This post is loooong overdue. So sorry it has taken so long (Irene and Judy, especially)! Well, in case you hadn't heard, Dave and I went to Ireland in Early June. Our good friends Gerry and Emily very graciously took us with them and gave us the 5 million dollar tour of the Southwest and West coast of the country. Gerry Geary (yes, as in that delicious beer from Portland Maine) was born in Cratloe, in County Clare. I observed that when introducing himself to Irish locals he says "I'm Geary of Cratloe". That kind of summed up the Ireland experience for me. Everyone seemed to know everyone and you know that certain names come from certain regions. It was amazing to me. At least the part of Ireland that we visited felt more like a small town than a nation. I mean this in the best way - everyone was very kind and open and the whole place had a very intimate feeling to it - even in the larger cities. It also felt so familiar to me, having grown up in the Northeast of the US where the Irish heritage is so strong.
NOTE: many of these photos are out of order -there were so many it was hard to upload in the proper order. sorry sorry sorry!
Here we are, flying over some part of Ireland (sorry, Gerry - can't remember where this is!). Possible edits to this post forthcoming.
About to land in Kerry. Did I mention that our plane tickets were only $15 each??? God, I love European discount airlines, so much!
The small and quaint Kerry Airport.
Some choices of where to go as we left the airport parking lot (DRIVING ON THE LEFT SIDE-AHHH!!!).
Our first stop was to get some much-loved Irish sweets. They may be English, I don't know for sure but they were alll so good. Basic candy bars but much tastier for some reason. Whenever i mentioned this to people who had already been to Ireland or England they all say "oh yes, the CADBURY's!). I knew of cadbury chocolate but i didn't realize there were SO many different varieties. My favorite was the chocolate with mint. I also thought it was interesting that the Yorkie candbars were "not for girls!" What's that all about? I bought one just to spite the manufacturer. ;)
Another common sweet treat is vanilla soft serve ice cream. You could get it in any town and often gas stations and grocey stores had their own soft serve counter inside. I was very excited about this because you dont get a lot of soft serve in Luxembourg. In Ireland you usually have the choice of getting your cone pierced with a "Flake" which is a chocolate bar that has a very crumbly, flakey texture. A brilliant combination.
These chaps looked especially Irish to me.
As did this lad or would he be a bloke?
Our first official stop was in a lovely little seaside town called Kinsale.
Kind of reminded me of Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, and some towns on the Coast of Maine, except it felt a bit older, more colorful and a bit more charming. Oh, and there were more men wearing wool caps. And more Guinness was served.
Some strange car interior design going on here.
By the harbour of Kinsale.
And Gerry, Emily and Aiobheann about to introduce me to my first Irish fish fry!!!
Always wrapped in paper, no utensils, no ketchup, lots of salt and vinegar. FAN-DAM-TASTIC.
And let's not forget the batter fried sausages! Yes, a frighteningly fattening concept but actually quite good, in moderation.
Speaking of fattening, here we have the traditional Irish Breakfast. No, not the tea. It's a boatload of meats (sausage, bacon/ham, and blood sausage -not bad - i kind of liked the white one) with eggs, potatos and always a grilled tomato. The irish sausages were milder and had a finer texture than other sausages i have had. I liked them very much. As a vegetarian, Emily stuck with the fruit and cereal.
The roses grew wonderfully in Ireland. These were in Cork City.
Every pub had a pile of kegs outside their door (empty or freshly-filled and ready to go inside for another night of service).
Murphy's Stout is made in Cork City so in Cork City you drink Murphy's. You don't drink Guiness, unless you're a tourist, or just looking for trouble.
Gerry and his cousin, a nice lad, attending the university in Cork City enjoying a Murphy's. I had one too. VERY good.
Cork City. The accent here is AMAZING. It sounds like singing. I heard it in a store over the loudspeaker and I thought the person was kidding. But it was for real. I really wish I had taped the sound. It was like nothing I have ever heard.
Owen, Gerry's brother, with the lovely Aiobheann. Here we are all at this really good Thai restaurant. The best thai food i've had since moving to Europe.
Hurling is the big sport in Ireland.
We then went to Blarney, home of the famous Blarney castle and the Blarney Stone. We stopped for a Guiness (good thing to order when in Blarney, and Gerry made sure the keg was fresh).
Some guy playing a bit of hurling with his Jack Russell.
The story of Blarney... basically Queen Victoria was mad at this dude named Blarney for not paying taxes and he always had a good story why he didn't pay and was full of promises. Finally QV got fed up with the BS that Blarney was telling her. After this, whenever someone was trying to BS her she'd say "it's all Blarney". So, if you kiss the stone, legend says you get the "gift of gab" and can tell some good stories, charm people, etc. who knows.
Blarney Castle.
So those metal bars are where you bend over backwards and kiss the blarney stone. You are REALLY high up off the ground when you do this. Like really high up.
People gathering to kiss the stone.
Me, kissing the stone. Even though i was hundreds of feet off the ground i felt safe in the arms of two cheerful, 70 yr-old men who were making us laugh the whole time.
View from the top of the castle. Yes, Ireland is G R E E N.
More GREEN on our drive.
