16. Blarney and Dunmore

Thursday, May 30

We headed east through the Cork and Kerry mountains from Killarney. No wonder they call this the Emerald Isle. Everything is so lush and overgrown with so many bright shades of green. It is a feast for our eyes.

Everyone was in a great mood with lots of chatter and laughter. Robyn leaned over to me and said, "It's amazing what a clean bra and knickers will do for your mood."

The mountains turned barren and rock strewn, then back to lush and patchwork with pine forests and then it would do the same all over again. County Cork is Ireland's bread basket and the heart of farming with rich fertile soil. We saw many cows and sheep, but also farmers plowing fields and increasing herds of beautiful horses.

We stopped at Blarney Castle which has 200 acres of gardens, woods and lakes. The grounds were gorgeous with lovely paths to walk and we were there before the crowds. We walked up to the castle and I went up a little way to see it, but it was a little claustrophobic feeling for me. Here is Robin & Anthony climbing to kiss the stone.

Bob went on up and I walked the peaceful grounds past beautiful flowers, ferns, and huge old trees, all by myself. Heaven! I went back to the castle to meet Bob as he came back down. He bypassed kissing the stone as he heard it was slimy. Many did and got the pictures to prove it. Others said they were full of enough Blarney already.

Blarney is a suburb to the town of Cork which is a big hilly city with old stone walls. They claim Henry Ford as their own as his family had lived there before immigrating to the United States. It is one of the world's best natural harbors. There were beautiful water front parts to the city and quaint connected shops, but also some abandoned places and seedy areas. Henry said many immigrants left from this port and he explained what an Immigrant Wake was. It was an all night party as a person prepared to leave their family and beloved country that they would never see again. Sad thoughts. I can't imagine.

We stopped in Youghal which sounds like "you all." Some of Moby Dick was filmed here and they used the local weather beaten fishermen as extras. It had quaint narrow streets, shops, and narrow gardens on the sparkling waterfront. The wind was blowing, waves rolling and small boats bobbing. It made me homesick.

 

On we went into Tramore, which is a resort town on the coast with sandy beaches. There were Palm Trees and flowers all around our hotel and several of us had balconies and were all out laughing and enjoying the view. We could have been in Florida.

 

We had a short time to freshen up and took a side trip to Dunmore on the other side of the bay. We heard some history, saw some thatch roofed houses and stopped in a very old thatched roofed pub. Our local guide pulled out his guitar and sang with a rich tenor voice. Henry helped to serve Guiness and a milder Beamish and we listened to sweet ballads that made us misty and then there were hand clapping sing alongs. The guide must have noticed me enjoying the music as he asked my name and dedicated "Whiskey in the Jar" to me. I was quite flattered. After his teary version of Danny Boy (the ladies were all wiping their eyes), we loaded up to head back to the hotel for dinner. Bob ran in for a quick comfort break and as he was coming out, he took a wrong turn going straight into the Ladies room where Joan was washing her hands. They both wished they could have recorded the surprised look on their faces.They both came out laughing hard. He's getting quite a reputation!

We ate, sorted pictures and crashed. I wanted to walk the shore, but my body had had enough. Bob's comment as he was staring off into space, "Whew. This tour isn't for weenies!"

15. Killarney

Wednesday, May 29

As we got ready this morning, we turned on the news. The news here is all business with a man and woman anchor taking turns reporting and sometimes reading and holding up newspapers. They cover news all over the world in depth with, of course, a concentration in the British Isles. We heard there had been an earthquake in Wales which was felt in Dublin, where we will be on Friday. Yikes! 

As the program progressed, they did cover some human interest items. When they talked about women's images because of magazine models, they said they were trying to improve that by using more realistic looking ladies as well as men. Well, it seems that did not fix it. In their words, "It didn't unbugger the women. It buggered up the men."

On the way down the hall to the bus, Henry called out, "Bring coats, jackets, sunscreen, umbrellas, and sun glasses." That pretty much sums up what you need. In a day, we use them all. Off we went to see the Ring of Kerry.

Killarney is a very nice town with it's quaint city center, modern clean outskirts and fabulous National Park. There are mountains visible around Killarney and the sound of horses clopping by. They have jaunting carts which hold about 8 people, pulled by one horse, to take people on tour through the city and out through the park. At night with our window open, I could imagine I was on Mackinac Island.

We stopped at a beautiful gift shop with quality woolens, linens, china, etc. and they served us all lovely glass mugs of Irish Coffee. It was perfect for a cool, rainy morning.

I wondered how they could afford that, but soon, everyone was talking, laughing and buying. A term going around among some of the ladies was their pride in having a "black belt in retail therapy."

We stopped in a lovely spot high on a hill over looking a river and I felt tingles for the beauty of this land. I could have stayed all day. Bob badly wanted his fishing pole. The birds were singing and we were smiling. Peace.

