Today was such an eventful and interesting day! We woke up in our adorable B&B to a full and gracefully prepared Irish breakfast. We had tea, bacon... Irish bacon (once you've had it you'll understand its different), eggs, three diffent types of break with butter and two different spreads. We had cottage cheese with three different fruits. We have four different cereals, freshly squeezed orange juice and milk. We had sauted mushrooms and omelets with cheese and the most amazing tasting tomatoes you'll ever have the pleasure of tasting. We had sausage and a mystery meat that was quite divine. We had thingys and doodads, we had it all! So delicious. We then bade our wonderful hostess Camel goodbye and made our way to Killarney national park!
It was beautiful! We stopped every 5 minutes to take "just one more picture". This continued for a few hours. Its just amazing in every direction, everywhere you look. And of course, wouldnt you know it, we found ourselves another castle ruin. This one on the side of the road behind a very poorly maintained fence that hasnt held anybody back since the 1970's, so we of course could not be left out. We found ourselves exploring the ruins as im sure ever visitor and teenager has in the last 40 years. It is a beautifully preserved castle, im sure only preserved as it is from natural foliage cover. Ivey and ferns covered and lined the walls and moss covered the floor. It was straight out of a fairytale to be sure.
We continued our drive, as well as continued to stop every few minutes. We continued to round a bend or come up over a hill and just be wowed all over again. Not to mention the leaves are starting to change, so it just makes it THAT much more amazing and beautiful. How could we be so lucky as to truly be enjoying such an amazing place like this?
Well... as always, tradgedy struck. A rude, or more likely oblivous bus driver hogging both lanes that dont really exist ran us off the road and into a jagged rock, slicing open our tire. After a struggle to figure out the foreign car jack, we finally got the spare on. On the plus side my sister finally learned how to replace a tire! We called the car rental company, and because I am paying the $5/day for tire and glass coverage, they will fully refund me for the tire replacement. The only downside is I have to take the time out of my day tomorrow to go and get that fixed.
After this short mishap, I was left in a rather grumpy mood, so we set our sights on the downtown area, having heard that the big finale of a huge tournament was supposed to be happening. However we got distracted and found ourselves standing at the base of Ross Castle! What an absolutely stunning and beautiful castle. I had seen pictures and had started to opt to skip it, and what a crazy thought that was. I dont know if I was having a stroke of stupid or what, but how grateful am I that we did not miss it! It ended up being one of our absolute favorite parts so far. So for $5 (for the two of us!) we got an absolutely phenomenal hour tour of this grand castle. Having been a tour guide myself I tend to be a bit harsh on my judgement of other tour guides, however this wonderful kind Irish lady was fantastic, knew her stuff, was confident and oh so kind. Thanks a million darlin! We learned so much and had a truly enjoyable time moving from room to room to room learning the history, what the rooms were used for, how they were made, why they were the way they were, etc. And as two people who love that kind of thing, we were simply in heaven. It had a great tower with a wonderful spiral staircase that led to the top- what a view! Unfortunetly photos were not permitted in this historical landmark, but it is not something I will forget. I will hold those images dear to my heart and mind forever. And just to let you know, I would gladly pay double... no triple what I paid for the same experience. Loved it!
So after that wonderful experience we were indeed pretty hungry- so we did find ourselves downtown just in time for the game. The pubs were roaring with activity and excitement, the town festive. The streets were lined with flags and decorations, nearly every person had on a jersey and most festive painted faces. Street vendors were out offering cheap goodies and virtually every store had its doors open and tv playing so you could wander through the town and still not miss a beat! It was quite a unique experience to watch these people celebrate! They would wander pub to pub, store to store, guiness glass in hand, gretting everyone they met, hooting and hollaring, enjoying themselves and supporting their town (Killarney is based in County Kerry. The game was Gaelic Football, Kerry vs. Donegal. Gaelic football is this overly exciting sport with little rules. You can push, shove, block, trip, punch gravel with anyone. You have a soccerball type object in which you can kick, hold, dribble, pass, bounce, throw... anything. You basically are only allowed to take four steps while holding the ball before you literally have to do SOMETHING with it. So they often run at full speed while bounding this ball off their moving feet, or drible it like a basketball, or bounce it off their opponents heads, or whatever! They then must score either between two football like fork spokes or in a soccer like net underneath. It is a truly interesting and fun game to watch- and I would personally love to learn to play!). We did ultimately find ourselves a quieter pub to enjoy a delicious meal and watch the game while privately trying to figure out how it worked, then made our way over to a lively pub simply to enjoy the festivities for a while.
