Well, Kasey was right. These last few days have flown by in a blur! It is Thursday morning and Kasey and Eric have had about 6 hours sleep after a late night playing cards. Kasey did pretty well coming in 3rd and winning some money!
We were soon on the road to the Dublin Airport and the Clarion Hotel. Like I said yesterday, the road is mostly interstate all the way to the airport. 120 kilometer/hour speed limit - 72 mph. The trip was just short of 2 hours. Getting to the airport turns went OK, but we had to make a couple loops around to finally find the Clarion. We unloaded the car, said good-byes and thank you's, and checked in.
I must say right here that without Kasey and Eric and their knowledge of Ireland from a previous trip, we would never had seen so many things. The drives themselves would have been way too intimidating and even when you finally do get near a locaton, there are few signs helping you find attractions. Ireland would really help themselves out, and encourage even more tourism, if they would put up more signage. I know we would never venture out without guidance or being in a tour group.
The Clarion is typical of many airport hotels, not much is provided. Wi-fi was available, but only in the lobby area. For an extra 20 euros, you could "upgrade" your room to business class and get wi-fi as an amenity. Plus, the lift (elevator) wasn't working! Really? Luckily our room was only on the second floor.
Food costs a bit more there as expected. And there are no other places to go. Being at the airport and within a shuttle ride (which also cost money!) of our terminal was wonderful. We left the hotel at 8 a.m. since Aer Lingus asks that passengers arrive 3 hours early. We got our boarding passes and found ourselves in a long, snaking line to check baggage. The line moved quickly and soon we were headed to the security check. Nothing unusual - all very smooth. Now we had about 1.5 hours before departure, so Cindy went off and did some shopping. They had quite a large shopping area.
We begain boarding about 50 minutes before departure. 8 across seating; 2 seats, 4 in the middle, 2 seats. We were located in just about the same area as the flight over, just behind the wings. I had the aisle seat and Cindy an interior seat. But no one was sitting to her right, so she had lots of room. We both watched a couple movies on the way to Boston. It's a 7 hour flight, about 1 hour longer than going from Boston to Dublin because of the prevailing headwinds. The flight was actually very smooth - almost no instances of turbulence. We were given a beverage and snack cookies early in the flight, a full meal just before mid-flight, coffee or tea anytime, and then a snack about an hour before landing.
We landed in Boston a few minutes early. We had to exit the plane and go through customs. They provide a form to fill out ahead of time outlining what you're bringing back to the US. Then the agent asks you what you brought back, making sure you didn't bring certain other items. Our checked bags must be randomly checked because Cindy is sure her's was checked (a zipper was closed that she didn't close) but mine might not have been checked. We had to pick up our checked bag and take it with us to the departure gate for US Airways. This required another bus ride (free) to a different terminal. We found the weather outside to be quite a bit warmer (only in the low 80's) than we had been used to for the past 2 weeks! Got to the terminal, got our boarding passes, and checked our bags. Security once more. This time I was asked to step out of the x-ray machine and stand on a matt facing an agent. I was expecting a pat down, but he just looked at me and then said I could move on. I'm sure they're looking for visual cues on this.
We had time for some food, a cup of Starbucks caramel machiotta, and some wi-fi. I was finally able to log onto WalMart and place the order for the pictures I had uploaded. 118 4x6 pictures for $15. They would be waiting for us at home. The plane that arrived was the same flight we had taken to get to Boston from Rochester on our trip to Ireland. This flight was the return leg. We were seated near the front so getting off would be quick in Rochester.
The flight went fine, event though it was far bumpier than the long flight over the Atlantic. I'm sure it's because of the much smaller plane and the incoming stormy weather. In fact, we arrived in Rochester just 30 minutes or so before the thunderstorms arrived on Friday night. Our baggage showed up right away on the conveyor and we were soon on our way home. My brother, Corky, was there to get us. We had some time to give him a quick review of our trip. And then..... HOME. So nice!!!
