Today was a lazy day.
Got up around 8am, watched TV for a bit, hung out with the family, read a book. This afternoon we drove to Tralee to have dinner in Muenster's Pub. Every year there is a pageant in Ireland, and the United States called the "Rose of Tralee Festival" You can read more about the festival here: http://roseoftralee.ie/ My sister Shoshana participated in the festival for several years in the Dallas regional competition. The winner from each region gets to compete in the international festival in Tralee, Ireland. Though she never won, she made some great friends through the festival, and one of her goals during our stay here was to go to Tralee and eat in the pub that hosts some of the participants.
It was great. We got to meet the owner John O'Sullivan and had a great time talking to him.
Came back to our Villa and some of us shared a bottle of Mead. It's a honey-based wine, very good.
Tomorrow is our last full day here in Ireland. :(
As always there are photos, though not many today since we didn't really get out.
https://plus.google.com/photos/101108978688444895068/albums/5814897493524023265
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Ireland Trip Day 4
Yo! Woke up at a decent time this morning, though we did get a bit of a late start because of Mythbusters on TV during breakfast. (My fault :D).
It got cold last night, everything was frosty this morning, but it warmed up after an hour or so.
We first went to Blarney Castle, Blarney, which is about 8 miles from Cork. It was a bit of a drive but the scenery like everywhere else in Ireland is beautiful. The Blarney stone is said to gift eloquence to whoever kisses it. What they don't tell you is that it is at the very top of the Blarney Castle, which sits on top of a decent hill. On the approach to the castle, there is a lot to see. There is a cave that the defenders used to escape the castle one time during a siege. We went a pretty good ways into the cave, it's very tight and pretty cool.
After climbing the hill to the castle proper, you proceed inside and begin to climb. Another windy spiral staircase going up about 6 or 7 floors, and it get's tighter and steeper the higher you climb. You reach the very top, and are looking out over the parapets, where the view is breathtaking. After walking halfway around the top you come to a couple of guys sitting with their legs dangling over the edge of the parapet. The Blarney stone is the bottom stone from the outer edge of the parapet. In order to kiss it, you sit down with your back to the stone. then you lay down and grab these two metal bars with your hands. One of the guys sitting there then grabs your legs so that you don't fall down through hole to the ground. After you take hold of the bars, you slide backwards, and head down about 2 maybe 3 feet, then lean out and brush your lips to the very bottom stone. It's over in seconds, but it's worth the effort.
Climb back down and pick-up our certificates and photos that prove we kissed the stone.
Next stop, the Drombeg Standing stones, which is near Glandore, on the southern coast of Ireland. The stones date from 945-830 BC. It was very cool, seeing such history.
Side note, while driving to there from Blarney, we passed through a town that is celebrating 600 years of existence. Wow!
From there we started making our way back to Adare, but we took a different route through some beautiful land, and a national forest.
I am so blessed to have been able to make this trip. It has been amazing!
It got cold last night, everything was frosty this morning, but it warmed up after an hour or so.
We first went to Blarney Castle, Blarney, which is about 8 miles from Cork. It was a bit of a drive but the scenery like everywhere else in Ireland is beautiful. The Blarney stone is said to gift eloquence to whoever kisses it. What they don't tell you is that it is at the very top of the Blarney Castle, which sits on top of a decent hill. On the approach to the castle, there is a lot to see. There is a cave that the defenders used to escape the castle one time during a siege. We went a pretty good ways into the cave, it's very tight and pretty cool.
After climbing the hill to the castle proper, you proceed inside and begin to climb. Another windy spiral staircase going up about 6 or 7 floors, and it get's tighter and steeper the higher you climb. You reach the very top, and are looking out over the parapets, where the view is breathtaking. After walking halfway around the top you come to a couple of guys sitting with their legs dangling over the edge of the parapet. The Blarney stone is the bottom stone from the outer edge of the parapet. In order to kiss it, you sit down with your back to the stone. then you lay down and grab these two metal bars with your hands. One of the guys sitting there then grabs your legs so that you don't fall down through hole to the ground. After you take hold of the bars, you slide backwards, and head down about 2 maybe 3 feet, then lean out and brush your lips to the very bottom stone. It's over in seconds, but it's worth the effort.
Climb back down and pick-up our certificates and photos that prove we kissed the stone.
