't want it to sound that harsh but I do find my Google Analytics searches to be quite amusing. My last post about these were in January so here's a list of the best ones I've seen since then.

"can husband shovel on day of sperm analysis" I don't see why not, as long as that shoveling doesn't cause him to get aroused enough to...yea, let's not think about that.

"eventually, we did find our way to parking, but we're not big fans of waterford" WTF?! Someone actually typed this whole message in a search engine? What the hell for?

"going through ivf and my husband is an asshole" Yea, we've all been there. I get a lot of searches about asshole husbands lol

"how to insert estrace pill vaginally" Let's think about this for a second. The pill needs to get into your hoo-ha. You don't have an applicator. Put two and two together. Sorry but you're not going to find a You-Tube instructional video for this one.

Now that I think about it, I'd rather you not try to figure this out of your own. You might end up using some kitchen utensil or other weird instrument. The pill gets up there with your finger. Got it?

"i have been on my period for 2 weeks and now i have a flesh looking hard egg shape with cane out my virgina" I tried using Google translator on this one but it didn't work. Apparently it's already in English. My bad.

"insane ramblings of an infertile woman" I would say this pretty much sums up the purpose of my blog

"is it normal to have a lot of blue discharge after inserting estrace" Well the pill is blue so if the discharge comes out purple or green you should probably be a bit more worried

"is mari.juana okay before embryo transfer" Seriously?! You're going through an IVF cycle and you're curious about whether you can smoke THAT right before ET?! I'm usually not judgemental but I'd say you're not fit for parenthood if that's your main concern before getting pregnant. Sorry but this search really pissed me off

"pom juice makes u poop" I'd venture to say that just about any food or drink will eventually make you poop. Pon juice being no exception

"the queen is infertile" The Queen is almost 90 years old. I'm pretty sure she's already hit menopause by now which means, yes, she's "infertile"

"using ben gay in bra cups" I don't get it. What's Ben Gay supposed to do if you put it in your bra cup? I'm curious now. Maybe I should Google it

"what does it mean when your hcg level is 950 two weeks after ivf?" It means you're pregnant. Did they not explain this to you during ANY of your appointments? Do you think the stork will still deliver your baby? Good grief

"what does take pill orally mean \" Stick it in your mouth and swallow it.

"what movies does an ivf collection room have" This search clearly came from a guy. It's nice to know that as we're injecting ourselves on a daily basis their main concern is whether they're going to have good quality porn in the Specimen Contribution Room. Niiiiice

Well that's end of this episode of Stupid Shit People Search For on Google. Don't forget to enter my giveaway, it ends on Monday!

Dear Ripley's

I hope you did not disappoint me today. Because I know about your fertility statues and even considered going allllll the way to Panama City just to rub on them for some good luck, after all the shitty luck I've had so far. Imagine my surprise and extreme delight when I passed by Ripley's Believe.It.Or.Not! in Times Square today. Not knowing which location the statues were at, I went up to an employee and asked if they had the fertility statues. He said yes. Commence happy dance. That is, until Brandon found out it would cost over $50 for us to enter the building and see the statues. I gave him "the look" and reminded him that I almost traveled out of state to see these bitches. He offered to stand outside while I went in by myself but that wouldn't do so we coughed up the dough to go in. While there were other amusing oddities in the building, let's be honest here, we were only there because of the statues. After photographing them, rubbing the woman's belly many times (Brandon refused to touch the man's penis and instead patted him on the head lol) and feeling giddy with hopefulness, we left.

And then I got home and went on the Ripley's website, only to find out that the statues we saw were not the statues that were featured in so many news articles and bragged about as having these "magical powers" (even though Ripley's does not endorse them, yadda yadda yadda). Nope, the authentic statues are in the lobby of the Orlando, FL location where anyone can go in and touch them for free. And they look completely different from the ones we saw.

The statues we saw

So Ripley's, I really hope the statues you have in the Times Square location are just as good because if not I'm going to be really really pissed.

