Ireland in 5 days: Day 5, Galway girls... and guys

After a filling full Irish breakfast and some confusion regarding the bill ending with Matt going off to look for a cash machine, we began our drive back to Dublin (the quicker way). Before setting off in that direction, we once again attempted to appease me and find a bloody teacup. Now, it is important to note that I had become so consumed with this that I was very tempted to ask the B&B owner if I could buy one that we had used at breakfast. Given the confusion with our bill and discussing what ‘wireless internet’ meant, I decided not to bother. Unfortunately, this teacup hunt would only lead us to a charity shop in Galway where I purchased a lovely teacup... that was made in Czechoslovakia. It’s fine! It’s fine! Let’s get it and gooooo!!
There wasn’t much time to stop on this drive back to Dublin despite it being a shorter journey. What’s amazing is how many ruins you can see just driving along the way. Take a peek at our pictures and you’ll see what I mean.
Once again, Matt raced us back into the car rental parking lot at the airport, not before stopping in the town of Swords for petrol. We checked in for our flight and enjoyed one last drink in Ireland at the airport pub/cafe. And back to London.
Next time I think we'll stop in Waterford for a crystal teacup!!

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Ireland in 5 days: Day 4, Southern tour

Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey! This day could have won an award for ‘most sites sighted.’ Instead of travelling the direct route from Dublin to Galway which would have taken about two hours, we had mapped out a 7- to 8-hour route that took us south toward Tipperary, Cork, and Dingle. Sadly, we didn’t get as far as Cork and Dingle, but we did see:
The Curragh. Wow, with a name like that, it was bound to be a sight! Well, not really. It’s basically a pretty field best known for battle scenes from Braveheart. But wasn’t he from Scotland? Yeah. As we drove along attempting to find the Curragh, we came up to a long line of traffic and having spotted some orange cones up ahead, we thought we ought to turn around to avoid construction. We found a different route to bypass the construction. However, when we finally came to that area, we realised that what we thought were orange construction cones were actually someone’s sheep! They had been sprayed orange (owners do this to tell whose is whose). And the delay was simply all of these orange sheep crossing the road to the other field. What a sight!! I dare say better than the Curragh.
A few pictures and we were back in the car to make our way to the Rock of Dunamase. This is one of the few ‘free’ sights on our journey and it’s actually one of the most historic in Ireland. First settled in the 9th century, the castle was built in the latter half of the 12th century. I think I can speak for everyone when I say, it was one of the most enjoyable and beautiful sights we encountered on this trip. I strongly encourage a look at pictures.
By this point, we thought it was about time for a pub stop. We popped into a lovely and certainly ‘local’ pub. Just a swift half with the three locals in the pub and we’d be back on the road. Next on the agenda was the Rock of Cashel. Also known as the Cashel of the Kings, it was the traditional seat of the kings of Munster for several hundred years prior to the Norman invasions. While we did have a look at the outside and followed the ‘path of the dead’ a bit, we opted not to spend the money to go in. Instead, we had a lovely traditional lunch at Ryan’s Daughter cafe. It was the perfect warm and cosy setting since by that point it had begun to rain again. When our food came out, we knew we had chosen well... each plate only had the colours of the Irish flag: green (peas/celery), orange (carrots/yams), and white (mash) along with whatever meat dish we had chosen. Grande.
Irish spring is a maker of soap, tour-guide grandma was a seller of dope, at Castle Cahir, I did hear, the hung them both by a rope.
As you may have inferred from that bit of talented writing, Matt Metras began entertaining us in the car with some spontaneous limericks... After all, we were headed for Limerick. We didn’t stop in Limerick, but Matt Metras did recite one of his own as we drove through the city.
One last sight to see on our drive to Galway and this was definitely not to be missed. The Cliffs of Moher in County Clare are a well known tourist destination, but certainly one of those that really should be seen. Matt whipped the car along the winding and dipping roads through the rain in a frenzy to get us there before dusk. Once again, we defied death and made it just in time. Despite a few moments when I could feel my fear of heights getting the best of me, we managed to snap some really amazing shots of the cliffs and the sea far below.
We reached our B&B in Oranmore, a small town outside of Galway. We quickly dropped off our bags and went out in search of supper. Despite the size of this town, we found an incredible Indian restaurant. It was the most delightful Indian food I have EVER had. Once full and noticeably exhausted, we went back to our B&B and, as Metras said, “... to our surprise, there were no wifis, so we snuggled up cosy and warm.”

Side note: No where along this 7-8 hour drive was there a place to find a teacup. Foiled again! Tomorrow is another day?? Maybe?

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Ireland in 5 days: Day 3, Temair na Ri, Newgrange, and the power of light

I had really been looking forward to the itinerary for our third day of this trip. This would be the day we were visiting the Hill of Tara [Temair na Ri]. Ah, that magical, faerie-inhabited hill of the ancients. Seat of power of the High Kings of Ireland. An archaeological complex near the Boyne river. An altogether beautiful field of perfect, Irish-green grass with wisps of buttercups.
With all the wind and tiny, unidentifiable insects attaching themselves to our clothes for shelter, it was easy to keep the mystical world of the faeries in mind. To enter the site, we passed through a cemetery (of course, finding a geocache as we went along) and made our way over the hill, passed the Stone of Destiny (I had thought about putting my feet on it to see if it would roar, but reconsidered as it might be a bit embarrassing), and through the circling mounds. Glorious. At the bottom of the hill are a few very interesting, prickly trees. There had to, just HAD to be another geocache hidden amongst the thorns and twisted roots. During the cache search, we also came across the ‘faerie tree,’ a place where visitors could leave gifts for the faeries. Apparently, most people found it appropriate to leave trash attached to the tree as a gift. We opted not to add to the rubbish, but said a few kind words of thanks and allowed those little insects to remain sheltered on our shirts until we got back to the car.

Next stop was Newgrange, a passage grave built during the Megalithic period around 3200BC. This too felt to be a magical experience (to me!). When waiting for our tour, we even saw a double rainbow!! That was definitely a favourable ancient omen, wasn’t it? Yes, I’m sure it was.
Our guide was a wonderful storyteller; she explained that though referred to as a passage grave or tomb, no people were actually buried within the mound. Instead, it was thought they used it for ceremonies for the dead, a kind of passage for the soul rather than the body. The tour included a journey through the short, narrow passage (even I had to duck at times) into the small chamber topped with slabs of heavy stone and earth. Admittedly, I was a bit timid given my claustrophobic tendencies. I persisted and was happy I did. Once inside, our storyteller went on to describe what it was like for those ancient peoples. The tomb is absolutely barren of all light, not a flicker of daylight reaches the inner room. In fact, the only time light enters the tomb is during the Winter Solstice when the passage is perfectly aligned with the sunlight of dawn for exactly 17 minutes. This was thought to be the only time a soul could pass from the physical world to the Afterworld. Our guide recreated this dramatic experience for us within the tomb with a string of modern light bulbs. It was easy to feel the enchantment and mystery this must of induced in a time when the sun was still a deified presence.

It was difficult to leave this wondrous mound, but being the last tour of the day, the site officials were eager to hurry us out. The storyteller had certainly peaked our interest by mentioning other passage graves. These passages, however, were aligned to different times of the year. Northeast of Newgrange lies Dowth with a passage aligned only with the setting of the sun on the Winter Solstice. To the northwest, Knowth had two passages, but light only ever passes directly into the inner chamber during dawn of the spring equinox. At no other times of the year did light enter any of these chambers (kind of limits how often you could bury your dead, huh?).

We enjoyed the winding roads and caching possibilities on our drive back to the hotel. We even stopped briefly at the sight of the Battle of the Boyne (not much to see, but we did take a picture). Finally, we made it back to the hotel grabbed a bite to eat for dinner and... SUCCESS! We made it to the pool/spa/sauna/steam room in time despite having an in depth conversation with the attendant about swim caps and regulations. It was a lovely end to a lovely day. Ahhh....

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Ireland in 5 days: Day 2, Dubh Linn

We started the day with breakfast at the hotel, then a 45-minute tram ride into the city and straight to the Jameson whiskey distillery. We were among a 20- or so-person group for the first tour of the day. Before it began, the guide asked for volunteers to participate in a taste-testing session following the tour. The crowd was a bit slow to respond except, of course, for four of us who promptly raised our hands. Eventually, the guide coerced a few others into it. Perhaps it was the fact that it was 10:30 in the morning and not a typical time to have whiskey, but this was Ireland and there is no ‘wrong’ time for whiskey in Ireland! The tour was educational even if a bit ‘Disney-fied’ and certainly expressed their contempt for the Scottish whiskey makers. The tasting session at the end comprised of small amounts of three whiskeys: Jameson (Irish), Johnnie Walker Black (Scottish), and Jack Daniels (American). Our guide explained the differences in distilling each and attempted to guide us toward favouring Jameson. Of course, my Matt just HAD to complicate things by telling our guide his favourite whiskey was still Scotch above the Jameson. This would have been fabulous if it led to more tastings... but it didn’t.
We left the distillery happy we had had a full breakfast and made our way into the centre of the city for some geocaching, sight-seeing, and souvenir shopping (with a tea cup at the top of my list!). Geocaching was difficult given all the ‘muggles,’ but mostly successful. Sight-seeing led us to discover the questionable history of Dublin Castle. A castle? It looks like a castle and it was during part of its history, but only the Record Tower remains visible from the medieval fortification, even the battlements atop the tower were added in the 19th century. The ‘castle’ was also the seat of British rule in Ireland until 1922 after which it served as the temporary Courts of Justice for the new Irish Free State. Now, it’s mostly just a tourist attraction, though it does boast a newly refurbished conference centre and was used as “The Vatican” in the Tudors series. In the courtyard near the castle, we found amazing sand sculptures on display. Take a peek at the pictures to view the talents of the artist of the day. After a quick outside view of the castle and sand sculptures, we headed for a nearby geocache. This would be a special cache because it would mark the beginning of the Metras’ geo-coin’s journey.
Saving the best for last, we headed for the town centre and the Temple Bar (of course, this doesn’t mean we didn’t patronise at least two other pubs throughout the day!). This pub was especially fun thanks to the live musician who took requests. Matt Metras requested “Whiskey in the Jar” to which the singer begrudgingly responded, “I’ve already done that,” but sang it anyway. Unfortunately, but entertainingly, he repeatedly sang ‘whiskey in jarK’ rather than ‘whiskey in the jar.’ And I’m pretty sure it wasn’t his accent.
Our energy was teetering out by the end of our sing-song (likely due to the amount of alcohol intermittently imbibed starting with our morning whiskey). Matt and I decided we should set off to pick up our rental car and Matt and Jess could go back to plan our dinner. On the way to find our bus, we stopped for another musical interlude from a street band, quickly picked up their CD, and tried not to fall asleep on our bus ride to the rental facility. With the car sorted, we arrived back at the hotel to find the Metrii and sort some dinner – pizza was the consensus! That should be rather quick, easy, and leave us some time to go down to the pool... NOPE! Missed it again! Ug.
Oh, and by the way, all attempts at finding a tea cup were also unsuccessful. I thought these islands were full of tea-drinkers. I guess tomorrow is another day...

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