We set off early today for Northern Ireland. Having grown up in the 70's, Northern Ireland is irrevocably tied with bombings and religious strife in my mind. After all of my education this week on Irish politics, we've learned that it was more political than religious, it only "conveniently" seemed to fall along religious lines.
We left before our "breakfast" was served at the hovel, so as we drove north, we stopped at what would be considered a truck stop and gassed up, pottied, and had breakfast of bananas and yogurt (and my now ubiquitous black current juice!) For those of you who are regular readers, you'll be interested to know that I've gleefully turned on my international data to "drop a bomb" on my Places I've Pooped app all around Ireland! tee hee!
Since the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland are totally different countries, I assumed we'd have a border to go through. But no, well... frankly, I seem to have slept through it, but Bill, who was driving at the time, said all there was was a "Welcome to Northern Ireland" sign and the road signs started looking different. So much for getting another stamp in my passport.
At this point, I have to digress into a vague bit of a history lesson, because otherwise, when I say that we could not have chosen a worse day to be in Northern Ireland, it won't mean anything. Seems that way back in 1690 on July 12th, when Catholic/English King James was on the throne, Protestant William of Orange decided to invade (then) Ireland and his supporters in Ireland lit these big-assed bonfires to help show him where to go. William of Orange defeated James. Now, every year, at midnight on July 11th, the loyalists light big-assed bonfires around the city to celebrate July 12 and remember this event. As far as its effect on us, well, Friday was a bank holiday, meaning that some places were closed or had reduced hours; the wall that they've built going through the city to separate the catholics from the protestants gets closed earlier than usual, effectively blocking us out from our hotel, if we hang around too long in the wrong side; lots of drinking, and potential for "trouble."
After making sure where the hotel was (yes, thank God it was a hotel!!), we drove into the city and found a hop-on/off tour bus. The tour guide, Steven, was entertaining and knowledgeable. The plan was to drive the loop, see which sites we wanted to see, then ride the loop again getting off to see those sites. We got off at the Belfast Castle, which on the outside was beautiful, but on the inside was rather unimpressive - mostly decorated for its current use as a wedding location/banquet-type place - we got our money's worth, though - it was free to roam around! The gardens were beautiful and there were nine cats, in one form or another, hidden around the garden. The story being that the original owner who built it, was a gambler and he had a white cat that he considered to be is good luck charm. When the cat died, his luck ran out and he lost the family fortune, even having to move back home to England. So the castle was turned over to the government and when they were setting up the garden, someone got the idea to include 9 cats, to represent a cat's nine lives, in it. There were several stone sculptures, a topiary, some mosaics. We found them all and felt very successful.
The bus showed up shortly after we finished and we hopped back on. Turned out we'd got the bus with Steven on it again. Holly interrogated him about his thoughts on our plans to get off to see a cathedral, then something else, and he said due to the holiday, this bus was going back to the HQ and it was the last bus. In fact, they were closing the gates in the wall and we even had to go a different, more circuitous route back because the normal gate was already closed! He encouraged us to go back to our hotel and lock up for the night. Not that there was anything bad expected, but when alcohol and the Irish temperament mix.... We decided to follow his suggestion. So anyway, that's why we don't have an abundance of pictures of Belfast and Northern Ireland.
Back at the hotel, we had a wonderful meal and then had to say goodbye to Bill. Bill was only able to join us for the Ireland portion of this trip and was driving the rental back to Dublin and then flying back to the US on Saturday morning. Personally, I'm going to miss him because either out of deference to my knee or just because he's a gentleman, he carried my suitcase for me a lot... especially up stairs! Ah, Bill, you are missed.
I had my own room for the night and after taking a nice cool shower, I took advantage of the other twin bed in the room and dumped my suitcase out and repacked everything, doing a second purge of things I don't HAVE to take back with me. Having bought a jacket and a sweatshirt, my suitcase is getting very full. During the purge, I watched a Fresh Prince of Bel Air marathon since I couldn't find that documentary about the history of cheese that the Griswolds watched while in London during European Vacation... and after the purge, I found the British version of Big Brother... and watched that until my eyeballs fell to sleepytime.
Saturday, July 12, 2014
Thursday, July 10th
Knowing that today's plan was just to return to Dublin, with nothing specific site-wise to do, we were able to sleep in and take a leisurely drive across the country. The drive was uneventful, on nice wide highways, and I was able to snooze a little.
At one point, we did stop at a McDonalds attached to a gas station. (The air in the tires needed checked). And Holly and I bee-lined straight for it, our mouths drooling at the prospect of some iced tea. It occurred to me, as we were walking the wrong way through the drive thru to the front door, that I hadn't really seen any of those ubiquitous styrofoam cups anywhere in the country... and that that might be a bad omen re: our chances for iced tea heaven. But I tromped on... only to have my hopes dashed. I was heartbroken. So I down troddenly meandered over to the gas station and bought myself some juice - black current, my new favorite. Don't know if we have it on our side of the pond (doubt it) but I will definitely check for it.
We arrived in Dublin, parked the car at the guys' hotel and had lunch. We took this opportunity to decide how to spend the rest of our day. The guys wanted to head to the Jameson Whiskey factory tour, and in fact, Tom was chosen to be a special taster! I needed to find a bookstore to see if I could find any Superman comics for someone back home, and Holly and I needed to check into our hovel du jour (which was the same one we stayed in before, just different room.)
We were successful in both regards and dumped some of our stuff in our room, this time on the third floor (six, count them, six flights of stairs). We still had a couple of hours and there was a chocolate cafe just down the street that we'd had our eye on ever since we arrived almost a week ago. As we sat outside of the cafe drinking our (bottled) iced tea and eating our chocolate ice cream, the heavens opened up and for the first time since we'd arrived, it poured. Almost immediately, pedestrians crowded under the awning - we, however, just relaxed at our table and felt like we belonged there, as opposed to feeling like tourists.
