Ireland with Jim and Jenny, Post 2

Well, I'm taking a break from my exam study to continue the story of our adventures in Ireland, so I'll jump straight into it! Continuing on from the last post, where the four of us were driving to Waterford on Thursday (I neglected to mention in the last entry that we had a hire car, a silver Renault Clio)...

In Waterford, we toured the Waterford Crystal Factory. Sound familiar? Yep, it was Ben's and my second time there in 7 months!! But it was definitely worth a second visit (especially since we got in free last time!), and Jim and Jenny thoroughly enjoyed it too. Click here for the blog entry written about our tour of the factory last year - I won't repeat it all! Click here for a video of a glass blower at work (it's not a particularly interesting video, but it's hard to predict when pressing "record" whether they're going to do anything exciting in the next minute... :P).



That night we stayed at a hostel in a quiet but colourful seaside town called Tramore, just south of Waterford. It was a proper old 50s-style seaside town, with amusements and show-type rides set up on the esplanade! They were mostly deserted, and we couldn't figure out whether they were permanent fixtures or a travelling fair in the process of setting up - possibly a bit of both. A rollercoaster was being lifted into place as we watched, and a couple of men were fishing rubbish out of a small waterway - presumably in preparation for the paddle boats waiting on the shore. We wandered around amongst the other rides (bumper cars, merry-go-rounds, and various scarier/faster installations), but saw only two operators and two customers.

Anyway, we had a relaxing evening strolling around the streets and eating fish and chips near the beachfront (where I declined an offer by Madam Lee to have my fortune told in her little caravan!).



The next day, Friday, we set off for Kilkenny, a pleasant inland town north of Waterford. Ben and I had spent a night and day there during our first trip to Ireland, and loved it - click here for the old blog entry. Jim and Jenny did a tour of Kilkenny Castle, which we had already done, so instead we wandered around the huge castle gardens (mostly woodland and grassy fields). Then we walked through the town and enjoyed a leisurely lunch at the same great place we discovered last time. Took Jim and Jenny there after their tour finished too!



That afternoon we had time to spare as we set off for Swords, the town just north of Dublin where we would be staying the next two nights, so our drive was relaxed and involved lots of stopping to take photos of the gorgeous green countryside! That night a certain member of our party fell asleep prematurely, so we didn't end up going out for dinner...



Saturday was our planned big day of sightseeing in Dublin. (Click here to read about our previous trip - scroll halfway down.) After some frustrating hassles with the local buses, we eventually caught one and headed into the centre of Dublin. Then, we got our open top bus tour tickets and proceeded to have a thoroughly enjoyable day.

The bus tour system works in such a way that a ticket lasts for 24 hours and you can hop on or off at any of the designated stops, with buses coming by every 10 to 30 minutes (depending on the time of day). Our bus drivers provided almost constant anecdotal and factual live commentary whilst skillfully navigating double-decker buses through impossibly narrow streets and hair-raising traffic situations. One driver in particular, whom we were lucky enough to get twice, was delightfully random and would hum relaxedly to himself (but into the mic) throughout the aforementioned situations!

After a complete circuit of the bus route to decide what we wanted to see, we waved Jim off to see Dublin Zoo, and the remaining three of us went to Trinity College. Jenny went through the Book of Kells exhibit, which Ben and I had already done, so we spent the time wandering around the college, something we hadn't had time to do on our last visit. It's certainly a very stately and impressive old place! There was even a wedding taking place in the grounds. Afterwards, we had a delicious lunch in the famous Temple Bar district (Guinness stew for the other two; honey soy stir-fry for me).



Towards the end of the day, Jenny, Ben and I went through Kilmainham Gaol, which was sad but interesting. Our tour guide told us that even though the jail was so unpleasant and overcrowded, during the famine people would commit petty crimes just to be thrown in there, as at least that way they were guaranteed a basic meal or two each day. Parts of the jail were built at different times, and the newest part was designed in the Panopticon style, "the all seeing eye", which meant that guards could see all of the cells from anywhere in the wing - see photo below.

