Home at last!

First, let me repeat,a FANTASTIC trip all around, until we arrived at the Dublin airport yesterday to head home.

OMG air travel today is painful enough without throwing in an errupting volcano! It was a two day journey to get home. We were supposed to leave Dublin at 10:30 yesterday but our flight was delayed two hours until 12:30. They boarded us for the 12:30 and then informed us there were more delays, possibly up to two hours to get a flight path and space to take off, but that to be ready at a moment's notice we had to stay on the plane. Two hours of sitting at the gate later, and one loss to Chuck at Rummy 500, we took off. The flight was 9:40 instead of 7:40 because they were routing planes up over Iceland and Greenland and back down to avoid the ash cloud. 11+ hours on the plane we arrived in Atlanta but has missed both evening flights to Portland. Side note movie review: they played several movies on the plane to entertain us. Dear John (cheesy!). The Blind Side (very good). The Day the Earth Stood Still (minus 50 IQ points).

We stayed in the notel motel (Quality Inn) courtesy of Delta. Flew home this morning on a 8:30 flight. Tired but glad to be home.

Galway to Dublin

We drove from Galway to Dublin today - about two and a half hours on good highway. Found the rental return right away and took the bus back to Trinity College area and the Brooks hotel. We were in Dublin a Sun-Tues last time and it was nothing like today. It is sunny and there are people everywhere - you can barely walk down Grafton Street right now. We are taking it easy and on volcano watch as flights are being delayed and canceled due to the ash cloud again.
All in all a fantastic trip. You could not meet nicer people or see more gorgeous scenery. We are getting a little tired of meat, specifically bacon (ham to us), and potatoes in every form you can imagine. And I have two weeks of very dirty clothes! Time to go home tomorrow, volcano willing.

Aran Islands - Inishmaan

Planes, trains and automobiles... no... buses, ferries and feet, yes! Today we took the ferry to Inishmaan, one of the three Aran Islands off the West coast of Ireland in the North Atlantic. Who knew the ferry terminal was actually 30-45 min out of Galway and required a bus ride (Chuck made me ride in the top of a double decker bus - another story!) before the 45 minute ferry ride? After our two hour bus and ferry ride we arrived at Inishmaan, which is the middle island in size but the least populated and the least visited - so as you can imagine, Chuck chose that one to visit. Inishmore is the most visited and the most populated and has started catering to the tourists as much as a small island can. So back to Inishmaan... all you can see are rock walls going everywhere sectioning off the land into small parcels we think they use to move the cows and sheep around for grazing. It was sunny but windy and cold as there is nothing to protect you - the entire island is a pile of rocks. So we walk, and walk, and walk. We finally come upon one of the three or so ruins, Synge's Chair, which is supposed to be the spot the author and playwright JM Synge found inspiration in his summers on Inishmaan. A pile of rocks. Chuck liked it as it was right on the cliff looking across at Inishmore cliffs so he went down the rock piles to the edge - scarring the shit out of me. We came accross a local giving a tour to a group of Swiss tourists so we listed for a bit getting some history of the 130 people who still live on the rock pile, I mean island. And we walk, and walk, and walk. We pass what we think is the only pub on the island that doesn't look open and head on up to the ruins of a 7th century fort. A pile of rocks. We walk and walk, back to the pub and it is indeed open - yes! We see some people from Dublin who we talked to on the ferry and have a pint while chatting with them. Everyone on the island speaks Gaelic but the bartender spoke enough English to hook us up with the pints and a ham and cheese sandwhich. Thankfully as the return ferry did not come until 4:30 and we were tired of walking and hungy. We did not get back to Galway until 7:00 - a very long day. I thought it was interesting to see the islands and how people are still living but it was a long tour to see a pile of rocks. Chuck of course loved it - no people and a pile of rocks! We ate a quick dinner at Garvey's Pub and are crashing early - back to Dublin tomorrow.