Next stop, the Drombeg Standing stones, which is near Glandore, on the southern coast of Ireland. The stones date from 945-830 BC. It was very cool, seeing such history.
Side note, while driving to there from Blarney, we passed through a town that is celebrating 600 years of existence. Wow!
From there we started making our way back to Adare, but we took a different route through some beautiful land, and a national forest.
I am so blessed to have been able to make this trip. It has been amazing!
Ireland Day 3
Slept in a bit. Got ready. Had Breakfast.
Today we are heading to the Cliffs of Moher, should be good. It's about a 30-45 minute drive or so on the southwest edge of the Burren region in the county Clare of Ireland. Dad still was not feeling good, so he did not come with us today.
Wow, the scenery is beautiful! Little towns and even tinier roads. We came around this hill and there was a bay, big waves washing in from the ocean. We found a small pier and stopped to walk around and take a few photos. It was very wet, when the waves would hit the pier, they would splash over the top. Very windy and chilly also. Heading on.
We reached the visitors center for the Cliff of Moher. Parked and we were ready for quite a bit of walking. It was a hike.
Walking up to the cliffs, is like walking up to the edge of the world. They are sheer drops, of about 120 meters (390 feet) down to the Atlantic ocean. Since there was quite a bit of swell, there were some impressive waves crashing into the cliffs. The wind driving in off of the ocean, drives the spray up the cliffs in a reverse rainfall. It was very cool. I got a video of the spray just as the sun came out so I got a pretty rainbow. There is a tower called O'brien's Tower up the cliffs. From there you can see the Aran islands off in the distance. It was very impressive. It's definitely worth a trip out to see.
Heading back we stopped at the Bunratty Castle. It is the most complete castle in all of Ireland. And it was impressive. There is a small village setup on the castle grounds to show what it might have been like living there at the time the castle was built. There were soo many floors, 3 great halls stacked one on top of another. Tiny and very steep stairways. I went down some steps to one of the dungeons, and I barely fit through the doorway. I have some videos which I hope convey the tightness and steepness of the stairs. Climbing to the top, and walking out on the parapets was breathtaking. And not just because of the steps, the view was amazing. Climbing around, seeing the different rooms and bedrooms, pantry, kitchen, servants quarters. It's hard to imagine what it would be like to live there.
Heading back to the Villas. It's been a great day seeing everything. Time for dinner at Aunty Lena's pub in Adare.
Tomorrow looks like The Blarney castle and stone, and visiting Tralee.
*edit* photos and videos are not done uploading yet, I'll add a link when they are done, most likely tomorrow afternoon.
Today we are heading to the Cliffs of Moher, should be good. It's about a 30-45 minute drive or so on the southwest edge of the Burren region in the county Clare of Ireland. Dad still was not feeling good, so he did not come with us today.
Wow, the scenery is beautiful! Little towns and even tinier roads. We came around this hill and there was a bay, big waves washing in from the ocean. We found a small pier and stopped to walk around and take a few photos. It was very wet, when the waves would hit the pier, they would splash over the top. Very windy and chilly also. Heading on.
We reached the visitors center for the Cliff of Moher. Parked and we were ready for quite a bit of walking. It was a hike.
Walking up to the cliffs, is like walking up to the edge of the world. They are sheer drops, of about 120 meters (390 feet) down to the Atlantic ocean. Since there was quite a bit of swell, there were some impressive waves crashing into the cliffs. The wind driving in off of the ocean, drives the spray up the cliffs in a reverse rainfall. It was very cool. I got a video of the spray just as the sun came out so I got a pretty rainbow. There is a tower called O'brien's Tower up the cliffs. From there you can see the Aran islands off in the distance. It was very impressive. It's definitely worth a trip out to see.
Heading back we stopped at the Bunratty Castle. It is the most complete castle in all of Ireland. And it was impressive. There is a small village setup on the castle grounds to show what it might have been like living there at the time the castle was built. There were soo many floors, 3 great halls stacked one on top of another. Tiny and very steep stairways. I went down some steps to one of the dungeons, and I barely fit through the doorway. I have some videos which I hope convey the tightness and steepness of the stairs. Climbing to the top, and walking out on the parapets was breathtaking. And not just because of the steps, the view was amazing. Climbing around, seeing the different rooms and bedrooms, pantry, kitchen, servants quarters. It's hard to imagine what it would be like to live there.
Heading back to the Villas. It's been a great day seeing everything. Time for dinner at Aunty Lena's pub in Adare.