We then made our way to tonights B&B. After arriving at another adorable place on the outskirts of town with a beautiful view of the mountains and lough (lake) we settled in for a quick nap. But not before we discovered the overwhelmingly comfortable beds (that I am currently denying myself sleep in) and the imaculate... may I say IMACULATE cleanliness of the place. We then awoke ourselves and hopped on over to the locals pub to enjoy a nice night of music and desert. I had the most delicious thing I have ever had. I really earnestly wish I could remember what it was called. It started with a B and it was supposed to be a BERRY, but it was a pie that tasted caramel like. We ended up having a fun and lively conversation with the folks at the next table before returning home and heading to bed, which is where I must depart you and set myself to.
Tomorrow... a quick tire change and then Gap of Dunloe and then TO THE BEACH!
Sunday, September 21, 2014
Day TWO in Ireland... Sheep doin' their sheep thang!
Day two! or day one... it really depends on how you look at it. We only had a few short horrible hours in Cork, mostly in the dull damp depressing darkness. So waking up and getting out of town was the first thing on my list! Which we did, never looking back. Im sure that Cork is actually a fantastic place, but it did not leave a great impression on us and we were glad to leave. HOWEVER. That was the end of our dislike. The second we got out away from Cork and headed towards Cobh, a city on the coast, we started to fall in love with Ireland. It diddnt take long and we fell fast, so fast that we were ready to be hitched by the time we reached Cobh, about a 20 minute drive. On the way there we passed rolling green hills and fantastic countryside... little did we know that would be NOTHING compared to what we would see later! We had got up and left early, thinking we would hit up the ATM and find a place for breakfast upon reaching Cobh. We left "early" at 8. Placing us arriving in Cobh roughly 25 minutes later. Little did we know, and surely did we discover, that Ireland simple doesnt do early. Ireland doesnt wake up until a good 9... usually 11 o clock. So when we showed up looking for food, we were sorely disappointed to discover not only was there nothing open, but there was no one about! So we found a free parking area and set out, wandering the wet streets, ohhhing and awweeing over the pretty and artistic streets lined with colorful houses and storefronts- a refreshing offset to the damp grey clouds and chilly misty air. We did ultimately find a little dive open at about 9, went inside and got a small breakfast. This was our first taste of true Irish hospitality! We ordered wraps (the only breakfasty items they seemed to offer was a salmon bagel... no... just no). After we paid and sat down we noticed a young man run out of the store, only to return a few minutes later with a few grocery bags in hand. 10 minutes later we had our food- aparently they had to run out to purchase goods for our meal! I felt awful, but what are you to do? Its not at all customary to tip, so we simply offered a heartfelt thank you and were on our way, and referred people to them later!
We made our way to the Titanic Experience center. Cobh had been the very last stop for the famous Titanic years ago. She picked up 123 passengers and then sailed on her maiden voyage across the Atlantic- never to complete her journey due to unfortunate conditions, an iceberg and an over confident captain sailing the vessel far to fast. The original ticket center there in Cobh is still standing- and has since been converted into a tourist attraction of sorts. We paid the E.10 or whatever it was and had ourselves a very memorable experience. They gave us "tickets" with a passengers name on them. Mine was for a Roger Tobin, a 22 year old male who sailed in 3rd class. It was only ironic I got someone who matched my own identity, but it definitely made the experience more personal. We were then guided through a relatively short deal where we "boarded the ship" "met the captain" and were escorted to our "rooms". We viewed the menu for the evening and even took a sneak peek at the 1st class cabins- my were they impressive! We then took a step out on the deck and viewed the original dock from whence the Titanic sailed away from land for the very last time. We then were escorted back inside to a historical room filled with some artifacts retrieved from the ship. Here we also did research on our given name, and ultimately discovered the fate of them. Roger Tobin was lost at sea, never to be found. However his two friends he was traveling with, both females of the same age, survived, and they credit Roger for saving them. It was a touching and memorable experience, one I would gladly do again if only for the humbling and perspective altering experience of it all.
After clearing a few tears, we did leave Cobh and headed back towards Cork, but only to pass by it enroute for Kenmare. But we did decide to take the scenic route, taking us down along the coast by Kinsale, Clonakilty and more. However our lovely GPS had different intentions. We did make it to Kinsale, however somewhere between there and our next coast destination she made decisions that led us on a horribly wrong path. We were not upset, however. Kinsale was a wonderful little town filled with rude french tourist. They grunted at us the whole time and absolutely refused to budge and inch to allow us to move our car. We literally had to sit and wait until they decided they were darn good and ready. I wasnt about to nudge them with my car, though I had a good mind to! After Kinsale we found ourselves SOMEWHERE along the line, not really sure where. We stumbled upon a few small towns, found some adorable old churches and even a few castle ruins. We even found an amazing place called Charles Fort- an old, well, fort that is well preserved. So for a few dollars we were allowed to crawl all over and inspect the fantastic rustic ruins of what was. It was very interested and neat! We discovered amazing countryside and beautiful scenery. We were not upset by our deviation. We even found ourselves nearly picking up a hitchhiker (actually two) but by the time we swung around to get them, they had already been picked up. So far no reports of a murder.
Somehow we ended up on a mountainous road that was definitely not a one way road, much less two. It looked more like a horse trail, but we followed it up and over a mountain- lending us some of the most gorgeous views we have set to date. Finally flooow, our GPS, did manage to find us in Kenmare, our destination.
However our adventure surely did not stop there. Oh no. We spent the next two lovely hours driving all over Kenmare and back, through Kenmares backroads and even beyond looking for our Bed and Breakfast. We tried to call, we tried to search we even found a wifi hotspot and tried that, to no avail. At this point we were both so hungy and so tired and so in need of a restroom we finally planted the car downtown and hit to the stores in search of a restroom. Well of course it was late enough that all the decent ones were closed- and the few that were open to cater to the tourists were for "guests only" so we finally happened ourselves upon a lovely B&B owner whos place was right downtown who let us in to relieve ourselves and then gave us fine directions to our place that night. We finally found our way to the most adorable little thatched roof cottage youve probably never seen but dreamed of.
Our hostess was the kindest of all kind ladies. Sweet as iced tea I would say. A round and friendly women who was warm as freshly baked bread invited us in and offered coffee or tea, and showed us to the most adorable room. Hand carved beds, stands, cloths chest, lamps etc. Just romantic and incredibly warm and welcoming. She invited us in and then guided us in the right direction for some good food and night time entertainment. We made our way back to town- the right side of town this time and had a wonderful evening with fantastic music, really tastey food and friendly folks.
Making our way back we enjoyed a relaxing evening and a restful nights sleep in more than adequate beds.
So in all we had an amazing day! So wonderful and fantastic, Ireland is truly the most amazing place I have ever been. Sure we may have had a few negative experiences, but they were liked grains of sand in an ocean of wonderful bliss, so friendly and nice and warm and kind and amazing and beautiful and tastey and good and whole and green and... splendid!
oh... and the sheep! We found ourselves a little hillside covered in sheep doing their sheep thing, which is making adorable noises and prancing about- it pretty much made my day!
We made our way to the Titanic Experience center. Cobh had been the very last stop for the famous Titanic years ago. She picked up 123 passengers and then sailed on her maiden voyage across the Atlantic- never to complete her journey due to unfortunate conditions, an iceberg and an over confident captain sailing the vessel far to fast. The original ticket center there in Cobh is still standing- and has since been converted into a tourist attraction of sorts. We paid the E.10 or whatever it was and had ourselves a very memorable experience. They gave us "tickets" with a passengers name on them. Mine was for a Roger Tobin, a 22 year old male who sailed in 3rd class. It was only ironic I got someone who matched my own identity, but it definitely made the experience more personal. We were then guided through a relatively short deal where we "boarded the ship" "met the captain" and were escorted to our "rooms". We viewed the menu for the evening and even took a sneak peek at the 1st class cabins- my were they impressive! We then took a step out on the deck and viewed the original dock from whence the Titanic sailed away from land for the very last time. We then were escorted back inside to a historical room filled with some artifacts retrieved from the ship. Here we also did research on our given name, and ultimately discovered the fate of them. Roger Tobin was lost at sea, never to be found. However his two friends he was traveling with, both females of the same age, survived, and they credit Roger for saving them. It was a touching and memorable experience, one I would gladly do again if only for the humbling and perspective altering experience of it all.
After clearing a few tears, we did leave Cobh and headed back towards Cork, but only to pass by it enroute for Kenmare. But we did decide to take the scenic route, taking us down along the coast by Kinsale, Clonakilty and more. However our lovely GPS had different intentions. We did make it to Kinsale, however somewhere between there and our next coast destination she made decisions that led us on a horribly wrong path. We were not upset, however. Kinsale was a wonderful little town filled with rude french tourist. They grunted at us the whole time and absolutely refused to budge and inch to allow us to move our car. We literally had to sit and wait until they decided they were darn good and ready. I wasnt about to nudge them with my car, though I had a good mind to! After Kinsale we found ourselves SOMEWHERE along the line, not really sure where. We stumbled upon a few small towns, found some adorable old churches and even a few castle ruins. We even found an amazing place called Charles Fort- an old, well, fort that is well preserved. So for a few dollars we were allowed to crawl all over and inspect the fantastic rustic ruins of what was. It was very interested and neat! We discovered amazing countryside and beautiful scenery. We were not upset by our deviation. We even found ourselves nearly picking up a hitchhiker (actually two) but by the time we swung around to get them, they had already been picked up. So far no reports of a murder.
Somehow we ended up on a mountainous road that was definitely not a one way road, much less two. It looked more like a horse trail, but we followed it up and over a mountain- lending us some of the most gorgeous views we have set to date. Finally flooow, our GPS, did manage to find us in Kenmare, our destination.
However our adventure surely did not stop there. Oh no. We spent the next two lovely hours driving all over Kenmare and back, through Kenmares backroads and even beyond looking for our Bed and Breakfast. We tried to call, we tried to search we even found a wifi hotspot and tried that, to no avail. At this point we were both so hungy and so tired and so in need of a restroom we finally planted the car downtown and hit to the stores in search of a restroom. Well of course it was late enough that all the decent ones were closed- and the few that were open to cater to the tourists were for "guests only" so we finally happened ourselves upon a lovely B&B owner whos place was right downtown who let us in to relieve ourselves and then gave us fine directions to our place that night. We finally found our way to the most adorable little thatched roof cottage youve probably never seen but dreamed of.
Our hostess was the kindest of all kind ladies. Sweet as iced tea I would say. A round and friendly women who was warm as freshly baked bread invited us in and offered coffee or tea, and showed us to the most adorable room. Hand carved beds, stands, cloths chest, lamps etc. Just romantic and incredibly warm and welcoming. She invited us in and then guided us in the right direction for some good food and night time entertainment. We made our way back to town- the right side of town this time and had a wonderful evening with fantastic music, really tastey food and friendly folks.
Making our way back we enjoyed a relaxing evening and a restful nights sleep in more than adequate beds.
So in all we had an amazing day! So wonderful and fantastic, Ireland is truly the most amazing place I have ever been. Sure we may have had a few negative experiences, but they were liked grains of sand in an ocean of wonderful bliss, so friendly and nice and warm and kind and amazing and beautiful and tastey and good and whole and green and... splendid!
oh... and the sheep! We found ourselves a little hillside covered in sheep doing their sheep thing, which is making adorable noises and prancing about- it pretty much made my day!
Friday, September 19, 2014
First day in Ireland!
We have only been here a few hours, but so much has happened. Our whole adventure started with the ride to the airport! A friend took us- mind you this friend is an Aussie who grew up in Africa, so his driving technique is a bit different than the traditional methods. After getting turned around and taking us through little india on the backside of Chicago, nearly crashing and breaking more than a few laws, we finally ALMOST make it when we crash through a gate- leaving me screaming and our friend laughing... anyways we finally got to the United Airlines terminal where we were able to fly through security with minimal effort and be on our way. The flight was of course long, however the seating was 2-4-2 so we had our own little area on the side of the plane- probably a good thing because for the first while we were a giggly mess. A "dinner" and "breakfast" were provided... yum... Sleeping on the plane was of course a difficult thing. Off and on, off and on. Its hard to get comfortable when you have an inconsiderate person sitting in front of you who leans back ALL THE WAY. But I figured they needed the rest more than I needed comfort and let it be.
We finally landed in London and were able to breeze through immigration. No biggie at all. We then quickly located the underground system, purchased tickets and hopped on the Tube. 45 minutes later we found ourselves emerging from the dark caves of the London underground into the incredibly busy Piccadilly Circus- an area of downtown London just bustling with activity. From there we were L-O-S-T. After consulting one to many maps, we finally decided to simply strike out and head for locations by sight. Good thing to! We found our way quickly and soon found ourselves in the heart of history and amazing architecture. Its almost overwhelming. Towering cathedrals and big ben, the London bridge and the river. London was such a beautiful city, what bit we saw of it. We had our fill and were tired of walking- we were afraid of running out of time you see so we had pounded the streets hard to make sure we saw all we could, so we actually ended up seeing all we had planned to quite quickly, so we wandered our way back to the underground for another 45 minute trek back to the airport. Once back we breezed through security in five minutes and ended up having about two hours to wait. I attribute the ease of travel to the time of year!