I called WalMart and our pictures were ready. I went there and Cindy went to visit her mother. Driving on the right (correct!) side of the road was no problem. The pictures came out very nice giving a quick summary of all the things we had done. Next up, Cindy wants to create a few photo albums using Shutterfly. We'll have to go through the approximate 2000 pictures we have and get the shots we want for the books. Plus, I'd like to do a couple larger sized prints of a few images.
We should both have been quite tired by now. After all, 10 pm EDT is what our bodies perceived as 3 am Ireland time. But the daytime travel seems to have kept us from getting tired. We were finally asleep by about 11 pm Friday night. I found myself waking up at about 5:30 am on Saturday. My body thought it was 10:30 am! The same thing happened on Sunday morning, but I think we're both pretty close to being back on Eastern Time!
I have completed uploading quite a few pictures to my Facebook page, which Cindy is sharing so all our friends there can see our albums. This is likely the last entry in my blog. I hope the descriptions and pictures have given you an idea of what our trip was like.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Wednesday, Sept. 5th at Rock of Cashel
Kasey and Eric got in very early this morning and let us know they were going to sleep in. We could use the car and go where we wanted. We missed going to the Rock of Cashel yesterday, so decided we would go there today. Pretty easy trip down to the town. Only missed one turn in town and I blame that on an arrow
that looked like we should turn right and instead wanted us to go straight. So, made a u-turn and found the correct turn and the parking lot.
Got a pleasant surprise when we arrived at the ticket counter - today entry was free! Nothing is free in Ireland! And, we had the services of a tour guide. Nice man, made the experience worth it. He had some really interesting information about the history of the rock and St. Patrick's Cathedral located there. A lot of rennovations are going on as water has damaged much of the stone work.
The way back also found us missing a turn again. I wanted to take the southern route into Thurles so we could stop at their shopping plaza to see what might be there. Another u-turn and we were headed to town. The plaza has a free parking garage (wow, 2 free things in one day!), that's quite a nice feature in a country where there is a premium on parking. The plaza was basically two long corridors with about 30 shops.
We had a nice lunch of seafood chowder and brown bread. Quite a large size portion as well. Tried a few shops and didn't really see too much. Then off to Upperchurch and the pub for some wi-fi time. And who did we see there? Maggie had called Kasey and Eric and they and 2 of Maggie's local relatives were at the pub just finishing lunch. So we had a nice visit and spent some time on the computer.
Kasey and Eric had found out that a local hurling club was having practice and that they could join in. They were very excited to give this new sport a try. Also a bit apprehensive as the skill level looks to be quite high to be decent at the sport. They were then going to Kinnane's afterward to play some cards and drink. We stayed at home, got some more clothes washed and had a nice dinner. I also took time to download all the Ireland pictures we've taken from both my camera and Cindy's iPhone onto my laptop computer. Now they are all in 2 places. I also went through and found about 100 images for which it would be nice to have pictures made up right away to share with people. I think tomorrow after we check in at the airport hotel I'll upload them to my Wal-Mart account and have them printed. Hopefully they will be ready when we get home Friday evening.
We leave Dublin at 11:00 a.m. local time Friday and arrive in Boston 7 hours later at 1:00 p.m. local time.
Then we have a layover which is good since we have to clear customs. Our flight to Rochester leaves at about 4:55 p.m. and arrives in Rochester at 6:20 p.m. For us, it will seem like 11:20 p.m.!
I would like to get to Wal-Mart that evening after we get home if the pictures are ready. We'll see how tired we are. We will probably be too excited to sleep for a while. Oh, then there's that driving thing. I'm OK with driving on the left, waiting to make a right turn, and figuring out round-a-bouts. I just have to be much more tuned in to what I'm doing. On the round-a-bouts, they have so much information displayed including showing you which exit you need to use to follow your route. Most times if you are continuing straight on, it's the 2nd exit. A left turn would be the 1st exit and a right turn the 3rd. And they are quite convenient if you have to make a u-turn. Just go to the 4th exit! The trouble comes when there are more than 4 exits or 2 round-a-bouts back to back. Then, someone watching the signs is a must.
