Trip report (incl AN meet :-) [very long]
Stephanie Scales
would cause you discomfort -- thanks]
Well, before I get too much back into the routine here, I figured I'd
better post this :-)
DH and I had a wonderful trip to Ireland!
May 3rd -- We got picked up at 4:00 p.m. at home (taking a limo from
here to Boston works out cheaper than parking, and it's wonderful to
have someone else driving) and made our way to Logan. There were no
exit row seats available when we checked in, which was a bummer. When I
made the reservations, the agent said he'd put a note in the computer
system since we're both tall (I'm exactly 6 feet, DH is 6'8"), but he
did warn me that it was no guarantee. So, unfortunately for the lady
sitting in front of DH, she couldn't recline her seat -- DH's legs are
just too long. We always feel bad, but there's not much we can do about
it... Anyway, we were handed dinner vouchers at check in since the
flight was delayed by two hours. We were actually glad because that
meant arriving at 8:15 into Dublin instead of 6:15 and we got a free
dinner out of the deal. The flight was smooth -- I was able to sleep
some, but DH didn't really try, which mildly annoyed me the next day
when he was grumpy.
May 4th -- Arrived in Dublin and went through customs and immigration
smoothly. The man noticed my change of name on my passport and asked if
we were on our honeymoon -- then he noticed my belly and smiled :-) DH
and I took a cab to our hotel, right on the river near O'Connell street
and Trinity College, and they actually had our room ready! I was very
impressed, and grateful for the opportunity to shower immediately.
Since we were hungry, we got a restaurant recommendation from the hotel
and headed around the corner into the Temple Bar to Wollensky's where we
had wonderful omelets (DH says I was just hungry, but they were really
good!). Then we decided to wander around and get as much time in the
sun as we could to help our internal clocks re-set. We ended up going
to the Guiness brewery and taking their self-guided tour, which was
interesting, but a little weird in that it was very dark with lots of
multi-media presentations. The tour ends with a "free" pint in a bar on
the top floor of their building, the walls of which are all glass, so it
made for a great chance to see a lot of the city. Then we headed back
to the hotel, where I called Jean to set up something for the next day.
I confused her into thinking I was English (since I studied in London
for 6 months in college, I picked up some of the more English
expressions and for some odd reason I slip into that when I travel --
weird). She offered to come by the hotel between 10 and 10:30 the next
day. After reading for a while (me) and napping (DH), we went to dinner
at Gallagher's Boxty House, again, very close to the hotel, where we
thouroughly enjoyed being tourists eating traditional Irish food :-) We
were seated at a long table next to a nice man from Sweden, so we
chatted with him over dinner, then went back to our hotel and watched TV
for a while and slept.
May 5th -- After breakfast Jean and her DH met us at the hotel and I
gave them the maple syrup and local jams I'd brought, which we took to
their car so they wouldn't have to be carried around all day. First
stop was Bewley's for coffee (them) and water (us). Then it was off to
Trinity College to see the Book of Kells (I'd studied it a bit in
college, so it was neat to see the actual book) and the Long Room.
Jean's DH regaled us with stories of how it was still legal to shoot a
Catholic priest on the college grounds, but that one had to use a bow
and arrow and must shoot from one of the old buildings covered by that
ordinance :-) Then we went to Kilkenny Design Center where I began my
search for the perfect Aran sweater made from the dark wool (called
black, but really a nice medium brown), and Jean looked for earrings to
wear to her BIL's wedding the following week. We had lunch there at the
cafeteria upstairs, which was very good. My DH pulled a "stupid DH
trick" by shaking his carbonated lemonade before opening it and ended up
spraying half the bottle and catching one of the staff with it. Luckily
he missed Jean! Then Jean's DH left us to do some shopping and the
three of us headed to Christchurch cathedral and the Dublinia
exhibition, a history of Viking through Medieval Dublin. I thought the
exhibition was well done and Christchurch is beautiful. DH kept
jokingly asking me if we could have a cathedral in our new house :-)
Jean's DH caught up with us in the crypt and then we headed off to the
Jameson distillery. There was a wait for the next tour, so we had tea
first. DH volunteered to be one of their volunteers for the whiskey
tasting after the tour, which he really enjoyed. I enjoyed smelling all
of them :-) After that we wandered back to the Temple Bar and Jean and
her DH ransomed their car and DH and I headed back to the hotel for a
rest before dinner at Cibo's, a place Jean and her DH recommended. It
was another early night for us since I didn't quite have the stamina I'm
used to having pre-pregnancy. We had a great time visiting with Jean
and her DH (both very cool people) -- it made the trip more personal and
interesting for us both!
