A Trip without Rocky

This summer we took a trip to Ireland and Spain. We were gone for 6 weeks and left Rocky with some dedicated house/dog sitters. It was a great trip and we really appreciate our friends stepping up to watch our dog and our house while we were gone. The trip included a family reunion in Dublin with my mom's Irish cousins, a week wandering around Dublin and a week touring around western Ireland. Then we flew to Spain for a visit with my sister, who lives in a small town about 30 minutes from Barcelona. In addition to hanging around there, we took a road trip through Basque country, staying in a rural house near San Sebastian and visiting the small towns along the Atlantic coast, with a day trip to Bilbao. We camped our way home through southern France and the Pyrenees (wish we had our truck camper there). All in all, a great way to spend the summer! Here are a few selected photos- I took over 1700 pictures!

Ireland...

Dublin Castle

St. Stephens Green

A 500 year old bridge near Laragh, Ireland.

Sheep!

Wicklow Mountains

Kilarney National Park

Cliffs of Moher

Galway

A Galway neighborhood

Harvesting peat in Connemara

Lettermullen

A rainbow!

More amazing light at Lettermullen

 Spain...

Monistrol de Montserrat

Now that's a paella! Cardedeu, Spain

The backyard version

Family and paella- the best

Our temporary home in Basque country

San Sebastian

Spanish towns were great to walk around in- this is San Sebastian

Basque folk dancers in Bilbao

The Guggenheim in Bilbao

 Southern France...

Sauveterre de Berne- we camped here.

Southern France near Oloron Sainte Marie

Southern France near Oloron Sainte Marie, France

The French Pyrenees

Southern France near Bedous, France

On a hike near Urdos, France

Paving in Girona, Spain

Girona, Spain- from the wall surrounding the city

Christopher Columbus pointing to the new world at the Barcelona Harbor

La Sagrada Familia- Barcelona