Galway City

After a two+ hour walk around Galway City we think we have seen all there is to see here... not as many sights as other places we have been. We walked to the Spanish Arch - not very exciting and Lynch's Castle in now a bank. The big draw seems to be the pub scene and the ferry to the Aran Islands, which we are doing tomorrow. After yesterday's all day drive I could use a down afternoon anyway. The typical tour route in Ireland takes you aniticlockwise ( as they say here) starting in Galway and moving in the opposite direction we have gone. Perhaps that is why Galway is anticlimactic for us. Looking forward to the Aran Islands tomorrow.

Killarney to Galway via Tarbert Ferry to County Clare and the Cliffs of Moher

Weather: Light rain/mist, cloudy and very foggy in some places. A good day to be in the car? Maybe, but we were in the car for a VERY long time today. We decided to make the most of our time in Galway and get there in one day instead of breaking the drive in Ennis for one night. The drive up to Talbert took about an hour and a half and we waited about 30 minutes for the 20 minute Ferry ride over to County Clare. Ferry's are cool and we enjoyed the ride. Continuing on North we took the road that follows the coastline up to Galway. A few towns, if you can call some of them towns, later we stopped in Milltown Malbay at some crusty pub for lunch. The bartender and one local, who we could not understand and gave the young chicken a run, had a TV on where we learned the volcanic ash was causing some airport closures again. Our friend Victor!
We finally made it to the Cliffs of Moher, which Lonely Planet described as something like a tourist circus on its best day, but we decided it is a one time must see. Not sure it is worth it. The cliffs are big and fairly spectacular but places on the Oregon Coast as well as in other countries I am sure are just as nice. The parking lot is HUGE and full of tour buses, the entire place is paved sidewalks, gift shops in the side of the hill, a cafeteria. The views were good but they keep you way back from the edge (probably with good reason). The fog was rolling in so we did not stay long.
Here is my plug for making this drive... if you continue North on the coastal road from Cliffs of Moher you are in for a treat, a twisty, bumpy ride, but a treat. The coastal views of the North Atlantic are fantastic in some places and driving through the Burren (limestone landscape butting up to the ocean) is not to be missed. These views rival the Ring of Kerry.
The rest of the drive into Galway is SLOW and we finally made it to the hotel around 5:30 after a few traffic snafus in the city. A long day! We ate in the hotel bar and are going to bed. Exploring Galway tomorrow.

Ring of Kerry

Today we got up early (well, early for this vacation!) and headed out of town around 8:30 to drive the Ring of Kerry. We were hoping an early start would put us ahead of the tour buses, and for the most part it worked. We saw a few but they were mainly behind us and it is not high season here yet. A bit past Killorglin we pulled into the Kerry Bog Museum. Looked slight cheesy and definitely touristy but our book said it was worth a "quick" stop so we did. Cheesy and touristy and smelled like burning peat (duh - bog). Chuck did like the Kerry Bog Ponies. We left quickly when a tour bus pulled in. Kind of interesting but one thing on which I would have to disagree with Lonely Planet.
Continuing on we had some fantastic views of the Bay of Dingle and the Dingle Peninsula to the North. After driving through some very small towns and alternating hugging coast with inland views of mountains and valleys we made it around to Waterville on the Southwestern tip - fantastic views again coming down into Waterville. BUT, and to agree with Lonely Planet here, the entire drive is worth your time to see the scenery/views between Waterville and Catherdaniel. This is where many postcard views come from and they do not do it justice. You leave Waterville and come up a hill and round the corner and there is the Atlantic as far as you can see dotted close to the shore with the Skelligs (rock islands). We stopped a the viewpoint for further inspection. To the left you can see down the bay/mouth of the Kenmare river and the green fields, cows and occasional house lining the shores. The Atlantic is truly phenomenal. After pulling ourselves away (it was cold and windy) we stopped in the town of Sneem for lunch as it was after 1:00 by now. Nothing to write home about - again touristy (this is the Ring of Kerry) and a large group of French tourists milling about.
We headed home and grabbed a pint at Dan Linchins in Killarney where we (mostly Chuck) talked hiking and climbing with the bartender, Trish, a local.
Great dinner later on at Bricin, also a good Lonely Planet recommendation.

