This will be my last entry to my blog regarding my trip. On Tuesday morning, we had a wonderful breakfast at the Dernyaflan house. Shelia had her beautiful dining room set up for breakfast. She had fresh cheese that she made on her farm and some cheese that her neighbor made as well. We had yogurt, which was made on the farm, scones, homemade jam and preserves, pancakes (which were more like crepes) coffee, tea, fresh fruit, and then a full Irish breakfast of eggs, sausage, bacon, pudding, and toast. We ate breakfast with a Canadian family, who were the only other guests at the B&B. It was nice to talk to them during the meal and hear about Canada and their view on the United States. After breakfast, we took pictures with Shelia and played with the four farm dogs. I felt like I was one of Shelia’s grandchildren staying for a visit. On Tuesday we went to the Rock of Cashel, an old castle/church on a huge rock. We had a guided tour and learned a lot. Next we drove to Blarney,which is just outside of Cork City. The Blarney Castle houses the famous Blarney Stone. There is a popular legend about the stone, that if you kiss it you will be given the gift of eloquence. There are many stories about how this tradition and story came into play but I cannot remember all of the details. Anyways, in order to kiss the Blarney Stone, you must climb to the top of the castle through very narrow, winding stair cases. Once at the top, you must lie down on your back, while someone holds your legs. You lean back and kiss the stone while you dangle from the top story of the castle. Of course, as soon as I lay down on my back and was dangling over the ground, the man holding me over a huge drop made me wait for a few minutes while they got more film in the camera. You can purchase the pictures that they take of your for an ungodly price, or just have the pictures your family takes of you, which I will include below. After kissing the stone, we explored the castle and the grounds. We drove to Kenmare, where we stayed at the Rockcrest Bed and Breakfast. Kenmare is at the base of the Ring of Kerry, which we drove on Wednesday. The Ring is a famous driving route which provides some of the best scenery in Ireland. You drive through the mountains, around the coast, you can see the ocean and many cliffs and beaches. We had a picnic at a beach and enjoyed the nice weather. We came across some sheep on a mountain road and stopped to take pictures. The three sheep ending up running around the car and down the road. I have some funny pictures of the shaggy sheep running down the mountain road as we drove behind them. I’ll also include those below. We went to a pub for dinner where Joe from the show Ballykissed Angle was playing live music. This is a show that is on PBS and Anne and I used to watch it sometimes as teenagers. It was fun to see him in person. On Thursday we headed for Killarney, the other city which people stay in to drive the Ring of Kerry. Killarney was filled with tourists and we were a bit disappointed. Our bed and breakfast was not the best and our host was too busy to say more than “hello” to us. The one good thing to come out of Killarney was that I purchased my first Irish fisherman’s sweater from the Aran Sweater Market. I am so excited to have my very own authentic Irish sweater. On Friday it was raining, so we had to re think our plans of hiking through Killarney National Park. Dad ended up treating us to a jaunting car (horse and mini carriage)ride through the park to see the major sites. We saw the Muckross House (a huge mansion from the early 1900’s), the Abbey (which is in ruins), a beautiful waterfall and the three lakes. The National Park is one of the largest in Europe to this day and is surrounded by mountains and fog.. Everything was covered in moss and our driver, Patrick explained many of the different types of vegetation to us as we rode through the park. Dad really enjoyed learning about the different tress that are in the park. Patrick was a great guide and his horse’s name was Tommy Tucker. It was a great way to see the beautiful park. We left Killarney and drove up to our final destination of the week, the Dingle Peninsula. It rained the last three days of our trip, but the Peninsula was still breathtaking. There are mountains and cliffs and the weather caused a fog to settle over the peaks. We stayed at Ballymore House B&B and had the best time there. Our hosts were Les and Jenny. Les is a retired “copper” from London and Jenny loves to cook. She found out about Anne’s dietary needs and made her a homemade raspberry, cream, sponge cake that was gluten free. Dad and I we spoiled with Jenny’s hummingbird cake, which was like a carrot cake. We sat in their living room, which overlooked the sea. We talked with them, ate cake, and drank tea. We went to Murphy’s Pub for dinner and great live music. We were even more spoiled at breakfast. Jenny made gluten free pancakes, which were the best pancakes I have ever had. She had many types of bread, one gluten free type she made for Anne, and my favorite, the Irish soda bread made with Guinness. Jenny uses mostly organic food and free range eggs. She also made us omelets with smoked salmon and mushrooms. We all sat in the dining room and talked, and Les had music playing on a cd player with some Irish tunes. We ended up staying at the B&B until one o’clock, just drinking tea and talking with Les, Jenny, and their friend Sean. It was interesting to get a British couple’s perspective on the tension between Ireland and England.
