Ireland, The Last Day

DAY TEN AND ELEVEN: FRIDAY, 27 JULY and SATURDAY, 28 JULY

Breakfast at Ballynahinch consisted of kippers and toast, eggs, fruit, ham and coffee with a beautiful view of the river.  Jeremy has developed a taste for kippers, and hopes to find these salty little devils in the states.  He describes them as "anchovies lite".  Lindsay took some apple bits form the fruit salad to feed to her new friends Megan and Carol.

With the pinnacle of our endeavor now behind us, it was time to make our way back to Dublin for one more night before returning Saturday for Colorado Springs.  To this point Jeremy has done all of the driving, so Lindsay took the reigns for some foreign driving experience all the way to Moycullen.  Jeremy drove the rest of the way to Dublin, and upon arriving back at the Thrifty Car Rental Office, we celebrated with high fives and kisses.  6 days on the road in a foreign land, and the only casualty was our wallets (you think gas is ridiculous here in the States?).

We walked to Parnell St. and found the Jury's Inn rather easily.  Returning to Dublin felt a little like returning home.  After 4 days of hoofing it, we knew our way around this city rather well.  The weather was still beautiful and the streets were buzzing.  A realization that this was the end of our trip was setting in, which brought on some sadness.  We were not at all eager to return to America.  This has been such a wonderful, educational, mind-opening, spirit-satisfying adventure, and we hated to see it end.

We organized our belongings at the hotel, and set out for one final night in Dublin.  We were on the north end now, but Jeremy was more comfortable with the slightly poshier south end and it's many restaurants, so we made our way back to the Liffey and had dinner at the Merchant Pub.  Lindsay requested "The Galway Girl", a fine tune but one Jeremy thinks might be the equivalent of "Sweet Home Alabama" to these musicians... but they played it for her (look for us to cover this song at our shows soon!).  We moved to the Harry Lemon, a pub with great charm to which we had promised ourselves last weekend we would return. Then it was on the Vat House one final time for music and a view of the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. 

Jeremy ordered a pint of Harp at the bar and the bartender said, "Where you from?"

"Colorado."

"You a Broncos fan?"

"No, I'm originally from Detroit, so I'm a big Lions fan."

He scowled, smiled with pity, placed his hand on Jeremy's back and said "You should be a Broncos fan." 

Jeremy finds it comforting to know his American football team's chronic ineptitude is famous the world over.

We watched as Queen Elizabeth jumped from a helicopter and laughed with people from all over the globe at Rowan Atkinson's antics.  Tomorrow we would wake up in Ireland for the last time, grab a scone and 2 Americanos at the grocery store nearby, and take a cab for the airport, where Liam Quinn, a lifelong Dubliner who's weeks from his 38th wedding anniversary, would bestow marital advice to us.

"Say 'yes dear' a lot."

"Don't set your sights too high."

But before we leave the Vat House, officially putting an end to our vacation, we shot one last video.

Ireland 8

DAY NINE: 26 JULY.  THE VIKINGS CALLED IT VALHALLA.  THE CHRISTIANS CALL IT HEAVEN.  JEREMY CALLS IT, CONNEMARA.

On our last morning in Galway, we slept in until 10am.  No longer can we trust our internal clocks!  How could we sleep so late?  Breakfast closes at 10am!  We ran downstairs like kids at Christmas to see if we could still score some kippers or at the very least, a piece of toast.  Luckily, this is not the continental breakfast at Motel 6 that's supposed to be served until 10:30 but the gum-snapping front desk clerk starts closing it down at 10:15. 

They were happy to serve us.  Lindsay was able to catch a brief clip of her new favorite TV show, a British kids-history program we both found very educational and very funny, but we never found out what it's called.

We got in the car and left Galway for Connemara and Ballynahinch Castle.  Connemara is a National Park.  It was here that the skies truly broke and we were blessed with the most beautiful weather of our trip.

Jeremy describes Connemara as Colorado's mountains mixed with Michigan's inland lakes, but no mosquitoes or idiots on jet skis.  He was overwhelmed by the beauty and quiet, especially after a few days in Galway.

Soon we arrived at Ballynahinch.

The pictures say it all.  Built in 1759, this place is hotbed for fly fishermen.  Salmon as long as your arm jump clear out of the water and land with a thunderous splash... this is the only thing that disturbs the silence.  We walked the trails, including an old railway trail (the olde Galway-Clifden Railway Line) and tried our best to snap a picture of the depot, which is now a private residence.

Off the Riverside Walk tour, we had lunch on the river (purchased earlier in Galway at a grocery store).

Notice our new picnic basket: a Guinness Storehouse Bag.

