Atlantis and Swimming with the Dolphins

For this cruise we didn't have anything planned beyond getting on the ship and enjoying ourselves. After we arrived at our room we had a booklet listing the excursion that were available for the following day at Nassau. When we both saw that swimming with the dolphins were available we agreed that we should do. It was something I had always wanted to do, so I was fine with shelling out the money for it. The option we chose was the shallow swimming with the dolphins and the aqua venture park. This allowed us six hours at Atlantis, swimming with the dolphins and access to their water park and all the rides. It cost us $150 per person.

The Atlantis property is awe inspiring huge. We had a guide that took our group from the ship to the property and directly to the water park section. It's very easy to get lost and it can very easily take you 30 minutes from one side of the property to the other. We were assigned a time of 10:30am to swim with the dolphins. We had almost two hours before then, so we started riding all the water rides. It was nice being at the property that early, because most of the resort guests were still sleeping or just getting up. This means no lines for the rides, lockers or beach chairs.

 

 

There are six water slides available on the property. They are the Leap of Faith (the one you see on all the commercials), challenger slide, the abyss, the surge, the drop, serpent slide, the falls and the jungle slide. The first ride we went on was the abyss and this is a pretty crazy slide. You are completely inclosed in a tube with rushing water. As soon as you push yourself off there is a drop that puts your heart in your mouth. There is eventually a opening in the tube that I thought meant you were at the end of the ride. This is not the case!!! I opened my mouth and choked on water the rest of the way down. At the end of the ride you are spit out into a cave with aquariums. This is definitely a thrill ride that will give you a rush.

The challenger slide is two slides side by side and you race someone to the bottom. The serpent slide was and still is my favorite ride. This ride requires a tube, single or two person. This ride is also enclosed and towards the bottom you spit out into a clear container, where you can observe all the sharks and fish swimming around you. We also rode the drop, the surge and the falls. They are all open water slides that require either a single or two person tube. They are very fast slides!! I also went on the leap of faith. Since I was at Atlantis I had to ride it at least once . . . and once was enough. I was scared to ride this and it's terrifying (at least to me) to sit at the top staring straight down the slide wondering how you can possibly survive it and not fall into the shark infested waters below. I had to force myself to push off (with my heart in my stomach) and go down. It was over in a few seconds and you don't really see the sharks as you go by them.

We walked to the dolphin cay where we were suited up in a tight wetsuit . . . did I mention tight? Then our group (maybe around 6 or 7 people) were shuttled into a room where we watched a short informational video on dolphins and how to interact with them. We were then taken to a section of the pool, with our instructor, and met our dolphin Noah. Noah was at Atlantis with two of his siblings, who were rescued during Hurricane Katrina and brought to Atlantis to recover from their injuries. Noah was such a sweet dolphin!! We spent around a hour with Noah and the instructor will answer any questions that you have about dolphins, in fact they really encourage questions. We were able to feed Noah, have pictures taken with him, and he performed tricks for us. Noah has quite the personality! He was constantly swimming away and stealing brother and sister from other groups and bringing them back to our group. There were multiple times we had 3 dolphins interacting with us and it was a blast!!!

Noah doing tricks

One of my favorite pictures from my travels.
 

Afterwards we purchased our pictures (the only way to get pictures). You are not allowed to take your camera to swim with the dolphins. If you want any pictures you have to purchase them from Atlantis. They have different package options available and we chose to purchase a cd and split the cost. The rest of the day we spent riding the water slides and lazy river. We unfortunately didn't take a look at the aquariums while we were there, but I hear wonderful things about them. We also had to purchase lunch while we were there. The food and drinks were slightly pricey. Overall, I'm so glad we chose this excursion and were able to swim with the dolphins. It was such a blast and this day was the highlight of our cruise. However you do have to pay for a locker to use during the day, lunch and any drinks and this can add up to be a pricey day. The resort itself is beautiful and there is so much to see and do. I have no doubts I will be back again.

Take Nothing but Pictures, Leave Nothing but Footprints

I have recently decided it's high time I start discovering all my state has to offer. I'm excited to start Take Nothing but Pictures, Leave Nothing but Footprints "campaign".  I foresee visits to state parks, theme parks, and state beaches in my future. While I'm unable to travel full time, I'm hoping to travel locally in between my international trips. I chose to refer to my Florida travels as, Take Nothing but Pictures, Leave Nothing but Footprints, because I think it sends an important message. It's important to me that we take care of our surroundings and nature in general. Ecotourism is on the rise and there are so many beautiful places in the world to travel to. However, they wont survive over time if we don't take care of them. I'm always amazed when I hike and experience nature and traveling.

By traveling around my state I'm hoping to bring a locals perspective to anyone visiting Florida, recommendations and tried and true tips. Keep a look out for upcoming posts for Tampa and Orlando! Anywhere you would like me to visit in Florida? Leave a comment below.