Jenny packed us some gluten free cake for the road, and we were on our way back to Shannon. We were not able to go up Connor’s Pass (which provides a beautiful view of the peninsula) because of the dense fog, but we were able to stop at Murphy’s Ice Cream on the way out of town. Murphy’s is made right in Dingle with cream from the rare Kerry Cow. They have very unique flavors and they let us sample their Guinness ice cream, baileys, and run raisin. We had a three hour drive in the rain back to Shannon, where we sorted through our suitcases and packed up for the trip on Sunday morning. Before bed, Dad and I played cribbage and FOR THE FIRST TIME THIS SUMMER I WAS ABLE TO BEAT HIM!
Right now, I am sitting the in Chicago Airport, I have been here for three hours and still have almost two more hours to wait before boarding my last flight home. I can’t even begin to explain how thankful I am for all of the experiences I have encountered in the last six weeks of my life while in Ireland. I have learned so much about the Irish people and culture, as well as myself.
I have taken over 6000 pictures and there is no way I can post them on my blog. I may try to find a way to post them on a different website for those of you who wants to view more of my images. It will be a few weeks until I can get some editing done, but I will keep you all posted.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Traveling around Irleand with Anne and Dad!
Monday, July 5th
Today we left Dublin and drove through the Wicklow Mountains. This IS where P.S. I love you was filmed, I was wrong the last time I said this. It was a beautiful drive, however, the roads were so narrow and we almost hit a few sheep as we wound up and down the mountains. We went to Glendalough, which is basically in the middle of nowhere. It is described as a secluded, mystical place and I couldn’t agree more. We hiked up a path to see the two lakes in Glendalough, lower and upper lake. The lakes are surrounded by mountains, streams, and waterfalls. It was a beautiful sunny day out and we spend 4 hours exploring! Glendalough is where the ruins of St. Kevin’s monastery are, so we walked around these grounds for a while as well. Next we drove to Kilkenny, and the roads got even narrower and bumpy. Along the way we stopped at a roadside stand to buy county Wexford strawberries. I had some of these berries a few weeks ago and they were the best berries I have ever had. We bought a container of strawberries and also some raspberries, and both Anne and Dad would agree that they were the best berries. We stopped in Kilkenny, another small town for dinner. We wandered around the town and stopped at the Kilkenny Castle for some pictures. We went to a pub on a side street for dinner, called rafter dempsey’s. Anne had salmon and Gerry had the chef whip up a special gluten free sauce for the fish. Dad and I split the “mixed Irish grill” and also had onion soup with brown bread. The mixed grill contained lamb liver, steak, a fried egg, mushrooms and onions, rashers (amazing bacon) and black and white pudding. We asked the pub owner (who was also our server) what the pudding was. He said “do you want to know before or after you eat it?” Well, black and white pudding are a meaty sausage made with pigs blood. Hello traditional Irish food…. After having this discussion with the pub owner Gerry, he came and talked to us more. Dad and Gerry talked about deer hunting and different kinds of meat (of course). Then we asked Gerry about Irish hurling and he brought out a hurling stick and ball. He let us each try to catch the ball on the stick and offered dad a free pint of beer if he could gain control of the beer. He got himself a free pint of Smithwicks, which is brewed in Kilkenny. We had so much fun with Gerry and another man in the pub. We talked to this other man, Rorey for a while after dinner. I had a great conversation with him about different types of Irish whiskey and then we started talking about the Irish troubles. He explained to us how much the Irish people love Bill Clinton, due to his work in bringing peace to Ireland. Rorey is from Derry which is up north, but still in the Republic of Ireland (it is about two miles from Northern Ireland). He told us all about his childhood and the violence in the country. He went to a catholic school and there was a protestant school right across the road. He said he wouldn’t have dared to cross the road or shop in any of the shops run by the protestants. It was the best conversation I have had with a local yet. We then started to talk about his life, he is a counselor. He told me two things. One was “it is good to talk,” and by this he meant that the best was to form relationships or to mend them is simply to talk. He also said the best thing I can do when I become a psychologist is not to judge