Tomorrow looks like The Blarney castle and stone, and visiting Tralee.
*edit* photos and videos are not done uploading yet, I'll add a link when they are done, most likely tomorrow afternoon.
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Ireland Day 2
Woke up at 7 am this morning. Not too early, or so I thought anyway. Showered, dressed for the day, ate breakfast, you know, the usual morning routine. No one else was up yet, so I did some exploring.
Took a few photos outside the Villa we are staying in. It was a nice and chilly morning, bit overcast, and windy too. I went up to the Manor, and wow, it was incredible. It's huge! The Adare Manor is described as a Calendar House, which means that there are 365 windows, each one depicting a day of the year, there are windows depicting the days of the week. There are more details to see the more you look. I walked around the inside and out for a bit.
Back at the Villa, people are finally stirring...Some slept for about 14 hours last night. First order of business, we headed to Waterford to the Waterford Crystal Factory. Before we headed out, we found out that the Manor was having a 5 course Thanksgiving dinner tonight, so we stopped and put in our reservation for 6:30 pm.
I got to drive today, and I must say it was interesting to say the least. It was actually not to difficult, and I got used to being on the left side pretty quickly. Shifting left handed was different as well.
We got to see some very interesting country. The houses are each one unique, and most are works of art as well. There is so much character in each house and building here. Waterford is about 114km from Adare. Actually driving it was about a 2 hour drive.
Tipperary was the first big-ish city we drove through, and it was challenging. People park on the sidewalk, just because there is no room on the street, and even then I'm swerving back and forth to the oncoming traffic lane. At one point I was up on the sidewalk myself to get by.
Ate lunch in a small town, I had a Battered Burger meal, with chips, and a drink. The patty was battered in the same batter the store used for their fish. Huge chips(fries) with salt and vinegar. Quite tasty to be honest. It called itself a burger, but there was no bun, unless you can count the breading as a type of bread..,.jury is still out on that one.
Waterford is situated on a river, and the crystal factory is just off of downtown along the river as well. It was some beautiful glass there. The factory shutdown and no longer produces the Famous Waterford Crystal, but some of the artisans that worked there have formed their own company to keep the glass-blowing skill and tradition alive. Did a bit of shopping, got a perfect gift for my brother. :D Cant say yet what it is in case he is reading this.
Time to head back to make our reservation.
6:30
Unfortunately, my dad was not feeling well when we got back so he was unable to join us for the dinner. The meal, was amazing. Worth every penny. First course was a Adare Manor Caesar Salad with Crispy Cajun Chicken. Heavenly. Second course was Roast pumpkin soup, with Parmesan and paprika croutons. Amazing. Main course was Roast Turkey Crown, Herb stuffing, creamed potatoes, Sprouts and Chestnuts, Buttered Corn, Red Wine Jus. Desert was Sticky Date Cake with Caramelized Banana Mousse, Coco Nib Ice Cream. Last was Coffee with Petit Fours. Wow I paced myself and was still stuffed afterword, gonna need quite a bit of extra walking to make up for this trip.
Last of the evening we headed back to Pat Collin's pub, to have a pint of Guinness and watch the Cowboys get beat. Side note, the Guinness was soooo much better than the Guinness I've had at home. It was smooth, and very good flavor. I understand that the process of shipping it, and the time delay cause a bitterness in the beer.
All in all a great day today. I hope you all have had a great and awesome Thanksgiving day with your friends and family today.
Here are the pics!
https://plus.google.com/photos/101108978688444895068/albums/5813817120015283409
Took a few photos outside the Villa we are staying in. It was a nice and chilly morning, bit overcast, and windy too. I went up to the Manor, and wow, it was incredible. It's huge! The Adare Manor is described as a Calendar House, which means that there are 365 windows, each one depicting a day of the year, there are windows depicting the days of the week. There are more details to see the more you look. I walked around the inside and out for a bit.
Back at the Villa, people are finally stirring...Some slept for about 14 hours last night. First order of business, we headed to Waterford to the Waterford Crystal Factory. Before we headed out, we found out that the Manor was having a 5 course Thanksgiving dinner tonight, so we stopped and put in our reservation for 6:30 pm.
I got to drive today, and I must say it was interesting to say the least. It was actually not to difficult, and I got used to being on the left side pretty quickly. Shifting left handed was different as well.