Shown here are various shots from the Rock of Cashel and, at the end, a typical round-a-bout sign.
All for now. Next up, Clarion Hotel at the Dublin Airport. The plan is to leave about 9 a.m. tomorrow. I'll drive since Kasey and Eric will still be tired from a long night out....again! No problems until we get near the Airport. It's all interstate until then. Finding the Clarion might be the tough part. Kasey and Eric still have almost a week left in Ireland with lots of plans.
that looked like we should turn right and instead wanted us to go straight. So, made a u-turn and found the correct turn and the parking lot.
Got a pleasant surprise when we arrived at the ticket counter - today entry was free! Nothing is free in Ireland! And, we had the services of a tour guide. Nice man, made the experience worth it. He had some really interesting information about the history of the rock and St. Patrick's Cathedral located there. A lot of rennovations are going on as water has damaged much of the stone work.
The way back also found us missing a turn again. I wanted to take the southern route into Thurles so we could stop at their shopping plaza to see what might be there. Another u-turn and we were headed to town. The plaza has a free parking garage (wow, 2 free things in one day!), that's quite a nice feature in a country where there is a premium on parking. The plaza was basically two long corridors with about 30 shops.
We had a nice lunch of seafood chowder and brown bread. Quite a large size portion as well. Tried a few shops and didn't really see too much. Then off to Upperchurch and the pub for some wi-fi time. And who did we see there? Maggie had called Kasey and Eric and they and 2 of Maggie's local relatives were at the pub just finishing lunch. So we had a nice visit and spent some time on the computer.
Kasey and Eric had found out that a local hurling club was having practice and that they could join in. They were very excited to give this new sport a try. Also a bit apprehensive as the skill level looks to be quite high to be decent at the sport. They were then going to Kinnane's afterward to play some cards and drink. We stayed at home, got some more clothes washed and had a nice dinner. I also took time to download all the Ireland pictures we've taken from both my camera and Cindy's iPhone onto my laptop computer. Now they are all in 2 places. I also went through and found about 100 images for which it would be nice to have pictures made up right away to share with people. I think tomorrow after we check in at the airport hotel I'll upload them to my Wal-Mart account and have them printed. Hopefully they will be ready when we get home Friday evening.
We leave Dublin at 11:00 a.m. local time Friday and arrive in Boston 7 hours later at 1:00 p.m. local time.
Then we have a layover which is good since we have to clear customs. Our flight to Rochester leaves at about 4:55 p.m. and arrives in Rochester at 6:20 p.m. For us, it will seem like 11:20 p.m.!
I would like to get to Wal-Mart that evening after we get home if the pictures are ready. We'll see how tired we are. We will probably be too excited to sleep for a while. Oh, then there's that driving thing. I'm OK with driving on the left, waiting to make a right turn, and figuring out round-a-bouts. I just have to be much more tuned in to what I'm doing. On the round-a-bouts, they have so much information displayed including showing you which exit you need to use to follow your route. Most times if you are continuing straight on, it's the 2nd exit. A left turn would be the 1st exit and a right turn the 3rd. And they are quite convenient if you have to make a u-turn. Just go to the 4th exit! The trouble comes when there are more than 4 exits or 2 round-a-bouts back to back. Then, someone watching the signs is a must.
Shown here are various shots from the Rock of Cashel and, at the end, a typical round-a-bout sign.
All for now. Next up, Clarion Hotel at the Dublin Airport. The plan is to leave about 9 a.m. tomorrow. I'll drive since Kasey and Eric will still be tired from a long night out....again! No problems until we get near the Airport. It's all interstate until then. Finding the Clarion might be the tough part. Kasey and Eric still have almost a week left in Ireland with lots of plans.