Ireland: Part Three and the Giveaway

***To view the photobook of our trip, click here***

After spending one night on Doolin Brandon and I headed for Galway. We took a more scenic tour through the Burren which ended up being just a whole lotta nuthin'. We didn't stop at the scenic parts of the Burren to take pictures, we just sort of sped through it all. Before we knew it we were in Galway. For some reason I wasn't expecting Galway to be so damn big but it was. It was almost as big as Dublin. I had agreed to meet Mrs S. in Galway and we chose the King's Head pub, right in the middle of the shopping area of Galway. But Google Maps doesn't exactly show that the shopping area of Galway is skyscrapers and one-way streets. Thank God for our GPS. We found a parking garage and went shopping.

The shopping area in Galway is actually really nice, though there's quite a few high-end stores that we don't shop at. Because my flat iron wasn't working I was determined to get my hair fixed for that evening's Trad on the Prom show. So I found a cute salon and made an appointment for 4:30. We were scheduled to meet Mrs S. and her husband at 3 so we made our way over to the King's Head Pub. They were a bit late showing up but we didn't mind. We just sat at one of the outside tables and did some people watching. When the S's showed up we went inside for a few drinks and chatted. Unfortunately my hair appointment came too quickly and we had to say goodbye but it was fun getting to meet them!

This may sound silly but my hair appointment was one of the highlights of my trip. Those Irish hairdressers put my stylist to shame. For 30 euros I got a shampoo, blowdry and style. The chairs they had at the shampoo stations had massagers in them. The hairdresser offered me tea while I got my hair done, massaged my scalp during the shampoo and did one of the cutest (and quickest) styles on my hair. I was out of there in no time and we headed to our B&B to change into our evening gear.

After getting spruced up and setting up the tripod for a picture of the two of us we headed to the Salthill hotel for dinner and the show. Dinner was a fantastic 4-course meal with wine. I must mention here that Brandon and I don't drink wine. I hate the taste, it's so bitter to me. But I obligingly sipped on my wine throughout dinner (while holding my breath so the bitterness wouldn't shock me so much). Brandon was doing the same but about halfway through his glass he got this "fuck it" attitude and decided to just get it over with and downed the other half in one gulp. Classy. Then, of course, because he hadn't eaten anything for a while the wine kinda went to his head and he decided wine wasn't that bad after all. So he drank the rest of my wine as well. I don't even know why I take him out in public anymore.

So after our dinner we waited for a bit in the lounge until they were ready to start seating people for the show. It turned out to be a great show with music, singing and dancing (think Riverdance). I was just a little disappointed they didn't play Galway Girl, considering we were in Galway. But oh well. The show ended late and we went straight to our B&B to sleep.

The next morning we left Galway for the Connemara region. It's so completely different than Southwest Ireland. It's not as green but it's still beautiful. The mountains look more rocky and rugged and the scenery just looks more....wild. That's really the only way to describe it. We were headed for the Kylemore Abbey and on the way we saw a sign for the Quiet Man Bridge. The Quiet Man was a film that John Wayne played in. He was pictured on this very bridge and there was a signpost with his picture on it. Brandon and I decided to pull out the paddy cap I had brought my grandfather and replicate the picture. A bit touristy but it was fun. I also took some pictures of a pair of swans on the pond over the bridge. Little did I know that they had 5 babies with them! I noticed them as I was looking at the picture on my computer when we got home. I'm so glad I took the picture, they were so cute.

So we finally made it to Kylemore Abbey after dodging sheep walking along the road (being very careful not to hit the lambs that were snuggled on the warm pavement) and it was a very beautiful sight. Unfortunately the weather was crummy but we managed to walk through the gardens of the abbey without getting rained on. The nuns that live at the abbey (there's only 9 there now) grow their own herbs, vegetables and fruit in the gardens. After visiting there we went for a tour of the "house" (the abbey itself is offlimits). The Kylemore Abbey was originally built as a house and only in the early 1900's did it get bought by the nuns. There was also a Gothic church where the original owners of the house were buried. We walked to the church but didn't take many pictures because by then it was raining.