On our walks, Lindsay befriended a mother/daughter pair of horses, whom she quickly named Carol and Megan (Megan being the mom, of course).  We've finally received news of Lindsay's new niece: welcome to the world, Ms. Margaret Rose Sustar. 

After all this, it was past time for our afternoon nap.  Then, nice clothes and dinner at the Castle.  Wine, oysters, fishy caesar salads, saddle of wild rabbit, lamb, pecan pie and coffee (of course, we are combining both of our meals in this description).  We walked for digestion downriver before returning to the fireplace you see above for Cognac and port, and a little light reading before bed.

Heavenly, heavenly.

  

Ireland 7

DAY EIGHT: 25 JULY

We were not prepared for maid service at 9am, but that's when the knock woke us from our coma. 

"No thank yew" shouted Lindsay, in her best Irish accent. 

In what was perhaps a carry-over from last night's movie, we opted for American Style Pancakes in exchange for Irish breakfast this morning.  We walked to the City Museum for our first site of the day and witnessed the impressive political artwork of George Grosz (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/ARTgrosz.htm).  We moved on to St. Nicholas, a new cathedral that was built in the 1960's (considered ancient - or more likely torn down by now - had it been built in America).  John F. Kennedy was and still is very popular here in Ireland. There is a mosaic of the president inside of St. Nicholas, and a plaque in Eyre Square commemorating his visit to Galway just months prior to his assassination (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyre_Square). 

Famished, we stepped into a French Cafe for tea and crepes.  Jeremy grabbed the local sports section, which highlighted the GAA (Gaelic Football), Rugby, Cricket and Football (Soccer).  Baseball does not exist in Ireland.

We've been experiencing some tension in our backs, most likely due to the strenuous walking we've been doing, so we went back to the hotel for our daily afternoon nap. 

We had no idea what we wanted to do that night.  Rick Steves says the greatest site near Galway's city centre are the neighboring islands, but we didn't feel we had the time to see them.  So we walked somewhat aimlessly around Galway until we were approached by a comedian who was handing out fliers for his show.  "5 Euros" he said to Lindsay, with a thick Galway accent.  "5 year olds?" Lindsay asked in reply.  In all fairness, to our Yank ears, it did sound like he said 5 year olds.  We all had a good laugh, especially Jeremy.  We went to the show (a parody on inspirational business lectures, quite good) and went to the neighboring noodle bar for a Japanese dinner. 

One of the hottest spots for traditional Irish music in Galway is Tig Coili (http://www.tigcoili.com), an old pub in the city centre.  We ordered pints of Bulmers and enjoyed the revelry.  Looking forward to Ballynahinch tomorrow!

Ireland 6

DAY SEVEN: 24 JULY

We woke to Dingle and our new definition of "clear" skies (bright cloudiness, no rain).  We snapped a few pictures from our room (currently missing).  What a beautiful spot.  In the higher lands, you can still see the property lines of old farms.  These belonged to people who abandoned their property when the famine hit and never returned.  Between 1800 and 1845, the population of Ireland nearly doubled: by 1850 1 million people had died and another million people had left the country.  Although the population has bounced back in the time since, the need to farm at such high altitudes hasn't, so these overgrown plots remain untouched.  An eerie reminder of some of what this country has been through.

We picked up the last of our souvenirs, hit the Dunne's (which is Ireland's version of Safeway or Krogers) and made for Galway.  It was a longer drive than we had expected.  The rain returned, and pounded progressively harder as we went along.  We passed through Tralee, Adare, circumvented Limerick and arrived into Galway at exactly 5 past rush hour!  Brilliant.  We have come over 4,000 km's to discover a city worse than Chicago for driving, and we had found it.  It is Galway.

We parked on Docks St., about 6 blocks past the hotel (we couldn't locate the hotel car park), and walked back to our new home, the Park House.  Lindsay settled in to the room while Jeremy went to fetch the car and return it to the car park.  It took him 45 minutes to drive 6 blocks.  We he returned, Lindsay said "oh thank god, I was so worried about you.  I thought I was going to have to call the Garda" - as she was waking from a nap.

Due to the diligent "work" that we had put into this trip site-seeing thus far, we had reached a point this day to where we just wanted to relax.  So we went for an early dinner at McDonnoughs Fish and Chips, bought a bottle of Bailey's and came back to our room around 7pm for... nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  It was wonderful.  And thanks to Irish/English television, we were able to watch a cricket match, the Simpsons (in English) and "Independence Day" in it's entirety.  Jeremy hadn't remembered the movie being that bad. 

We have yet to really "see" Galway.

