What is the first thing you come to think of when I say the word “Ireland”? Before our visit to the green island this summer, my first thought was old castles, green hills and heartwarming hospitality. Even though our first day in Ireland wasn’t that long, our first encounter with this country met all of our expectations!
From Dublin to Slane
Since we had a short amount of time in Ireland, we spoiled ourselves with a private tour on a few days. We were met by our very friendly driver as we arrived in Dublin airport in the late afternoon, and then we started our journey towards the village of Slane, where we were to spend the night. We drove pass the green landscape, and even though the sky was fairly grey (that is how it is supposed to be in Ireland, right?), the cozy towns we passed through were looking very beautiful. During the drive, our guide told us a lot about the country and the places we passed by. Among others, we drove through a small city that had won “The Tidy Town Award” several years in a row. That fact honestly made us smile. An award like that is not something we have back home in Denmark, and it really sounded like something taken straight out of a British TV-show 😉
A quick stop at Trim Castle
Since we arrived in Dublin pretty late in the afternoon, we did not think we had time enough to make a stop before arriving in Slane. But when Phil, our lovely driver, asked us if we wanted to have a look at Trim Castle, we couldn’t say no. The castle was closed for the day at the time of our arrival, but we could take a walk around it and see it from the outside – still an impressive sight!
The castle dates back to the 12th century, and if we had hoped to see a real Irish castle as we do in the movies, we weren’t disappointed. With the grey sky as a background, it looked almost dramatic, and it wasn’t difficult to imagine the battles that had been fought here through time. A perfect place to stretch our legs and do a bit of sightseeing at the same time.
Slane – a cozy, Irish village
The course was then set towards Slane, where we were greeted by Gerry and Marie at Castleview House B&B. A lovely place with the kindest hosts!
Slane is a fairly small village with less than 2000 inhabitants, but since this is Ireland, we still had a few different pubs and restaurants to choose from. Gerry and Marie quickly recommended a place where we could get something to eat, and we took the short walk to the restaurant, Inside Out. A place I will definitely recommend if you happen to come by.
After a lovely dinner we walked back home to the B&B. It was getting dark, and you could hear people having a good time at the pubs. My parents had to go grab a pint on the way home, but it is almost embarrassing to admit that the three youngest in the company just needed to go get some sleep. We will just use the fact that we had to be fresh for our Irish adventure to really begin the next day as an excuse…
Slane is without a doubt a really lovely village, so if you are planning a tour around Ireland, I would not hesitate to recommend spending a night here!
Visited in July 2017
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