We also saw the place in the grounds where some involved in the 1916 Easter Uprising were executed. Our guide told us that for executions by firing squad, one of the guns would have a blank in it. This was so that if a soldier's conscience bothered him, he could always think that his gun might have been that one.



Here are some other Dublin photos that don't fit anywhere in particular, taken from the top of the open top bus during the day...



After we all met back up, we took the bus back out to Swords and had a late tea there. The next morning we went to the meeting - the one we couldn't find last time! - and wandered around the town of Malahide in the afternoon. It was a nice town with its own little castle, which was set in the middle of a large park with beautiful woodland walking paths.

After a mid-afternoon lunch/dinner in Malahide, we set off for the airport, as our hire car had to be returned a few hours before our flight. The rest of the evening passed in a haze of reading books in airport bookshops and noticing our flight to Edinburgh being increasingly delayed on the flight announcements board, so I'll continue from there next time! Bye for now!

Ireland with Jim and Jenny, Post 1

Better late than never... here's what we got up to in Ireland! I'm going to TRY to tell this as succinctly as I can (always difficult :P) as we're busy with exam study at the moment and I also have Scotland to write about! By the way, Jim and Jenny left 6 days ago and are now safely back home and recovered from their jet lag etc. It was so wonderful to have them here - it felt both surreal and quite normal to all be together in England! Anyway, here goes with the Ireland adventures...

We flew into Cork (see point A on above map) on the afternoon of Tuesday 20th May. That night we stayed at a hostel in Cork - a colourful place on a narrow street called "Bob and Joan's Walk", not far from the bridge leading across to the city centre. As we wandered around Cork that night, trying unsuccessfully to find a nice restaurant for dinner (we ended up getting burgers and chips, as everywhere else was either closed or only serving drinks), we had an entertaining encounter with a self-proclaimed leprechaun...

We were walking down a street when an old man stopped us to ask about our accents. Next thing we knew, he had hold of my hand and didn't let go for about 15 minutes, while telling us all about some song and a woman named Anna Maria who was miraculously healed, and asking us to meet him in the same spot in 450 years! He was appalled that we were only in Ireland for 5 days. Not sure about the leprechaun bit but let's just say he seemed to have recently been quenching his thirst!! Jim and Jenny escaped quite early on, but eventually he thanked Ben for letting him hold my hand, wished that "all our troubles be little ones", and wandered off (later to be seen bailing up various other people). :)

The next day we drove around the Ring of Kerry. This is a well known scenic drive in Ireland's south-west - see the loop below Killarney (point E) on the map. We had a delicious lunch at The Red Fox Inn somewhere on the way. At one point we took a detour to follow signs to a Tin Soldier Factory in the middle of nowhere, where we were treated to an individual casting demonstration and walked around the factory - very interesting! This was the rainiest, foggiest day of the trip, and we were following the coastline for much of the Ring of Kerry drive, so we mostly couldn't see very far but could still tell it was spectacular!



After the Ring of Kerry, we had a very rushed drive back to the Kinsale area (point F), where we were staying that night. We had a really nice visit and dinner with a family whose contact details we had been given by our friends in England, and then we went to the gospel meeting with them. They invited us to come back the next day so they could show us around their farm, so with those plans made we headed off to our B&B. It was just a little way out of the picturesque seaside town of Kinsale and had a beautiful view down over the inlet and surrounding farmland. The photos below were taken the next morning during breakfast.



Later that morning we were back at our friends' farm for our tour. Jenny stayed in the house with the ladies, while Jim, Ben and I put on our borrowed wellies and sloshed down to the cow paddock with Jacob, the son of the family who is the farmer in charge. He told us all about the running of the farm and his stonemasonry sideline, and then took us for a drive over to his brother's nearby farm where he keeps another herd. This was a very fun and interesting morning and we thoroughly enjoyed our rural adventuring and the time spent with Jacob and his family!



Before leaving the area, we headed up to Charles Fort, which had been recommended to us that morning. This was an old fort and lookout spot with incredible views over Kinsale. It was absolutely gorgeous and I've got no doubt you'll agree!!