Ross Castle, Killarney National Park

Weather: Cool, breezy, cloudy with sun breaks.

Did I mention my husband likes to walk? Today we walked into another part of Killarney National park to see the gardens and go on to Ross Castle. After a beautiful two mile walk with the Mountains in the background behind the fields and trees we made it to Ross Castle on the edge of the lower lake. Ducks and swans in the inslet, very picturesque scene. We decided to wait 30 minutes until the next guided tour started, which turned out to be a good idea as the tour was very interesting and informative. Built in the 15th century by/for an Irish Cheftain, it is a typical "towerhouse" designed and built to keep intruders out. We learned some interesting design details like why the stairs always go up in a clockwise direction (most people are right handed so when you are coming down the staircase you have more room to swing your sword around the outside of a corner).

Muckross House & Gardens, Killarney National Park

Weather: Cool, chilly, breezy, cloudy.

Anyone who knows my husband knows he likes to walk, and walk, and walk...

Slept in a bit today and after breakfast at the hotel we decided to walk into Killarney National Park. Come to find out it is a 5k (3 mile) walk down the Kerry Way to the part of the park we wanted to see - Muckross House/Estate & gardens, Torc waterfall. Feeling tired of walking already we made it to Muckross estate and bought tickets for the house tour. The guided tour was excellent (50 min) and gave a lot of history not only of the family that built the estate in the 1800s, but of Queen Victoria's visit to Muckross later in the century, and of Killarney. Well worth it! After the house tour we walked around the gardens and then another mile and a half to the Torc waterfall, also well worth it. Back to the house areas for lunch and then walk back to town. More than 10 miles total we figured. Time for a pint at a local pub . We came upon this place after the main pubs were full... very crusty, old and local and everyone speaking Gaelic (Irish). Evidently the owner knows Irish people who went to Oregon to sheep farm!

Cork to Killarney

After a last, insanely HUGE, breakfast at Garnish House, we left Cork (and the loud Italian group at our guesthouse) and headed for the famous Blarney Castle en route to Killarney, County Kerry. On our walk to checkout we saw a guy pull his car to a stop in the middle of a main street in Cork and put on flashers... broken down? Lost? No, stopped in the middle of the street to light a cig. We made it with no trouble at all - Chuck is getting very good navigating here and driving on the left, though still having trouble shifting with the left hand. Blarney Castle and especially the grounds are very beautiful. The whole thing is of course touristy but we managed to tour it in the morning on a not busy day. The extremely narrow stairway up to the top freaked me out but Chuck liked it as it felt just like rock climbing! Views from the top are amazing and we took some great pictures. We managed to stay relatively dry ducking the intermittent rain showers in the castle and under trees.
Beautiful drive through the countryside to Killarney. Traffic backed up into Killarney as this weekend is an Irish Bank Holiday (three day weekend) and the car rally is in town. After checking in to the Fairview Killarney we headed across the street to Murphy's Pub for a drink. All the locals watching rugby on TV, which we do not understand. Everyone starts cheering, so I do the same. Felt like Julia Robert's character in Pretty Woman when she is at the polo match, clueless, but when the spectators cheer she pumps her fist and yells "rah, rah, rah".
Dinner at an Indian restuarant and off to rest. Killarney National Park tomorrow.

day trip to Cobh

Woke up and ate an obscene breakfast at the Garnish House - scones, porridge, fruit, bacon, sausage, pudding, eggs, coffee, juice, and then they asked if we wanted pancakes. The Irish really like to eat a big breakfast! Over breakfast we decided to head out to Cobh to checkout the museum there which had been recommended by a couple of people we've talked to. On our way there we walked through the English Market which is like a Pike's Place market on steroids - lots of fresh produce, meats, poultry, fish, flowers, etc.

