Back Home Again

Well, we've made it as far as JFK, which I will call home for now.  Already we've noticed the difference in weather, and the cultural difference is almost immediate when you step off the plane.

Speaking of the plane, Aer Lingus is ok, but as I mentioned, they are not Air Swiss.  I miss that airline.  Funny story about the flight back from Dublin... you know the plane bathrooms are ridiculously small. Well, I'll just say that it's a bitch getting a leg cramp in one of those bathrooms when you're sitting on the toilet at 30,000 feet.

A few thoughts about the trip in general, and overseas traveling, at least in Ireland.

01. Bring comfortable shoes.  There is a lot of walking, especially out in the country.
02. Things are a little more expensive over there.  Euros are like play money.  Until you get home and check your bank statement.
03. Hotel wifi spots in general are spotty at best, but they are usually free, so...
04. The temperature never got above 75, and even that was their hottest day of the year.
05. Dubliners will love to tell you about 1916 and 1922.
06. Everyone was friendly.
07. Tipping is optional.
08. The drinking water was iffy, even the bottled water.
09. The Irish love meat and potatoes.  I know that should be obvious,  but it was very prevalent.  Their vegetable soup usually consisted of one vegetable: potatoes.
10. Learn the metric system, or at least have a converter handy.
11. Get a GPS, and install whatever country you'll be traveling in.  Well worth the extra fee if you have to pay it.
12. Cromwell was not a popular guy back in the day.   Most of the ruins are because of him and his army.
13. Being of Irish origin, Guinness is pretty much the national drink.
14. If you visit any town, city or village and don't see a pub, you are not in Ireland.
15. The electrical plugs are different.  Bring converters.
16. The Irish eat beans with their breakfast.  And these awful black and white puddings.
17. The roads are insanely narrow, with no shoulders to speak of.  Don't play chicken with tour buses. It will not turn out in your favor.  Major highways are the only exception.
18. Ireland has a lot of rocks.  We're guessing that is probably why the Roman Empire never really bothered to invade.
19. Take some sort of rain gear or umbrella.  It rains a lot.  Although, we had almost an entire week of sunshine.
20. Bathrooms at gas stations are optional.

Funny moment yesterday:

At the Medieval Banquet,  mom says,  "There's the Lord of the castle, he's serving food!"

My response: "If he's serving food, he's not the Lord of the castle."

I've included some random trip photos.

Bunratty Castle and Medieval Banquet

After leaving Doolin,  we headed south to stop briefly in Ennis to see the friary,  which had some nice architecture and gravestones.   We then headed on to Bunratty to visit the castle, which was very cool, and had historical buildings and houses on sight.

It has four towers,  all with various rooms,  a few large halls,  and a dungeon!

After a brief afternoon nap in our B&B,  we went back to the castle for the Medieval Banquet, complete with lords and ladies, wine and mead, a knife but no other silverware, and four courses: soup, ribs, chicken with potatoes, and a berry tart.

The music was excellent,  and the meal was very filling.

One of the ladies, Martina, caught my eye, but alas, we leave at 6 in the morning to head to Dublin.  Until next time!

(The photo below is not Martina,  btw.)

Vow Renewals & The Cliffs of Moher

We left Killarney very early in the morning in order to make it to Galway and the St. Nicholas Collegiate Church that was to be the site of the Vow Renewal.  We got there in plenty of time,  but we're unaware that there was a market on Saturdays around the church.

The ceremony was very sweet, and I must say that it was surreal to watch them say their vows to each other again 46 years later.  Considering how their first ceremony went,  this was a little more official, at least as far as the church is concerned.  My folks have, as far as I have ever witnessed, always been devoted to each other.  Theirs is the best example of a solid marriage I can think of. 

Afterwards we walked around Galway, checking out the crowds that were there for the weekend market.  We left and headed to Doolin to check out the Cliffs of Moher. Doolin is a small but interesting little town that has a lot of great live music at night. The cliffs are amazing,  but I suggest taking a short one hour cruise to see them from the bottom. The waters can get choppy, and one passenger lost his lunch, but the view was amazing.  Puffins galore, and great views.

We ate dinner at McDermott's in Doolin, watched a little of a rugby match,  and called it a day, crashing in a local B&B.  Tomorrow is somewhat of a free day, but the dinner is going to be a medieval affair.

The Ring of Kerry

The Ring of Kerry is a circuitious drive around southwest Ireland that takes you to some of the more interesting parts of Ireland,  along with quaint towns and neighborhoods.

Most tours and tour guides have you going counter clockwise,  but in order to avoid the crazy tourist schedule and huge tour buses,  we competed the route clockwise,  and it made a huge difference.

We saw a series of three stone forts (not all together in the same place), the Kerry cliffs, some amazing views of the coast, the Skellig chocolate factory (no oompah loompahs), and lots more.  The one thing we did not get to do because we were unaware of the schedule,  was visit the Skelligs.  I hear they are incredible.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skellig_Islands

The drive was long overall,  and the roads were so narrow that when we passed some vehicles,  we'd be so cramped that I'd be picking shrub leaves and twigs out of my hair afterwards.  Very stressful.

The Stone Forts were awesome, with great views of the surrounding countryside.  Those dudes back in the day moved a bunch of rocks.  Which reminds me, one thing that Ireland has in great abundance is rocks.  Lots and lots of rocks. Whole mountains strewn with rocks. If you had the manpower, there would be no issue building a castle from the rocks just laying about in your front yard.

The Cliffs of Kerry were amazing if not a little scary.  In case anyone doesn't know, neither my dad nor me are good with heights.

Crazy moment of the day:  We also almost got stampeded by cows.  I've got video,  but I'll post a still shot as an example.

Early to bed tonight for an early start to get to the Vow Renewal site.  More tomorrow.

Some Scenes around Killarney

I'm taking hundreds of photos each day,  and there is no way to put them all up here until I get home.  The wifi is not terribly strong, and the day goes so quickly that it's all I can do to remember to blog.

Anyway,  here are some of today's photos of some scenes around Killarney.