anyone because everyone has their own struggles. He said you have to teach each individual you work with to love themselves. We had to end our lovely conversation because we had to get on the road to get to Cashel where our B&B was. We went to the parking garage to get the car only to find the entire place closed and the gates down. There was no way to get to our car to get it out. Panic stricken, Dad and Anne went back to the pub to ask Rorey for help. I went in a restaurant and also asked a taxi driver for help, both of them said we would have to wait until morning to get into the garage. Rorey ended up getting a phone number to a man who could open the big gate and let us out. For about 40 dollars we were able to get our car. We drove back to the pub to thank Rorey for his help and to buy him a pint. He wouldn’t let us buy him anything and he said that he really enjoyed talking to us. He said from the moment we walked into the pub he could tell we were a great family by the smiles on our faces. He said he would give anything to have a family like ours, and a dad who would take him on vacation. He said it was extremely special the relationship we had with each other. Come to find out, Gerry (the pub owner) is Rorey’s Dad. Gerry was never married to Rorey’s mom and Rorey only comes to visit his dad once or twice a year. Wow, what a night. I will never forget the special people we met, who extended such warm welcomes and provided help when we needed it most. We drove to our B&B (we didn’t get there til 10pm). It is a 300 year old farm house. Shelia is our host and she makes award winning cheese and jam here! There are old ruins from the 1600’s right outside our window. Shelia was so happy to see us when we arrived. We have a great room filled with antiques. The farm house is beautiful filled with family pictures, old dishes, and paintings. We can hear the cows mooing across the road! I am almost in disbelief that we are here. We are having a full Irish breakfast tomorrow in Shelia’s beautiful dining room with the other four guests who are staying here tonight. I’m going to make myself some tea and head to bed! What a wonderful day in Ireland…
Today we left Dublin and drove through the Wicklow Mountains. This IS where P.S. I love you was filmed, I was wrong the last time I said this. It was a beautiful drive, however, the roads were so narrow and we almost hit a few sheep as we wound up and down the mountains. We went to Glendalough, which is basically in the middle of nowhere. It is described as a secluded, mystical place and I couldn’t agree more. We hiked up a path to see the two lakes in Glendalough, lower and upper lake. The lakes are surrounded by mountains, streams, and waterfalls. It was a beautiful sunny day out and we spend 4 hours exploring! Glendalough is where the ruins of St. Kevin’s monastery are, so we walked around these grounds for a while as well. Next we drove to Kilkenny, and the roads got even narrower and bumpy. Along the way we stopped at a roadside stand to buy county Wexford strawberries. I had some of these berries a few weeks ago and they were the best berries I have ever had. We bought a container of strawberries and also some raspberries, and both Anne and Dad would agree that they were the best berries. We stopped in Kilkenny, another small town for dinner. We wandered around the town and stopped at the Kilkenny Castle for some pictures. We went to a pub on a side street for dinner, called rafter dempsey’s. Anne had salmon and Gerry had the chef whip up a special gluten free sauce for the fish. Dad and I split the “mixed Irish grill” and also had onion soup with brown bread. The mixed grill contained lamb liver, steak, a fried egg, mushrooms and onions, rashers (amazing bacon) and black and white pudding. We asked the pub owner (who was also our server) what the pudding was. He said “do you want to know before or after you eat it?” Well, black and white pudding are a meaty sausage made with pigs blood. Hello traditional Irish food…. After having this discussion with the pub owner Gerry, he came and talked to us more. Dad and Gerry talked about deer hunting and different kinds of meat (of course). Then we asked Gerry about Irish hurling and he brought out a hurling stick and ball. He let us each try to catch the ball on the stick and offered dad a free pint of beer if he could gain control of the beer. He got himself a free pint of Smithwicks, which is brewed in Kilkenny. We had so much fun with Gerry and another man in the pub. We talked to this other man, Rorey for a while after dinner. I had a great conversation with him about different types of Irish whiskey and then we started talking about the Irish troubles. He explained to us how much the Irish people love Bill Clinton, due to his work in bringing peace to Ireland. Rorey is from Derry which