After Kylemore Abbey we headed to.....the castle! The Ballynahinch castle, the highlight of our trip and something we had been looking forward to for a very long time. I must say that we weren't disappointed. The reception area had a huge woodburning fireplace (we later found out that almost every room had a fireplace) and the reception was lovely. The butler showed us to our room which was on the newer wing of the castle, quite a walk from the main area but with its own private parking area. It was a bit amusing to park our little Fiat Panda among Jaguars, BMW's and even a Rolls Royce. The butler helped us with our bags and we were stunned when we walked into our room. It was a little slice of heaven. We had floor-to-ceiling windows with a door that walked out onto a brick patio and a view of the river. Our room had three telephones (one next to the toilet!) and a superb bathroom with a shower/tub combo as well as a separate shower. The tub was so wonderful, much longer than the American tubs you see. It had to be almost 6 feet long as my toes could barely touch the other end when I was in it. This was great for Brandon who's 6'4". We had a king size canopy bed and it was so nice that Brandon didn't even complain that the covers were a very feminine pink. We absolutely loved our room.

After getting unpacked we walked around the inside of the castle for a bit, checking out the enormous sitting rooms with fireplaces. Then we went into the pub for lunch. I ordered a cappacino with biscuits and got a cappacino with cookies (I forgot we were in Europe). Then for lunch I ordered the seafood chowder which was delicious as it came with the shells in the chowder. Yummy! After lunch we walked the castle grounds for a bit, walking along the river and the roads that led to the castle.

The next two days were spent doing absolutely nothing. We inquired about fly fishing lessons but that was 220 euros for just half a day...way out of our budget. Brandon and I drove around a bit, heading into Clifden once, but for the most part we hung around the castle. We ate lunch every day in the pub, I always ordered their roast beef sandwiches or the seafood chowder, and Brandon always tried something new. The late afternoons were spent lounging by the fireplace reading the books we brought with us (mine was Harry Potter of course). Then we'd go back to the pub for dinner (the restaurant was a little too formal for us). I ordered Irish beef and Connemara pork during my stay and they were both excellent. We also tried their homemade ice cream which I loved and homemade mint sorbet, which I didn't like. It was very overwhelming and had too many mint leaves in them. Our evenings were, again, spent by the fireplace or reading in bed. By the end of our stay our clothes stunk of smoke and coal because we had spent so much time next to the fireplace. But it was worth every penny. I would definitely go back if we get a chance.

And now for the giveaway! I gathered a few different things from Ireland for my giveaway and I hope you like them. They are:

A 2012 calendar of scenic Ireland
A box of shamrock shortbread cookies (Brandon and I ate a few boxes of these on our trip and they were delicious)
A Grow-Your-Own Four Leaf Clover kit
A bar of Heather and Moss soap, made in Ireland
Bonus: A free 8x8 Shutterfly book coupon code (must be used by July 30th)


HOW TO WIN:

Open to residents worldwide. Each entry must be left in a separate comment, otherwise it will only count as one entry. If your entry is not linked to a Google account please be sure to leave a valid email address along with your entry. If the winner does not respond after 48 hours a new winner will be chosen.

Mandatory Entry

Leave a comment stating what you would do or see if you took a trip to Ireland. **You must do this entry first or all other entries will be deleted!**

Additional Entries
1) Become a public follower of my blog on GFC or leave a comment stating that you are a current follower (I do check)
2) Blog about my giveaway and leave your link in the comment field
3) Tweet about my giveaway and leave your link in the comment field

Entries will be accepted through midnight EST on Monday, June 27, 2011. A winner will be selected on Wednesday the 29th. Good luck to all!

Pregnancy Tests for Cheap!!

Visit the First Response website to print a coupon for $2 off their pregnancy tests (you can print this multiple times). Also visit Target's website and print off their coupon for the same product. Target's coupon policy allows one manufacturer coupon and one Target coupon for the same item. Get $4 off your next pregnancy test purchase!