More lakes, grassy fields and mountains in the distance.

More Henry -

Driving up a mountain, we passed an ancient church with a crowded graveyard. Henry told us that the inventor of the crossword puzzle was from Ireland and buried here. "Don't worry," he says, "You can easily find his grave to view. It's two up and six across."

One more. Whenever we've had a stop, when we get back on, Henry has to walk down the isle of the bus counting before we leave. Towards the end of one day, in a fit of frustration, he shouted out, " oh for Heavens sake, if there's anyone not here, raise your hand."

OK, the last one for today. When we stop for restrooms, it's called a comfort stop. One day people were surprised we stopped so early after breakfast, but Henry says, "If you put something in one end, you might want to take care of the other."

Higher we went with green glens, misty mountains and rushing streams. Then a house will pop up with a palm tree in the yard looking like Florida. The road was narrow and winding in a tunnel of trees and then back out with breath taking views of the sea.

Henry hustles us along to keep us ahead of other tour buses, which we all appreciate.

We stopped at Scariff Inn for lunch and a break. The view was incredible in this narrow little cafe. It felt elegant to spend time there with delicious stew and coffee.

Driving on there were more awesome views and we spotted deer. As we came into mystical, dark woodland with big old bent trees, moss covered rocks and sparkling streams, Henry told us stories of leprechauns. It looks the perfect place for them to live with all of the nooks and crannies in the trees and rocks and you could imagine feeling the magic.

This is the Ireland I pictured. I'm a happy girl.

We stopped and hiked a lovely trail to a waterfall. Killarney National Park is a beautiful place.

We came back into Killarney and road the bus in to get our laundry. At this point, we were both tired and Bob was a little queezy so we went back to the room to repack clean clothes and rest. We decided to stay in the hotel pub for dinner and met up with Bruce, Joan, Val, John and Mary for a perfect relaxed early night. We discussed religion, politics, and being homesick for our family. It was great fun, then we promptly left without paying having become used to eating with the tour.

We could only get Internet in the lobby so we decided to go back down, post the blog and check email. On the way, we ran into JoAnne who asked if we knew who had the fish and soup as they hadn't paid. We were mortified. Bob went right in and paid and covered John and Mary too. That set up a lot of teasing the next day about Bob getting stuck with the tab. In the morning, Doug said, "Good morning. Glad to see you aren't in jail." Bob finally asked on the bus if it was an Australian custom to buy a bloke a drink and then walk out sticking him for dinner." Good fun and good sports and wonderful laughter.

14. The Dingle Penninsula

Tuesday, May 29

We left Ehnis in a downpour. It cleared for a bit with the sun peaking out and we got to see the biggest rainbow I have ever seen.

We clicked pictures, but it was hard out the window through the raindrops. You could see where it came to the ground in hazy colors over a farm field. I wanted to find the pot of gold.

We took the ferry across the River Shannon in a steady rain. Bob and I got out to walk around, but it was hard to see in the wind and stinging rain. 

We went through a couple more quaint little towns and stopped in Tralee to walk through gardens, eat a pastry and have a comfort stop. There was a statue there for the Rose of Tralee. Sad Irish love story. I actually saw a Curves in Tralee and Henry pointed out a domed event center named after Dolly Parton as they love her so much.

 

The Dingle Peninsula is long and narrow and Dingle Harbor is very safe as it is sheltered by the hills.

It doesn't get the wind and is a good fishing port. We stopped there and ate their famed fish and chips and seafood chowder. We finished it up with homemade Sea Salt ice cream from Murphy's.

It is nice on this tour that we stop and walk and have comfort stops at least every two hours. Toilets as they are called here are usually quite clean and easy to find. The trouble is, when someone has a place to rent, the sign says "To Let." You tend to walk towards these signs thinking they just forgot the "i."

We left Dingle and climbed up and out onto the Peninsula. We climbed a very winding narrow road with rugged sea coast was on the left and houses and fields on the right. I am always surprised to see the occasional Palm Tree in some of the tiny little garden yards of the houses. We stopped for a magnificent view. We were high up on the hill with rocks and crashing waves below.

Henry told us we were at the farthest western end of Europe. A craftsman was there that Henry said was talented and reputable, who made necklaces from tiny stones from the area with symbols of trees that symbolized each month of the year. Bob bought me a reddish stone that had the symbol for the Holly tree which is the one for my birth month. It is a sweet remembrance that I'll cherish, a little piece of Ireland. I picked up a tiny stone on the beach at the Isle of Skye in Scotland. I'm all set for souvenirs. 

We came down into Killarney which was once just a little village by the Lakes of Killarney. Once the railway came to town in 1850 it began to develop.  They make world famous Lieberman Cranes that are exported all over the world. They have a wonderful National Park right in town that Henry says is one of the finest in the British Isles. There is a Cathedral in town with a lone Redwood standing in front as a memorial to those who died in the Potato Famine.

