It was a nice trip. A bit stressfull, and a lot of driving around, but overall we enjoyed the trip.

The highs/top outings during our trip were:

• Millions of stone pillars, near the ocean (giants causeway)
• Pet a sheep
• Two days living in a small pod. BBQ, hottub, rabbits, gathering wood for a fireplace (Kinelarty luxery glamping pods)
• The (very similar to a dutch) beach
• Impressive cliffs (cliffs of moher)
• A pint with a curry

The lows (for me):

• Belfast. I have to be honest, I struggled with this city, mainly because of the atmosphere created by the murals. Many of the tours focus on wall paintings about past conflicts, and the figures portrayed were involved in very violent events. Seeing them displayed so prominently, almost celebrated, and called ‘volunteers‘ felt unreal to me. In my mind, ‘volunteer‘ was being used as a synonym for people who committed acts I find deeply troubling. When I told my friends that my first step to improve the city would be to paint over all those walls, they couldn’t understand me at all.
  The strange thing is that the people were incredibly friendly. It was the only place where someone shared his whole life story with me while we waited for the bus, and the only place where asking for directions led a woman to start in Welsh and then switch instantly to English when she saw my face.
  Very warm people, but for me, the city itself felt heavy and depressing.
• Very long rides, long times in the car. Lots of days we spend between 2 and 6 hours in the car. A lot and quite stressfull.
• Spanish timetables. Eating late, like in Spain, is not the Irish way. Finding a place to eat after 22:00 was not a nice experience, and we ended up lots of times eating fastfood or chinese.
• Last day. Stress. Wake up early, drive 3.5 hours to the airport to return the car, take a bus to the airport, check in, and take the plane. No breakfast, no lunch, only coffee, and after arriving take the bus home and walk for 15 minutes with 4 huge bags. Not the best way to end the holiday, thats for sure.

A waterfall, then a castle, and then a small surprise. The cottage we had booked turned out to be 200 km further away. Oof. Well, these things happen. We arrived late, but with a small BBQ it still turned into a nice evening.

The next morning we headed out early, towards a little beach. But soon the route started to look suspiciously familiar… The beach was only 5 km from the castle we had visited the day before. So another 200 km of driving. And after the beach, plus a few other sights in the area, another 200 km back.

In the end we clocked 600 km (and also 6 hours) that we could easily have avoided if I hadn’t trusted the AI so blindly. Unfortunately, I only realized that when it was already too late.

We’re exploring Ireland for our family vacation. From the 6th to the 15th of August we plan to discover a new culture. We are going with some friends, and in total we will be a party of eight persons, so fun is guaranteed. Ana and Nuria make a very nice planning for the trip. I did notice we spend quite some time driving around, but they have thought about it, so it should be okay.
This is the plan that was devised. When we return I’ll post a travel evaluation.

Seeing and experiencing plenty of places is of course an important part of the holiday. So far, the plan looks perfect for discovering many different sides of Ireland. I also have my own wishes for this trip, and that’s to get a little taste of Irish life and I don’t think that’s difficult at all. Starting the day with a nice big breakfast, and ending it with a pint in the pub. That feels like the right way to experience Ireland.