After another hour flight from London Heathrow to Cork Ireland, we once again breezed through immigration. Were talking 5 minutes folks! Then another two minutes to collect baggage and maybe about ten to collect rental car and we were out the door! A very simple and smooth process! Upon wandering through the rental car parking lot, we found our (not so compact) "compact diesel", but its a beautiful little car! Hopped in (on the wrong side...) and headed for our hotel only 5 minutes down the road! Or so we thought...
Driving on the opposite side of the car is fine and dandy, that I was able to master quickly, however the opposite side of the road posses a much bigger issue! Cork, as it turns out, is a bustling college town with lovely drivers all over. This resulted in one to many small quibbles between navigator and driver, yelling at the gps, a few slammed brakes, curbs ran over, stop signs blown through and a very very stressed Houston. Our GPS of course did not take us to the right place - she got us close, but not right on. Its dark, its rainy, im driving on the other side of the road, im freaking out and my GPS continues to say in a meloncholy voice "at the next intersection turn right". SHUT UP. We finally stop for directions, make the loop twice, STILL cant find our hotel. We call, get directions, STILL cant find it. We end up ringing some poor families doorbell far to late at night only to be told the place we were looking for is next door. Great! However... there is no parking. So we had to loop around twice more, park on the street and walk up and down, up and down until we find this little alley that is the deemed hotel parking. Finally, finally finally! At this point im near a premature heart attack, we are exhausted from 36 hours of travel and we are starving because the last thing we have eatn was that pathetic "breakfast" on the flight. We make our way to our room (which turns out to be a tiny dorm-room style room with two bunkbeds... but I digress). And after hitting the sack exhausted, I have now awoken after only a handful hours of sleep because my time clock is all sorts of backwards!
So that was OUR first experience! It was great, overal, just a bit nerve wrecking! Later today we have a LOAD planned- I cant wait!
We finally landed in London and were able to breeze through immigration. No biggie at all. We then quickly located the underground system, purchased tickets and hopped on the Tube. 45 minutes later we found ourselves emerging from the dark caves of the London underground into the incredibly busy Piccadilly Circus- an area of downtown London just bustling with activity. From there we were L-O-S-T. After consulting one to many maps, we finally decided to simply strike out and head for locations by sight. Good thing to! We found our way quickly and soon found ourselves in the heart of history and amazing architecture. Its almost overwhelming. Towering cathedrals and big ben, the London bridge and the river. London was such a beautiful city, what bit we saw of it. We had our fill and were tired of walking- we were afraid of running out of time you see so we had pounded the streets hard to make sure we saw all we could, so we actually ended up seeing all we had planned to quite quickly, so we wandered our way back to the underground for another 45 minute trek back to the airport. Once back we breezed through security in five minutes and ended up having about two hours to wait. I attribute the ease of travel to the time of year!
After another hour flight from London Heathrow to Cork Ireland, we once again breezed through immigration. Were talking 5 minutes folks! Then another two minutes to collect baggage and maybe about ten to collect rental car and we were out the door! A very simple and smooth process! Upon wandering through the rental car parking lot, we found our (not so compact) "compact diesel", but its a beautiful little car! Hopped in (on the wrong side...) and headed for our hotel only 5 minutes down the road! Or so we thought...
Driving on the opposite side of the car is fine and dandy, that I was able to master quickly, however the opposite side of the road posses a much bigger issue! Cork, as it turns out, is a bustling college town with lovely drivers all over. This resulted in one to many small quibbles between navigator and driver, yelling at the gps, a few slammed brakes, curbs ran over, stop signs blown through and a very very stressed Houston. Our GPS of course did not take us to the right place - she got us close, but not right on. Its dark, its rainy, im driving on the other side of the road, im freaking out and my GPS continues to say in a meloncholy voice "at the next intersection turn right". SHUT UP. We finally stop for directions, make the loop twice, STILL cant find our hotel. We call, get directions, STILL cant find it. We end up ringing some poor families doorbell far to late at night only to be told the place we were looking for is next door. Great! However... there is no parking. So we had to loop around twice more, park on the street and walk up and down, up and down until we find this little alley that is the deemed hotel parking. Finally, finally finally! At this point im near a premature heart attack, we are exhausted from 36 hours of travel and we are starving because the last thing we have eatn was that pathetic "breakfast" on the flight. We make our way to our room (which turns out to be a tiny dorm-room style room with two bunkbeds... but I digress). And after hitting the sack exhausted, I have now awoken after only a handful hours of sleep because my time clock is all sorts of backwards!
So that was OUR first experience! It was great, overal, just a bit nerve wrecking! Later today we have a LOAD planned- I cant wait!
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