Mourning a Loss

Please take the time to visit built in birth control. Yesterday she lost her second set of twins at 21 weeks.

Ireland: Part Two

**I'm not posting pictures for Parts Two and Three because my photo book is finished and you can view the best pictures by clicking here. Other than zooming or cropping I didn't alter the pictures (in other words I don't use Photoshop). I do have a setting on my camera that makes the colors more vivid but I suppose that's just like using a polarizer or something to that effect.

After leaving Kinsale we made our way to Killarney. Our plan was to visit Ross Castle and The Muckross House before checking into our B&B. We got to Ross Castle first and took pictures outside while we waited for the guided tour. It was a very informative tour, though like Kilkenny Castle we couldn't take pictures inside (bummer). After Ross Castle we started to look for the Muckross House. As we were driving along we saw a sign on the road that said Muckross House and there was a small parking area. I was skeptical that this could be the way to get to Muckross House but we went a bit further and not seeing another entrance we turned around and went back. We go out of the car and started walking past some jaunting cars. They were all trying to get us to pay for a ride but we declined and kept walking. Then one of the guys said it was 4km to the Muckross House. Seriously? I wasn't about to walk that far and then back. The guy told us that for 35 euros he could take us one way, past the Muckross House and Muckross Abbey, up to Torc Waterfall which was 5km away, then drive us back down to the house where he would drop us off. So we said okay. It turned out to be a pretty nice ride as the sun was shining and the breeze was blowing. We're also glad we accepted the ride because Torc Waterfall ended up being spectacular, especially after the rain that had fallen the previous few days. After the jaunting car driver dropped us off at Muckross House we went inside. Apparently this place was a guided tour only too, and the next tour didn't start for an hour and a half. So we walked around outside and took a few pictures and then left. On our walk back to the car we stopped by the Muckross Abbey which was also nice to see. The graveyard there was huge and I was surprised to see so many recent gravestones. How do you manage to get buried in a graveyard inside a national park?

By then it was about 3 pm and we were ready to check in to our B&B. We drove up the driveway but there was a note on the door saying the owners were out till 6:30. We weren't sure what we were going to do. So we decided to try and drive the Ring of Kerry. That didn't happen. We made it as far as Kenmare, stopped and shopped around, then headed back to Killarney. The road along the Ring of Kerry was very narrow and winding and there were plenty of times we almost hit a tour bus. It wasn't exactly fun. So we just went back to the B&B and hung out for the rest of the night.

The next morning we woke up and actually drove the Ring of Kerry. It didn't take nearly as long as I had planned and we ended up in Dingle around 2 pm. It was neat to see the scenery change once you get onto the Dingle Peninsula. It's so completely different than the Ring of Kerry. We checked into our B&B, the Seaside Haven, and relaxed for a bit before going out and doing some shopping. The owner of the B&B suggested Murphy's Pub for some live trad music so we found a nice table in the pub and had a few drinks. This is where I tried my first Irish coffee (with whiskey). It really wakes you up but was enjoyable so I had a second one. The music was good, though it was just a duo. I expected more people during a trad session but this seemed to be the norm. We stayed out till about midnight then headed back home. Our B&B has a couple locks on the door because the owners have a small child and apparently one of the other people staying at the B&B locked all the locks when they came home. When Brandon and I pulled up at midnight we couldn't get in the door because our key only worked for one of the locks. We felt bad that we had to ring the doorbell for someone to let us in but the owner said he was up anyway so it was no big deal. Oh well!

The next day was supposed to be our sea angling trip. We arrived at the dock and asked the guy if he was still doing the fishing. I knew it had been windy our whole trip but I figured we could just fish in the harbor or something. No such luck. They only fish in open waters and with 16-foot swells we declined the trip (Brandon said they weren't really 16-feet, the guy was just trying to scare us off). So we spent the rest of the day driving the Slea Head Loop on the peninsula, stopping off to check out the Gallurus Oratory. In my opinion it was a much more scenic drive than the Ring of Kerry and without all the tour buses.