We arrived at a very nice Holiday Inn and everyone was in a rush to quickly sort laundry, pack it in bags and get it to the laundry. It was pouring rain so we took a taxi with three other ladies. It was a moment in time speeding through narrow, quaint streets listening to the Aussie lady English accents discussing how outrageous it was that one Launderette charged five pounds for a pair of nickers. It was like something out of a movie with scenes I must hold on to.

After dinner in the hotel, bob and I walked the mile into town to an ATM and listened to the music come out of the pubs. At one I heard the sweet Scottish ballad, "Row Lassie Row" and felt a misty homesickness for Scotland and home.

Another good day has come and gone.

13. More Like It

Monday, May 27

We started the morning driving through rich green hilly farm country with small woods of pine and beech and rivers. All of this beautiful farm country with wide open spaces is refreshing on the eyes. It reminded us of northern Michigan around Gaylord here. The houses are more modern like home, but with a tan tudor on the outside, instead of the quaint little white houses you see in pictures of Ireland.

Mixed in are lots of old ivy covered stone ruins. Towns have industrial, could be any town anywhere, outskirts, but connected brightly colored quaint shops in the town centers.

We stopped in Knock to see the beautiful Shrine to Visions. There are wells there where you can collect Holy water. There were lovely plaques, statues and gardens. It was raining when we stopped and then the sun came out and it was all misty and spiritual looking.

Henry got wound up telling us about some poor planning in Ireland and it made me think of home. Modern ugly buildings are plopped right in the middle of historic area with metal and signs every where. He used the example of the Cossacks in England as much smarter planning as they preserved and protected the atmosphere. He gets going on things like that, and we usually very much agree with him, but then he'll say, "Sorry, I'm having a little rant." I love that term and plan to use it.

We stopped in Galway for lunch and a break. We had soup in a Pub, Seafood Chowder and Potato and Leek. Their soups are great and served with a heavy brown bread. And Bob tops it off with a Guiness. This time, Henry sent us to his favorite pub that has their own special beer called Galway Hooker. He said it's the one time you can wrap your lips around a Galway Hooker and not get into trouble. We were joking that the ladies shopped for souvenirs while the men bought Hookers. Sorry, but we sure got lots of laughs out of it.

We drove on by the sea shore but climbing higher into rock strewn mountains. It was quite bumpy. Henry told us road meant "path of the cow" or cow track and this surely felt like it. Also we see Bally on the front of so many names. It means settlement and can be a cluster of buildings or a small town. One more Henry term, in his story telling, he said a lady was "mad as a bag of cats!" I love Henry's terms. Say it with an Irish accent and it's musical.

We drove along the sea with rocky fields and stopped along the cliffs on this unusual bright sunny day.

This area was called the Burrens and was absolutely beautiful. The mystical feeling was back and the ground felt good beneath my feet. Bob and I could have stayed there a while and hiked the lovely trails.

Laughing with Mary.

A little Irish way - When  looking for a wife, men thought teachers were good as they would keep you organized and help you prosper, but were bossy and wouldn't let you get away with anything. Nurses might be better as they'd take care of you as you got long in the tooth and they have warm hands.

Our next stop was the fabulous 600 foot Cliffs of Mohr. It was raining as we started hiking the trails and then once more cleared. Absolutely awesome! We soaked up all we could and, at sometimes a jog, took as many trails as we could with one view as incredible as the next.

We have seen some amazing golf courses on this trip. They are tucked in where you would never expect and look quite challenging. Greg Norman designed one right near where we were traveling.

A word about fairies - they are not the cute little Tinker Bell variety. They are full of mischief and can cause a lot of trouble and aren't always cute. There are raised places on the fields with grass covered stones that are called Fairy Forts. People go way out and around them not to disturb them. Even modern road builders, etc. will not tamper with them. Those who do run into a lot of bad luck or have accidents, so it's best to be safe.

We headed into West Clare County with small farms, bog land, and small woods. This is clean north country and so much more like I'd pictured Ireland.

We stopped for the night in the sweet little town of Ehnis.  We freshened up and headed out for our evening at  Bunratty Castle, a restored castle used to give tourists a taste of medieval times. It was in a lovely garden setting with workers dressed the part. Climbing steep steps to a gathering room where we were served Meade ( a honey wine) and entertained with harp and fiddle. The furnishings were incredible with tapestries from 1400's. We then went up to the dinning room and were given only knives to eat with ribs and vegetables while a chosen lord and lady presided and made us laugh. The waiters and waitresses then entertained us singing beautiful Irish ballads. Danny Boy made all of the ladies shed a few tears. It was a great fun evening.

Even the drive through the countryside was grand. We were content.