We got to see some very interesting country. The houses are each one unique, and most are works of art as well. There is so much character in each house and building here. Waterford is about 114km from Adare. Actually driving it was about a 2 hour drive.
Tipperary was the first big-ish city we drove through, and it was challenging. People park on the sidewalk, just because there is no room on the street, and even then I'm swerving back and forth to the oncoming traffic lane. At one point I was up on the sidewalk myself to get by.
Ate lunch in a small town, I had a Battered Burger meal, with chips, and a drink. The patty was battered in the same batter the store used for their fish. Huge chips(fries) with salt and vinegar. Quite tasty to be honest. It called itself a burger, but there was no bun, unless you can count the breading as a type of bread..,.jury is still out on that one.
Waterford is situated on a river, and the crystal factory is just off of downtown along the river as well. It was some beautiful glass there. The factory shutdown and no longer produces the Famous Waterford Crystal, but some of the artisans that worked there have formed their own company to keep the glass-blowing skill and tradition alive. Did a bit of shopping, got a perfect gift for my brother. :D Cant say yet what it is in case he is reading this.
Time to head back to make our reservation.
6:30
Unfortunately, my dad was not feeling well when we got back so he was unable to join us for the dinner. The meal, was amazing. Worth every penny. First course was a Adare Manor Caesar Salad with Crispy Cajun Chicken. Heavenly. Second course was Roast pumpkin soup, with Parmesan and paprika croutons. Amazing. Main course was Roast Turkey Crown, Herb stuffing, creamed potatoes, Sprouts and Chestnuts, Buttered Corn, Red Wine Jus. Desert was Sticky Date Cake with Caramelized Banana Mousse, Coco Nib Ice Cream. Last was Coffee with Petit Fours. Wow I paced myself and was still stuffed afterword, gonna need quite a bit of extra walking to make up for this trip.
Last of the evening we headed back to Pat Collin's pub, to have a pint of Guinness and watch the Cowboys get beat. Side note, the Guinness was soooo much better than the Guinness I've had at home. It was smooth, and very good flavor. I understand that the process of shipping it, and the time delay cause a bitterness in the beer.
All in all a great day today. I hope you all have had a great and awesome Thanksgiving day with your friends and family today.
Here are the pics!
https://plus.google.com/photos/101108978688444895068/albums/5813817120015283409
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Ireland Day 1
Woke up at 6am in Bedford, Tx on Tuesday morning. Left for the airport by 7am to catch our first leg of our journey to Ireland. First stop, Chicago. We landed in Chicago a little after noon, collected our bags and found out we would have to wait until 3:45pm to be able to re-check them in for our Ireland flight. So got to spend some time hanging out in the international concourse, ate some deep dish pizza from Uno's.
Yumm!
We didn't actually start boarding our Aer Lingus plane until about 8:30 pm. The plane was huge! It's an Air Bus 300. We had 8 seats per row, 2-4-2, the dashes are the isles. It was a bit cramped for me with my legs, but not too bad. Dinner on the plane was decent, so was breakfast. It was a good flight, very little turbulence, and most of that not until we were descending into Dublin to land.
Ireland!
Customs was a breeze, the Garda agent I talked to was not very talkative, but polite. We originally had a two car rental for our trip, but after talking to the rental agent, we got bumped into a mini-van instead. It worked out much better, we could all ride together, and save on fuel as well.
Let's see, it was about 40-50 degrees Fahrenheit when we stepped out of the terminal, but it was beautiful out, bright and sunny.
Ireland is green! Everywhere it's green! After one look it's easy to see why Ireland is known as the "Emerald Isle" Ireland enjoys a temperate maritime climate, due mainly to its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean and the presence of the Gulf Stream. This also means that it gets a lot of rain as well.
The drive from Dublin to Adare was about 211 km, or about 131 miles.
Navigating for my sister as she took the first turn driving on the wrong side of the road in a mini-van with a manual stick shift left-handed was interesting. We have a new key mantra while driving....stay in the left lane....stay in the left lane.....stay in the left lane...Round-a-bouts are another added layer of challenge. There are a million round-a-bouts here. I think there are probably more round-a-bouts that people here, though I could be wrong. :D
We drove through some beautiful country. Actually that is an understatement really, Ireland is absolutely beautiful. I know I've used that word a lot but it fits. Ireland has a long and rich history, it's been cultivated for a very long time. Farms, low stone walls, very dense forests between farms, the ruins of towers, buildings and castles. There is a lot of history here.