After the rain stopped (temporarily, as it turns out), Holly and I started traipsing toward Christ's Church Cathedral, which was where we arranged to meet Tom and Bill. My new umbrella was in the car, in the parking garage. So when the heavens burst forth again, this Rose got watered. I don't know how many blocks it was to the Cathedral, but I looked and felt like a drowned rat when I got there. It was a very pretty building, and there was a mass service going on while we were milling around, which felt sort of intrusive. I know that if there were tourists roaming around church while I'm sitting there trying to maintain focus, it would be very difficult.
In the basement, there were exhibits.. the most intriguing of which was the mummified cat and rat that were found in the pipe organ at one point when they were cleaning it. Rather macabre, but still interesting.
It was still raining when we left and as we trekked back towards the car so Holly and I could wrangle clean undies to take upstairs to our hovel, as we were NOT going to lug our suitcases up six flights of stairs, we found a New York Pizza place and decided to go in, eat, and maybe wait out the rain a little. That plan worked because it was only drizzling when we left.
Finally, we got upstairs to our hovel, vowing not to go back down until morning. The wi-fi worked and we had warm water in the shower. It was a relatively relaxing way to spend our final night in Dublin.
At one point, we did stop at a McDonalds attached to a gas station. (The air in the tires needed checked). And Holly and I bee-lined straight for it, our mouths drooling at the prospect of some iced tea. It occurred to me, as we were walking the wrong way through the drive thru to the front door, that I hadn't really seen any of those ubiquitous styrofoam cups anywhere in the country... and that that might be a bad omen re: our chances for iced tea heaven. But I tromped on... only to have my hopes dashed. I was heartbroken. So I down troddenly meandered over to the gas station and bought myself some juice - black current, my new favorite. Don't know if we have it on our side of the pond (doubt it) but I will definitely check for it.
We arrived in Dublin, parked the car at the guys' hotel and had lunch. We took this opportunity to decide how to spend the rest of our day. The guys wanted to head to the Jameson Whiskey factory tour, and in fact, Tom was chosen to be a special taster! I needed to find a bookstore to see if I could find any Superman comics for someone back home, and Holly and I needed to check into our hovel du jour (which was the same one we stayed in before, just different room.)
We were successful in both regards and dumped some of our stuff in our room, this time on the third floor (six, count them, six flights of stairs). We still had a couple of hours and there was a chocolate cafe just down the street that we'd had our eye on ever since we arrived almost a week ago. As we sat outside of the cafe drinking our (bottled) iced tea and eating our chocolate ice cream, the heavens opened up and for the first time since we'd arrived, it poured. Almost immediately, pedestrians crowded under the awning - we, however, just relaxed at our table and felt like we belonged there, as opposed to feeling like tourists.
After the rain stopped (temporarily, as it turns out), Holly and I started traipsing toward Christ's Church Cathedral, which was where we arranged to meet Tom and Bill. My new umbrella was in the car, in the parking garage. So when the heavens burst forth again, this Rose got watered. I don't know how many blocks it was to the Cathedral, but I looked and felt like a drowned rat when I got there. It was a very pretty building, and there was a mass service going on while we were milling around, which felt sort of intrusive. I know that if there were tourists roaming around church while I'm sitting there trying to maintain focus, it would be very difficult.
In the basement, there were exhibits.. the most intriguing of which was the mummified cat and rat that were found in the pipe organ at one point when they were cleaning it. Rather macabre, but still interesting.
It was still raining when we left and as we trekked back towards the car so Holly and I could wrangle clean undies to take upstairs to our hovel, as we were NOT going to lug our suitcases up six flights of stairs, we found a New York Pizza place and decided to go in, eat, and maybe wait out the rain a little. That plan worked because it was only drizzling when we left.
Finally, we got upstairs to our hovel, vowing not to go back down until morning. The wi-fi worked and we had warm water in the shower. It was a relatively relaxing way to spend our final night in Dublin.
Thursday, July 10, 2014
Wednesday, July 9th
Today's itinerary was to leave Killarney and meander toward Galway, making sure to hit the Cliffs of Moher on the way. Mostly, it was going to mean a lot of time in the car and scenery. I immediately fell asleep! I've been good at waking up about 6am, but then, with no coffee in me, my eyelids have been getting heavy about 9-ish.
I woke up to hear our driver badmouthing Eileen - seems she did her job, which is to lead us on the quickest, most direct path, but he wasn't expecting a ferry. Turns out, though, that this ferry ride was going to cut about an hour or so off the drive. The good Lord got us on the ferry seconds before it pulled out and we trotted up to the top to see what we could see. Despite very overcast weather, it was fabulous up there, the wind blowing my increasingly disheveled hair and putting a wee bit of pink to my cheeks.
We arrived at the Cliffs of Moher and I had to retract what I'd previously said about Ireland and their gift shop savvy. There was a two level center built into the mountain, with a huge gift shop - I bought Gnarley a lovely pair of socks, and a restaurant, and an education center with two videos showing. We didn't bother with the videos - pffftt... After pottying, we started trekking up the hill. It forked and you could go up either way. We ended up going up one, then back down and up the other. The views were spectacular. Again, very overcast, it would have been incredible with blue sky and fluffy clouds, but it was still wonderful. We made sure to take tons of beautiful pics. Although I refrained from making like the German couple in front of us who were taking pics of cows. I'm like... they're cows, but then, that's probably what other people were thinking when I was taking pictures of the sheep.
Holly and Tom didn't manage to make it down the hill until an hour after Bill and me. I had horrible thoughts of someone breaking a leg out there, or falling over a cliff. (You know, I'm still leery about us having to make an emergency trip to an ER at some point on this trip.) But they finally got back. Seems the path continues F-A-R after the point where Bill and I turned back, and they continued to try get closer to some castle ruins... but each time they'd turn a bend, they'd see that it look still just as far off! We had lunch at the restaurant there and then hit the road.
We continued on to Galway. There were a variety of things we could have stopped to see, but our dogs were barking and we were just content to watch the scenery. We did take a scenic drive, during which Tom swore that we were NOT driving any more scenic drives. (That wasn't the only swearing coming from the front seat, let me tell you..) But he successfully navigated us back to the main road and I decided he'd definitely earned that Guinness I told him I'd buy him, so tonight he'd get it.
We did stop at one more sight before hitting Galway - it was Castle Dungaire - it was picturesque, but the 80 or so steps going up were tiring to my increasingly pooped self - and my knee especially. I definitely made up today for not having physical therapy since last week! We saw what there was to see and it was a good thing because they were closing the doors behind us... didn't even give us the opportunity to spend hard cold Euros in the gift shop! We could have had a medieval dinner there - we could smell it cooking - but we really just wanted to get to Galway, find our hovel, find food and relax.
Pleasantly, our hovel for the night in Galway turned out to be what I thought we were going to be having all along so far... college dorms. So it wasn't a hovel at all! And I got my own room :) but the pillow was like sleeping on particularly thick cardboard - wasn't nice considering I normally sleep on two big fluffy ones at home. I thought about sleeping on my sweatshirt and jacket, but was too pooped to get out of bed to get them. But I jump ahead...
After dumping our stuff and resting for a while, we hopped back in the car. Per Rick Steves, Galway is mostly known for its night-life, so we headed "downtown" to a district full of pubs, restaurants, shops, etc. We meandered around, found a nice restaurant that met with Sporty Spice's picky tastebuds and sounded good to the rest of us too. I had a steak covered with mushrooms and grilled onions and some "pepper sauce" not sure what that was, but it was delicious. I asked about iced tea - got a pot of tea and a "pint" of ice. It worked, but the almost boiling tea melted the ice immediately (I wasn't thinking or I'd have let it cool first). It tasted fine, though, if a little warmish. On the way from our dorm, we passed a McDonald's and we plan on hitting it tomorrow to get some iced tea - assuming they have iced tea, which I'm thinking is a big assumption.
After dinner, we trotted around the streets, hit a gift shop or two, got some ice cream, and watched a street performer who juggled with sticks on fire and ultimately was juggling on a unicycle. He was very good, funny, and entertaining. By now it was time for the Argentina/Netherlands World Cup semi-final game. You ask: Rose? What up? You interested in the World Cup? I thought you were anti-sports!? My response is, yeah, I could still care less, but my driver wanted to see it, so we bopped into a bar and watched the game. I listened to a podcast on my iPod and sipped my drink (more of the "hard" stuff - cranberry juice - one thing's for sure, if I have to go to the ER on this trip, it won't be because of a UTI!) We stayed until the first 90 minutes were over, and it was still 0-0... then we headed back to the dorm.
We had good free wi-fi at the dorm and I was able to post entries that I'd been saving up, as well as pics on Facebook. Chit-chatted with some peeps on FB, then finally had to shut off the light, cursing the 6 hour time difference because I was jealous that I was pooped when all my peeps were still up and peppy.
I woke up to hear our driver badmouthing Eileen - seems she did her job, which is to lead us on the quickest, most direct path, but he wasn't expecting a ferry. Turns out, though, that this ferry ride was going to cut about an hour or so off the drive. The good Lord got us on the ferry seconds before it pulled out and we trotted up to the top to see what we could see. Despite very overcast weather, it was fabulous up there, the wind blowing my increasingly disheveled hair and putting a wee bit of pink to my cheeks.
We arrived at the Cliffs of Moher and I had to retract what I'd previously said about Ireland and their gift shop savvy. There was a two level center built into the mountain, with a huge gift shop - I bought Gnarley a lovely pair of socks, and a restaurant, and an education center with two videos showing. We didn't bother with the videos - pffftt... After pottying, we started trekking up the hill. It forked and you could go up either way. We ended up going up one, then back down and up the other. The views were spectacular. Again, very overcast, it would have been incredible with blue sky and fluffy clouds, but it was still wonderful. We made sure to take tons of beautiful pics. Although I refrained from making like the German couple in front of us who were taking pics of cows. I'm like... they're cows, but then, that's probably what other people were thinking when I was taking pictures of the sheep.
Holly and Tom didn't manage to make it down the hill until an hour after Bill and me. I had horrible thoughts of someone breaking a leg out there, or falling over a cliff. (You know, I'm still leery about us having to make an emergency trip to an ER at some point on this trip.) But they finally got back. Seems the path continues F-A-R after the point where Bill and I turned back, and they continued to try get closer to some castle ruins... but each time they'd turn a bend, they'd see that it look still just as far off! We had lunch at the restaurant there and then hit the road.
We continued on to Galway. There were a variety of things we could have stopped to see, but our dogs were barking and we were just content to watch the scenery. We did take a scenic drive, during which Tom swore that we were NOT driving any more scenic drives. (That wasn't the only swearing coming from the front seat, let me tell you..) But he successfully navigated us back to the main road and I decided he'd definitely earned that Guinness I told him I'd buy him, so tonight he'd get it.
We did stop at one more sight before hitting Galway - it was Castle Dungaire - it was picturesque, but the 80 or so steps going up were tiring to my increasingly pooped self - and my knee especially. I definitely made up today for not having physical therapy since last week! We saw what there was to see and it was a good thing because they were closing the doors behind us... didn't even give us the opportunity to spend hard cold Euros in the gift shop! We could have had a medieval dinner there - we could smell it cooking - but we really just wanted to get to Galway, find our hovel, find food and relax.
Pleasantly, our hovel for the night in Galway turned out to be what I thought we were going to be having all along so far... college dorms. So it wasn't a hovel at all! And I got my own room :) but the pillow was like sleeping on particularly thick cardboard - wasn't nice considering I normally sleep on two big fluffy ones at home. I thought about sleeping on my sweatshirt and jacket, but was too pooped to get out of bed to get them. But I jump ahead...
After dumping our stuff and resting for a while, we hopped back in the car. Per Rick Steves, Galway is mostly known for its night-life, so we headed "downtown" to a district full of pubs, restaurants, shops, etc. We meandered around, found a nice restaurant that met with Sporty Spice's picky tastebuds and sounded good to the rest of us too. I had a steak covered with mushrooms and grilled onions and some "pepper sauce" not sure what that was, but it was delicious. I asked about iced tea - got a pot of tea and a "pint" of ice. It worked, but the almost boiling tea melted the ice immediately (I wasn't thinking or I'd have let it cool first). It tasted fine, though, if a little warmish. On the way from our dorm, we passed a McDonald's and we plan on hitting it tomorrow to get some iced tea - assuming they have iced tea, which I'm thinking is a big assumption.
After dinner, we trotted around the streets, hit a gift shop or two, got some ice cream, and watched a street performer who juggled with sticks on fire and ultimately was juggling on a unicycle. He was very good, funny, and entertaining. By now it was time for the Argentina/Netherlands World Cup semi-final game. You ask: Rose? What up? You interested in the World Cup? I thought you were anti-sports!? My response is, yeah, I could still care less, but my driver wanted to see it, so we bopped into a bar and watched the game. I listened to a podcast on my iPod and sipped my drink (more of the "hard" stuff - cranberry juice - one thing's for sure, if I have to go to the ER on this trip, it won't be because of a UTI!) We stayed until the first 90 minutes were over, and it was still 0-0... then we headed back to the dorm.
We had good free wi-fi at the dorm and I was able to post entries that I'd been saving up, as well as pics on Facebook. Chit-chatted with some peeps on FB, then finally had to shut off the light, cursing the 6 hour time difference because I was jealous that I was pooped when all my peeps were still up and peppy.
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Tuesday, July 8th
When we left Dublin, in the rental car, during rush hour, it was raining and cold. I had made the foolish mistake of packing for July in Indiana. I figured it would be cooler, but not this much cooler. I'd already purchased myself a sweatshirt/souvenir, but at this point I was wishing I'd gotten something more like a hoodie. Oh well, won't have room for another one in the ol' suitcase, so I'll survive. Anyway, as Tom expertly drove us to the southwest area of Kerry, I was cold in the back seat, covered up by my sweatshirt and I napped. I even slept through going through a toll booth, which means I really was asleep, not just cat napping.
After a couple of hours, we arrived at Muckross House - a Victorian era home of a variety of rich people. While we waited for our tour to start, we roamed around the grounds and gardens. Got some lovely pics. I also hit the gift shop and bought myself a jacket lest my arms freeze and fall off a la Venus de Milo.
Going through the house was very interesting. Having just finished reading a trilogy that took place in the Victorian era, I was able to imagine the book taking place in a house similar to this. What I had issues with was imagining where all 22 of the servants went! And at some point Queen Victoria came to visit and brought with her 50 servants! I'll be happy with my condo and cats, thank you.
We dined and pottied and hit the road for Killarney! After being mislead by the GPS, who we've named Eileen for the trip - on the grounds that she needs an Irish name. I suggested Shannon, but was vetoed... ok I realize that wasn't exactly a full sentence there, but after Eileen failed to get us to our hovel for the evening, we found it by asking a couple of locals.
We dumped the luggage and had a short rest and then piled back in the buggy to check out the Ring of Kerry. This was a 112-mile drive around a peninsula with fantastic scenery, mountains, coastal areas. We left in the late afternoon, feeling safe in the knowledge that the sun doesn't go down until about 10:30 or so. It was beautiful. But I'm pretty sure that Tom got quite a few more gray hairs on that time. At one point, the road was barely wide enough for our car, let alone the one coming head on at us. We saw tons of cows, sheeps, and goats, depending on our elevation.
I told Tom, during one of the especially terrifying parts, that I'd buy him a beer at dinner because he'd earned it. Unfortunately, by the time we got back to civilization, at 10:30, everything was closed. I needed some protein, however, so we inquired and were told about some "fast food" place where people got burgers and such for carryout. We were able to get food - I got fried chicken and was even able to take a piece back to the hovel with me for breakfast in the morning... after all free breakfast is fine, but when all it is is toast and cereal, there be protein-related issues. I set my boob (the chicken, that is) on my open window sill and it was nicely chilled overnight.
The wi-fi at this hovel wasn't working, for whatever reason, so I wasn't able to post any pics, but eventually, we'll get back to someplace with wi-fi and I'll get all of these posted on Facebook at least.
After a couple of hours, we arrived at Muckross House - a Victorian era home of a variety of rich people. While we waited for our tour to start, we roamed around the grounds and gardens. Got some lovely pics. I also hit the gift shop and bought myself a jacket lest my arms freeze and fall off a la Venus de Milo.
Going through the house was very interesting. Having just finished reading a trilogy that took place in the Victorian era, I was able to imagine the book taking place in a house similar to this. What I had issues with was imagining where all 22 of the servants went! And at some point Queen Victoria came to visit and brought with her 50 servants! I'll be happy with my condo and cats, thank you.
We dined and pottied and hit the road for Killarney! After being mislead by the GPS, who we've named Eileen for the trip - on the grounds that she needs an Irish name. I suggested Shannon, but was vetoed... ok I realize that wasn't exactly a full sentence there, but after Eileen failed to get us to our hovel for the evening, we found it by asking a couple of locals.
We dumped the luggage and had a short rest and then piled back in the buggy to check out the Ring of Kerry. This was a 112-mile drive around a peninsula with fantastic scenery, mountains, coastal areas. We left in the late afternoon, feeling safe in the knowledge that the sun doesn't go down until about 10:30 or so. It was beautiful. But I'm pretty sure that Tom got quite a few more gray hairs on that time. At one point, the road was barely wide enough for our car, let alone the one coming head on at us. We saw tons of cows, sheeps, and goats, depending on our elevation.
I told Tom, during one of the especially terrifying parts, that I'd buy him a beer at dinner because he'd earned it. Unfortunately, by the time we got back to civilization, at 10:30, everything was closed. I needed some protein, however, so we inquired and were told about some "fast food" place where people got burgers and such for carryout. We were able to get food - I got fried chicken and was even able to take a piece back to the hovel with me for breakfast in the morning... after all free breakfast is fine, but when all it is is toast and cereal, there be protein-related issues. I set my boob (the chicken, that is) on my open window sill and it was nicely chilled overnight.
The wi-fi at this hovel wasn't working, for whatever reason, so I wasn't able to post any pics, but eventually, we'll get back to someplace with wi-fi and I'll get all of these posted on Facebook at least.
Monday, July 7th
After a good night's rest, Holly and I awoke, too late for breakfast at the hovel, so we hit a Starbucks before Tom and Bill joined us. This was momentous because this was my first time purchasing coffee at a Starbucks. You'll remember, I've only recently started drinking coffee.. and that's assuming I'm not imagining having blogged about it. Hmm..
Anyway, the plan for the day was that we would purchase, for a low price of 19 Euro, a ticket for a hop-on, hop-off tour bus which, as good fortune would have it, stopped right outside our hovel! The first pick up was about 10, so we bought our tickets and got aboard. Along the ride, the driver would impart all sorts of tidbits about the city and its history. Unfortunately, in my humble opinion, none of them were as good as Barry.
Our first stop was at Trinity College, an active university whose library houses a copy of every book ever published in the British Isles... I'm wondering where the section was that housed all those dreadful Barbara Cartland romances from the seventies. Additionally, the library is home to the Book of Kells - the oldest handwritten copy of the four gospels in existence. We couldn't take pics of it, so I'll try and Google up a copy.
Trinity College was nice, but I think we all agreed that it would be a pain to attend a college where tourists were crawling all over the place.
Back on the bus - our next stop was Dublin Castle. Ireland, having been under British rule for 700 plus years, didn't have a king living in this castle, but the British King's main dude assigned to keep an eye on Ireland would live in this castle. We got to roam around the upstairs and then took a guided tour of the underbelly, if you will, of the castle. No dungeons, though. I've discovered that Holly is a blood-thirsty thing, wanting to see dungeons and torture stuff. Hmm.. and I'm sharing a room with her.
After we finished at the Castle, we needed to sit down for some lunch and we found an Italian restaurant directly across the road from the Castle. I had a lovely grilled chicken and green salad. Getting actual vegetables in over here is harder than one might think it would be.
Back on the bus - the next place we wanted to investigate was Kilmainham Gaol ("jail") - I'm thinking that this place should have made Holly's bloodthirsty soul happy. We got to tour the jail where all sorts of Ireland's political prisoners have been held and executed. In fact, I now know so much more about Ireland's political history and their rebellions/revolutions and what all it took to become a free republic rather than a part of the UK. I really enjoyed the tour guide at the Gaol - she did a marvelous job.
One thing that I have learned about Ireland that I think they could improve upon is the important lesson learned at Graceland, i.e., "exiting through the gift shop." Now, if you go to Graceland, you will not be able to leave any of the various sections of the estate without exiting through the gift shop. Ireland, however, if they have a gift shop, it's only selling a few dinky books. I'm thinking that Gaol could have had a gift shop with books, yes, but also all sorts of things.. action figures of the political figures, a toy gallows, paper dolls of the prisoners with different prison outfits.. you get my point. They are missing a prime income generating opportunity here!
When we got back on the bus, the next stop we made was the Guinness factory. Not that any of us were really interested in going through the tour, but Tom was interested in seeing the gift shop. Here was another missed opportunity. You HAD to take the tour to get to the gift shop. NO ! They should have had the gift shop available to anyone passing by. I might not want to take the tour, but I might be inclined to buy a doodad with "Guinness" written on it.
After all of this excitement, when we finally made it to our last stop on the tour, the Jameson Whisky factory (are you sensing a trend?), it had already started it's final tour, so while Tom was disappointed, I can't say that I was. And my sore feet definitely weren't!
Soon our bus dropped us back off at the hovel. It was too early to go up to our TV-less room, so we headed off in search of dinner at a pub with live music. We asked the guy behind the counter at the hovel and he suggested two places not far away, in the Temple Bar area. We found the first one, and there was no room in the inn. So we headed for the second, it had a table, but the music wasn't all that outstanding. We ate some food and fabulous desserts and I had not one but TWO cranberry juices (I know, I know - don't judge me!) then we roamed back down to the first place in time to hear the musician's last two songs which were very enjoyable. Made me wish we'd have been able to fit into that pub in the first place.
Anyway, the plan for the day was that we would purchase, for a low price of 19 Euro, a ticket for a hop-on, hop-off tour bus which, as good fortune would have it, stopped right outside our hovel! The first pick up was about 10, so we bought our tickets and got aboard. Along the ride, the driver would impart all sorts of tidbits about the city and its history. Unfortunately, in my humble opinion, none of them were as good as Barry.
Our first stop was at Trinity College, an active university whose library houses a copy of every book ever published in the British Isles... I'm wondering where the section was that housed all those dreadful Barbara Cartland romances from the seventies. Additionally, the library is home to the Book of Kells - the oldest handwritten copy of the four gospels in existence. We couldn't take pics of it, so I'll try and Google up a copy.
Trinity College was nice, but I think we all agreed that it would be a pain to attend a college where tourists were crawling all over the place.
Back on the bus - our next stop was Dublin Castle. Ireland, having been under British rule for 700 plus years, didn't have a king living in this castle, but the British King's main dude assigned to keep an eye on Ireland would live in this castle. We got to roam around the upstairs and then took a guided tour of the underbelly, if you will, of the castle. No dungeons, though. I've discovered that Holly is a blood-thirsty thing, wanting to see dungeons and torture stuff. Hmm.. and I'm sharing a room with her.
After we finished at the Castle, we needed to sit down for some lunch and we found an Italian restaurant directly across the road from the Castle. I had a lovely grilled chicken and green salad. Getting actual vegetables in over here is harder than one might think it would be.
Back on the bus - the next place we wanted to investigate was Kilmainham Gaol ("jail") - I'm thinking that this place should have made Holly's bloodthirsty soul happy. We got to tour the jail where all sorts of Ireland's political prisoners have been held and executed. In fact, I now know so much more about Ireland's political history and their rebellions/revolutions and what all it took to become a free republic rather than a part of the UK. I really enjoyed the tour guide at the Gaol - she did a marvelous job.
One thing that I have learned about Ireland that I think they could improve upon is the important lesson learned at Graceland, i.e., "exiting through the gift shop." Now, if you go to Graceland, you will not be able to leave any of the various sections of the estate without exiting through the gift shop. Ireland, however, if they have a gift shop, it's only selling a few dinky books. I'm thinking that Gaol could have had a gift shop with books, yes, but also all sorts of things.. action figures of the political figures, a toy gallows, paper dolls of the prisoners with different prison outfits.. you get my point. They are missing a prime income generating opportunity here!
When we got back on the bus, the next stop we made was the Guinness factory. Not that any of us were really interested in going through the tour, but Tom was interested in seeing the gift shop. Here was another missed opportunity. You HAD to take the tour to get to the gift shop. NO ! They should have had the gift shop available to anyone passing by. I might not want to take the tour, but I might be inclined to buy a doodad with "Guinness" written on it.
After all of this excitement, when we finally made it to our last stop on the tour, the Jameson Whisky factory (are you sensing a trend?), it had already started it's final tour, so while Tom was disappointed, I can't say that I was. And my sore feet definitely weren't!
Soon our bus dropped us back off at the hovel. It was too early to go up to our TV-less room, so we headed off in search of dinner at a pub with live music. We asked the guy behind the counter at the hovel and he suggested two places not far away, in the Temple Bar area. We found the first one, and there was no room in the inn. So we headed for the second, it had a table, but the music wasn't all that outstanding. We ate some food and fabulous desserts and I had not one but TWO cranberry juices (I know, I know - don't judge me!) then we roamed back down to the first place in time to hear the musician's last two songs which were very enjoyable. Made me wish we'd have been able to fit into that pub in the first place.
Sunday, July 6th
For our first day in Ireland, we had bought tickets for a day bus tour to Cork and the Castle Blarney. The only problem with this tour as far as I could see was that we were supposed to be at the arranged meeting place at... gulp... 6:50 am! One supposes that if you're physically inclined to do so, you could snooze on the bus, and I did a little bit, but not much.
Now Bill (Sporty Spice) is the one who found this tour company and I assume he just Googled, but it was a home run! Our driver/tour guide was Barry and he was great! Funny, accented, but not too thick as to be unintelligible. We learned that cyclists are the "spawn of Satan" from him as well as the details regarding the sport of hurling and "Irish football" - not to be confused with American football or soccer!
We drove about two hours, with a potty break in there somewhere, and our first stop was the Rock of Cashel - this was a surprise to me as I only thought we were doing Cork and Blarney! But it was very pretty, the ruins of the seat of the ancient kings of Munster which was later given to the Church. After a short video we were able to ramble around. The "youngest" building was built in the 1400's. There was a very pretty cemetery, St. Patrick's Cross, and a beautiful rainbow - so beautiful, it almost seemed fake!
After about another hour, we arrived at the Castle Blarney. Bill, obviously not feeling that he had enough blarney in him, wanted to actually kiss the Blarney Stone. Holly and I chose instead to wander around the grounds and see things like the witch's kitchen, the druids' cave, and a fairy ring. Then as the time came for us to wander back to the bus, we hit a shop or two, including a chocolate shop that gave us samples.
We then drove to and were let loose upon the town of Cork. By this time we were ravenous and we looked for someplace to eat - found a nice cafe - then ambled through shops until it was time to rejoin our bus. My knee, at this point, was beginning to hate the bus, but it managed to survive. We arrived back in Dublin a little after 7pm and it was too early to return to our TV-less hovels, so we checked out the pub next door to our hovel and had some wings. I am on a campaign to find iced tea - I ask for it everywhere. So far my only non-alcoholic, non-carbonated choices have been water and cranberry juice. Of course, part of the problem in my iced tea quest is that there's no ice in this blessed island!
After a relaxing couple of hours in the pub, we returned to our room and passed out. We were pooped.
Finally, I apologize for there being no pics associated with this blog. I'm doing all of this via my iPad and it's a lot more effort than I'm willing to devote to get the pics in this. Sorry. :)
Now Bill (Sporty Spice) is the one who found this tour company and I assume he just Googled, but it was a home run! Our driver/tour guide was Barry and he was great! Funny, accented, but not too thick as to be unintelligible. We learned that cyclists are the "spawn of Satan" from him as well as the details regarding the sport of hurling and "Irish football" - not to be confused with American football or soccer!
We drove about two hours, with a potty break in there somewhere, and our first stop was the Rock of Cashel - this was a surprise to me as I only thought we were doing Cork and Blarney! But it was very pretty, the ruins of the seat of the ancient kings of Munster which was later given to the Church. After a short video we were able to ramble around. The "youngest" building was built in the 1400's. There was a very pretty cemetery, St. Patrick's Cross, and a beautiful rainbow - so beautiful, it almost seemed fake!
After about another hour, we arrived at the Castle Blarney. Bill, obviously not feeling that he had enough blarney in him, wanted to actually kiss the Blarney Stone. Holly and I chose instead to wander around the grounds and see things like the witch's kitchen, the druids' cave, and a fairy ring. Then as the time came for us to wander back to the bus, we hit a shop or two, including a chocolate shop that gave us samples.
We then drove to and were let loose upon the town of Cork. By this time we were ravenous and we looked for someplace to eat - found a nice cafe - then ambled through shops until it was time to rejoin our bus. My knee, at this point, was beginning to hate the bus, but it managed to survive. We arrived back in Dublin a little after 7pm and it was too early to return to our TV-less hovels, so we checked out the pub next door to our hovel and had some wings. I am on a campaign to find iced tea - I ask for it everywhere. So far my only non-alcoholic, non-carbonated choices have been water and cranberry juice. Of course, part of the problem in my iced tea quest is that there's no ice in this blessed island!
After a relaxing couple of hours in the pub, we returned to our room and passed out. We were pooped.
Finally, I apologize for there being no pics associated with this blog. I'm doing all of this via my iPad and it's a lot more effort than I'm willing to devote to get the pics in this. Sorry. :)
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
July 4-5th - Leaving on a Jet Plane
July 4th - I woke up to a beautiful, cool morning. Had breakfast, cuddled with the kids and then set out for Indy and the beginning of my latest travel adventures.
My first observation was that Samantha (my GPS) seems to take me to Indy via a different route every time I go. I think she just likes to test my faith in her ability to get me where I'm going. But I was in a good mood, so I just let her do the navigating and bopped along with Casey Kasem's AT 40 from sometime in the 70's. good times.
I received a text while driving, from the grandson of a friend asking me to get a picture of a Leprechaun for him and his twin sister. I was concerned for a minute that he didn't realize that they weren't real, but then decided that the odds were than we'd probably see someone dressed up like a leprechaun during the trip, so I accepted the challenge. Yes, I admit that I texted my response while driving - this was bad of me.
I drove straight through to Indy which, in retrospect wasn't wise. I was almost crippled (my knee, remember) when I was getting out of the car at Chez Burns. A friend of Tom's came and picked us up to take us to the airport - I thought this was very nice of him. Turns out I think he was just killing time before the next World Cup game.
Upon arrival at Indy Int'l Airport, upon checking in, I discovered that I could "upgrade" my seat to a bulkhead seat for a mere $19, which I did - this was a wise decision, as it allowed me more leg room and I was able to stretch my leg out more. We also made arrangements for a cart to assist me in getting from gate to gate in Chicago. After going through security, we immediately hit the gift shop! I bought a bottle of water and a couple of adorbs refrigerator magnets.
The flight from Indy to Chicago was uneventful and upon arrival, there was a cart to trek us from our gate to the security office, where I was then was transferred to a wheelchair for transport via trolley to the international terminal. Turns out that the decision to do this was also wise, as I'm not sure my knee would have made the trip. Plus, the guy who was steering my wheelchair, and getting us through security, was incredibly nice and funny.
At Chicago, I was able to "upgrade" my seat to the "infant" seat aisle. This aisle, it turns out, has more room because there are baby changing tables on the wall (like in a McD's bathroom) that can be pulled down. Fortunately there were no babies. And while the leg room wasn't great, it was much better than it could have been and I was right near the bathroom, so if I needed to get up, I could easily make sure there wasn't anyone in there before I got up. Also, I know about the mile-high club and all that, but while contemplating raising myself from the seat in the tiny bathroom, (which action requires thought and preparation), I'm noticing how small the room was. Now I realize I'm a big girl, but this is a tiny room. HOW do they do that??
Our flight didn't leave until a little more than 30 minutes after it was scheduled to leave, but yet, due to fabulous tail winds, we arrived in Dublin almost an hour ahead of schedule! Incredible. Oh, and just let me point out that if you're going to travel, traveling on July 4th is highly recommended. The airports were all quite empty. Two thumbs up for traveling on a national holiday!
As I said, we arrived early, but it turns out that Bill, our traveling companion, was arriving late due to a flat tire. I think I've mentioned Bill. He is Tom's best friend, was his best man, and is a fun guy and a very picky eater. Other than the picky eating thing, he fits in well with the group. I have christened the two of them, Bill and Tom, the Spice Girls because spicy foods are not their forte.
Bill's plane finally arrived and after a few Abbott/Costello-like moments, we found him. On to the rental car place! Now remember, we're in Ireland and there's the whole driving on the left side of the road thing... along with the steering wheel being on the right side of the car. I was very glad that I'm not the one driving. Although more leg room would be nice :) ! We found Bill and Tom's hotel, got them checked in and (after first being given someone else's room,) dumped their luggage. Next we were off to find Holly's and my's hostel. I was under the misunderstanding that we were staying in a college dorm. I know we are in Edinburgh, but this is an actual hostel. The room is very small. In fact, square foot wise, I'm thinking it's about the same size as a cell that we saw in the gaol (jail) later on on the trip. But we have a working toilet. But for about $45 per person per night, and considering we aren't spending that much time in the room, it is fine. Plus, we get free breakfast! Which is more than Bill and Tom are getting at their hotel. But they have TV and we don't, so it's a draw.