Cliffs of Mohr Hotel

Cliffs of Mohr Hotel is located in Liscannor, Ireland. It's two miles from the Cliffs of Mohr and 50km from Shannon Airport. I had originally booked our stay at Logues Liscannor Hotel. A week before our arrival I received an email from the hotel. They were having construction done on the hotel and moved us across the street to their sister hotel for the same price.

 

 

This was the second place we stayed on our trip. I was pleasantly surprised by this hotel. We arrived just as the weather was taking a nasty turn for the worse. There was a little bit of confusion at check in. They were having a hard time finding our reservation, but I had brought every confirmation with me, and they were able to find our reservation with that. I received the impression that they were a fairly new hotel and were still working out the kinks.


There weren't a lot of people staying and they weren't very busy. The check in guy was also working in the restaurant. He was the only working staff member that we saw. We ate dinner in the hotel restaurant. The restaurant was small and cozy. There was a fireplace in the bar area, surrounded by two tables. In the other room there 5-6 tables. The food and beer were really good, and it was a cozy refuge from the storm.

 

The following morning we ate breakfast (included in our stay). They had several cold breakfast options. I was impressed with their spread and options. The fruit was fresh, they had several cereal and drink options. You are also able to order a hot breakfast. The waiters were very helpful. They were willing to answer any questions we had and were very knowledgeable about the surrounding area.

I was impressed by the rooms. They were very spacious and modern, something I wasn't expecting in Europe. The bathrooms were spacious, modern. It was refreshing! Overall we enjoyed our stay here. The fast was friendly and helpful. The amenities were great, but the wifi in the rooms was spotty.

(Laterooms.com)

There isn't much to do in the town of Liscannor. There is one bar in town, but they do not serve food during the week, and the other restrauarant closes early. There is a town within 10 minutes from this location that has plenty of food and shopping options.

Cliffs Of Mohr

The Cliffs of Mohr and Blarney Castle were at the top of my things to see list. Neither were a disappointment. The Cliffs were originally planned for the following day (Day 3). The ticket attendant at Aillwee Caves was so very kind to us. It turns out she had lived in America for a short time and had attended the same college as me! What a small world! I travel across the world and meet someone who attended my small public college. I suppose a student id can be an icebreaker. When she found out we were planning to go to the Cliffs of Mohr the following day, she recommended we go that same afternoon. Apparently there was bad storm predicted for the next day that we didn't know about! She even pulled up the weather radar on her computer to show us.

She called her husband to get the best directions to the cliffs for us. What a fresh breath of air that was! I'm glad we listened to her, because the weather did pick up that afternoon through the following day. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip. It was nice out when we arrived.

The longer we stayed the darker it became and the wind was blowing us all over the place!

The visitors center was built into the earth. The further you walked away from it the harder it became to distinguish it . . . fascinating! The views of the ocean were breathtaking, and I loved watching the storm come in. We were able to get some amazing pictures as the storm rolled in. When you approach the cliffs it is safe with a cement wall blocking you from the Cliffs edge. To the right is a sitting area and further up you can walk on the unprotected part and to the left is the O'Brien Tower. We went to the right first and for the more daring and adventurous you can walk onto the less stable portion. Of course we had to do it! There are warnings that clearly state you are doing so at your own risk . . .

 Past this point you can get as close to the edge as you want. I did get close, but I was very cautious. However my friend did closer than I did.

 

 

 A sad reality of the cliffs are some people jump off of them to commit suicide and they have erected a memorial for those that have jumped. 

 

 

We did not walk the entire side of the cliff because of the weather. We wanted to head to the other side before the weather became to bad. The O'Brien Tower was closed when we visited, so we weren't able to go inside.

 

 

I highly recommend visiting the cliffs if you have the time. I would like to go back and get pictures with the sun coming up! It's not too expensive to get in, and they do offer a discount for students!! They also have a small café with food and drinks inside the visitors center and a wonderful gift shop!! Visit the website for more information: http://www.cliffsofmoher.ie/.

                                              

                                              2014 Price List:

Adults- 6 euros

Students- 4 euros

Senior citzens- 4 euros

Children under 16- FREE!!!

 

 

Dunguaire Castle

Dunguaire Castle is a 16th century tower house located on the southern shores of Galway Bay.  It was built in 1520 by the Hynes Clan. Legend has it if a person stands at the front gate, and asks a question, they will have the answer to that question by the end of the day. I did some research on this castle after we came home, and Dunguaire is thought to be one of the most photographed castles in Ireland! Funnily enough we didn't even know this castle existed before our trip.

We left our B&B that morning and began our journey to Liscannor, where we would be staying the next couple of nights. It ended up taking us the entire day to get there! There were so many things we came across and we stopped at all of them. We were passing through a small, Irish town when a castled popped up out of nowhere! We had a just driven around a curve, and directly in front of us was the castle! We were so excited to see our very first castle! We had been warned that castles would be everywhere, but this one is special to me now. We drove past the castle and parked in the free parking lot down the road. It's a small parking lot, but it is free. We crossed the street and walked a couple minutes to the castle. It's a very picturesque castle with the Irish countryside on one side and Galway Bay on the other side.