After spending a second night in Dingle and going to another trad session, we headed to Doolin to see the Cliffs of Moher. Unfortunately it was overcast and extremely windy by the time we got there. We visited the Visitor Center first before heading outside to see the cliffs. It was very difficult to take pictures because the gusts of wind would blow your arms around and screw up the pictures. It also was raining off and on so we didn't stay long. But remember my co-worker who was going to Dublin on business? After the business stuff was done she decided to stay in Ireland for an extra 3 or 4 days to do some sightseeing. It just so happened that she took a day tour to the Cliffs of Moher that day and we saw each other there! It was pretty funny. She had to run to get back on the bus so we didn't chat long.

After the Cliffs trip we headed into Doolin to go shopping and grab some lunch. We found a little pizza shop and as we were getting out of our cars we saw my co-worker again. We had another good laugh, took a couple pictures together and then parted ways. After lunch we headed to our B&B, the Daly's House. I was told that Doolin is one of the best towns to hear trad music so we took a nap and around 8 pm headed out to the pub.

I should probably point out that Doolin is a really really small town. It's like 2 streets and that's it, though they have a ton of B&B's. But there's only 3 pubs in town. So when we went to O'Connor's we found that it was standing room only and it was jam packed with tourists. We were hungry and wanted to sit down for a bite to eat so we decided to try the next pub. It was just as packed. We left and tried going to Cullinan's seafood restaurant but they were closed for some reason. So we gave up and went back to the B&B. Between the crappy weather at the Cliffs and the overcrowded pubs the trip to Doolin didn't turn out to be as grand as I expected.

Ireland: Part One

**I'm not posting too many pics on here but I plan on doing a photo book which I'll share when I'm done putting it together**

Our flight left Boston at 5:30 pm EST and though it was only a 5 hour flight it was about 6:00 the next morning when we landed in Dublin. We grabbed a shuttle to the Dublin City Centre and walked to our hotel on Fleet Street. I knew we would be arriving super early so I had emailed the hotel a few weeks prior to request an early check-in. Luckily they were able to accommodate us and we went up to our room on the 4th floor. It was pretty tiny! It was scarcely bigger than a room you'd find on a cruise ship. This worried me a bit as I thought all our rooms on the trip would be this small but it turns out that this hotel was the only one. We were so exhausted that we immediately got into bed and took a quick nap.

I set the alarm for 9 am so I could shower before heading out. Brandon continued to sleep and even after I got out of the shower he was bitching that he wanted to sleep a bit longer. But I was ready to get out and see the town! So I blowdried my hair and pulled out the flat iron and power converter. I bought a power converter for some of our electronics but it turned out to be a piece of crap. The flat iron didn't work with it and so I wasn't able to fix my hair for the whole trip. Needless to say I was pretty pissed.

Because our bus tour was cancelled we decided to walk to all the sites that I really wanted to see. We grabbed lunch on the way to Saint Patrick's Cathedral which was only about 20 minutes away from our hotel. The cathedral was so pretty and HUGE! On the way back to the hotel we stopped by Dublin Castle but weren't able to get in because the Queen had a banquet there the night before. We ventured back to the hotel and found our way to the Molly Malone statue. An old man playing music next to the statue offered to take a picture of us which we accepted. Then it was time to go back and get ready to meet up with Fran!

Saint Patrick's Cathedral

Molly Malone Statue

She had given me her phone number and even though I called the reception desk to find out how to dial the number it still wouldn't work! I was very frustrated and eventually had to email her about our meeting spot. It must have been the hotel phone because I called someone else later on in our trip and the phone worked fine.