Ireland 5

DAY SIX: MONDAY, 23 JULY.  THE DINGLE PENINSULA LOOKS WONDERFUL... IN POSTCARDS.

We were up at 8:30am.  Our natural clocks have converted smoothly to the time change.  We had our breakfasts in a lovely little dining room, consisting of a cold cereal/pastry buffet followed by a small entre.  John and Mary, the owners of the Greenmount, fluttered about making conversation and helping the kitchen staff.  Despite the horrid weather, we made out for our tour of the Dingle Peninsula, a 40 km voyage through history and natural beauty - things you can see, when the visibility is not 5 feet due to fog, like it was this morning.

Nevertheless, we marched through this wall of fog down to the ruins of an ancient viking fort built on the cliffs just off the ocean, and soaked up the beauty.  What a sight.  We couldn't see much, but what we could see was breathtaking.  We visited the Gallerus Oratory, a 1,300 year old temple built by early Christians.  We also roamed the grounds and ruins of Kilmalkedar Church, which is home to a 2000 year old oghm stone (pronounced "ohm"), that had a hole carved into it 900 years ago for wedding ceremonies.  The two people to be wed would stand next to the stone, touch thumbs through the hole, and in front of God and all of their descendants pledge their lives to each other.  People still use it to renew their vows.  We hate to break this news to our families, but we had a small ceremony, and we are already officially married in God's eyes, and in the eyes of Ireland.  We'll still throw a party on September 15th, anyway.

We then headed to the far less inspiring Dingle Internet Cafe (where are you, baby Sustar?) and although Jeremy is protesting the Internet this trip, he did log on briefly to check on his Tigers, who are now in first place after sweeping those hated White Sox! 

Back at the hotel, as we were calming for nap time, we were surfing the TV when we came across Fraggle Rock... in Gaelic!   3 more episodes, and we should be fluent.

Jeremy's set on getting most of his Christmas shopping done in Ireland, and he's almost there, so we hit a few shops in Dingle after our afternoon snooze.  The Woolen Store in Dingle is special - all Ireland-made woolen's, fresh off the backs of the very sheep we're trying not to hit with our Hyundai.  Lindsay picked up something pretty for herself.  Jeremy is still searching for something pretty for him.

To combat last night's feast, we stuck to cheap pub food for dinner, having a salad and an open-faced sandwich from a place called Murphy's.  It's shocking to see Budweiser on tap everywhere we go here in Ireland.  A lot of Coors Lite as well.  You'd think that with the strong micro brews and wonderful mega brews in this country, the last thing anyone would want to ingest are these two cheap versions of American goat urine, but here they are.

We caught a traditional folk concert at St. James (Lindsay bought the tickets last night).  It was splendid.  The whole thing was led by a man who played the Irish bag pipes and a singer-songwriter, guitar man who had a marvelous touch.  On the way home, Dick Mac's, a local famous pub, was crying out to bless us with a pint of Guinness.  We obliged.  Outside Dick Mac's, they have their own walk of fame... Julia Roberts and Paul Simon are just a couple of the many famous Dick Mac's patrons.  We chatted about our trip thus far and listened to a solo artist who had no P.A. system - he just roamed, guitar unplugged, around this former shoe shop (former as in 1800's - the walls are still lined with tobacco-stained shoe boxes and old tools), looking for anyone who'd listen, and played a wide array of American folk tunes, including a James Taylor number, which delighted Jeremy.  We went back to the Greenmount and sat out on our balcony, listening to our newly purchased Irish indie-folk CD and sipping tea while the lights of Dingle twinkled.

It's at this point we'll mention that we are so happily enjoying this trip.  I mean, SO happily enjoying this trip.  It came at a perfect time for us, and we couldn't be more content.  Jeremy is trying to talk Lindsay into opening a pub in Dingle, and calling it "O'Fackermann's".
 

Ireland 4

DAY FIVE: SUNDAY, 22 JULY 

Dublin offered us great craic (pronounced "crack", it means "fun"), great sites, friendly people and education.  But we are not big-city folk, so we were excited to make our way to Dingle this morning, which by all accounts resembles a sea-side Manitou Springs. 

This trip is full of little victories and adventures.  Getting off the plane, hopping on the right bus, getting off at the right time and finding our hotel was a huge victory.  It's not too difficult, being that there's no language barrier, but these things would be difficult for us in large American cities like Chicago or New York.  We took pleasure in celebrating the little accomplishments, all the while knowing the biggest adventure would come today...

Driving on the other side of the road.

