Killarney, Kerry

We nearly missed this wonderful visit-to Muckross house and Muckross Traditional farms- oh if we only had longer..

Muckross house - Queen Victoria visited here and it ended up bankrupting the family- simply because all of the improvements the family made to the house for her visit.  The house is now owned by the Irish people and full of Victorian furniture etc- but alas no cameras allowed inside.

But the traditional farms on the same estate were full of photo opportunities.

Peat being stacked in the background.

Bed for all the kiddies!

Donkey power

Kel loved looking at the machinery- we even tasted soda bread in the house where a 'farm hand' had the fire lit and the smoke pervading the house.

I loved the rustic craft on display- the make and do evidence- reminded me of our farm life with six kids- 'are six kids the normal family in Australia I was asked...'

So many more photos- but we stopped for a late lunch at Adare and look where we had lunch...

in one of these thatched cottages kitted out as a cafe- circa 1828.

Then heading to Doolin for the night but a late afternoon stop at the Cliffs of Moher..
6.00 euros each to park the car- so many streams of cars, buses, people dotting the horizon towards the vantage points.  But what a view- green fields all around and the cows grazing have the best view of all.

Even an O'Brien tower

We walked it!

A last view.

Then down into Doolin.

Ireland

Into Dublin- confusing to know what bus to catch to the hotel from the airport...
then a hop on hop off bus to see the overview of sights.

A watery snap of the tallest spire in Dublin- a modern sculpture- monument of light.

Trinity college and the book of Kells.  A long wet wait to get in.

Oscar Wilde in the gardens.
Then next day it's out to Kilkenny- and Kilkenny castle.

In Ireland- not often are we allowed to photograph inside.

Yes we took a turn around the town on this!!

More Oxford...

Of course Bodleian library was high on the must visit sites to Oxford.  We enjoyed a very informative tour.  Look what we saw:

The Divinity school built in 1427-88- took so long because they kept running out of money- I believe this building may have featured in Harry Potter movies.

That glorious roof- benefactors had their shields engraved here.

Charles 1 sat on this chair when Oxford became the headquarters for the royalist camp during the English civil war.

Hertford Bridge- another photo opportunity.

Of course sometimes the lines were too long- this to see the dining hall at Christchurch college that was the setting for the Harry Potter movies... but the gardens on the way in were gorgeous.

And a quick look at the covered markets.

Oxford

We went by train on a day of Olympic events, so the train was standing room only.  Once in Oxford- about an hour's train journey form London, we took the open bus tour first to get a perspective, but lasted two stops and got off at Oxford Castle.

This mound was built in1071 ' using an estimated 200 Anglo-Saxon slaves working for eight months. A ten sided stone keep stood at the top which was part of the Castle's defences.'  We climbed to the top- a bit scary and there was a steep staircase down to a deep well at the top.

Kel took this view of Oxford from the top of the Saxon tower.
There were so many different kinds of tour buses, tourist groups all flocking to Oxford.
the open bus commentary- an Oxford student gave us many insights to landmarks we could explore later on.  This is one we went back to view.

Oxford has had turbulent times.  We visited (of course) the Bodleian library and soon I will do a post on that.