Back to Dublin

The last day of the trip was spent working our way back to Dublin from Killkenny. We have a room at the Carrollton Hotel just outside the Dublin airport. Nothing left to do on the tip but see a few more sites, dump the car, spend the night and then to the airport and home.

Killkenny castle

We woke in the morning at the Chaplin’s in Killkenny and came down to breakfast.

Jim jumped on the Internet to check the scores on the late games only to find that the Packers had lost in OT and several other upsets had taken place back in the states. We both took a beating with our picks but without a ‘big board’ we have idea how anyone else did.

 At breakfast for the first time we found others in the room and conversation was possible. A fellow traveling by himself was over here for some famous month long, matchmaking festival in western Ireland. Folks come from all over to try and ‘hook up’.

Anyway, the fellow actually had a place not three miles from Larry’s place in the UP.

Since we had time we decided to forgo the main highway and opted to finish the trip on back roads back to Dublin. One of the sites on the way was “The Meeting of the Waters” made famous by some Irish poet. We had a pint at the tavern above it then walked down to find it was basically two moderate steams coming together with some minor rapids.

All in all it was a disappointment based on the hype.

Maybe it’s just popular with Irish poets and the young lads they take there.

Several more quaint town and some minor wrong turns. Speaking of that, we’re quite proud of how we did driving in Ireland. We missed a few turns here and there but never went out of our way more that 3 miles or so before realizing it and backtracking.

A typical road

Our final stop of the trip was a 5^th century monastic ruins called Timoleagh that Larry had seen previously. It was very interesting and had quite a history.

In the middle was a huge tower with a door about 15 ft of the ground.

When the poop hit the fan and trouble came their way, the monks would clamber up a ladder inside, pull up the ladder, and taunt the invaders from above. A pretty good survival plan for the times I guess.

This was the fourth place we visited that wanted to charge us to get into the gift shop to buy stuff, the first of which was St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin the first day. What is wrong with these people? Charging tourists to get in to spend money

We made it to Dublin, filled the tank, found the hotel, got a Pizza Hut pizza, dumped the car, and settled in to repack for the trip.

We caught a shuttle to the airport in the morning, checked in, cleared US Customs in Dublin and boarded the plane after only waiting about 10 min in the lounge. So far so good or at least we thought.

The plane taxied away from gate, got in line to take off and the pilot got on the intercom to tell us a computer had failed and back the gate we went. They had to fly a part in from London and we departed about three hours late. We arrived in Chicago to discover that the next flight we could get out on was 4 hours later.

Luckily brother Dan came to meet us at the airport so we had much more time to sit and talk than we had originally expected. The three of us walked over to the attached hotel, had a beer and some soup and had a great visit

We took a cab to Ed and Micky's house due to our late arrival time, visited for a short while the packed up and headed out on the final push home.

We finally arrived back in Appleton around 2:00am putting and end to a very enjoyable and unforgettable trip

 

  

A quiet Sunday Drive

------ Sorry for the delay - conctivity issuess-----

We leave Cork behind and head north to Dublin. It’s a grey day, as the weather gods seem to have finally abandoned us. We can’t complain given the wonderful weather we’ve enjoyed so far, more than our share to be sure.

We begin the trip on the M7 with our first target of The Stone of Cashel and the ancestral home of the Mahers, about two hours away. The M7 is their answer to our interstate system so we were able to make great time. This part of the trip is dedicated to castles and other sites as the schedule is now very relaxed . We took a short side trip to see the first castle on our list in the town of Cahir. We can into town and saw a stinking little Castle on a hill and thought “is that it?”

We got out and walked up the hill and found the castle to actually be a B&B called "Butler Familiy Carrigeen castle.  Another place one might check out if coming here.
Down the hill we go to the ‘real’ castle that was closed to the public but very impressive

The REAL Castle

There was actually a moat around it and protected windows where archers could shot from and be safe. there is no way you take this place if you are tryning to invade and are not welcome

Took some nice scenery shots as the sun broke through just in time.

