July 23, Bunratty

We intended to leave our hotel in Cork this morning and head to Cobh, which is a harbor town a bit larger than Kinsale, however, when we saw the rainy weather, we decided to head to Limerick and Shannon. Believe it or not, the rain this morning was really the first rain we've seen that affected our plans. We have been very lucky with the Ireland weather.  I think the beautiful weather followed us around the entire trip!  We took the hour and a half drive to Limerick and drove around the city for a while. We really didn't know too much about it or what we really wanted to do there so we just drove around and continued on to Shannon. We didn't really have a destination in Shannon either, so after driving around a bit, we went to our hotel. We had a bite to eat at The Creamery, did some shopping, then headed to Ennis, a small town about 30 minutes from Bunratty.  We walked around a bit, stopped in a pub, of course, then headed back to our hotel.

Our dinner tonight was a Medieval banquet at the Bunratty Castle.

What a fun time!  We were greeted at the castle with music and a cup of Mead (we drank it, but it was way too sweet for us!), then we sat at long oak tables and ate a four course meal.  It was very entertaining and a lot of fun. We happened to be seated between two Irish couples, one married for 34 years and the other married for 39 years. We had so much fun talking to them and we even exchanged emails with one of them. They were so nice, they assured us that we would want to come back to Ireland and told us we must stay with them when we return!  A fun evening of entertainment spent with fun people!

It's so sad that I write this blog on our last night. It's been a wonderful trip, we've seen so much of this  beautiful country, met so many wonderful people, and had a great time!

I can't wait to see where we go next!!

July 22, Kinsale

After breakfast, we took a short drive to Kinsale, which is a small harbor town with about 3,000 residents year round and 9,000 in the summer. We parked our car and took a short stroll around town before our walking tour with Barry Maloney. What a lovely place!  We took a 90 minute walking tour with Barry, who was very personable, very interesting and he taught us so much about the history of Ireland. Tom has been so interested in the history here, I think he wants to learn more and more.

What was most interesting was Barry's description of the battle of Kinsale in 1601. In short it was a battle between the Spanish and King George (England) and two northern Irish clans decided to get involved.  The British army surrounded the Spanish who were within the Kinsale city wall.  The Irish surrounded the British and tried to break through the British and join the Spanards on Christmas Eve.  Unfortunately the Irish were surprised by the British Calvary and were defeated.  The Spanish fleet fled and the war was over in three hours.   What happened next connected what we learn in Belfast (modern day Ireland) with the history of Kinsale. When the two Northern Ireland clans were defeated, they were punished by King George and lost their land and control.  The power vacuum in 1601 was filled by Scottish Clans which ultimately led to the modern day allegence to England and the problems between the Ulster Army and the IRA in Belfast.

Thus far, our tour in Kinsale was one of the highlights of our trip.

We had lunch at Fishy Fishy, then continued exploring the town. We did a little shopping and while we were in a woolen store, we met a young mom from Canada who worked there. We had a long conversation with her...she took a course in Ireland on a student visa and fell in love with an Irish man!  She married him, has 2 boys and has lived in Ireland for 10 years. She was such a lovely person, it's so fun to hear people's stories....it's one of our favorite things about traveling....hearing people's stories.

We wandered around town some more then headed back to Cork. After an afternoon rest, we headed out to see how wild Cork gets on a Friday night!  We stopped at a pub for a Guinness, then found a spot for a pizza. We headed back to a pub to hear some music, called it a night and headed back to our hotel.

Tomorrow, we head to Limerick and Shannon and we visit Bunratty Castle for a Medieval feast at dinner.  It's our last night in Ireland which is a bummer.  I could continue visiting the different areas and Tom could live here.  🙂

July 21, Cork

Today we explored Cork city. It was so nice to stay out of a car!  We had breakfast and set out to explore the city center. Cork has a huge shopping area, we shopped, but we didn't buy much!  We walked around, and stopped in the church if Saints Peter and Paul which dates back to 1765. It was beautiful inside.  We also made our way through the city market. The fresh meat, fish, fruit and veggies looked wonderful!

We stopped at The Fish Wife for lunch and had traditional fish and chips, and both us us thouroughly enjoyed it!  We walked around some more and then took the rest of the afternoon off!

We headed out for dinner to Gallagher's Gastro pub. We both had chicken that was delicious!  After a great meal and delicious desserts, we set out to find some Irish music again!  We landed in An Spailpin Fanach pub just before the music was to start. Six musicians showed up, introduced themselves to each other, sat down and played. It was wonderful!  Hard to believe that they didn't know each other before they started to play!  We had a great time.