Tuesday, Sept. 4th: Thurles and Upperchurch
Tuesday, Sept 4th found us needing a break from all the driving. Plus, everyone wanted to do some shopping. So, after breakfast we headed into Thurles for some sightseeing and shopping. Plus, we found out the main library in town has free wi-fi. I brought my laptop along since I hadn't been able to even check email in several days.
We did some shopping downtown, got some euros from the ATM, and then headed over to the library. We had no trouble getting connected. Cindy used the iPhone and I used my laptop. The iPhone is in "airplane" mode that disconnects it from the Verizon network. That way no data is accessed and no charges are placed on the phone. Even if we wanted to, our phone (the 4) wouldn't work overseas. The iPhone 4S is the model that can be used for overseas communication. However, in airplane mode, the iPhone can still be used wherever there is wi-fi for no cost. We had lunch at the cafe in the library and headed back to connect up with the guys. Cindy mailed a couple of postcards we had found. It will be fun to receive mail from Ireland!
Then, back to Upperchurch and Kinnane's Pub. We decided to stop there for some more wi-fi time and for a couple drinks. The guys had their usual beers, I had a Jameson's and Cindy had a Smirnoff Ice. We had a nice talk with the ladies at the bar - learned a few new things about the area.
Next we headed home to make a spaghetti dinner. The owners of the cottage supplied us with some
sauce and pasta. We had picked up some ground beef and more sauce. We cooked everything up, Cindy
made some garlic bread, and we had a good meal.
We had heard that there was to be a hurling match in one of the nearby communities. Since none of us had seen hurling, we thought it would be fun to watch this match. However, we weren't quite sure were the match was to be played. Long story short, the first town was wrong and a person there sent us to a second town. We found a field on which kids were practicing but no game. The guy there said to try Clonoulty - they had a lighted field. We did and found a couple teams practicing, but no game. One of the teams held an intersquad game, so we were able to pick up the basics of the game. Very fast paced with no breaks in the action, even after points are scored. A bit like soccer with a stick and a ball. After watching them scrimmage a while, we headed home. Cindy and I stayed at the cottage - we had some laundry to do - and the guys went down to Kinnanes's for a couple beers.
Pictures show: river through Thurles, downtown Thurles and the Main Street with the typical movement of farm equipment through town, map of Upperchurch, west and east on main street in Upperchurch, description of the village on a sign in town, Kinnane's Pub (outside and inside), village church, Pub/B&B across from Kinnane's.
We did some shopping downtown, got some euros from the ATM, and then headed over to the library. We had no trouble getting connected. Cindy used the iPhone and I used my laptop. The iPhone is in "airplane" mode that disconnects it from the Verizon network. That way no data is accessed and no charges are placed on the phone. Even if we wanted to, our phone (the 4) wouldn't work overseas. The iPhone 4S is the model that can be used for overseas communication. However, in airplane mode, the iPhone can still be used wherever there is wi-fi for no cost. We had lunch at the cafe in the library and headed back to connect up with the guys. Cindy mailed a couple of postcards we had found. It will be fun to receive mail from Ireland!
Then, back to Upperchurch and Kinnane's Pub. We decided to stop there for some more wi-fi time and for a couple drinks. The guys had their usual beers, I had a Jameson's and Cindy had a Smirnoff Ice. We had a nice talk with the ladies at the bar - learned a few new things about the area.
Next we headed home to make a spaghetti dinner. The owners of the cottage supplied us with some
sauce and pasta. We had picked up some ground beef and more sauce. We cooked everything up, Cindy
made some garlic bread, and we had a good meal.