After dumping our crap at our hostel (I seemed to want to incorrectly call it a brothel at first, and now I just lovingly refer to it as our hovel), we met up with the guys and took a walk to the Temple Bar district to the actual Temple Bar - it was very noisy and busy, and really sort of what I envisioned. Not being a big bar person, I would have preferred a nice meal at a restaurant, but it was definitely an experience to be had. There appeared to be two different bachelor parties going on and despite it only being like 6-ish, they were well onto having a very good time!
We trotted back to the hovel, hitting a gift shop or two on the way, and then finally Holly and I collapsed in our room. I called Mom using the Viber app (which if I haven't mentioned before, allows for free telephone and texting over the internet, so you don't have to deal with international calling) and the sound quality was off the charts! Very impressed. After reassuring Mom that her precious baby girl (and the other one) had arrived safely and inquiring as to the status of my precious babies, Rose zonked out. It had been a long day, covering six different time zones, and I'd earned a good night's sleep.
My first observation was that Samantha (my GPS) seems to take me to Indy via a different route every time I go. I think she just likes to test my faith in her ability to get me where I'm going. But I was in a good mood, so I just let her do the navigating and bopped along with Casey Kasem's AT 40 from sometime in the 70's. good times.
I received a text while driving, from the grandson of a friend asking me to get a picture of a Leprechaun for him and his twin sister. I was concerned for a minute that he didn't realize that they weren't real, but then decided that the odds were than we'd probably see someone dressed up like a leprechaun during the trip, so I accepted the challenge. Yes, I admit that I texted my response while driving - this was bad of me.
I drove straight through to Indy which, in retrospect wasn't wise. I was almost crippled (my knee, remember) when I was getting out of the car at Chez Burns. A friend of Tom's came and picked us up to take us to the airport - I thought this was very nice of him. Turns out I think he was just killing time before the next World Cup game.
Upon arrival at Indy Int'l Airport, upon checking in, I discovered that I could "upgrade" my seat to a bulkhead seat for a mere $19, which I did - this was a wise decision, as it allowed me more leg room and I was able to stretch my leg out more. We also made arrangements for a cart to assist me in getting from gate to gate in Chicago. After going through security, we immediately hit the gift shop! I bought a bottle of water and a couple of adorbs refrigerator magnets.
The flight from Indy to Chicago was uneventful and upon arrival, there was a cart to trek us from our gate to the security office, where I was then was transferred to a wheelchair for transport via trolley to the international terminal. Turns out that the decision to do this was also wise, as I'm not sure my knee would have made the trip. Plus, the guy who was steering my wheelchair, and getting us through security, was incredibly nice and funny.
At Chicago, I was able to "upgrade" my seat to the "infant" seat aisle. This aisle, it turns out, has more room because there are baby changing tables on the wall (like in a McD's bathroom) that can be pulled down. Fortunately there were no babies. And while the leg room wasn't great, it was much better than it could have been and I was right near the bathroom, so if I needed to get up, I could easily make sure there wasn't anyone in there before I got up. Also, I know about the mile-high club and all that, but while contemplating raising myself from the seat in the tiny bathroom, (which action requires thought and preparation), I'm noticing how small the room was. Now I realize I'm a big girl, but this is a tiny room. HOW do they do that??
Our flight didn't leave until a little more than 30 minutes after it was scheduled to leave, but yet, due to fabulous tail winds, we arrived in Dublin almost an hour ahead of schedule! Incredible. Oh, and just let me point out that if you're going to travel, traveling on July 4th is highly recommended. The airports were all quite empty. Two thumbs up for traveling on a national holiday!
As I said, we arrived early, but it turns out that Bill, our traveling companion, was arriving late due to a flat tire. I think I've mentioned Bill. He is Tom's best friend, was his best man, and is a fun guy and a very picky eater. Other than the picky eating thing, he fits in well with the group. I have christened the two of them, Bill and Tom, the Spice Girls because spicy foods are not their forte.
Bill's plane finally arrived and after a few Abbott/Costello-like moments, we found him. On to the rental car place! Now remember, we're in Ireland and there's the whole driving on the left side of the road thing... along with the steering wheel being on the right side of the car. I was very glad that I'm not the one driving. Although more leg room would be nice :) ! We found Bill and Tom's hotel, got them checked in and (after first being given someone else's room,) dumped their luggage. Next we were off to find Holly's and my's hostel. I was under the misunderstanding that we were staying in a college dorm. I know we are in Edinburgh, but this is an actual hostel. The room is very small. In fact, square foot wise, I'm thinking it's about the same size as a cell that we saw in the gaol (jail) later on on the trip. But we have a working toilet. But for about $45 per person per night, and considering we aren't spending that much time in the room, it is fine. Plus, we get free breakfast! Which is more than Bill and Tom are getting at their hotel. But they have TV and we don't, so it's a draw.
After dumping our crap at our hostel (I seemed to want to incorrectly call it a brothel at first, and now I just lovingly refer to it as our hovel), we met up with the guys and took a walk to the Temple Bar district to the actual Temple Bar - it was very noisy and busy, and really sort of what I envisioned. Not being a big bar person, I would have preferred a nice meal at a restaurant, but it was definitely an experience to be had. There appeared to be two different bachelor parties going on and despite it only being like 6-ish, they were well onto having a very good time!
We trotted back to the hovel, hitting a gift shop or two on the way, and then finally Holly and I collapsed in our room. I called Mom using the Viber app (which if I haven't mentioned before, allows for free telephone and texting over the internet, so you don't have to deal with international calling) and the sound quality was off the charts! Very impressed. After reassuring Mom that her precious baby girl (and the other one) had arrived safely and inquiring as to the status of my precious babies, Rose zonked out. It had been a long day, covering six different time zones, and I'd earned a good night's sleep.
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