After a little while enjoying the view, we drove back down through Kinsale and then stopped in to visit some other friends. We enjoyed morning tea with them and had a tour around their grounds, where preps were well underway so we met lots more people! Then we set off for Waterford.

Anyway, having written this much and then realised I'm not even halfway through our time in Ireland, I think I'll leave it here for now so you don't get sick of reading. I'll continue when I can - goodnight! And happy birthday to Dreana! :)

PS. People who use Internet Explorer - until recently we assume you have have always had the first word or two of a paragraph appearing beside the last photo in a set? We didn't know this was happening as we use Firefox and it looks fine in that! Hopefully we've fixed the problem now. If there are any other unusual things happening - such as photos appearing scattered rather than in neat rectangular blocks of 4 or 6, a problem I've noticed on a couple of peoples' computers - please let us know so we can see if there's a solution. It's not supposed to look strange so please tell us if it does!!

2 days in Ireland, Post 2: It's a long way to Tipperary

On Wednesday morning, after a scrumptious breakfast featuring pancakes with maple syrup, strawberries and banana, we set off for another day of exploring. The map below shows where we drove during the two days. Shannon Airport is in the middle (M), north of that is where we drove on Tuesday, and south-east is where we drove on Wednesday. As you can see, the southernmost point wasn't too far from Waterford and Kilkenny, which is where we went during our four days in Ireland last October!


On Wednesday, we drove through Limerick and on to Tipperary (click here for a rendition of the famous song, which is almost 100 years old!), where Mary had told us we would find one of Ireland's most famous historic sites: the Rock of Cashel. Tipperary welcomed us with signs saying "you've come a long way". :) After a brief wander through the centre of Tipperary, we asked someone where the Rock of Cashel was, and were directed on another 12 miles, to the village of Cashel (point I on map).

The Rock of Cashel is a collection of buildings up to 1000 years old, sitting atop a small hill and towering over the rest of Cashel. Apparently it's the most visited Heritage site in Ireland. The main buildings are the round tower (c. 1100), Cormac's Chapel (c. 1127 - 1134), and the cathedral (c. 1235 - 1270). It was also the seat of the province's kings prior to this. You can read more on the Wikipedia link above if interested! There's also an old graveyard with lots of Celtic-style crosses surrounding the cathedral.



Most of the buildings are fairly ruined now, particularly the cathedral, which was missing most of its roof. But we could still see the ornate Romanesque and Gothic building styles - elaborate archways surrounded by sculpted human/ animal/ mythical heads, and a semi-restored ceiling where patches of a bright painting could be glimpsed.

It was quite an interesting spot to explore and there was a good video presentation about the site's role in Ireland's history. It was also excellent value; only a couple of Euros each for entry! However, it was so freezing cold and windy up there (Ben's hat got blown off his head) that we could empathise with the old friars who moved out for precisely that reason!!!

Afterwards, we drove to Caher (point J on map), another random village with a castle sitting in the middle of it, and had a late lunch after a bit of a wander around the town. Check out the photo below showing the pub owner's other occupation!



Earlier we'd picked up a brochure on the area's scenic drives, which is how we ended up in Caher, so after lunch we headed slightly back towards Tipperary but branched off to take a road alongside Ireland's highest inland mountain range (around K on map). We then saw a sign to Lake Muskry, so decided to follow that instead. We ended up on a dirt track that took us higher and higher up the side of a hill, passing woolly horned sheep and looking out across a valley with a conifer plantation and a little river far below. We never did find the lake.

Eventually, the track became a minefield of very large rocks and very deep cracks, forcing us to abandon our expedition. Refer to the photo below to see what I mean by "very deep cracks"!! We walked a little further on foot, but soon it was time to start heading back to the airport for our flight home.



Other than a thorough pat down and scan with a handheld metal detector at Shannon Airport (note to self: the skirt and jumper with little metal buckles on them are obviously not a good flying outfit), and the permanent confiscation of the bottle of Clare Jams apple and cinnamon jelly that we had got as a present for someone (unfortunately it counts as a gel, which means it can't be more than 100mL if in carry-on luggage), nothing else eventful happened. And that was our very enjoyable two days in Ireland!