Tomorrow we get back out to explore. We are heading to Kinsale to see what it's about!

July 20, Dingle peninsula

Today we got up and decided to change our plans a bit. We left our little B&B and decided to drive the Dingle peninsula then head to Cork a bit early. Driving to Dingle was a lot of fun. We put some Irish music on the radio (it all sounds like the same song to me) and drove the Wild Atlantic Way to Dingle town. We stopped several times along the way to just look at the scenery, it was so beautiful!

 
Many, many farms with sheep all over the place.

We parked our car in Dingle and walked through the city center. There weren't too many shops, it was almost all pubs!  Even the hardware store was also a pub!  We stopped for a coffee and tea and then continued around the peninsula to Tralee. Once again, we stopped several times along the way to look at the beautiful scenery. We stopped in Tralee to get a bite to eat.  Pubs are plentiful but they all don't serve food so you have to search for a restaurant!  We searched the web for one and settled on Quinlins seafood. On our way through town, we came across a pub named Quinlans. Thinking this was our seafood restaurant, we went in, asked if they had food and the bartender told us they don't have food anymore but she would make us a toasted sandwich!  Tom asked her what a toasted sandwich was and she laughed and told him it was a sandwich on toast!  Duh!  We stayed and she made us a ham and cheese sandwich. Not bad for a pub that serves no food.  We left that pub and walked 10 feet and what did we find? The Quinlans seafood restaurant that we were originally trying to find.

We made our way to Cork and checked into our hotel.  We searched for a restaurant and settled on a BBQ spot. I was determined to find some live Irish music tonight and I thought I found it at The Corner Pub. We went to dinner at the White Rabbit bar and BBQ, it wasn't bad BBQ!  We walked around a bit and headed to The Corner Pub to listen to live traditional Irish music. The pub was crowded, the band was good, but they just sat in the front corner with no mic so you could hardly hear them!  We need to find another live band that was as fun as the night in Dublin!

Tomorrow we plan to stick around Cork and check out what's happening around here!

July 19, Cliffs of Moher, Inch beach

So much fun, so much stress, so much to talk about!

It was HOT, HOT, HOT today!  It reached about 90 degrees!!!  Everyone we talked to said that it was unusually hot!  Apparently they don't get 2 days in a row of nice weather so we are prepared for cooler weather tomorrow.

We had breakfast and left Galway behind, heading for the Cliffs of Moher.  We got on the Wild Atlantic Way and headed towards these cliffs. It was definitely a wild ride. At times, we were on a road that looked like a golf cart path. It was very tricky when a car came the other way. It took us about 2 hours to get to the cliffs. The scenery on the way was amazing. We now understand why Ireland is called the Emerald Isle.  So green and lush. Many of the homes we saw were just beautiful, but so remote we wondered how they could live there!  Sheep and cows were plentiful.

We finally made it to the cliffs and by the number of people that were there, it was easy to see that it was a popular spot. After we parked the car, we hiked to the top.  The sights were just amazing. 650 feet down to the Atlantic, it was an amazing site. We hit the end of the "official" visitor's center area, but saw that you could climb a fence and go even further. After passing clearly marked signs that we are entering at our own risk, we were determined to get the perfect view of these cliffs.  Tom got a little too close to the edge for my liking, but there were many people out there with him.

So much fun at the top of the cliffs... We took several pictures and asked a young girl to take a few pics as well.  She was great... She obviously knew something about photography and tried to get the perfect picture for us. She claimed it was all about the angle and all about the lighting.  More about her in a minute...

So many people were on top of these cliffs, young and old and everyone taking in the sights and daring to climb higher. Kids running around, people with dogs, both of which would make me so nervous!  I read that back in May of this year that a 62 year old man went over the cliff. There was also a memorial for all the lives lost at the cliffs.  We made it as far as we decided to go and we came across the young girl that took our picture. She was with 2 friends and they were taking pictures of each other. They asked me if I would take their picture (of course, I would pay back the favor since they took our picture). I got their phone, totally ready to take their picture and, little did I know that as soon as I said "Ready?" They took their shirts off (their backs were to me) and facing the cliffs with breasts all hanging out, I took their picture!  They were cracking up and Tom and I were laughing so hard!  They told me ... "We are just crazy girls from California!"  I said "No worries, we are laughing at you from Maryland."  Just as I said that a couple walked behind me and said they were from Maryland too!  It turns out they live in Walkersville, not too far from us. We had a good laugh, talked to them for a while and said we hoped to find them some time in downtown Frederick. Small world! We are 650 feet above the Atlantic Ocean in Ireland and we find someone from home!  Traveling is so fun!