We had heard that there was to be a hurling match in one of the nearby communities. Since none of us had seen hurling, we thought it would be fun to watch this match. However, we weren't quite sure were the match was to be played. Long story short, the first town was wrong and a person there sent us to a second town. We found a field on which kids were practicing but no game. The guy there said to try Clonoulty - they had a lighted field. We did and found a couple teams practicing, but no game. One of the teams held an intersquad game, so we were able to pick up the basics of the game. Very fast paced with no breaks in the action, even after points are scored. A bit like soccer with a stick and a ball. After watching them scrimmage a while, we headed home. Cindy and I stayed at the cottage - we had some laundry to do - and the guys went down to Kinnanes's for a couple beers.
Pictures show: river through Thurles, downtown Thurles and the Main Street with the typical movement of farm equipment through town, map of Upperchurch, west and east on main street in Upperchurch, description of the village on a sign in town, Kinnane's Pub (outside and inside), village church, Pub/B&B across from Kinnane's.
Monday, Sept. 3rd: Blarney Castle, Ring of Kerry
Tuesday was a beautifully sunny day, at least to start, and we were on our way for a long drive to Blarney Castle. I drove this part of the trip. Mostly the "M" highways, or what we would call interstates. It was very tricky finding the exact road to get on after getting to Cork. We had to stop for diesel fuel and the person at the register said we were about the 4th or 5th Americans to come through asking for help. Her directions were perfect and we soon found ourselves at Blarney Castle.
At the ticket counter, we were told the wait was about 1.5 hours to get to the top of the castle and the Blarney Stone. It was a gorgeous day outside and Kasey and Eric hadn't seen the Blarney House when they were here last time, so they headed that way and we stayed in the line for the Castle.
After just about 1.5 hours of working our way up some pretty narrow spiral stairs (not for someone who doesn't like closed in spaces), we finally made it to the top of the Castle and awaited our turn at the Blarney Stone. The trick is to lie down on your back, tip your head backwards, grab onto a couple handrails, and kiss the wall of the Castle. What they don't tell you is that there is a wide grate that you are lying over the top of and its about 4 stories straight down! Just 2 metal bars! There is one person there to help you get into position and then help you sit up again. Plus another guy there taking 2 pictures of each person. They are for sale (what else?) at the gift shop at the bottom. 10 euro for one, 18 euro for both. Most people opt to take their own pictures and we did, too. While we were waiting our turns, a couple had just finished and it seems the man had failed to get his wife's picture. Needless to say, she was letting him have it like crazy. Very funny! I guess they had to pay for the pictures. Or, at least the husband did! By the way, the line was so long because there were many (most?) there from the U.S. who had been in Dublin for the Notre Dame-Navy football game. They probably decided to stay a couple extra days and catch some sights. Many probably had no choice as the number of flights back to the U.S. is limited and I'm sure all flights
were booked solid months ago.
When we finished we headed back to the concession area to see if Kasey and Eric were there. They weren't, so we had a snack. Within 5 minutes they showed up having just completed their tour of the House. Great timing.
It was now time to head for the Ring of Kerry. This is a road tour around the Iveragh Peninsula, just west of Killarney. The roads hug the coastline for the most part, allowing great views of the nearby bays and islands. That is, on a clear day. Not so lucky for us, the weather had clouded up and it had begun to lightly mist as we began our trip. We were able to find a couple places to get some pictures, but most were clouded out. We stopped in Cahirsiveen for some dinner at a bar. When we walked in, the bartender looked very unexcited that we were there. He was OK after we had placed our order and even had a joke or two for us.
I told Kasey that I didn't want to drive anymore so he took over. It's just as well. The roads became quite a bit narrower with many tight turns. Plus, he knew a few of the best places to stop. We got the pictures we could. The light was fading as dusk was approaching. One last stop at the Killarney National Park and a waterfall that was pretty nice.
The pictures show: a view of Blarney Castle from entry gate, a tower outside the castle, the castle with the long waiting line, the location of the Blarney Stone (about 50 feet up!), entering the castle, a view from the top, Brad kissing the Stone, Cindy kissing the Stone, a waterfall in Killarney National Park (part of the Ring of Kerry), various shots around the Ring with us in one of them, and finally a last shot showing the waterfalls close-up.
