Now that my internship is over, I have a week of vacation before heading to Daytona Beach for my third year of university. Over the past week, I visited Ireland with my family. This is first part of a two-part story.
Day 1 – Travel from Canada to Europe
The first day of the trip was a travel day. We first flew in the evening from Montreal (YUL) to London (LHR) on an Air Canada Boeing 777-300ER. We landed the next morning in London and had a two-hour layover before catching a flight to Dublin (DUB). The flight was operated by Air Canada’s partner Aer Lingus.
Appetizer was served after takeoff on the flight to LHR: smoked trout Niçoise said with roasted garlic aïoli.
Day 2 – Travel from London to Dublin and Arrival
My family and I arrived at our hotel in downtown Dublin at around noon. For our first lunch in Europe, we had tea accompanied with an assortment of sandwiches, scones, and pastries. It was pretty good! In the afternoon, we walked and explored the city. We ate our first dinner at our hotel.
Walking in the streets of Dublin.
Restaurants, bars, cafés, and shops.
Day 3 – Guided Tour of Dublin
The next day we had a private guide to show us the city and its culture. We toured the city with the guide for about three hours before heading to lunch.
Trinity University
Christ Church Cathedral
Day 4 – Travel from Dublin to Killarney
We rented a car and drove from Dublin to Killarney. It was a four-hour drive south west of the capital city. One big thing that is different in Ireland unlike most countries in the world is that people drive on the left side of the road instead of the right. It can get confusing, especially at road intersections. Also the roads there are really narrow.
The speed limit on these roads can be up to 100 km/h (62 mph)!
We arrived at our new hotel at noon. After lunch, we took a walk close to our hotel. The concierge said that the 10-kilometer trail would take us an hour but it actually took way more than that! The views were amazing though.
View from our hotel.
View of our hotel.
Day 5 – Golf at Waterville
The next day we drove to a small town named Kerry. We had to wake up at 5 in the morning because we had an early 7:50 tee time, and the golf course was located at about 1 hour drive from our location. We played 18 holes at the Waterville Golf Links. It was very windy and cold and we lost many golf balls.
Waterville Golf Links
The course is recognize as one of the best in Ireland.
In Part 2 (Days 6 to 10), I will go over the second part of the trip which brings us to a new destination in Ireland. Playing another round of golf and hiking is on the menu.
Nicolas