Dunguaire is run by Shannon Heritage and it was in very good condition. I think Bunratty is the only castle we saw that beats it in condition. The have the rooms set up as you imagine they would be in medieval times. We paid a small fee in order to tour the castle. It was awesome! The spiral staircase starts on the first floor and continues to the top. You are able to enter the rooms at each landing. In some cases you had no choices, but to get off at a landing in order for the people coming down to pass you.

The Great Hall is set up just as you imagined it would be. The table went around the room with the lord and lady's chairs at the head. I'm not sure if your allowed to sit in the chairs, but I did!

 

We became very familiar with spiral, stone staircases on this trip. On the top floor there is a couple of steps that lead you outside to battlements. You are allowed to go up and walk around. Some of my favorite pictures were taken here!

It was so beautiful! The views of Galway Bay and the irish countryside were amazing! They did a wonderful job restoring this castle. I'm so glad we stopped. Sometimes deviating from your plan gives you such unexpected surprises!

The castle is open from April- October 1, 10am- 4pm. The admission for the castle is as follows:

Adult- 5 euros
5-16 children- 2.95 euros
0-5 children- free
Seniors- 3.50 euros

They also offer the Dunguaire Banquet. We didn't know this was offered, but we did do the Bunratty Medieval Banquet. They are both run by the Shannon Heritage, so I'm sure this one would be fine also. We really enjoyed our banquet. The banquet is offered at 5:30pm and 8:45pm. Reservations are required. Reservations can be made at Dunguaire Castle or on their website http://www.shannonheritage.com/EveningEntertainments/DunguaireCastleBanquet/.

Kylemore Abbey

Hey Everyone! I can't believe my Ireland/London trip was six months ago. Time sure does flies!! This was an amazing experience and it was the first time out of the U.S for my friend and I. We definitely enjoyed it, although there was hiccups along the way. I will be splitting the reviews for this trip up into a series. This was a 12 day trip and I want to make sure I can get into details. We landed in Dublin at 4:52am on 3 hours of sleep, and we left the airport around 7am. Collecting the car turned out to a little bit of a mess, but it all turned out ok. We began the two drive to our B&B in Galway.

Our hostess was so kind and offered us tea and coffee while we waited on our rooms. Rebecca actually fell asleep while we waited! We decided to drive up to Kylemore Abbey. It would be the only opportunity for us and it came highly recommended. Let me mention that my dad lived in Ireland for a couple of years and was able to give us great advice on what to visit. The drive through Connemara was so beautiful. The landscape was wild, rugged and dramatic. Much different then most of the Irish countryside. I seem to prefer the more wild and rugged landscape. There is just something so intriguing about it.

                                                                              Connemara

It was an experience driving through Connemara. At one point we almost went over a cliff into a lake! At our first glance of Kylemore I remember thinking how striking it was against the landscape. I would recommend visiting to anyone who has the opportunity. One thing I did learn is that student cards are golden! I was able to get discounts off of every attraction we visited on our trip.

Kylmore's history began with Henry Mitchell who took his new bride to Connemara for their honeymoon. It is said that Margaret fell in love with the area. When Henry came into a sizeable fortune he bought the land Kylemore is built on. Construction on the house began in 1867 and took four years to complete. In the mid 1870's Margaret died due to a fever she contracted on a visit to Egypt. A couple years later their daughter was killed in a accident involving a horse. Henry went back to England and sold the property to the Duke of Manchester, who resided there for a couple years before selling it. They were forced to sell it to pay off increasing gambling debts.

In the 1920's Kylmore and some its surrounding lands were purchased by Benedictine Nuns were converted it into a abbey. The nuns opened Kylmore Abbey as an international boarding school and day school for local girls (who were able to get a free education). There were some famous pupils that attending this school, American actress Angelica Heuston and some Indian Princesses. Due to a decrease in enrollment number the school had to close. The last students attending school sat for their exams in June of 2010.

In addition to the abbey there is also a church, mausoleum (Henry Mitchell and his wife are buried here), informal gardens, and gift store/ restaurant. We arrived just in time for lunch. I had a chicken wrap and I was disappointed in it. The chicken was bland and dry, but Rebecca enjoyed her food.  You can only tour the 1st floor of the abbey. I was a little disappointed, but I have discovered that is how it is with a lot of historic buildings. The grounds and trails were lovely to walk, even in the dizzily rain. It's costs 12.50 euros for an adult, 9.00 euros for a senior, 9.00 euros for a student. Children under the age of 10 get in free. Also, if you buy your tickets from the website (http://www.kylemoreabbeytourism.ie/) you will receive 10% off your ticket!

                                                                              Kylemore

 

 

                                                                                 The Church

 

 

The formal gardens were pretty. There is a shuttle available if you prefer not to walk. This is the only part of the grounds were this was available, so be prepared to walk!

                                                           Flower Gardens

                                                     Vegetable Gardens

We toured as much as we could before we were hit by some serious jetlag. We were in bed by 6pm and we were fully recovered by 8am the next morning. A long day on just 3 hours of sleep!

                                                                  I fell asleep on the way back :)