is up north, but still in the Republic of Ireland (it is about two miles from Northern Ireland). He told us all about his childhood and the violence in the country. He went to a catholic school and there was a protestant school right across the road. He said he wouldn’t have dared to cross the road or shop in any of the shops run by the protestants. It was the best conversation I have had with a local yet. We then started to talk about his life, he is a counselor. He told me two things. One was “it is good to talk,” and by this he meant that the best was to form relationships or to mend them is simply to talk. He also said the best thing I can do when I become a psychologist is not to judge anyone because everyone has their own struggles. He said you have to teach each individual you work with to love themselves. We had to end our lovely conversation because we had to get on the road to get to Cashel where our B&B was. We went to the parking garage to get the car only to find the entire place closed and the gates down. There was no way to get to our car to get it out. Panic stricken, Dad and Anne went back to the pub to ask Rorey for help. I went in a restaurant and also asked a taxi driver for help, both of them said we would have to wait until morning to get into the garage. Rorey ended up getting a phone number to a man who could open the big gate and let us out. For about 40 dollars we were able to get our car. We drove back to the pub to thank Rorey for his help and to buy him a pint. He wouldn’t let us buy him anything and he said that he really enjoyed talking to us. He said from the moment we walked into the pub he could tell we were a great family by the smiles on our faces. He said he would give anything to have a family like ours, and a dad who would take him on vacation. He said it was extremely special the relationship we had with each other. Come to find out, Gerry (the pub owner) is Rorey’s Dad. Gerry was never married to Rorey’s mom and Rorey only comes to visit his dad once or twice a year. Wow, what a night. I will never forget the special people we met, who extended such warm welcomes and provided help when we needed it most. We drove to our B&B (we didn’t get there til 10pm). It is a 300 year old farm house. Shelia is our host and she makes award winning cheese and jam here! There are old ruins from the 1600’s right outside our window. Shelia was so happy to see us when we arrived. We have a great room filled with antiques. The farm house is beautiful filled with family pictures, old dishes, and paintings. We can hear the cows mooing across the road! I am almost in disbelief that we are here. We are having a full Irish breakfast tomorrow in Shelia’s beautiful dining room with the other four guests who are staying here tonight. I’m going to make myself some tea and head to bed! What a wonderful day in Ireland…
Finally.
I have completely neglected my blog since I have been home. I figured I should post the final entries that I have saved on my computer so my blog can be complete.
Here they are...!
Dad Comes!
On Wednesday I took the bus back to Shannon to pick up dad. He arrived safely and we took the bus up to Galway. We went into town for dinner and had Irish stew (made with lamb) and some soup. Dad was really impressed with his first Irish meal. I took him to An Pucan next, where we were lucky enough to see some Irish dancing and listen to live music.
On Thursday we took the ferry over to the Aran Islands (I have more information about the Islands in an earlier post). It rained for about 30 minutes and then was a sunny day. We rented bikes on the island and had fun bombing around. We went up to the fort, Dun Aengus, where a friendly tour guide offered to take our picture and he gave us some extra information on the history of the fort. We went to dinner at An Pucan, where we had fish and chips and bangers and mash. Once again, Dad was very impressed with his meal. Our table was right next to the musicians’ table, so we had front row seats for the traditional pub music that was being played. On Friday, we took a tour bus to Connemara. I took a bus through Connemara a month ago, but this bus took a different route. Dad and I played cribbage on the bus and of course he beat me. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and it was a fun tour. We stopped in many towns along the way including Cong. The oldest stone cross in Ireland is in Cong. We also went to Ross Errily Friary which is the ruins of 14th century monastery. The bus stopped at Kylemore Abbey, where we had afternoon tea. Once back in Galway, I showed dad the Claduagh village and the bay. We had feta and garlic stuffed olives at a little co-op on Shoppe Street. We had dinner at the NUIG College bar and watched the quarter finals of the World Cup, when Uruguay beat Ghana in overtime.
