Day? Crossing Irish Sea & Scotland

“Rock & Roll” NOW has a whole new meaning for me.  Pretty rough ferry crossing.  Whilst (British term) fixating on a sign on the wall (in an attempt to keep my inner ear stable), I amused myself by watching hardier folk than I stumble around on the violently rolling ferry.  I swear one young lady appeared to be line dancing as she took two steps to one side and then two steps to the other side and then two steps back again.  Yikes…she made me rather dizzy!!
Got to Troon (Scotland) and a short taxi ride later we were the proud renters of a lovely little BMW wagon.  THEN…the true journey began.  Getting the car door open, and then unlatching the trunk, and then fitting all of our luggage in said trunk, all whilst the rain gently fell on our poor, wee little heads, was truly an experience.  No manual in the car so all switches and seat adjustments were hit and miss.  :-)
Bri did OK driving on the “wrong” side of the road, but it was the left-handed turns coming out the the roundabouts that gave us all an adrenaline rush—especially to those of us on the left-hand side (me and Jimbo)!!  The poor BMW’s left front wheel had quite a work out as Bri consistently, and without mercy, slammed it into the curb time and time again!!  By the time we got to our first point of interest (the Falkirk Wheel), about 90 minutes later, we were all laughing hysterically and Jim kept wondering “how much is that wheel damage going to cost me?!”  When we stopped at the wheel and wondered how long we could afford to spend there and still reach our destination that night, Jim had a throwaway line that actually had me pee me pants!!  He says, “Well, we already own the car; we can take as much time as we want!!”  God, I couldn’t stop laughing…and the pee kept flowing!



To sum up Scotland….WOW…very tranquil, few bodies, and a wonderful sense of calm. Castles abound!!  Although Stirling Castle was something out of a movie set, and Edinburgh Castle was imposing, the one that had us all drooling was Urquart Castle on Loch Ness  .  It is really only a well-preserved ruin, but enough of it stood on the banks of Loch Ness that we were all fantasizing about where we’d put the morning room, the breakfast terrace, the family room, the bedrooms, etc,  What an incredible location.  I want it!!!! Badly!!


The bagpipper was on the side of the road…incredibly eerie to hear him on the side of the road in this mountain setting.  I wanted to ask him if he was the same guy in the Rick Steeve’s video, but decided not to embarass him or me!!

September 11 we hit Liverpool for the night.  Great Beatles tribute and lovely trip down memory lane.  Lots of BBC coverage of 9/11.  Happy Birthday to Charlize and Hunter.  And onto London on Sunday, September 12.

Last Day Dublin & Off to Belfast

September 3, Cliffs of Moher and back to Dublin

Hello People, and Happy Birthday Mom!!

Got up bright and early for the last day of our 3-day tour.  Went by van to Limerick (about 90 minutes) and joined up with another group (down from Dublin on a day trip) and our first day's tour guide (Billy).  For the rest of the day we were in a large coach--first on the bus so we got the best seats.  :-)  Two other people were on the same 3-day tour with us Ken (the dad) and Sean (the son) from New Jersey.  Sean is doing a semester at the university in Glasgow and they took a quick trip to Ireland before his semester starts.  In any case, the dad was very funny and we enjoyed having them both around. FYI, Kelsey, Sean is a very personable young man and it is too bad you weren't with us on this trip.  :-)  

Once again, throughout the day we saw some fantastic scenery.  Stopped at Bunratty Castle just outside of Limerick. The castle was completed in 1425 and was recently renovated.  Could actually live in it, if it had heat, plumbing, etc!  Just a few creature comforts.  haha

Visited the Cliffs of Moher which are among the highest sea cliffs in Western Europe.  The highlight of my day, I might add, and I may not need to see the White Cliffs of Dover now that I've seen Moher.  They were spectacular and the weather was incredibly cooperative. Unseasonably sunny and slightly breezy, the sea air felt and smelt wonderful.

We continued on the coast road on our way to Galway and passed by an area called The Burren.  "Burren" is an Irish word that means 'rocky place' and that is exactly what it was.  It literally looks like a lunar landscape.  In 1649 one of Oliver Cromwell's men described this area as, "No tree to hang a man, no water deep enough to drown him and no soil deep enough to bury him."  Pretty much sums it up!

Oh, we actually saw the house they use in the British show, "Father Ted."  Brian and I are very familiar with the TV program, much to the delight of Billy!!  We also saw Galway Bay and as usual, the scenery was beautiful, etc, etc.  ^__^

Finally got to Galway and caught the train back to Dublin (about 3 hours).  Found a cab that could carry all six of us.  The seating was somewhat like a limo.  Bill sat in front with the driver, Joan, Janette and I sat in three seats facing the front, Jim and Brian were on pull down bumper-type seats with their backs to the driver.   The driver showed Jim where his lap belt was and Brian said, "Oh, I have a shoulder strap!"  Jim was feeling quite left out with his lack of safety restraints.  In the meantime, Brian was struggling to hook his shoulder strap and we were laughing at him saying he had eaten too much/drank too many beers on our mini tour, when the driver yanked on the belt and Brian yanked back wondering what the heck was going on.  The driver yanked again and said, "You've got me belt!"  We were in hysterics all the way to the hotel!!!

