Air, Landier, and Sea

After a two week rest, we decided it was time to pack it up and see more of the world. This time, Ireland, Croatia, and Germany.

While we were still buzzing from our around the world honeymoon the real reason for this trip was my dad. This year he turns 57.

While we understand that’s not typically a milestone birthday, it is in our family.

Sadly, my grandfather passed at 57, so for my dad and his siblings, reaching that age and surpassing it, is important.

To honor my grandfather, we decided to take my dad back to where the Mullen family began, Ireland.

And for some extra fun, we surprised him with his siblings and my brother. What surprised me most of all was how well we were able to keep it a surprise!

The luck of the Irish must have been with us because it went off without a hitch and he was beyond surprised!

The next day, we headed out for our western countryside tour with Mark Doherty of Connect the Dots Tours of Ireland.

Let me just pause right here to say if you ever go to Ireland, you must travel with Mark from Connect the Dots! He took our Irish vacation and made it the trip of a lifetime!

Our first day was mostly traveling from Dublin to Killarney.

On the way, we visited a castle in Kilkenny and stopped for our first bout of shopping (we love Irish gifts).

We then made our way to Cahir castle, where Mark taught us how to unlikely it would be for us to successfully overtake a castle.

Castles were intentionally designed for defense- and these architects really thought of everything, from the narrow windows they could shoot arrows out of to the wider window they could use for dousing their enemies in scalding animal fat.

Cahir castle was constructed in the 13th Century and sits of the River Suir.

It was the fortress of the Butler Family until the earl of Essex overtook it in 1599 with heavy artillery.

Until this use of heavy artillery, it was believed to be impenetrable.

We decided to stick with taking pictures rather than taking the castle itself.

And what castle is complete without a Swedish thatched cottage?

Well, most, but the current owners of the castle decided against reconstructing their own living quarters and instead had a thatched cottage constructed down the way.

We then headed towards Killarney and settled in to our beautiful Lake Hotel, which is (you guessed it) right on the lake.

Our first day in Ireland was absolutely stunning, and had us ready to see more!