Then, the long trip home. We took the western route using the N21 and M20/7 to go through Limerick and used the same raods we had traveled coming back from the Cliffs of Moher. Still, it was a long trip home with intermittent rain. We dind't pull into the cottage until near 11 p.m. Another long day of driving with one very successful stop and one not as nice. I guess from what we later heard that the only bad weather in most all of Ireland was in the area of the Iveragh Peninsula. Oh well....
At the ticket counter, we were told the wait was about 1.5 hours to get to the top of the castle and the Blarney Stone. It was a gorgeous day outside and Kasey and Eric hadn't seen the Blarney House when they were here last time, so they headed that way and we stayed in the line for the Castle.
After just about 1.5 hours of working our way up some pretty narrow spiral stairs (not for someone who doesn't like closed in spaces), we finally made it to the top of the Castle and awaited our turn at the Blarney Stone. The trick is to lie down on your back, tip your head backwards, grab onto a couple handrails, and kiss the wall of the Castle. What they don't tell you is that there is a wide grate that you are lying over the top of and its about 4 stories straight down! Just 2 metal bars! There is one person there to help you get into position and then help you sit up again. Plus another guy there taking 2 pictures of each person. They are for sale (what else?) at the gift shop at the bottom. 10 euro for one, 18 euro for both. Most people opt to take their own pictures and we did, too. While we were waiting our turns, a couple had just finished and it seems the man had failed to get his wife's picture. Needless to say, she was letting him have it like crazy. Very funny! I guess they had to pay for the pictures. Or, at least the husband did! By the way, the line was so long because there were many (most?) there from the U.S. who had been in Dublin for the Notre Dame-Navy football game. They probably decided to stay a couple extra days and catch some sights. Many probably had no choice as the number of flights back to the U.S. is limited and I'm sure all flights
were booked solid months ago.
When we finished we headed back to the concession area to see if Kasey and Eric were there. They weren't, so we had a snack. Within 5 minutes they showed up having just completed their tour of the House. Great timing.
It was now time to head for the Ring of Kerry. This is a road tour around the Iveragh Peninsula, just west of Killarney. The roads hug the coastline for the most part, allowing great views of the nearby bays and islands. That is, on a clear day. Not so lucky for us, the weather had clouded up and it had begun to lightly mist as we began our trip. We were able to find a couple places to get some pictures, but most were clouded out. We stopped in Cahirsiveen for some dinner at a bar. When we walked in, the bartender looked very unexcited that we were there. He was OK after we had placed our order and even had a joke or two for us.
I told Kasey that I didn't want to drive anymore so he took over. It's just as well. The roads became quite a bit narrower with many tight turns. Plus, he knew a few of the best places to stop. We got the pictures we could. The light was fading as dusk was approaching. One last stop at the Killarney National Park and a waterfall that was pretty nice.
The pictures show: a view of Blarney Castle from entry gate, a tower outside the castle, the castle with the long waiting line, the location of the Blarney Stone (about 50 feet up!), entering the castle, a view from the top, Brad kissing the Stone, Cindy kissing the Stone, a waterfall in Killarney National Park (part of the Ring of Kerry), various shots around the Ring with us in one of them, and finally a last shot showing the waterfalls close-up.
Then, the long trip home. We took the western route using the N21 and M20/7 to go through Limerick and used the same raods we had traveled coming back from the Cliffs of Moher. Still, it was a long trip home with intermittent rain. We dind't pull into the cottage until near 11 p.m. Another long day of driving with one very successful stop and one not as nice. I guess from what we later heard that the only bad weather in most all of Ireland was in the area of the Iveragh Peninsula. Oh well....
Sunday, Sept. 2 The Loughmore Festival
Today is a late and lazy morning as we all are a bit tired. Early in the afternoon, we are heading over to the Loughmore Festival. Many typical summer festival activities to help support the new church roof.
