Talking Blarney!

We had a wonderful four day trip to the Emerald Isle!!  You're probably thinking it is the land of leprechauns, rainbows, shamrocks, potatoes, and the Blarney Stone.  Yes it is all that and more..much more!  It's also the land of breathtaking scenery, woolies, pubs, very narrow roads with big large buses on them, friendly people, and treasured memories.

Knock Airport

Our four days in Ireland included a lot of driving but we wanted to cover as much ground as we could.  We flew Ryan Air from Frankfurt-Hahn to Knock, Ireland.  This is a small airport with only three gates about an hour north of Galway.  We jumped into our trusty little rental car, with the stick on the left side and the steering wheel on the right.  Mike is getting to be a pro at driving on the "wrong" side.  We spent our trip driving in big loop from Galway, to Kinvara, to Cliffs of Moher, back to Kinvara, down to Limerick, around the Ring of Kerry, to Cork then up to Athlone and back to Knock. 

Reminder....please click on any picture to make it big and beautiful!


My impressions of Ireland:  

PUBS- I read that Ireland has the most pubs per capita of any other country.  I don't know if that's really true, but from what I saw, I could believe it!  I got a kick out of reading all the different names of the pubs.  They were usually very colorfully painted including the one we ate our first meal in.  The Purple Pub.  It was just what you'd think pub would be.  Low ceilings, beams, roaring fire, wood tables and good food.   

 NARROW ROADS- We were told over and over again how bad the roads are in Ireland, that our itinerary was too ambitious and we'd have a difficult time covering that many miles in such a short amount of time.  I'd have to say this about that...for some drivers it would seem like too much but not our fearless fighter pilot/driver, Mike!   Ireland does have a few very nice motorways with four distinctly marked lanes, two in each direction.  The majority of the roads are "N" roads which are their two lane highways.  We'll call them the N for Narrow roads. They are narrow and in County Clare and County Kerry many of them are lined with rock walls (which by the way are amazingly hand stacked and beautiful, but very unforgiving if one gets too close). They are barely wide enough in some places for one car, much less for two cars to pass by each other and let's not even talk about buses and large trucks.  I closed my eyes a lot, luckily Mike didn't!  There are also "R" roads, which are really paths on which cars can drive (and many farm vehicles).  We'll call them R for ridiculous.  The GPS doesn't realize any of these distinctions and because the speed limit is pretty much 100 kilometers on all of the above, it will try to take you the "fastest" way, which is by no means the "fastest" way.  We learned this by trial and error...enough said.

"R" road

"R" road

"N" road

yeah..right!

GREEN:  It's true...Ireland is GREEN!!  It's so beautifully green that words and even photos cannot describe it.   When I think of Ireland, I will always picture the rock walled, green pastures with little white dots of woolies (sheep) and their lambies grazing away.  Ireland is also rocky.  The coastlines are rugged, wicked, windswept and awe inspiring!

Woolies

NEW HOMES:  This was the most surprising thing about Ireland to me.  I expected old weather beaten cottages but what I saw was many, many newer homes.  They must've had quite a building boom sometime in the last ten years or so.  I think the ratio was about 2 old cottages for every 8 new homes.  

Those were my impressions.  Now for some of the highlights of the trip...

 Our first stop was the Cliffs of Moher.  These cliffs rise 700 feet from the water and stretch for about 5 miles along the western coast of Ireland.

Can you see the people on top??

 There was an end to the trail and this sign as well as one that said "No Entry" but as you can see below a lot of people chose to ignore it.  It was an amazing view and just breathtaking!!

 The weather was a little misty and quite windy.  I didn't get too close to the edge..I didn't want a gust to blow me off the cliffs. 

 This is O'Brien's Tower.  It was built in 1835 for the tourists who had started flocking to the sight. You can pay a small fee and climb to the top for the best view of the cliffs.

 The Cliffs of Moher are the most visited natural attraction in Ireland and have been featured in many movies including Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.  They have recently added nice paved trails and a visitor's center.


We headed back to our hotel in Kinvara.  It was a guesthouse located on the main street, right downtown.  From the front it looked like it was going to be scary, but it was completely updated and remodeled inside recently.  Very nice!!

A sign outside of a restaurant across from the Kinvara Guesthouse.

