Courtlin’s Trip to Ireland Was Life-Changing [SUPER GALLERY]

After two long weeks I'm finally back to work, and I have LOTS of photos!

Back on October 1st, my cousin and I traveled to Ireland for the vacation of a lifetime. We spent our first night in Dublin, and then on Monday morning, we jumped on our tour bus with Vagabond Small-Group Tours of Ireland. Seven of us spent a week traveling across the country on the 7-Day Treasure Ireland Tour with our amazing tour guide Alan, before spending one final day in Dublin. It was, by far, the greatest trip I have ever taken. In fact, I'm already planning my return next year (possibly a Northern Ireland tour?). I've also googled "how to move to Ireland" like... three times. Do you think they'd accept an American on their local radio stations? I'm willing to find out.

Some of the highlights of our trip include our stay at the Abbeyglen Castle Hotel, where we had a four-course meal and I got to sing in the piano bar, shopping in Galway, climbing the Cliffs of Moher (even through we got DRENCHED), the sheep dog demonstration in West Kerry, our wild night in Dingle, the horse and carriage ride through Killarney National Park, kissing the Blarney Stone (which was terrifying), the boat ride to Garnish Island (complete with seals), and whiskey tasting at the Jameson Distillery. I could go on forever about how magical this vacation was, but I don't want to be too annoying...

If you want to experience some of the magic, here are a TON of pictures that I took during our Irish adventure: