R&R #1 - London and Ireland, Part II

An unusually early start awaited us on Monday, as we had to be to London’s Euston Station by 8:40 a.m. We boarded the train for a 3 ½ train ride across England to Holyhead, where we boarded a ferry for Dublin, Ireland.

The trek across the Irish Sea was quite bumpy, initially, making Daniel and Melissa a little sick to their stomachs. However, we made it to Ireland safe and pukeless, and were picked up by a unique and kind Irishman who taxied us to the Ashling Hotel in the capital city of Dublin.

After freshening up, we went in search of some dinner. I got a tip from a facebook friend about a place called “Temple Bar,” so we took off in that direction. Temple Bar is really a huge block full of restaurants, pubs, shops, and people all along cobbled streets. We stopped at Fitzsimmons Restaurant, where there was traditional Irish music and menu. I would have loved to do some more exploring in the area, but it was late and we had to rise the next morning. We did have one of many lively dinner conversations.

I booked us on Railtours Ireland for a three-day trip through the southern and western part of Ireland (Cork, Blarney Castle, the Ring of Kerry, and the Cliffs of Moher). We boarded the train to Cork, which is in southern Ireland, debarked and transferred to a bus, which first took us to Blarney. The Blarney Stone is a block of bluestone built into the walls of the Blarney Castle. Here's me kissing the famous stone.

According to legend, those who kiss the stone receive the gift of eloquence or skill at flattery. Visitors must climb the 100 steps to the top of the castle, lean over backwards on the parapet’s edge, and kiss the stone. There was a guy there helping us, and you hang onto rails. Evidently, people use to kiss the stone while someone hung onto their ankles. This would have been a little more authentic to me!! It was pretty anti-climatic, but now all five of us can say we did it.

The Cobh (cove) Heritage Center was next on our list to visit. From 1848-1850, more than 6 million people immigrated out of Ireland because of the famine – over 2.5 million from Cobh alone, as it was a major port. The heritage center provided a history of the immigration, which was pretty fascinating. Additionally, Cobh was the last place the Titanic and her passengers visited before they met their fateful demise in the icy seas.

We were taken to our Bed & Breakfast in Killarney, which was actually a hotel. It was a nice, quaint town, and we had a good dinner at Failte Restaurant. Failte is the Irish word for “Welcome.” Benjamin chose his own live lobster, and ate every bite, except for what he identified as the lobster’s brains! Killarney is also the location of the 2011 Irish Open to be held at the Killeen Course at the Killarney Golf and Fishing Club from July 28-31, 2011. Rory McElroy and Graeme McDowell are both scheduled to play in the tournament.

While the song, “The Ring of Fire” by Johnny Cash played through my head time after time, we did, in fact, visit the Ring of Kerry. The Ring of Kerry (or Iveragh Peninsula, which is its real name), has some stunning scenery. Kerry, in fact, is the name of the county, and the tour basically took us around the most beautiful county I've ever seen. During this tour, we stopped at Dingle Bay where we watched a demonstration of a shepherd and his sheep dogs – but I’ll go into more detail in a separate blog. After stopping at several places for beautiful views and pictures, we returned to our hotel in Killarney and went exploring. We were told there are only four roads in the whole town, but we are sure we found a few more….or got lost on the same roads more than once!

The next day we travelled to Limerick, which is the 3rd largest city in Ireland. We connected with our big tour bus which would take us around the area. I found Limerick to be one of the prettiest cities/towns in Ireland. Limerick is where the author Frank McCourt was born. He wrote, “Angela’s Ashes,” which was also turned into a feature film. My mom gave me that book as well as another, “Tis,” a story about his time in New York City as a high school teacher last fall….and I read both of them. Benjamin is sure that he and I watched the movie together. The bus driver took us by the pub where most of Frank’s father spent most of his money, sadly.

Bunratty Castle was the first stop of our day. It’s another castle, and was built in the 900s by Vikings. The castle was in disrepair until Viscount and Viscountess Gort purchased it in 1954 and restored it to what it is today. Unlike the Blarney Castle, the Bunratty Castle has old and unique furnishings included, which gives you a better idea of what it must have been like to live there in that time.

Our third day took us to The Cliffs of Moher, which I will write about in more detail in a separate blog. Suffice it to say…they are magnificent!

We stopped for a photo shop at the Burren. The Burren is a region in County Clare, and is one of the largest karst landscapes in Europe (karst is a geologic formation often shaped by carbonate rock, such as limestone). I've included one of my favorite pictures with the kids on the Burren rocks.

Seven years ago a mass grave was found in which there were 35 bodies – men, women, and children. They apparently died of natural causes, and none were over the age of 30. Scientists believe they lived more than 580 years ago, I think. I say, “I think” because the notes I wrote indicated they lived more than 5,800 years ago. Not sure which is correct! There were supposedly a lot of flowers that were supposed to be growing between the rocks, but I only saw a few; one of which look like an American dandelion – damn…those things can really spread!

I suspect most everyone knows Ireland is famous for their green and lush countryside, but I don’t think one can truly appreciate it until they personally experience it with their own eyes. We were fortunate in that it did not rain while we were in the country, although temperatures were fairly cool (55-60 degrees). I have never seen more beautiful landscape in my life.

Ireland’s economy is in the toilet, with a 14+% national unemployment rate. Agriculture and tourism appear to be their primary industries, and their housing market did pretty much exactly what it did in the U.S. In other words, people applied for and were granted housing loans that far exceeded their financial capability. In the last year alone, more than 50,000 people immigrated out of Ireland; primarily younger people with an education; the largest mass exodus of people since the great famine.

At the end of our three-day tour, we had dinner in a true Irish pub and discussed our trip. I asked everyone what their favorite part of Ireland was and the answers weren’t too surprising:

Benjamin – either the sheep dog or the Cliffs of Mohrer
Daniel – Cliffs of Moher
Melissa – the history of Ireland
Beth – Cliffs of Moher
Dave – dinner every night with his family

Because most are unique in and of themselves, I will write a separate blog for each, as I think they deserve more attention than what I would include in this blog. I think we would all agree that we learned a lot about the country, we laughed a ton, we definitely tested a great variety of ales and lagers, and ate a variety of local fare. Our first R&R trip ended with family movie night in our hotel room in London Friday night. While it was hard to say goodbye to our kids on Saturday morning, Dave and I did it knowing we would see each of them very soon, and that we have many more adventures ahead of us.