Adventures in Ireland: 2011

We are about to embark to the land of the Irish to steal some time away from the US to explore the green, cold, and chilly hills, coastline, and cities of Dublin, Galway, Killarney, the Dingle Peninsula, Kinsale,Cork, and up north in Belfast.

Follow along…Flat Stanley will be along too!

The adventure starts on March 19, 2011

Saturday March 19, 2011

Stanley and the Denver pile left early on an American Airlines and several other airplanes to connect to New York. Ms. P and Stanley don’t remember a lot of the flight which connected through Chicago because they were sleepy and took a nap, but were finally awake enough to be excited about 3 pm in the afternoon. After a shuttle ride packed into a suburban, the travelling group Ms. P (Michelle) , Mr. Pearson (Kirk), Ms. Purath (Sal) , Mrs. Wright (Carol), Mr. Wright (Bill),  Mrs. Myers (Sue), Mr. Myers (Brian) and Mrs. Murphy (Vicki) and Stanley, all met up at the international terminal of John F. Kennedy Airport in New York to wait for our flight on Aer Lingus to Dublin.

Aer Lingus is the national airline of Ireland and one of the biggest international airlines of this region. Stanley was pretty excited and demanded to have his picture taken near the windows and next to his boarding gate sign.

After a 5 hour wait, a biut of lunch, and several walks in the airport we finally were called to board. Kirk and Stanley sat together so that they could watch the New York skyline as we departed for Ireland. Just as when we arrived they could see the Statue of Liberty, the New York skyline, and Ellis Island.

Stanly watched a movie on the flight and So did Ms. P. Kirk decided to play his DS before dinner and then sleep after. the 6.5 hour went fast– it was actually 5.5 hours this time around because the pilot said there were enough tailwinds to allow the plane to travel faster.   When we arrived in Dublin we picked up our cars, and set off driving on the left side of the road (not the right side like in the United States.)

Our first stop was Trim,Ireland, the home to one of the oldest and most beautiful castles in all of Europe. You can see information about trim at their homepage. As Kirk carefully drove our car over a small bridge close to Trim we were lucky enough to see the ruins of the Church of Saint Peter and Paul  This ancient gothic church was built and protected by the main Church of Ireland. Today the ruins stand as silent reminders of the Medieval period of Europe. Around the church and all through the countryside was green grass, daffodils, and a whole lot of peat bogs and fields starting to show the signs of spring.

We all jumped back in our cars ready to find our hotel for the night and explore the town of Trim itself. After one small turnaround we found the hotel– standing in pale yellow on the left side of Main Street just as it has for over 200 years. We jumped out of the cars when we found it and walked into the lobby. Off to the left was a traditional Irish pub and restaurant, and the reception area was off to the right. Stanley came out of his pocket and joined in the check-in process much to the giggle of the two young girls in the hall.  Our rooms were yet to be ready  so we left our suitcases in the closets of the rooms while the hotel freshened them up and walked through the courtyard to the main road. Visible from the road was the tower of Trim Castle, a large cathedral, and a small church. We all split up one way or another and found something to eat, and started to explore. Kirk and Sal and most of the bunch went down to the castle. Michelle and Vicki headed up to the hotel so Vicki could take a nap, and Michelle could go look at the church which was supposedly started by St. Patrick. She saw it indeed and at the same time she and Stanley were able to see the bride and groom of an irish wedding. The bride was in a hand-made lace veil and dress, and the groom was smartly dressed in a tuxedo walking across the cobblestone courtyard to the church.

Just about then Michelle went off to find Sal ( much to Stanley’s protest– he was thinking a nap would be grand) and success was had. She and Sal clomped down the hill to see the castle and the Catholic church of Trim. We did and the church was as beautiful as it was on the interior. gothic and romanesque feature were all over the inside of the church and the stained glasses were from the Munich studio of FSZettler just as some we have in downtown Denver.

After our short adventures we went back to the hotel, took a LONG nap, and went to dinner in the pub. Steaks, fish,. potatoes, omelets, and a variety of other foods were on the menu. Many of us got a meal called the early bird pre-fix meal which included wonderful desserts and vegetable soup as an appetizer . The food is expensive in Ireland. Almost 50% more than the price in Colorado but it is quite good. The chips ( French fries) are amazing!

After dinner it was off to bed. Stanley was tucked in about 10 pm since he was still on Colorado time, and the rest of the Colorado pile went to bed about the same time as it was up and early for many of us as we start our main adventures tomorrow.

Sunday March 20, 2011

Today our group went several directions with the plan to meet up in the small fishing and golf town of Salt Hill (near Galway) after dinner. Bill and Carol joined a group tour of the Cliffs of Moor and Barren and the rest of the group and Stanley went to explore the countryside in cars driving along the back roads of Ireland in cars. First stop — The Hill of Tara.