We spent quite a while at the cliffs, made our way back down, headed to the gift shop (Tom says I always drag him to the gift shops only to buy absolutely nothing!) and made our way back to our car.

Now the fun starts....

We had a heck of a time putting the address for our B&B in the GPS, but we managespd to get something in there near our destination. Once again we headed on the Wild Atlantic way, and it's wild and not too much fun. If you tend to get carsick, this is not the drive for you!!!  After driving a short while, we decided we couldn't take it anymore, and Tom suspected we were never going to get off that Wild Atlantic Way. We made our way inland toward Limerick. It was a long drive, on more tiny golf cart paths, and very stressful because everyone drives so darn fast!!! We had no idea if we were heading in the right direction, and not even sure if we would ever find this little B&B.

After what seemed like forever, we finally found our little B&B. Quite remote from what we are used to, we were not even sure we were comfortable going inside!  After we sat in the car for a while, we got out and Sharon, the owner, met us. She was so sweet!  This is not our favorite place, but she is so nice....she even did our laundry for us!  She recommended a restaurant for dinner... Sammys on Inch Beach.   Neither one of us liked it! We suffered through our dinner, then went to Castlemaine to a Murphy's Pub. We had a good laugh about all the funny things that happened today, headed back to the B&B. Sharon had our clean clothes waiting for us... It's just like being at home with mom!

Tomorrow, we explore Dingle (I think that's the plan!)

July 18th, Galway

We woke up a bit early today, packed up, had breakfast and got on the road. We were a wee bit (as they say in Ireland) glad to leave Belfast behind. It was a very interesting place and we learned so much there, but neither one of us were sad to leave for a new adventure. 

We got on the road for about a 4 hour drive to Galway. We didn't want to take the major highway the whole way so we got off on a smaller road to explore a bit of the countryside. Surprise!  The road we were on closed suddenly and we had to take a major detour through some seriously back country roads of Ireland.  It was fun to see, but we often wondered if we would ever make it to Galway!

We stopped along the way at a little pub in Delvin to get a quick drink. It was such a cute little place. The bartender was really nice and talked to us for quite a while. He told us that he had 2 brothers that were going to visit next week from Chicago...they moved there years ago!  

The weather was beautiful today. Our car doesn't have air conditioning so we cruised along with the windows open and the air blowing like crazy. The bartender in Delvin told us it was the first nice day they've had! It was hot!  We were worried about what clothes to bring and whether we would be warm enough. Thankfully, Jennifer who owns Magoos in Frederick told us we should bring shorts because we may get a warm day.  She was right!

We continued on and made it to Galway... A very busy, lively city. We got settled into our hotel and we quickly realized that our hotel room has no air conditioning!  Only we could come to Galway on the hottest day ever and have a hotel with no air conditioning!  

We went out to explore the city. There is a huge shopping and dining area with tons of people, street entertainment and touristy shops. We stopped in The Kings Head pub for a quick drink and set out to find a dinner spot.  We settled on Kirwans seafood restaurant, made reservations and continued to explore the city. 

After dinner (Tom had fish and chips and I had a cold seafood platter) we were determined to find a pub with Irish music. We settled in back at  Kings Head Pub to wait for the band that was coming at half nine (as they say in Ireland!).  Both of us thought the band was great but after they sang the Beatles, James Taylor and Eric Clapton, we decided that this was not how we planned the evening and we set out to find some Irish music!  We popped into a few pubs and we did finally find our Irish music. 

We made our way back to our hotel, which didn't cool off at all in the evening. Our room and our window is facing a busy road.  Hot and noisy.... it's going to be an awful night!

Tomorrow we head to Kerry and to see the Cliffs of Moher on our way!  We can't wait to see those cliffs!!!

July 17, Belfast

After a good walk in the morning we started making our way to a noon time slot at the Titanic Museum.  Along the way we found a wonderful farmers market and took in all the sights and smells.  We found a great fish market with fish we had never seen, but could not find anyone to tell us what they were.