Kasey dropped us off at the Festival grounds at about 1 pm and off we went to see what was going on. Soon enough the Maher family meets up with us and shows us around. We also meet SO MANY family members - too many to keep track of. They are all such wonderful people.
The festival has all your typical festival activities; a giant slide, life size foosball, craft tents, food tents, dancing and music, a tug of war contest, farm displays, kiddie wagon rides around the grounds, bagpipes, etc.
We spent the afternoon checking out most everything. Trying to get a feel for the Irish. Everyone was so friendly!
While watching the dancers, we noticed that 3 members of the Nesbitt family were sitting near the stage; Mr., Mrs., and a daughter. They were soon joined by Mairead, the fiddler who plays with Celtic Woman! What a wonderful surprise!! She is from Loughmore, but who would have thought she would be able to be there? I guess she participates in as many community activites as she can fit into her schedule. That's amazing. We obviously didn't bother her at all, but instead enjoyed her playing the fiddle with her family and with the kids of the community. In the interest of privacy, I have not included any images of the family.
Below are some pictures of the activities. Many are self-explanatory. Tony Maher and his daughter, Caoimhe, sang a song together that was very pretty. At 15 years old, she is quite talented, being able to play the fiddle and guitar as well as sing. There was a skittles contest. 3 throws to try and knock down 5 pegs. A beautiful steam tractor running a threshing machine. Some dancers and bagpipers. The tug of war contest.
Kasey dropped us off at the Festival grounds at about 1 pm and off we went to see what was going on. Soon enough the Maher family meets up with us and shows us around. We also meet SO MANY family members - too many to keep track of. They are all such wonderful people.
The festival has all your typical festival activities; a giant slide, life size foosball, craft tents, food tents, dancing and music, a tug of war contest, farm displays, kiddie wagon rides around the grounds, bagpipes, etc.
We spent the afternoon checking out most everything. Trying to get a feel for the Irish. Everyone was so friendly!
While watching the dancers, we noticed that 3 members of the Nesbitt family were sitting near the stage; Mr., Mrs., and a daughter. They were soon joined by Mairead, the fiddler who plays with Celtic Woman! What a wonderful surprise!! She is from Loughmore, but who would have thought she would be able to be there? I guess she participates in as many community activites as she can fit into her schedule. That's amazing. We obviously didn't bother her at all, but instead enjoyed her playing the fiddle with her family and with the kids of the community. In the interest of privacy, I have not included any images of the family.
Below are some pictures of the activities. Many are self-explanatory. Tony Maher and his daughter, Caoimhe, sang a song together that was very pretty. At 15 years old, she is quite talented, being able to play the fiddle and guitar as well as sing. There was a skittles contest. 3 throws to try and knock down 5 pegs. A beautiful steam tractor running a threshing machine. Some dancers and bagpipers. The tug of war contest.
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Saturday, Sept. 1st at the Cliffs of Moher
Not getting to sleep until about 3 a.m. meant we would try and sleep in a little longer Saturday. But, by about 9:30 a.m., we were all awake and Kasey was busy with breakfast; eggs over easy, a marinated hamburger "steak", and toast. I made Cindy and I some coffee. Great way to start the day.
We were headed to the Cliffs of Moher on the west coast of Ireland. The drive would be about 2 hours. I told them I would drive since I had missed half my turn the day before. Eric's phone GPS system worked perfectly. I actually liked it a lot because it told you which exit of the round-a-bout to use. The only issue we had was a blocked tunnel near Limerick because of an accident. We were re-routed through the city (not
all that big a city) and soon arrived at a very windy visitor center. By the way, the roads that lead to the Center are very narrow - I can't imagine getting a large tourist bus up there, but there were at least 8 parked there when we arrived with more coming and going all the time.