Tara is the oldest seat of the Celtic kings in Ireland and is located just North east of Trim. The sun was shining and we hopped in our little cars and drove up the hills covered in rock fences, green pastures, and fields filled with baby calves and lambs. All of a sudden in front of us was a huge hill which rose from the flatlands. As we drove up the hill it was apparent it was well visited and also a national monument. Stanley was quite pleased to see many friends there and he wanted to rush up to the top of the hill so that he could see the landscape of the surrounding countryside. The hill is a location of several pre-Norman Celtic religious monuments and burial grounds and the mounds built there (that house underground caves) are lit during special times by the sun. Just like the ones in Peru, they can be seen from the sky.

After The HIll of Tara we went to the small town of Forte where we stopped for a look and ended up on a secret adventure.  We were hungry so we stopped to visit with a lady who ran a local coffee shop in a stone building which was 281 years old! After homemade soup, pie, coffee, and a myriad of other s#desserts we started to chat She was so excited that President Obama will be coming to Ireland next month. Then she told us what we should and shouldn’t see and let us in on a local secret .She mentioned that a local hermit lived in a small chapel ( cell ) up on the hill across from the abbey. If we were willing to hike up to the “second pub on the left” he bartender had the key to the lock and we could go in for a look. Well that was a challenge we wanted to take. We walked up to the 7 Wonders of the World Pub and asked. The bartender said two ladies had it but “they would be coming right up the path about now so we could ask them for it.” We did and off we went– Stanley right along with us.

 

We hiked up past the church built-in 660 AD and up to the chapel built-in 1662 AD and tried the lock. It was stubborn but we finally got it open. We pushed the heavy door open to find a beautiful old chapel, crumbling from age, open to us for exploration. Buried in the walls were Lord Mead of West Meade and his wife and the hermit . Each crypt was covered with a carved plaque of stone. then we saw the stone stairs leading to the top floor. We scrambled up the narrow stairwell to the room with a dirt floor  and a wonderful view outside the slits of stone (used for light and to shoot arrows out of) of the whole valley.

 

After carefully climbing backwards down the stairs we left the silent chapel, locked it up, and walked the key back to the pub giving one of the local border collies a pat on the head on the way to the Abbey.  The Abbey  was built in the 1300′s, 1400′s and 1500′s and housed Benedictine monks who lived and prayed there.

After taking lots of pictures and climbing trough the foundations of the ancient site, we raced back to the car to get to Galway before it was too dark. Walking into the bed and breakfast we met up with Shea who let us into our rooms and told us Bill and Carol were there.  We caught them on the stairs and dumped our stuff in our rooms and headed to dinner to compare notes. Bill and Carol joined a tour to visit the Barren and Cliffs of Mohr so that they could do the Ring of Kerry later in the week.  We hear about their wonderful trip to the Cliffs and the Barren and up the coast. Carol warned us about the narrow roads on the cliff side and to be careful driving while Bill talked about the fun tour guide from their tour. They had a good lunch in a pub and said that the tour was a beautiful way to see the coast. After dinner it was off to bed with all of us getting up for an early day Monday.

 

Hill of Tara

 Monday March 21, 2011

Stanley decided to stay up too late in the evening so stayed tucked in his book for a late morning get up. Sal and Michelle were up early to walk the coastline of Salthill. Again luck would have it that it was not raining and we had SUN and a few clouds. We walked out of the Bed and Breakfast and onto the path that lead us to a walk on this coastline:

After a mile walk we were back to breakfast for a “full Irish” ( eggs, sausage, baked beans, pudding, toast, and a grilled tomato) along with yogurt and muesli, the king you can only find in Europe — YUM! Then we were off. Bill and Carol headed to Killarney for an afternoon of shopping, ice cream at Murphy’s Ice Cream, and fun in the city. The rest of the pile– Stanley included — headed to the Cliffs of Mohr and the Barren. After what seemed like kilometers and kilometers of winding roads along the coast we were at the Barren which is  limestone rock covered landscape on the coast. After climbing through the Barren we went up a steep, steep hill and popped into the parking lot of the Cliffs of Mohr. Considered as a finalist for one of the “new 7 wonders of the world” the cliffs are amazing, and a bit scary when you look over the edge. BUT– they are amazing to see and a group of puffins call them home as well. After a good hour of hiking around we were off to catch the Shannon Ferry to head to Killarney for the evening. Fish and chips on the menu with a Guinness for the men, cokes for others and milkshakes for the rest. And now Stanly sits here as I type this blog wishing you well before I force him back to bed in his book. Goodnight all– tomorrow it is the Dingle Peninsula for some of us. Stanley will be catching a ride with Bill and Carol for the Ring of Kerry. ( He has had enough coastline and wants to explore mountains and lakes for the day )

Cliffs of Mohr

Barren

Doolin Castle