 Reaching for the Titanic  Museum, we had time for a nice coffee and tea.  The museum was self guided and, truth be told, if you've seen the moving "Titanic," you knew much of the information, with the exception of the building of the ship, which happened in Belfast.  Here is Julie in front of the museum. 

We spent about two hours and headed back to our hotel.  We had arranged a "Black Cab" tour of Belfast at 2:30 and needed to get a quick bite to eat.

The Tour of Belfast.

This was actually one of the things Tom had been looking forward to as he wanted to know the history Belfast which is where part of his family is from.  There was no way to know ahead of time how depressing and real the tour was going to be.

At 2:30 sharp, a black cab, with "Jerry" driving, pulled up and we jumped in.  Jerry had a single question to ask.  "Were we taking the tour because we wanted to, or did we think we had to?"  We both stated that we wanted to go on the tour and Tom and Jerry talked a bit about Tom's family history. Jerry started driving and talking about what happened in Ireland in 1690!   He told us it was important to start there and that it would become relevant later.

A quick side note.  The Black Cab tours are very well known and there are only a handful of cab drivers that know the history and can tell the story.  An unstated rule is they will talk down the center of the issues and not cloud it with their own point of view.  Jerry, who we learned later was one of the best, started out that way, but soon after we developed some trust, it became very apparent which side (Catholic or Protestant) his heart was in.

We took a short drive to the sectarian neighborhoods in West Belfast and Jerry started telling the story of the modern day problems.  We drove on the Shankill road area and immediately the atmosphere changed to very ghetto-like and poor.  Jerry pulled over and we were sitting in the middle of a Protestant gang controlled area.  The only folks you saw were fast walking, mistrusting, white anglosaxons, who did not look happy we were there.  Jerry came up to Tom and said, "outside of the cab, your name is Bobby".

Jerry told us the story of the early Catholic/Protestant troubles and described the murals painted at the end of the streets and the sides of people's houses.   

These were pictures of Protestant heroes and martyrs and all were killed in the late 90's and early 2000's.  Jerry showed his hand, but caught himself, describing them as "serial killers and murderers."  He spoke with disgust in his voice.  We climb back in an continued deeper into the neighborhood.  It was very chilling.

To hear Jerry tell it, the area we were in had very little crime and was completely controlled by Protestant gangs.  It looked anything like that.  You can get the rest and I'll just show the pictures.

Jerry pointed out that every home flew the Northern Ireland flag as well as the Union Jack as their way of showing that they are subjects of Britain.  They do not consider themselves ruled by Dublin.  For 104 year this has been going on and it's in their blood.

We were more interested in the "Peace Wall" and Jerry started heading there.  It was at this stop that it started to be clear just how bad the hate the Protestant hate is for their Catholic neighbors (and fellow countrymen).

This is a short section of the Peace wall.  We are on the Protestant side and with the exception of the murals, it was very drab.  We drove to an area where two higher sections were added to the wall.  The wall was put up by the British when the Protestants of West Belfast started to burn their Catholic Neighbor's houses.

We drove the length of the wall until we found a road with a gate.  The gate was opened at 6:00 AM every day and closed automatically at 10:00 PM every night.  As it closes, a loud horn is blown and the words on the side of the gate read, "Catholics This Side", and "Protestants This Side," respectively.  Gross.

After passing the gate, we turned to follow the "Catholic" side of the wall.  It was a completely different atmosphere with kids in the streets and a feel like it was any other street in Belfast.  It had one memorial area and we had a look.  It pictured every Catholic who was killed during the worst of the Ulster Army/IRA killings.  Clearly a tit for tat environment.

At this point, we just wanted the story to end and Jerry brought it to a nice closing.  He spoke about how the killing had stopped because both the Ulster Gangs and IRA became political, taking up roles in the government.  This drove the killings and bombings underground because neither side could afford the bad press.

While telling this part, Jerry had us turn around and we were staring at the mural of Bobby Sands, who for political reasons had gone on a hunger strike of 66 days.  Along the way ten other men joined him.  His dying was a turning point in the peace process.

Can you imagine, driving around these areas and seeing these memorials and murals all over the place .. IN YOUR Neighborhood.  It does nothing but keep the wounds fresh and the emotions high.  It sucked on both sides!

We turned from Bobby and Jerry really rolled and debated with Tom about how this COULD NEVER BE SOLVED. He had a very convincing argument.  😡

Jerry dropped us at our hotel and we made our day to dinner and a Guinness.  Tomorrow our adventure moves to Galway.