The Cliffs are quite spectacular. The pictures only tell part of the story. The constant, gusting winds were something else. At the top of the southern-most part of the park path, there's an entrance of sorts to an area where many people go to get more views. It is not part of the park and no safety fencing is in place. In places you can literally walk over to the edge of the cliff. Oh, and those cliffs rise about 390 feet above the Atlantic Ocean!! In the largest picture below, those are people on top of that first cliff out near the very edge.
Eric and Kasey decided to go ahead and see what was there. They came back and said there was a trail they were going to follow and that they'd meet us back for food and drinks after they returned. Well, their little path turnd out to be about 2 miles each way. By the time they returned, it was raining quite hard and Cindy and I were relaxing in the visitor center with a nice cup of hot chocolate.
They got dried up as best they could, warmed up, and had a warm drink. Eric drove home and we decided to stop at the pub in Upperchurch that had wi-fi and have something for dinner. Cindy had a lager beer with lime juice (something she has found is pretty good) and I had a Jameson's and Sprite, something I've found I like - a LOT! We had a very good pizza and some excellent chips (french fries - steak cut). We used the iPhone and the wi-fi to get caught up on communication. The pub was also showing the Notre Dame football game and then switched over to Penn State. Very nice of them to have American football on.
By the way, the Notre Dame vs. Navy football game was huge over here - they expected well over $100 million euro ($125 million) to be added to the economy of the Dublin area because of it. And, I guess the airlines are expecting the busiest 2 days ever on Monday and Tuesday as all these fans try to get home!
We arrived back home at the cottage by about 8:30 p.m. Another pretty long day. Eric and Kasey are headed back to the pub tonight. They've been invited down for a birthday party. Great place, Ireland.
You don't really need to know anyone to get invited in for some tea or a party!
We were headed to the Cliffs of Moher on the west coast of Ireland. The drive would be about 2 hours. I told them I would drive since I had missed half my turn the day before. Eric's phone GPS system worked perfectly. I actually liked it a lot because it told you which exit of the round-a-bout to use. The only issue we had was a blocked tunnel near Limerick because of an accident. We were re-routed through the city (not
all that big a city) and soon arrived at a very windy visitor center. By the way, the roads that lead to the Center are very narrow - I can't imagine getting a large tourist bus up there, but there were at least 8 parked there when we arrived with more coming and going all the time.
The Cliffs are quite spectacular. The pictures only tell part of the story. The constant, gusting winds were something else. At the top of the southern-most part of the park path, there's an entrance of sorts to an area where many people go to get more views. It is not part of the park and no safety fencing is in place. In places you can literally walk over to the edge of the cliff. Oh, and those cliffs rise about 390 feet above the Atlantic Ocean!! In the largest picture below, those are people on top of that first cliff out near the very edge.
Eric and Kasey decided to go ahead and see what was there. They came back and said there was a trail they were going to follow and that they'd meet us back for food and drinks after they returned. Well, their little path turnd out to be about 2 miles each way. By the time they returned, it was raining quite hard and Cindy and I were relaxing in the visitor center with a nice cup of hot chocolate.
They got dried up as best they could, warmed up, and had a warm drink. Eric drove home and we decided to stop at the pub in Upperchurch that had wi-fi and have something for dinner. Cindy had a lager beer with lime juice (something she has found is pretty good) and I had a Jameson's and Sprite, something I've found I like - a LOT! We had a very good pizza and some excellent chips (french fries - steak cut). We used the iPhone and the wi-fi to get caught up on communication. The pub was also showing the Notre Dame football game and then switched over to Penn State. Very nice of them to have American football on.
By the way, the Notre Dame vs. Navy football game was huge over here - they expected well over $100 million euro ($125 million) to be added to the economy of the Dublin area because of it. And, I guess the airlines are expecting the busiest 2 days ever on Monday and Tuesday as all these fans try to get home!
We arrived back home at the cottage by about 8:30 p.m. Another pretty long day. Eric and Kasey are headed back to the pub tonight. They've been invited down for a birthday party. Great place, Ireland.
You don't really need to know anyone to get invited in for some tea or a party!
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