On Saturday morning we took the bus back to Shannon, where we met Anne and picked up our rental car. It is a TINY little car and we have five suitcases. I can take the blame for having the most stuff, but I have also been here the longest We are tightly packed in the little thing…..
Dad quickly picked up driving on the “wrong side “ of the road…but I don’t think he will ever get used to the NARROW, bumpy, twisting, turning roads filled with sheep. We drove across Ireland to Dublin and checked into our hotel, which was very, very nice. We had a lovely dinner at Millstone after having a pint at a pub. After dinner we walked around the Temple Bar area and listened to musicians. On Sunday we walked around Dublin trying to see as many sights as we could. We went to St. Pat’s, the Dublin Castle, Trinity College (where we saw the Books of Kells), Chester Beatty’s Library, St. Stephen’s Green…lots of the big sights. The Book of Kells was on display at the end of an exhibit. The exhibit explained the history of the book of Kells, which is a very old and beautifully illustrated collection of the four Gospels. After seeing the book, we were able to go upstairs into Old College Library, which has books from hundreds of years ago. Chester Beatty’s Library is a collection of art and ancient religious texts/artifacts from around the World. It is housed right beside the Dublin Castle and was extremely interesting. There were pages from the oldest Bible in the World here.
On Monday, we left Dublin and headed for Glendalough.
Here they are...!
Dad Comes!
On Wednesday I took the bus back to Shannon to pick up dad. He arrived safely and we took the bus up to Galway. We went into town for dinner and had Irish stew (made with lamb) and some soup. Dad was really impressed with his first Irish meal. I took him to An Pucan next, where we were lucky enough to see some Irish dancing and listen to live music.
On Thursday we took the ferry over to the Aran Islands (I have more information about the Islands in an earlier post). It rained for about 30 minutes and then was a sunny day. We rented bikes on the island and had fun bombing around. We went up to the fort, Dun Aengus, where a friendly tour guide offered to take our picture and he gave us some extra information on the history of the fort. We went to dinner at An Pucan, where we had fish and chips and bangers and mash. Once again, Dad was very impressed with his meal. Our table was right next to the musicians’ table, so we had front row seats for the traditional pub music that was being played. On Friday, we took a tour bus to Connemara. I took a bus through Connemara a month ago, but this bus took a different route. Dad and I played cribbage on the bus and of course he beat me. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and it was a fun tour. We stopped in many towns along the way including Cong. The oldest stone cross in Ireland is in Cong. We also went to Ross Errily Friary which is the ruins of 14th century monastery. The bus stopped at Kylemore Abbey, where we had afternoon tea. Once back in Galway, I showed dad the Claduagh village and the bay. We had feta and garlic stuffed olives at a little co-op on Shoppe Street. We had dinner at the NUIG College bar and watched the quarter finals of the World Cup, when Uruguay beat Ghana in overtime.
On Saturday morning we took the bus back to Shannon, where we met Anne and picked up our rental car. It is a TINY little car and we have five suitcases. I can take the blame for having the most stuff, but I have also been here the longest We are tightly packed in the little thing…..
Dad quickly picked up driving on the “wrong side “ of the road…but I don’t think he will ever get used to the NARROW, bumpy, twisting, turning roads filled with sheep. We drove across Ireland to Dublin and checked into our hotel, which was very, very nice. We had a lovely dinner at Millstone after having a pint at a pub. After dinner we walked around the Temple Bar area and listened to musicians. On Sunday we walked around Dublin trying to see as many sights as we could. We went to St. Pat’s, the Dublin Castle, Trinity College (where we saw the Books of Kells), Chester Beatty’s Library, St. Stephen’s Green…lots of the big sights. The Book of Kells was on display at the end of an exhibit. The exhibit explained the history of the book of Kells, which is a very old and beautifully illustrated collection of the four Gospels. After seeing the book, we were able to go upstairs into Old College Library, which has books from hundreds of years ago. Chester Beatty’s Library is a collection of art and ancient religious texts/artifacts from around the World. It is housed right beside the Dublin Castle and was extremely interesting. There were pages from the oldest Bible in the World here.
On Monday, we left Dublin and headed for Glendalough.
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