The train to Cobh was an easy 26 minute ride which we ran to catch at the last minute. The Cobh Heritage Museum is mostly about the mass exodus of Irish during the potato famines of the late 1840s and the ships that took them there, Cobh being the main port for ships to and from the US. The museum also had exhibits on the making of the Titanic, the sinking of the Lusitania, the contest between the various ship lines to make bigger, faster, more luxurious cruise ships and what it was like to travel on them.

After spending 90 minutes or so in the museum we stopped into local pub Kelly's for a pint before checking out the rest of the town. Cobh is built on a hillside so we got an extra workout going up and down the streets, some rivaling the streets of San Francisco. The center of Cobh is dominated by St Colman's cathedral.

While were wandering around Cobh a huge cruise ship pulled into port and was getting ready to dock. Having experienced the mass unloading of cruise ship people in Mexico we were quick to decide it was time to leave and ran for the train back to Cork.

That night we had dinner at Boqueria followed by a couple of pints and some traditional Irish music at Sin E, recommended by both our guidebook and our buddy Dave from the previous day.

Enniskerry to Cork

After checkout from Summerhill House we drove to Cork - not a direct path. Back up towards Dublin to catch the correct road/highway. Smooth sailing for a couple of hours, with a detour in Cashel, County Tipperary, for lunch at Feehans Pub. Honey chicken salad - yum! The fun really started when we hit Cork City and the three lane traffic circles. After going wrong direction in two of them we course corrected and finally made it to the Garnish House. Chuck was crispy from the city navigating and driving but they offered tea and biscuts (scones) on arrival and the baked goods set him right.
After settling in we roamed around Cork City to get the lay of the land and stoped for a pint at Cavanaghs pub. This is where the day got really interesting. The pub was pretty empty but the bartender was friendly, though seemed a bit spacey, and after serving Chuck's Murphys and my wine he got chatty. His name was Dave and he was not the bartender. He was a local regular, friend of the owners (admittedly drunk) and just filling in while the real bartender on duty was making sandwhichs in the back for - get this - two other Americans that happened into the pub. We have seen little to no other Amercians this whole trip. So we talk to Dave and he decides we are ok (for Americans). He has never been to the US and really does not know where Portland is so we talk more and he does the usual - asks about Obama and health reform. In the meantime he takes our city maps and gives up recommendations for pubs and restuarants that only locals would go to. Then the other two Americans come over to chat - LET ME JUST SAY THIS - they are from Orlando and work at the Hard Rock Cafe. We distance ourselves immediately and leave to go to dinner. We find out that the owners bought our drinks - very nice!!!
Dave recommended several places but we settled on an Irish version of a tapas bar called An Cruibin, which was excellent. The bartender reminded us of Agidor Sparticus from the birdcage, but he was Spanish and not Guatemelean. Toward the end of dinner some local artists collected and played some random pick up music. Great evening.

daytrip to Glendalough, County Wicklow

Chuck decided I needed to try my hand at driving after his trauma yesterday. After a few spins around the parking lot we were off down the left side! It was mostly a quiet country road drive down to Glendalough in the Wicklow National Park so we made it just fine. Three hour hike around the park with beautiful views of the two lakes. Going up to one viewpoint we came along a group of hikers we thought were local but then I heard some Spanish interspersed with the Irish accent English... hmmm. We heard them talking about how you never know what language to greet people in since there are so many visitors in Ireland. When we passed the man said "buenas dias" (trying to be funny?) so I said "benuas dias, como estas? Tienes un buen dia". Who knew Spanish would come in handy in Ireland. We kept going but ended up chatting with that group at the view point. Local walking club who also happen to be language enthusiasts and they practice speaking Spanish and German while they walk. Great hike and interesting people.
We had a late lunch in the town of Larough before taking a sceneic drive back over Sally Gap (Chuck driving).
We had dinner at the hotel - just us as most of the guests are here for a wedding... and they partied all night! The hotel comped our dinner and wine on checkout - we think due to the wedding party noise.

