Time to share some miscellaneous scenes and stories from our trip to Ireland! I loved traveling with my family on this trip, but for most of the time I was also was in this bittersweet place of also really missing my main travel partner. Nate couldn’t come on the trip because of his work schedule, so this is the first big adventure in a long time that I’ve done without him. It sounds all dramatic and sappy, but I really did miss him being there. Not that my parents weren’t good travel partners, they were great! But different. You know? ANYWAYS. 😉
Nate and I visited Scotland together in 2013. I had a feeling that Ireland and Scotland would be pretttty similar, but I tried to steer away from always comparing them. Some things were really hard not to compare (cliffs, landscapes, accents), but for the most part, I found Ireland to be really uniquely beautiful!
My aunt and uncle stayed at this great BnB in Fitona, near where my cousin’s wedding took place. We only stopped by for about an hour, but that hour resulted in my favorite sketchbook drawing and lots of photo fun with my aunt and my mom. The flowers and vines were magical and the old stone farmhouse was picture perfect!
This was the first time my parents, my sister and I were all in the same country that wasn’t the USA. My sister and parents have traveled together to both New Zealand AND Paris, but I wasn’t on those trips. Booooo 😉 So Ireland was special for all of us! Even with that fact, we only took ONE photo of the 4 of us together. We’re bad at this.
My parents and I spent 2 nights in Donegal town. It was a sweet little town, with lots of smaller sights to see. Right down the road from our hotel, along the bay, was a cemetery nestled in the ruins of a monastery. We walked around as the sun set over the bay, and I got to make some pretty moody, pretty photos. 
Donegal town had a couple really cute coffee shops, and a great Italian wine bar/restaurant. Of course, we’re in Ireland, so you bet it also has it’s own castle! My dad and I stopped by the castle for a quick look around one morning and what really grabbed my attention was the massive stone fireplace. Original to the castle, and the mantle is tall enough that you can stand right under it. It was gorgeous! 
On Monday I’ll be posting the photos of my two faaaaavorite days of the trip: the super nature-y, adventure-y days. So come back Monday for that goodness!