A colorful town, can't remember the name or where it was exactly.
Mailbox!
Cashel Rock.
The castle at Cashel Rock.
... and the view.
Some pretty little cottages just outside the castle area.
This is where i saw something really strange. a man driving a horse and carriage really FAST down the road. I found out that the man is probably a "Traveler" or Irish Gypsy and he's practicing for some horse race. This is apparently REALLY bad for the horse - to be driven so hard down the pavement. I guess the whole sport is quite cruel to the animals and they horses don't live long.
A very Irish looking door - green, and with a horseshoe for luck! ;)
A Celtic "high cross' in a small town where we stopped or a soft serve ice cream. Probably from the 600-700's. A status symbol marking a monastery/abbey or for a patron of the Church. This one was about 15 feet tall.
Some towns near Cratloe, where the Gearys live.
The spectacular view from behind the Geary family home.
Ray Geary (Gerry's dad) and his victory garden. Of course, plenty of potatos (pa-day-dohs) were planted!
MIchelle (Gerry's sister), Renee (Gerry's mom) and Aiobheann Geary.
Gerry and Ray
Renee making one of her magnificent fruit tarts.
The refrigerator of travel. Whenever a member of the family travels, they send a magnet home to grace the fridge.
More of the view from the hilltop behind the Geary home. That is the beginnings of the sea.
Kevin (another brother Geary) and his wife Jill.
Dave huffing it up the hill to the view.
This is a giant fuschia hedge. I only knew of fuschias as potted plants you put on your porch in summer. Here they grow wild and HUGE. It was bizarre to see. A reminder that Ireland is pretty mild/temperate overall. You even see palm trees every now and then, although this past winter had a terrible frost that killed many of them.
Dave enjoying some of Renee's freshly-baked scones and reading up on the day's adventures.
BIg cat. This is one of Emily's cats. When Emily and Gerry moved to Europe they brought their cats here and the cats have never been happier, or fatter.
Corkie! The family Irish Terrier. A very sweet dog.
An older couple lived here, just up the road from the Geary's house. It's tradition for Gerry and Emily to visit them, with a bottle of Power's whiskey in hand. They warned me that i had to be ready to drink some whiskey. I am NOT a big whiskey or scotch fan so i was a bit nervous.
Even though my glass was watered down by a bit of 7-up - "not too much to dilute the good flavor of the whiskey" it was a BIG glass. However, it went down surprisingly easy, and i even had a second glass.
For all of you Jameson's fans, i recommend trying Power's whiskey. It was very very smooth and apparently Jameson's is popular because of good marketing, not necessarily because it's the best. But i'm just repeating what an Irish dude told me.
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More fried fish in Limmerick!
Thes girls go to Catholic school so they have to wear these long skirts. Leave it to the Irish to take catholic school uniforms to the next level.
We visited an outdoor museum/park where they had homes from the different regions of IReland, all set up in working order. Very interesting.
Homes were heated with peat from the bogs that were all over Ireland. Since the British cut down all of the forests for their navy, IReland was not left with a lot of wood to burn. Thankfully the had the peat!
Some old "traveler" caravans.
Bunratty castle (thanks, Erin, friend of Irene!) that was bought by some rich dude and restored. Next to it was a really neat little pub and restaurant. The whole thing was set on a tidal river. Quite scenic.
Inside Dirty Nelly's.
Dave and Gerry enjoying a Guinness outside Dirty Nelly's in the "shadow" of the castle.
Dave and i toured the castle the next day, this is the main dining area.
What amazed me most was this set of antlers, from an elk that was over 5,000 years old. These were found in a peat bog where the lack of oxygen under the surface preserves such things for well, thousands of years.
NIce pub near Cratloe.
We made a stop at Emily's favorite place for oysters and chowder.
At the Burren, a vast, open and GORGEOUS part of Ireland. Full of granite hills and miles and miles of stone walls. We were so lucky to have sunshine the entire time we were there and the air was so clear so we could see for MILES.
Emily, Aiobheann and Gerry "Geary, of Cratloe".
We stopped at the site of this ancient tomb, Poulnabrone. Still a mystery how it was built. Aliens??? Hmm???
This bloke wrote Gerry's name in old Celtic alphabet. Then you could buy a necklace of it for 20 Euros. Gerry took a pass but we each bought a miniature tomb.
At the famous Cliffs of Mohr. Really spectacular. Dave reminded us that they were the "cliffs of insanity" in the movie "Princess Bride". I need to see that movie again.
Random street scenery.
A random castle, now a part of a farm field. No nobles living here any longer.
This castle looked like it was inhabited - new windows and chimneys.
It was strawberry season!!!
A cute little cottage in some cute little town.
Off the coast - people were swimming here and it was early June. The water was not that cold at all. In the distance is Gallway.
The Guiness Quality Team Van. THey drive around making sure all pubs that serve Guiness are complying with company standards.
Our last stop was Kilarney. Here you have a pub decorated with police patches from all over the world ...
...including LATVIA!
Waiting for our plane back home. Note the lovely green hills (and there were cute cows too) in the background. Even the airport tarmac looked Irish! Bye Bye Ireland (sniff sniff)!