Dublin to Enniskerry

Happy birthday grandma EH!!!
Waiting for Avis rental car shuttle, Connor (concierge at Brooks) gave us recommendations for our journey; go to city of Cobh in County Cork to see the Heritage Center and to go to Aaran Islands off of Galway. Picked up rental car... stick shift, opposite side of car and driving on left sided of road. It was a little hairy getting out We went down a side road and couldn't figure out how to put the car in reverse (pull the ring up and shift). After great trauma to Chuck driving we made it to Enniskerry in County Wicklow.
After check in we walked 20 min or so to the Powerscourt Estate to tour gardens (and we thought) the estate house. Evidently the estate has been turned into a tourist shopping mecca (disappointingly) but we toured the gardens, which were very beautiful. We walked into Enniskerry town and ventured into a local pub called Nancy Murphy's. All locals watching horse racing (and betting) on TV. After a pint and trying not to seem out of place (very thick accents and no idea what they were talking about) an older man came in and was so gregarious, talking, giving flak to everyone in the place; we chatted with him for a pint or two and left very amused.

wanderings around Dublin

Time change sucks! Woke up at 3:30 and then tried to sleep off and on until maybe 6:00. I had my first go with the in-room "kettle" to make coffee/tea, housed in the pull out butler in the closet next to the trouser press. Success so Chuck was able to get up. Since breakfast comes with every hotel/guest house/B&B stay here, we headed to the dining room. Breakfast is HUGE in Ireland and there is a large continental buffet and then you can order off the hot menu. Chuck had the traditional Irish breakfast (eggs, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, tomato and blood pudding).
Walked to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells exhibit and the old library called Long Hall. The Book of Kells exhibit is excellent - so much history of the early monks in Ireland and of process to create the book. The library is amazing as well - well worth the 7 Euro per person.
Strolled through St. Stephen's Green, a beautiful city park, and walked around Merion Square area, which houses many government buildings, solicitors' offices and a park with a creepy statue of Oscar Wilde.
Stopped in Toner's Pub (crusty rusty) for a pint and lunch. Completely traditional and old school. Toured the national art gallery after lunch - worth the trip. Stopped at another old school traditional Dublin pub full of regulars called Crogan's Castle where several amusing things were overheard... "Hello Tommy, hello Jimmy, hello Danny". Made me think of the scene in Good Will Hunting where Will lists off his 10/12 brothers to Skyler.
Dinner at Clarendon bar - Chuck says excellent bangers and mash. Great second day.

Kerry's birthday in Dublin, Ireland!

Arrived in Dublin from Portland via Atlanta around 8:30 am. Quick and easy pass through immigration and customs - out front door and on the blue bus - 15 min to Trinity College stop and a five minute walk to the hotel. A smooth arrival. Brooks Hotel very accommodating, greeted by Connor (concierge/bellhop) and Lisa (front desk who re-booked our stay for us due to volcano). Great hotel, comfortable room and excellent staff and service.
After freshening up we walked across town about 20 min (one stop hiding from downpour) to the Guinness Storehouse, which at 15 Euro per person is a bit pricey and touristy. I couldn't bring myself to buy anything at the large gift shop but the tour is interesting and the pint on the 7th floor Gravity Bar (especially with a break in the clouds/rain), gave us fantastic views and a chance to listen to the many languages of visitors enjoying their pints to the sound of Michael Jackson and other 80s American music.
After the walk back and a well needed nap (rough go the first day from red eye and 8 hour time change) we headed to the Old Stand Pub at Gerard's (from desk) recommendation. We were in for a treat when we sat at the bar and started talking to a local, Danny, who was about 75 and at no loss to chat, ask questions or give his opinion on the state of affairs in Ireland and the US (gave thanks for voting Obama into office). After chatting for awhile and exchanging names Danny said, "Kerry, look at ya, you're a paddy".
We followed up with dinner at Jewel in the Crown, an Indian restaurant up the street. Excellent food. We ended the evening with a drink at the hotel bar where Ruthie had a cheesecake sent to our room for a surprise dessert. All in all a great birthday!