The town of Cahir. Very quaint

Some geese peacefully guarding the moat

A pretty chaple with a waterfal in the foreground

Back on the M7 and on to Cashel.

We decided to take some time in Cashel and walk the town before heading to the castle, which was very impressive and loomed over the town. We fortified our selves with a half-pint and headed up the hill to the castle. We actually sprung for the entrance fee this time. The site did not disappoint except that the chapel was under repair so one side had unsightly scaffolding up. Some creative camera work was all that was needed to get the shots we wanted.

They nicked us for 4 euros just to park but oh well.

In keeping with our ‘no place to go and plenty of time to get there’ motif for the day, we decided the next place would be Killkenny to the east another famous castle and a night’s stay. We decided to just wing it for a B&B and just walk around town to find one. The first one we stopped at we were sent a with a snooty “I never accept voucher” from an old prune. The next two had no answer at the door and we continued into town. We stopped in a great pub called The Field and were rewarded with the best food on the entire trip by far. It was getting late so we used their phone to call a B&B called Chaplin’s and the barkeep drew us a great map to the place.

Chaplin’s has a pleasant room and wonderful hosts. They said they were headed out for the night and showed us how to use the satellite TV. We sent out football picks to Rich then were please to find a US football game on the tellie to watch.

In the AM we met some of the other guests at a B&B and had some conversation for the first time. Amazingly, Larry met a fellow with a place less than three miles from him house in Chassell. Like they always say, it’s a small world indeed.

Hopefully we can post a blog before we leave on Tuesday AM to cover Monday's advantures. We are not planning much so it may be sort

Hope you've enjoyed the trip with us

Jim & Larry

Saturday

Saturday

We left Waterville at mid-morning and headed out to complete the Ring of Kerry. Should you come, the southern portion of the ring is by far the most beautiful part.

The ocean is on the right and towering hills to the left. The roads were quite challenging as we meandered from quaint town to town. We drove past a nice B&B called The Scariff Inn just west of Cathrdaniel. It was perched on a cliff overlooking a spectacular view of the ocean. If you should make the drive, it sure looked like a place to think about as a stop over point.

We seem to be traveling at low tide the past two days. Even miles from the shore we saw huge expanses of exposed mud flats that suggested the water drops more than 6 feet from high o low. For boys from the Midwest all our lives, it was fascinating to see the tidal effects. Once again we find ourselves having to dodge sheep on the road as an added hazard to watch for.

We got a picture of an honest to God chimney sweep on one of the houses. Right out of Mary Pippins! 

We stopped at a unique monastic ruins in a tiny town called Timoleague.

It was now a cemetery but oddly none of the graves had a date prior to WWII.

Our base that evening would be the city of Cork. We found a really nice old Victorian B & B within walking distance to city center.  The downtown area was swarming with high school kids. (I guess that’s the thing on Saturday night). The room was huge and the bathroom the largest we’d seen, there were two steps down into it. The B&B district seemed to be in a rugged part of town but we were able to park right out the front door. When I asked about it in the AM the proprietor said “Sometimes we get people from the hill come down here but the Garda (police) keep an eye on them” The she said “The sun doesn’t shine right on North hill” We got a kick op out of that.

We stopped in a pub for dinner. A big rugby game was on with the local boys facing a hated rival. We finally had the rowdy pub crowd we were hoping to see with the soccer game earlier in the week.

Some horses on the way ioto town

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The Rings

Good morning,

Today was a little different. We saw some breathtaking sights, as we negotiated the Ring of Dingle and the north half of Ring of Kerry. Unfortunately all we seemed to drive, not having time to stop and smell those roses. I guess we underestimated the time it would take to get from the day’s start to the finish point we’d chosen in Waterville on the far western edge of the Kerry peninsula.

We started out from a little town on the ocean called Doolin where we stayed the night.  Well, it used to be a small town the last time I was there, but now the place has been invaded by “swells” and their toney new country homes.

We hit the Cliffs of Moher first about 30 mins out. They didn’t disappoint! Just astounding!

On the top of the cliffs was an old stone watchtower. Not sure if being assigned duty in the tower would have been a ‘cake’ posting or one you were given if you displeased the King.

A warning to the foolish

James wanted to try his hand at driving and didn’t do too bad. He only hit three curbs and one sheep. I guess it is a little more nerve wracking sitting in the passenger seat.  Next came the ring of Dingle, and the infamous one-lane Connor pass. Approaching cars would stop dead a figure out who had to back up, or, if you could actually squeeze by. All on a crumbling cliff face.  Not for novices!!

We stopped for a liquid lunch in Dingle and got “hosed” on the two Guinness’s we bought. The clown had to think about what to charge us, and came up with 9 euro.  Probably seven euros in the register and two in the pocket. We should have just told him to “bugger’ off. Speaking of gouging the tourists, we stopped at three golfing golf clubs to look for hats. The gong price was around $30 a pop. The swells that drop $250 on greens fees would think nothing of dropping an extra $30 on a hat but us poor church mice said nay!

By the time we arrived in the Ring of Kerry the sun had moved into the west muting the colors. We could enjoy the views but picture taking would be useless, as everything would be grayed out.

Ireland was scheduled to play Russia in soccer Friday evening. Jim figured there’d be a huge overlay on ‘the boys’ and wanted to get a bet down on Russia with the bookies but the odds shops close at 6:00om with the rest of the stores so no luck. Too bad as Ireland lost 3-2. We hoped to watch the match at a pub with some rowdy fans but the boys must have been getting drunk at home because the was just one old drunk at the pub. We settled for a hamburger for Jim and grilled cheese sandwich.

The B&B we reserved turned out to not be the one Larry and Cathy stayed at many years ago but the proprietor was very welcoming and place was nice. The bathroom however was almost smaller than those on an airplane.

Some more scenery

Some Odds & Ends

CONG

The B&B in Cong was wonderful and our hostess very attentive. The B&B was at the end of a twisting road and very secluded. The view from the place was beathtaking

GALWAY

Never try to drive through Galway at rush hour. We tried to get downtown to an Internet cafe so we could contact the next B&B to make sure we had a place to stay. W tried unsuccessfully to 'steal' access but could never stop when we found and unprotected modem. It actually worked out since the place we had planned to stay turned out to be a dump at a crossroads nowhere near town of Doolin as we drove in.

DOOLIN

After a very diificult drive and the hassle of Galway, our driver was frazzeled and twitchy. Plus it was getting dark. Having passed on or first choice to a B&B we found our second chioce after stopping for directions. We knocked on the door and hung on the bell but no answer. Nobusiness for this guy. Now we had no place to stay and it was almost dark. We drove down the main road in town and tried to look up each B&B we saw 9n the book to no avail. We pulled into one with the corredct sign and asked if they took vouchers since they werem't in the book. They did but inly in the low season, thus not in the book. The place was great and just 60 yards from the reasturant. Larry finally had his Fish & Chips he wanted and I found my roast lamb.  Mmmmmm Lamb!
Breakfast was great. french taost for me and a nice mushroom and cheese omlett for Larry. In the low season these places are quite accomodatng.

Off to the Ring of Kerry today with young James behind the wheel 

Quiiet Man sites and the Connemara

Trying something new so this blog may get a little ‘windy. I’m using the car adapter to power the laptop and will blog as we go. We spent several hours looking at the houses and places where scenes were shot from the movie, using map from the souvenir shop. A few wrong turns but we managed to find most of them.

Ashford castle where the crew stayed while filming

We head out of Cong to drive the Ring of Connemara. The road signs that have been so good thus are now in short supply. Several times we needed to stop and make sure we were on the right road. We pass through Maam and Lenaune where we have a pint with a colorful barkeep.

The roads twist and turn to follow the terrain. We’re both surprised to see MOUNTAINS. Not Rocky Mt. Worthy but quite impressive nonetheless. As we leave Lenaune the roads are suddenly lousy with sheep, a new hazard to deal with. Larry has done a great job of driving so far.

Mission abandoned – our quest to see the sandy beach where John Wayne won the horse race was unsuccessful. We could not find the correct turn off the minor road we ventured down. Oh, well, on to Clifden for some lunch then down to Galway where we can score some Mussels for Larry.

We have seen conifers for the time on the trip. they seem out of place for some reason. The drive to the ocean and Clifden was very adventurous as the road just twisted each way without notice. Larry says he’s getting a blister from the wheel. Cliften is a very interesting town and I would sure like to spend some time here. For the first time we feel rushed and only stay long enough to get some currency exchanged for Larry since the debit card will not work. If you come to Ireland and find yourself on the coast, this town should be a place to see.

Well, it’s on to Galway and then to the Cliffs of Moher further South.

One the way back east we catch a HUGE break. I see a small sign on the side of the road that says – Quiet Man Bridge. I make Larry turn around and sure enough, there it is The Bridge, just a few hundred yards off the road.

We stop to take pictures and meet two women who have stopped to take photos for their husbands who love the movie too. We convince them that they are so close to Cong that they’re husbands will never forgive them for not going there. We give them out map of the Connemara peninsula that we no longer need and bid them goodbye.

I’m going to leave out crappy trip through Galway at rush hour and the finding of the B&B for later.

We'll finish with some more scenery shots as we're told that's what the fans want..and a shot of Larry at the B&B this AM.  No pub shot today

The way to Innishfree

We left Sligo today and headed for the first primary goal of the trip, to make our pilgrimage to Innishfree, also known as Cong. The small town in western Ireland where the Nelson Boys favorite movie was shot – John Wayne’s immortal THE QUIET MAN.

Sligo is a wild area of bare mountains that pop up out of nowhere, and at the ocean’s edge, a pounding surf that was quite impressive.  We stopped, further south, in a town called Castlebar for some lunch.  What a bloody mistake! I had a simple vegetable soup that they seemed to have to puree for some reason and add some crazy Indian spices.  I ate just a bit before almost throwing up. Jim had about the same reaction to his lunch.  We cornered the chef and he said they puree all their soups. I asked him what if a man wanted a simple bowl of chicken noodle soup?  All I got was a scowl.  So, we stood outside and took a picture of us giving the thumbs down and posted it Wiki-travel, saying…don’t eat Here!

We ran into a little rain on and off all day but for the most part the weather was good for the drive. We were making good time until we hit Balinrobe about 10 miles away where the terrible street signs had us circling for about 40 minutes. We stopped for directions twice and I had the time to feed a stray dog two of the cookies that Sandy had packed.

Finally Cong!. The first thing we saw upon entering the small town was Pat Cohan’s bar, right out of the movie.

The town is setup as a series of one-way streets that form a circle around town and almost every store or restaurant had a Quiet Man theme to it..

We passed the ruins of the Cong Abby also from the movie.

On to the B&B that was about three miles out of town along twisting 1 ½ car roads, which made for some rather interesting driving as we met other cars along the way likely driven by bloody tourists.

The B&B is lovely and newly built. Again the view was breathtaking.

Our hostess was much more accommodating than our first and the rooms better. The breakfast was quite good and very filling. Again we seemed to be the only guests in this ‘low’ season.  We headed back into town with the idea of finding a great meal but as we stopped by each possible place to eat we found that only one of us could find something we wanted to eat. We settled for a few pints

 and our hunger waned eventually so we bought some wine a cheese and went back to our beautiful room for the night.

We headed out in the morning to see the Connemara peninsula and then it’s on to the Galway and then the Cliffs of Moher for the night.

Day Two - In the West

We seem to have over adjusted our internal clocks somehow and both woke up about 6:00am Dublin time which is about midnight back home. We headed out on the streets of Dublin to watcih the sun rise and the city come alive. The commuters just swammed the streets by 7:30am and the noise was surpisingly loud. Niether of us were hungry but we did split a sausage McMuffin. I know, I know, we go all the way to Ireland just to eat at Micky-Ds but that's all we wanted. We headed back to the room to pack and by the time we left about 9:00am  to pick up the rental car, the streets were back to being quiet.

Our car is a tiny Hyndai with no trunk, sorry boot, but somehow foor doors.

After a few wrong turns we left Dublin and headed to the West. Our general target was Sligo which is located on the ocean. We decided that we wanted to drive the back roads for most of the trip as we have plenty of time to go the 130 miles. Larry did a fine job of staying on the left side and the sites were wonderful. Forgot to mention that the weather has been much better than were thought and we only hit some lite rain for about 30 mins of the four or five hours on the road. Stopped in a nice town called Carrick on Shannon for a pint and some soup.

The Pub

Very pretty town and we walked around for about 45 mins. We took a wide circle to the North of Sligo and drove down the coast. Stunned by the HUGE surf we saw coming in. Looked like a scene from Endless Summer. We were not surprised to find that Sligo actually has a surf community after seeing the waves.

We stopped by the B&B to drop off the bags and then hit Sligo to look around and shop.
There is  stunning view of a hill we've named Mt. Sligo. It has an Irish name but who cares

We had another pint at an authentic pub complete with colorful drunks watching the races on the tele. The B&B is an older house but the rooms are nice. The town is full of shops

Sligo town

On the down side, Larry's debit card does not work and we've sent two e-mail messages to his bank with no reply. Came hole about 6:30pm after they rolled uo the sidealks in town. Very strange, no one left but stray dogs and other 'critters' on the streets.

First Day in Dublin Town

Got in when expected, found our way to our hotel and, surprisingly, found our second wind as well. There’s so much to see in this town and we’re right next to Trinity College so there’s a youthful element that’s really vibrant.  We scoped out a few places for gifts, and then started off to see some of the major cathedrals the town is famous for. It was a good day for walking. We stopped by an old time pub and tried a pint, and listened to the locals discussing the day’s news, ( the Ryder Cup, horse racing, etc.).  True to his gamboling spirit, he tried to draw me into a local betting establishment, to wager a Euro or two, but I reminded him that we had a more important engagement with the Guinness Brewery, and their fabulous tour.  It really was something!!  At the end, you got a pint of the product, still the best example in the world, they served you in their brand new six-story facility, culminating with their “Gravity Bar” at the top.  From there, you could see above all of Dublin, and it was a fantastic view.  So many people, from so many countries.

We decided it would be best to “cab” it home, and plan for the evening. Alas, jet lag caught up with us and a short nap became a longer than expected sleep. Probably all the better, as we needed to be sharp for driving on the “wrong side of the road” the next day.

Did I say we……I meant Me !  Jim will be our master navigator.

It’s become a cold, blustery night, so we’re in, and ready to head up to the Sligo area tomorrow. Facing Petrol shock I do believe..

Larry Cracking the safe at Guinness

Service! Let's have some service!!!

A Rough Start

A very rough start

Well, everything could go smooth the first day but it did not. The trip down from Appleton was swift and uneventful  except for a minor detour in Milwaukee.  Traffic was light which is good because the folks drive like maniacs in Milwaukee. Only had to pay two tolls to the robbers on the Illinois Tollway. A great visit with Ed & Mickey in Bensenville, way to short however. Ed was nice enough to drop us off at the airport and we arrived with plenty of time to spare.

Trouble - We used the new automated check in kiosk but did not realize that we were given seats 20 rows away from each other on both flights.

Poor Larry had a middle seat with a Chris Farley look alike and his fatter bother on either side. I was lucky enough to score a window seat. I made a call to US Air on my cell to try and sort out the tickets for the Philly to Dublin flight but no luck. Hopefully we can swap seats with some one and work things out. We made sure the return seats were locked in.

Some pictures of the boys with out jaunty Irish Hats

We killed the four-hour layover eating veggie noodles, watching the Football games, and nursing a beer in the bar

Well we had no luck changing seats at the gate since the gate agent was a Polish Nazi we believe.. Once we got on the plan there was a mad frenzy of seat swapping going on and Larry and I did get to sit together. The food on the plane was actually good.