Fran met us for dinner outside Trinity College and we decided to go to a Mexican restaurant called Alcapulco. The food was delicious, albeit a little spicy for me, but Brandon loved it. He's a big fan of Mexican and Tex-Mex food. After dinner we went for a walk and Fran showed us Ha'Penny Bridge. Then we walked through Trinity college, up Grafton Street and to St Stephen's Green. It was about 10:00 by this time so the park was closed but it was still great to see everything and see Fran as well. I would have never been able to find all this stuff on my own!

Me and Fran!

The next morning we checked out of our hotel and took the shuttle back to the airport where we picked up our rental car. They gave us a little silver Fiat Panda. Now some of you may be wondering what it was like driving on the left side of the road, especially a manual car. At first it was a bit confusing for Brandon but then something "clicks" in your head and you just do it. The worst part were the narrow roads and this caused me anxiety throughout the trip. There were a couple times Brandon hit the curb and one time he hit a stone pole with the side mirror but luckily all it did was fold the mirror inward (thank GOD!). I must admit that it was pretty nerve wracking to be Brandon's passenger for those 11 days. He felt at ease driving the Fiat within an hour of picking it up but let's face it, he wasn't that good. The roads in Ireland are very very narrow compared to American standards and even left me a little angry so let's vent about that for a bit, shall we?

I wasn't sure who to be more angry at, the Irish government for making roads too narrow to accommodate big ass tour buses, or the tour companies themselves who, in an effort to make as much profit as possible, use big ass tour buses that can't fit on said roads. Because the tour buses are so large they feel they can just use up both lanes on the road so the poor souls approaching the bus have to pull off the road into the bushes to avoid a head-on collision. That is, if there are any bushes. Sometimes you get a rock cliff or a rock wall and at that point you should just suck it in and pray for the best. And let's not forget about the people following behind the bus cause they're forced to go 40 km/h in a 100 km/h zone. No point in trying to pass the bus cause as I said, they like to ride the middle lane so you can't really get around them. Brandon and I experienced both sides of this and turning a blind corner on the top of a mountain and coming very close to hitting a bus was almost enough to make me lose my lunch. I don't know how many times I yelled "Slow down!" during this trip. But enough of my venting, back to the story.

So we picked up our car and headed to Kilkenny. It was a bit rainy when we got there but we walked in the rain to Kilkenny Castle and went inside. It was very beautiful but unfortunately we couldn't take pictures inside the castle. By the time we were done walking around the inside of the castle the sun had come out so we were able to walk around the castle grounds. After the castle we ate lunch in Kilkenny where I tried the Irish stew (made with lamb). I wasn't a big fan of it because lamb is fairly strong tasting but I bet it would have been great with beef. We did a bit of shopping then left Kilkenny to make our way to our first B&B, the Lawcus Farm Guesthouse.

Kilkenny Castle

I plugged in the coordinates for the guesthouse and we followed the GPS to Stoneyford, about 10 km south of Kilkenny. We passed the sign for Jerpoint Abbey and since we had planned to go there, we went ahead and followed the signs to the abbey. It was a great and informative tour of the monastery ruins, which were built in the 13th century. The gravestones were particularly impressive, standing almost as tall as Brandon!

After Jerpoint Abbey we decided it was time to find our B&B. Only the GPS got us lost and we almost ended up in Waterford before realizing our mistake. Apparently when using coordinates in a GPS system there are different formats and we had it set to the wrong one. Eventually we found the B&B and it turned out to be a major highlight of our trip.