We walked to the Dublin Thrifty Car Rental and scored our automobile, an automatic Hyundai that made Jeremy's former Honda Fit look like a bus.  The roads are narrow in Ireland, so the cars are small.  You'll see very few, if any, of the gas guzzling SUV's so prevalent in the States.  Jeremy took the reigns and was a champion driver.  The hardest part was getting out of Dublin while learning how to drive in Dublin.  Instinct tells you as the driver to sit in the left side of your lane, but he was on the other side now, and his instinct was not only useless but could kill a pedestrian.

You'll find yourself on a major interstate-like highway from Dublin to Limerick, but then it dwindles down to a narrow, two lane road with no shoulders and a speed limit of 100 KM per hour (60MPH). Jeremy deemed driving this fast on a 2-way road the width of a diving board "insane" but did his best to keep up with the locals.  There were a few times where Lindsay yelped in fear, thinking we were about to side-swipe a wall or sheep; but we made it safely to Dingle (across the country) in about 5 hours.  

We arrived alive and high-fived at the Greenmount House in Dingle around 6pm.  We were directed to our seaside room by the owner Mary who, upon finding out we did not bring our laptops and cell phones on holiday, wanted to hug us.  "My husband says it's the new smoking." she said, rather disgusted.  He's right.  The next morning, we'd see people sitting in a beautiful dining room with a breathtaking view of Dingle Bay, on their laptops and cell phones.

(JEREMY) A brief commentary here; breaking away from these devices is the only way to really enjoy a vacation.  Lindsay checked her emails a few times, mainly due to the fact she was expecting a new niece at any moment, and each time she regretted having done so.

We had the best meal of our lives that night in Dingle at "Out Of The Blue" restaurant which only serves fish caught that morning.  If they're closed, it's because they didn't catch anything.  Luckily, that days catch was successful.  We ordered mussels, wild salmon and sea-bass and a plum/cinnamon tart and washed it all down with a wonderful white wine.  Lindsay grabbed the waitress by the arm, looked her in the eye and said "this was the best meal of my life" to which the waitress replied in , "tanks. I'll be shoore to tell the chef".

We rolled out of there happy and loving life.  The rain was a steady drizzle but that didn't stop us or 10's of other folks from walking through a carnival with amusement rides before heading back to the Greenmount to dry off.  We sat in the common room, quite proud of our lack of computers, and read Yeats and personal account stories from Kerry, played checkers (we each won a match) and slept in the best bed ever (that's two "best of's" for those keeping score).  Lindsay described it as a whipped cream mattress.

We are moving to Dingle.

Ireland 3

DAY FOUR: SATURDAY, 21 JULY 

Today was our last full day in Dublin, so we had some decisions to make in regards to site-seeing.  We hit the cathedrals, St. Patricks and Christ Church.  St. Patricks was 11E (Euros) for the two of us.  Even with the Euro in peril, it still puts the USD to shame.  1E is equal to about $1.40 USD (making the castle entry about $15.40 in American dollars, and causing our fun times in Dublin to come with quite a price tag).

St. Patricks is awe inspiring.  Named after "the" St. Patrick (who wasn't Irish!), it's an impressive structure, housing the remains of old war heroes and battle flags from the 18th century. We then meandered to Christ's Church but the 7E entry fee was a bit too precious for us. 

It was time... time to make our way to the American Disneyland of Dublin, The Guinness Storehouse!  This place is not what you may think.  It has been extremely modernized, and feels more like a visit to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland than it does an old-world brewery.  We figured it has turned into this commercialized, Gatlinburg-esque monster due to the large volume of people who wish to tour the factory.  Nevertheless, we enjoyed ourselves.  In the 2 hours we were there, we estimated at least 500 people were touring along with us.  It's not just a beer factory, it's a money factory.  All tours are self-guided.  At the end, we walked up to the late 20th century observation deck to collect our free pints and a fabulous view of the city.

We walked back exhausted from our tours for a short nap.  Then it was off to the "Brazenhead", Dublins oldest pub (1198), for "Folklore, Fearies and Food", a three-hour show of music and stories hosted by an Irish historian/folk musician named Ollie to compliment a three-course meal.  We along with the other patrons made up of primarily Americans, learned of the hidden Irish (the country's early to mid-19th century middle-class), the famine of 1845-1849 and its affect on the country, and the fact that the people of Ireland don't think too much of the phrase "the luck of the Irish".  Ollie also told us how to keep tabs of the weather in Ireland; "If you can see the mountains, it's going to rain.  If you can't see the mountains, it's raining."

After a wonderful evening of fantastic fish cakes, heavenly Harp, wonderful wine and good laughs, we caught a glimpse of the BBC on the tele to find out about the shootings in Aurora, Colorado.