IRELAND
So the plan was to go to Ireland at 50 - seemed really doable at 45. But like all things - life got in the way. Anyway, all good things come to those who wait and Brooke and I were off on our Irish adventure. Now getting around the Emerald Island does come with some risk – there's the driving on the world side of the road, the right-hand steering wheel, and the most challenging of them all – the bike paths they call two-way highways. Nonetheless, we soldiered on taking in the beautiful country and warm souls we encountered alone the way. Stops in Adare, Killarney, Dingle, Befast, The North and Dublin – how lucky are we.
Founded in 1448 as a Franciscan friary, Muckross Abbey has had a violent history and has been damaged and reconstructed many times.
Set in the heart of Killarney National Park, Muckross House is a 19th-century mansion with working farms.
Killarney National Park was the first national park in Ireland, created when Muckross Estate was donated to the Irish Free State in 1932.
Canoes on an inlet near Ross Castle, a 15th-century tower house and keep on the edge of Lough Leane, in Killarney National Park
Founded in 1464, the friary lies near Adare Manor on the east bank of the river Maigue opposite the medieval castle of the earls of Desmond.
The Dark Hedges is an avenue of beech trees in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is the most photographed location in Northern Ireland.
The endless green hills outside Ballintoy in Northern Ireland.
Built with limestone blocks in a roughly triangular shape at the edge of Ballintoy town.
The Giant's Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic fissure eruption.