The Lawcus Farm Guesthouse

The Lawcus Farm Guesthouse was our version of paradise on earth. It was so beautiful and peaceful yet there were so many things to do. It felt like coming home...that's really the only way I can explain it. When we pulled up Ann-Marie was waiting for us and showed us to our room, The Stone Room. It was so nice. We came back downstairs and had some tea while Brandon found a book and read. After our tea Ann-Marie showed us around the farm. It was teeming with new life. Her four sheep had all given birth about 6 weeks prior and there were little lambs everywhere (I think there were 9 babies between the 4 sheep). Her sow had also given birth and we stopped by to see her 13 piglets. There were dogs, cats, ducks (video here), chickens, turkeys, horses, cows and a little river down the hill where we spotted trout swimming. It was such a neat place to spend the night. Ann-Marie suggested we visit another unique site close by, the Kells Priory. It was literally set next to a pasture. Brandon and I pulled into the small parking lot and walked through a field of sheep to get to it. It's not exactly a big tourist attraction, though they are doing renovation to the site so maybe one day they'll start charging admission. For now you just have to pick your way around the sheep poo. There's not much information on the Kelly Priory but it was founded in 1193 and was like a religious fort. We walked around the area before heading back to the guesthouse.

The Stone Room

Kells Priory

Ann-Marie's husband Mark had come home by then and they offered us a nightcap. So we accept cause, you know, when in Rome and all that. The name of the liquor escapes me but I think it was this. It turned out to not be a nightcap at all, it was more like a burn-a-hole-in-your-stomach kind of drink. But it was nice to try. We ended up staying up till midnight talking with Ann-Marie and Mark. We chatted about Brandon's service in the military while Mark gave us each a bottle of an English beer called Bishop's Finger. We talked about all kinds of stuff and Ann-Marie made fresh bread which we ate with black currant jelly (my first time trying) and butter. She also made a boiled duck egg which I tried but didn't like so Brandon ate it. It was just so nice to sit and chat like we were old friends.

The next morning we woke up and ate fresh pancakes with bacon. The Irish bacon is so much better than American bacon. It's thick like Canadian ham but still salty like regular bacon. I fell in love with it from the first mouthful. I tried porridge for the first time too. The first bite was bland but then Ann-Marie told me to add milk and brown sugar and after that it was great! I also tried her neighbor's homemade butter which tasted a lot like melted American cheese. It was an excellent breakfast and we were sad to leave. Brandon would have stayed there the whole trip if I had let him but this was an adventure trip and we knew there were lots more to see so we said our goodbyes and headed for Kinsale. We stopped at the Rock of Cashel on our way which way pretty nice but also pretty crowded and touristy. The wind was blowing fiercely and it was difficult to walk around without freezing so we didn't stay long. Rock of Cashel

The town of Kinsale was not as grand as I had expected but maybe that's because it rained the whole time we were there. We did a bit of shopping and got some hot chocolate at a little cafe called Jo's. It was the best hot chocolate I've ever had. They even serve it with a small cup of chocolate morsels in case you want to add more chocolate to your hot chocolate. Brandon took one look at my mug and ordered one for himself of white hot chocolate. I really wish I had taken a picture of it, it was so magnificent.

The colorful town of Kinsale

After shopping and eating an afternoon lunch we checked into our next B&B. We took a long nap because we had planned to go to a pub for some live music that night. So at 9:00 we walked into a bar called Ned Kelly's to see a band called Leon and the Celtic Knights. I was expecting some kind of traditional Irish music and instead we got a local band. I was a bit disappointed at first but we stuck around and ordered our first (and only) Guinness. I'm not a huge fan of beer to be honest, I mostly stuck with the Baileys coffee and Irish coffees throughout the trip.

So the band starts playing and what do you think their first song is? Johnny Cash! We thought it was pretty humorous but this guy was actually really good. Their next song was Whiskey in the Jar which Brandon and I love. I caught it on video here. Well because it was a Saturday night the bar got pretty full of locals that night. The first big group to come in was a bachelorette party and then we sat next to a stag (bachelor) party. Those Irish guys party pretty hard! They were taking off their shirts and jumping all over each other, knocking their beer bottles off the table and making all kinds of ruckus. It was very entertaining (video here). We staying all night listening to the band and singing along. Brandon likes Dropkick Murphy's and Flogging Molly so lots of the songs were familiar to us but the locals went crazy over all the American music. We heard Johnny Cash, Elvis and even Garth Brooks that night. It was so much better than any trad session we heard during our whole trip.

Brandon with his Guinness

Leon and the Celtic Knights