Ireland day 4-7
Day 4
After another intense breakfast we headed to Blarney Castle. The grounds were beautiful, I got some great pictures. We climbed the 120 steps to the top. It was a spiral staircase that was super steep and super narrow. The sisters, bless their hearts, hung right in there with April, Rich and I. They made it all the way to the top and even got down on the ground to kiss the blarney stone!
After checking out the castle we headed to a huge wool shop, where I didn't buy a thing. I was pretty proud of myself for resisting the urge to shop. To be honest, it wasn't hard, I don't like wool. I did see several cashmere sweaters and scarves I would have totally worn, if only I still had a job to wear them to. Not much need for clothes like that for a retired person...
This is the best group of people to travel with! Mostly I hang out with April and Rich, who are so much fun. April and I are very similar, very outgoing. Her husband Rich is pretty cool too. The other couples are just as nice, and really, I would spend the day with any and all of them. The other couples are DeeDee and Bob, Rose and Mike, and Liz and Ken. DeeDee and I are food buddies, we like to check out what’s on the menu and sample whatever we can. We linger over the break buffet and decide what we want to take away, just in case we get hungry later. Liz and Ken are very funny and outgoing while Rose and Mike are a tad bit more reserved, but I really like talking to them. I’m going to try to sit with different people at each meal instead of my little group. The other single girls, Becky and Beth, are very nice as well, but they both seem a bit more introverted.
The rest of the afternoon we spent driving the Rings of Kerry. It's basically a scenic drive around 3 peninsulas in the south west of Ireland. The part we saw today was pretty barren, like driving through Wyoming or Idaho. We drove along the coast via Skibbereen and the town of Kenmare. We stopped at Molls Gap for pictures of the great views. Tomorrow the scenery is supposed to be more beautiful.
After another fabulous dinner, Janet and Marge decided they were going to head to the pub at 9pm. These girls rock!! I headed off to bed.
Day 5
Today we went to the Dingle Peninsula and the Blasket Islands. The Dingle Peninsula was a scenic, rocky drive. It was pretty bleak, more so due to the light rain and wind. This is where the movies 'Far and Away' and 'Ryan's Daughter' were filmed. For the latter movie, we were told the director kept a crew here for 9 months after the movie wrapped, just to get the final scene of a sunset over the beach. We saw heathery mountains, sandy beaches and rocky headlands.
Our next stop was the Blasket Islands, a rocky outcropping where very hearty families lived until 1953.
It was mostly a driving day, with stops along the way for pictures. Lunch was in the fishing village of Dingle. We did a bit of shopping, mostly just to get out of the cold.
Overall, the weather has been a bit chilly, but most days have not been too bad. Today was the worst so far, with a light rain and lots of wind.
The food has been outstanding, but I don't think I'll need to eat for a week after I get home. We have a huge breakfast of eggs, ham, sausage, white and black pudding, (little round sausage looking things, not to my liking), fruit, porridge (mushy oatmeal), breads, jams, baked beans, cereal and yogurt. Lunch is on our own, usually pub grub. Dinner is a huge 3 course meal. The past 2 nights have been a dessert bar, with as many as 5 choices. Of course almost everyone of us had a little of each, complete with fresh cream.
Day 6
After gorging ourselves this morning yet again, we headed first to the Foynes Flying Boat Museum to learn about the early days of flight in Ireland. During the 30's and 40's flying boats, much like the Spruce Goose and Grey Goose, were built to carry people across the Atlantic. Boeing built the Boeing 314, which was a luxury passenger airline. The museum had a replica of the plane, if only we flew like that now! It was about half the size of a Boeing 747. There were 7 passenger compartments, a 14 seat dining room with linen table cloths and crystal plus a sleeping compartments. There's even a honeymoon suite. Of course the cost of a ticket was the equivalent of $5000 today. Only the super rich could afford to fly.
The flights could take 16 to 20 hours, so passengers slept through the night. One night in 1943, the pilot was forced to turn back after several hours due to weather. The pilot sent a message back to the airfield in Foynes, informing them of the flights return. Airport staff were instructed to return to work. There was a restaurant at the airport owned by Brendan O'Regan, who recruited Chef Joe Sheridan. Joe was asked to prepare something to warm the passengers. He put a shot of Irish whiskey in the coffee. One of the passengers asked Joe if the coffee was Brazilian. Joe replied "no, it’s Irish Coffee.". A few weeks later Chef Sheridan knocked on O'Regan's door. He showed him his new drink in a stemmed glass and said " How's that for eye appeal?" O'Regan replied "Genius Chef" and the Irish coffee was born. It was served to all Foynes passengers from that day forward and is still served today to visiting dignitaries at Shannon Airport. They even had a demonstration on how to make the coffee, which Bob promptly volunteered to be the student. His coffee was so strong DeeDee couldn't drink it, but he thought it came out just perfect.
After a quick lunch break we headed to the Cliffs of Moher. This was by far the most spectacular sight we've seen. The cliffs stretch for 5 miles and raise up 700 foot over the Atlantic ocean. Its home to Ireland's largest mainland seabird nesting colony with 20 species of nesting birds. Check out this sight for more information and pictures. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliffs_of_Moher
We continued on to Galway where we'll spend 2 nights. This area is mostly peat bogs. The ground is very rocky and can't be used for much outside of raising cows and sheep. Instead of wire fences, fields are fenced in with stone. Many fields looks to be about an acre. If the farmer wants to move his sheep from one field to another, he simply dismantles the rocks to form a gap and rebuilds it. The rocks are not held together by mortar or anything other than the weight of the other stones. We did pass a few bulls that were so muscle bound you could see each cut of meat though his hide.
We had a late dinner, this one being my least favorite. The service was really slow and the food choices were limited.
Day 7
After a so so breakfast we headed to Cong where they made the movie "The Quiet Man" in 1952. Not being an old movie buff, I had never heard of it. We took a walking tour around the quaint little village while the tour guide recounted where certain scenes were shot. The entire town played extras in the movie, some of them are still around today. There was an old Abby in town and several walking trails. I admit to ducking away from the group on several occasions to take picture. That was much more interesting to me. One scene we reenacted was that of a dying man being given confession. In the middle of it, they heard sounds of the famous 10 minute fight scene between John Wayne and Victor McLaglen. The dying man jumped up and ran out the door, pulling is pants on as he went. Ken played the dying man and was so funny running down the street! He looked more like a drunken man than a dying man, but he looked like he really enjoyed the chance to ham it up.
Our next stop was lunch at Kylemore Abby. Becky and I skipped lunch to tour the Abby and grounds. They were beautiful. The sisters did not let me go hungry, they gave me a muffin. I took their camera on my walk and got them some great pictures.
So far the food and service have been outstanding. The hotel we're in is very nice and the food is good too, but the service for breakfast and dinner is horrible. Tonight we arrived at the appointed time. It took an hour to be served our meal! They knew 13 of us were going to be there, it wasn't terribly busy, yet my dinner was put before me 60 minutes after I gave them my choice if the three meals offered to us!
Pictures
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