The next day was Easter Sunday.  We had a nice full Irish Breakfast at the hotel and then drove south toward Limerick and then southwest to Killarney where we got on the famous scenic drive called the Ring of Kerry.  We read that there are a zillion tour buses on the route going counter clockwise, so if you don't want to be behind a bus, go clockwise.  But after driving on the narrow roads, and having met a few buses coming down from the Cliffs, Mike decided it would be better to be behind a bus than to have to constantly try to get by the oncoming buses for the 4-5 hour drive around the loop.  Funny thing is that although it was a holiday in Ireland, we had no traffic problems at all.  It was a beautiful drive.  It was a little grey and rained off and on, but it all added to the experience. 

An old stone cottage

A cute pub

 At one point near Limerick, the GPS didn't know there was a new tunnel under the river and we thought this was hilarious...our car just kept going on water....you do get a little delirious when driving long distances and the weirdest little thing makes you laugh... you know!?

Thatched roof cottages

Colorful towns

Our only traffic issues came from mobs of Easter church goers.  Ireland is predominately Catholic and they really like to go to church on Easter Sunday.  We looked up the nearest LDS branch to go to but it was at 11:00 a.m. and we were not near enough to go.

When we were going though Cahirsiveen, the Garda (police) pulled us over and asked us to stay put for about 15 minutes while a bike race came through town.  That was cool.

We continued around the ring until we were almost to the western most edge and at that point we decided to get off the designated "scenic route" and go even further to the coast hoping to find the perfect seafood joint for lunch.  We ended up going up a a one lane switchbacking road to the highest point on the hills over looking the Atlantic Ocean.  Wow! What a view!  We had to ask someone up there if there was a better way down or if this was the way??   

A rare sandy beach...there were surfers out there.

The Skelligs in the the distance

 He told us to continue down the other side, so we did.  Can you believe that at the top of that mountain there was a sign for a chocolate factory??  Really!?  In Ireland??  Well, since we hadn't found that perfect seafood joint and we were starving, when we drove by it, we stopped.  The Skellig Chocolate Factory had some pretty good chocolate and a nice little sandwich shop.  I had a most delicious Brie, Cranberry and Bacon Panini...and chocolate of course!

We finished up the Ring of Kerry in Kenmare, where we did a little shopping and then drove west to Cork, where we spent our second night at the Lancaster Lodge just outside of Cork.


On Monday we got up and it was really raining.  I have to admit I was a little cranky about that.  It's one thing to be in the car when it's raining but today was the day for Blarney Castle and the Rock of Cashel.  I finally snapped out of it and decided to put on my raincoat and enjoy the day.  It was about a twenty minute drive to Blarney Castle.  Travis was determined to kiss the Blarney Stone, Mike had NO intention of doing it and I was on the fence.  Read on to find out if we made it to the dangerous parapets of Blarney to kiss the famed stone....

Caves under the castle

Corri and Travis in the Great Hall of  the castle

Only 100 spiral steps to climb to get up to the stone..

 At the top of the castle...

 Travis and I kissed the Blarney Stone.  It's not easy!  You have to lie on your back and then stretch back and down to reach it.  You hold on to the iron bars and the guy holds you. Can you see how far down it is to the ground!?  Where the stone is all dark and smooth is where you kiss it.  Unsanitary...I know, I know...but would you go to Ireland, go to Blarney Castle, climb the stairs and NOT do it?  Mike would.  Go figure.

Happy faces...we did it!  We now have the gift of gab!

This is an ancient mysterious "portal"

 The grounds around the castle are beautiful.  They have paths and gardens to walk through and even in the rain, we really enjoyed spending a couple of hours here.

 These steps are called the Wishing Steps.  If you walk backwards down them with your eyes closed, your wish will come true. 

Travis making his wish come true

In the caves under the castle

 The day continued as we drove north from Cork to Cashel in the midlands. The Rock of Cashel is Ireland's greatest group of ecclesiastical ruins.  

It was once the seat of the Kings of Munster and they had their castle built of wood on top of this hill that stands out like a beacon in the middle of a treeless valley.     St. Patrick came to Cashel in 450 , bringing the advent of Christianity when he baptized King Aengus.  In 1101 A.D., King Murtagh O'Brien handed it over to the Christian church fathers.  It then became the center of the church in Ireland.  That's when they started building the chapel and cathedral you see now.

Frescoes in Cormac's Chapel.

 We took a guided tour and it was really very interesting.  There are five buildings to see.

Our guide by a stone sarcophagus.

 After seeing and exploring the Rock of Cashel, we drove north to a  hotel in Athlone. We passed the peat bogs, farmlands and more woolies.  Such a pretty country!

 We had to leave the next morning.  It was a quick trip and I'm so glad we had the chance to go! 

Here's wishing you a pot of gold at the end of all your rainbows...

love and miss you all,
-corri