We stopped once about halfway for a rest, caffeine and snacks. We arrived in Adare around 11 am local time. Btw, Ireland is 6 hours ahead of central time. The Manor where we are staying is amazing! The grounds here are beautiful! We have not even made it to the Manor House itself yet. The villas we are staying in are in another part of the grounds. After checking in, negotiating for who gets which room, I got the one I wanted, we decided to do a bit of exploring.
The manor grounds butt right up against Adare, so we were able to park in the grounds, and walk through a small gate right into town. I have pics of some of the thatched-roof shops, and some of the local buildings, and even a local church. There is a park right in the town, but the weather started to get wet, and colder so we didn't linger there. Did some shopping in a local store, then hit up Collin's pub just across the street from the town hall.
The food was amazing! I had the Pat Collins Burger. It came with bacon, chips(french fries to us Americans), a special sauce, a small salad with raspberry vinaigrette dressing, and a very unusual cole-slaw, that was not sweet like I'm used to, but it was a great compliment to the rest of my meal. Everyone agreed that the food was very very good.
It's been a very long day for us, looks like we are turning in very early here this evening. Photos are up, follow the link below to my album. I'll be posting pics and videos.
https://plus.google.com/photos/101108978688444895068/albums/5813374502151102753
Yumm!
We didn't actually start boarding our Aer Lingus plane until about 8:30 pm. The plane was huge! It's an Air Bus 300. We had 8 seats per row, 2-4-2, the dashes are the isles. It was a bit cramped for me with my legs, but not too bad. Dinner on the plane was decent, so was breakfast. It was a good flight, very little turbulence, and most of that not until we were descending into Dublin to land.
Ireland!
Customs was a breeze, the Garda agent I talked to was not very talkative, but polite. We originally had a two car rental for our trip, but after talking to the rental agent, we got bumped into a mini-van instead. It worked out much better, we could all ride together, and save on fuel as well.
Let's see, it was about 40-50 degrees Fahrenheit when we stepped out of the terminal, but it was beautiful out, bright and sunny.
Ireland is green! Everywhere it's green! After one look it's easy to see why Ireland is known as the "Emerald Isle" Ireland enjoys a temperate maritime climate, due mainly to its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean and the presence of the Gulf Stream. This also means that it gets a lot of rain as well.
The drive from Dublin to Adare was about 211 km, or about 131 miles.
Navigating for my sister as she took the first turn driving on the wrong side of the road in a mini-van with a manual stick shift left-handed was interesting. We have a new key mantra while driving....stay in the left lane....stay in the left lane.....stay in the left lane...Round-a-bouts are another added layer of challenge. There are a million round-a-bouts here. I think there are probably more round-a-bouts that people here, though I could be wrong. :D
We drove through some beautiful country. Actually that is an understatement really, Ireland is absolutely beautiful. I know I've used that word a lot but it fits. Ireland has a long and rich history, it's been cultivated for a very long time. Farms, low stone walls, very dense forests between farms, the ruins of towers, buildings and castles. There is a lot of history here.
We stopped once about halfway for a rest, caffeine and snacks. We arrived in Adare around 11 am local time. Btw, Ireland is 6 hours ahead of central time. The Manor where we are staying is amazing! The grounds here are beautiful! We have not even made it to the Manor House itself yet. The villas we are staying in are in another part of the grounds. After checking in, negotiating for who gets which room, I got the one I wanted, we decided to do a bit of exploring.
The manor grounds butt right up against Adare, so we were able to park in the grounds, and walk through a small gate right into town. I have pics of some of the thatched-roof shops, and some of the local buildings, and even a local church. There is a park right in the town, but the weather started to get wet, and colder so we didn't linger there. Did some shopping in a local store, then hit up Collin's pub just across the street from the town hall.
The food was amazing! I had the Pat Collins Burger. It came with bacon, chips(french fries to us Americans), a special sauce, a small salad with raspberry vinaigrette dressing, and a very unusual cole-slaw, that was not sweet like I'm used to, but it was a great compliment to the rest of my meal. Everyone agreed that the food was very very good.
It's been a very long day for us, looks like we are turning in very early here this evening. Photos are up, follow the link below to my album. I'll be posting pics and videos.
https://plus.google.com/photos/101108978688444895068/albums/5813374502151102753
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