Everyone went to bed except for Brian and I and we went over to the Temple Bar area for a nightcap.  Ended up getting to bed about 1:30 AM!!  Had a very good time!

September 2, Ring of Kerry

OK, off we went to the Ring of Kerry in southwest Ireland with the most, I mean MOST boring Irishman that ever walked the Emerald Isle.  This guy delivered his pearls of wisdom in a voice that screamed, “OMG, if I have to give this tour ONE more time, I will surely cut my wrist and hang myself at the same time.”  Luckily, the scenery is a spectacular memory, and the driver? he's an easily forgotten moment in time!!
Michael, our driver, did give us a stop on our route that we hadn’t expected.  He took us to see a gentlemen sheep farmer who also trains and shows “working” border collies.  He put on quite an unforgettable show for us—in his own field, with his own sheep and his own dogs.  This guy was quite the showman and extremely informative to boot.

We saw the highest mountain in Ireland, Carrantuohill, which is 1041 meters tall.  Chump change to us, but cool nonetheless.  Haha.  Killarney’s National Park is also home to the Lakes of Killarney, appropriately named Upper, Lower and Middle lakes.  :-)   The middle lake has a stop called “Ladies View” where Queen Victoria came to the park and viewed the three lakes. 

Strangely enough, the actual site doesn’t have a plaque or monument to indicate the actual spot where she stood!!  So, my imaginative husband stood on the spot of his choice and declared it the Queen’s spot!!  Charming.

When we stopped for lunch at a seaside town, Bri and I headed off on our own to find a simple sandwich shop.  Got to the end of the town’s main street (about one block long), feeling a trifle desperate when we found a spiffy little cafe, Peter’s Place.  He had this teeny, tiny little cafe that had about 3 small tables in it.  But right across the main street, sitting on a slight rise, he had placed a couple of wooden tables and chairs.  He brought our sandwiches, coffee, and a pot of tea (complete with chipped milk pitcher!) to us while we sat on our beautiful seaside perch.  Lovely!  Just to add to the quaint and simple atmosphere, he fished a fly out of my milk with all the nonchalance of a French restaurant’s maitre’d!!  :-)






Long day.  Got back to Killarney and treated ourselves to some fine beer and some very good pizza.

We were also treated to a young girl dancing an Irish jig at the Danny Mann pub—had Brian and I take a little trip down memory lane recalling our own bonnie lass.

September 1, Out of Dublin….

 

Up extremely early this morning and caught our cab at 6:10 AM!!  Yikes.  We actually did the Pub Crawl with Irish musicians last night so the 6 AM time was quite a feat. 

We headed our for three days to visit the southwest coast.  Travelled south to County Cork and the ever so charming Blarney Castle.  We all kissed the Blarney Stone, although their was some inane chatter that the Bills siblings didn’t need their gift of gab to become any more refined!!  Following our quick kiss of the fabled stone, we all climbed back down from the top of the castle and promptly wiped our mouths with an antibacterial wipe.  Kissing a stone that has been kissed by the masses was……enough said!!

That little patch of green is the ground below us—way below us!!  You lay on your back and the nice gent helps you lean way, way back while you pucker up and kiss the lovely, slobbered on stone.  Ewwwww….

All the smiling faces after the “event” hanging out in the Witch’s Garden.

August 31, Day Trip Around Dublin

 

Took the hop on/hop off bus around town and had an unbelievably beautiful day for it.  Went to Dublin Castle and promptly decided that that the little tea shop on the side street was much more promising.  Who could pass up The Queen of Tarts?? 

 

After a lovely morning pastry, and in my case a raisin scone w/clotted cream and fresh raspberry jam, we were off to St. Patrick’s cathedral and the Guinness Storehouse.  Guess which one Brian enjoyed the most??  Yep, that’s him in his favorite pose!!

August 30, Temple Bar Area

 

 

Headed out to the Temple Bar area to celebrate Jim and Janette’s 35th anniversary.  Lots of action, a pub every couple of feet, and a street performer on every corner.  Brian really wanted to take the group to the Porter House Brew Pub and so we did!!  Had a great time.  The bartender had a brogue so strong that we could barely understand him, and strangely enough, our waitress was from Hungary and she was easier to understand!

As you can see from our happy smiles, we did quite a bit of sampling of the Irish beer!