Day 7 Continued - As I mentioned in our last post, Day 7 involved a lot of driving. We traveled down to Limerick, Ireland to have Zone Conference with my parents! We met my Mom and Dad's wonderful mission president and his wife. The Brown's from Scotland. Conference was lovely and we are glad we were able to tag along.
After Zone Conference, my parents drove us to a town called Cong, Ireland and blew us out of the water with this surprise!!
We spent two nights at Ashford Castle! It was built in 1228 and we got to stay in the oldest part of the castle. Jake and I's room was in the tower on the left. (The bottom three windows.) Best Bed & Breakfast EVER, right??
My parents got us a suite and we felt like royalty!
Outside our room
Day 8 - Ready to play in the rain!
Out on the town.
We had lunch at a bar in Danagher's.
The weather cleared up enough to go on a boat ride!
A view of Ashford Castle from Lough Corrib (Lake Corrib).
A classy gentlemen playing old Irish Folk songs on the boat.
Exploring castle grounds.
We rented bikes to explore a bit more. Ashford Castle sits on 350 acres of land!
Jake found the Guinness Lookout Tower, built in the 1800's. Luckily, the door was open and we climbed to the top!
We ate dinner at Cullen's. It was seriously the best food on the planet. So, we ate their again the next night! 
Day 9 - Our last adventure at Ashford Castle, was going to the School of Falconry.
We flew falcons!!
Truly, an experience of a lifetime. These birds were remarkable. They would fly off into the woods and as soon as you raised your gloved hand, they would fly back and land on you. I can see how going hunting with one of these would be awesome!
Goodbye, Ashford!
Such a beautiful country!
Breathtaking!
My future home.
On Day 10 we flew home. Going to see my parents on their mission is something we will never forget. I still can't believe I just saw them...in person! I have missed them so much, but I am so proud of them and want to be like them someday. Thanks Mom and Dad for making our trip possible! We love being around you and thoroughly enjoyed being spoiled rotten. ;) And, a HUGE Thank You to my in-laws and sister-in-law for watching our girls for 10 looonnng days. We appreciate all you did and do for us. Saying goodbye to our kiddos was hard! But, I knew they were in good hands and that is more comforting than words can express.
We hope you have enjoyed these last few posts on our trip overseas. If we have tempted you to go to the Emerald Isle, my parents would be happy to get visitors!
Such fabulous pics! Such a fabulous time!!! So greatful for the memories!!!
ReplyDeleteYou got to stay in a castle! That is so cool!
ReplyDeleteJust saw the rest of your pictures. They are beautiful! I guess we'll have to visit your parents:)
ReplyDeleteOK. this is incredible. we want to go. we've always wanted to go and this just made me really want to go like NOW! And if you can relax enough to leave your kids for a couple of days it gives me hope that I can be brave like you too! Give me all the details!!!
ReplyDeleteSo between northern ireland and ireland which did you prefer? If you were limited to say 5 days what would you have skipped seeing? Give me all your opinions and details, PLEASE!!! And if your mom and dad want to share there knowledge will you please give them my email address!! We are looking to go next year for our anniversary, in September and my email address is mrsadk at yahoo dot com
you're the best Jana!!