May 6th -- We'd already seen most of what we wanted to in Dublin, so we
wandered around again. First we headed up O'Connell street and stopped
at the post office, where we looked at the paintings about the 1916
incident/battle (not sure of the correct term, Jean?) between the
English and the Irish Republicans. We bought some stamps for postcards
and then headed down to Grafton Street where we bought postcards and had
lunch at another branch of Bewely's. Then we spent the afternoon at the
National Museum marvelling at all the Viking artifacts, Celtic gold, and
Baltic amber. We had the Treasure room all to ourselves at one point,
so the guard took us around pointing out minute details of the Tara
Brooch and showed us the golden boat from 1000 A.D., which is pictured
on the year 2000 pound coin. The guard was impressed that I knew was a
pennannular brooch was (all that Medieval re-enactment pays off :-)
Dinner that night was late at the Elephant and Castle, another Jean
recommendation and very good. While we were waiting we watched some of
the street performers and just generally people-watched in the Temple
Bar.
May 7th -- Our morning was a little hectic, since we wanted to make use
of the tourist office's accomodations service for that night and the
next (the only two nights I haven't booked in advance) and they didn't
open until 10:30 because of the bank holiday. We also had to get to the
pick-up point for our rental car, and they were only open until noon.
But, we got it all done and headed out of Dublin at about 11:30. DH did
a great job driving on the "wrong side" and only failed to yeild in a
roundabout once (but once was enough!). On the way to the Connemara we
stopped for lunch at a pub in a tiny town, stopped at Clonmacnois, a
monestary with a round tower and three high crosses which was founded in
the 11th century, and then stopped again to see the Turoe stone before
reaching our B&B in Clifden. The B&B was wonderful, with very friendly
owners and the best breakfasts we had in Ireland :-) Dinner that night
was at a nice sea-food restaurant run by friends of the B&B owners.
May 8th -- After breakfast, we drove the sky-road, a loop around a
penninsula into Clifden Bay, and then headed north towards Kylemore
Abbey. (After we figured out how to "escape" from downtown Clifden --
we must have gone around the square five times before we found the right
road!) On the way we stopped at one of the Avoca Handweavers stores
where I found my sweater! It fits perfectly and is hand-knit, which I
was hoping for. We also bought a nice wool scarf for my SIL for
Christmas. Then it was on to Kylemore Abbey, a modern castle on a lake
which is now owned by the Benedictine Nuns and run as a girls' boarding
school. Just after we arrived they tolled the bells at noon. :-)
After we toured the Abbey we stopped for lunch in their tea room before
heading a mile down the road to tour the gardens, which are being
reconstructed. There will be 18 glass houses when they're done, they
hope around 2005. At the gardens I bought two jars of homemade jam to
bring home (blackcurrant and gooseberry/elderflower). Then we drove
across some of the more rugged parts of the Connemara landscape on the
way to Dan O'Hara's homestead. The homestead dates from 1850 and on
site they also have re-constructions of a crannog and a ring-fort, which
are early dwellings used in the west of Ireland. We took the
tractor-pulled "tour bus" up to the homestead and the guide was pleased
to talk to us, as the rest of the group was all French schoolchildren
who didn't understand much English, although they were very polite
(unlike the group we encountered in London last year).
May 9th -- We left after breakfast and headed down to Feakle in Co.
Clare, where a friend of mine from another newsgroup lives. On the way
we stopped at Thoor Ballylee, W.B. Yeats' summer home and a 12th (?)
century Norman castle, and I proceeded to hit my head three times on all
of the windy stone stairs (the Norman's were not tall!). We got to our
B&B and found that Heather had left a package for us with directions to
her farm, shortbread cookies, and some fabric (we're both quilters). We
headed over to their place later for dinner -- salad and quiche, and
very welcome after all the restaurant food we'd been eating! We stayed
for hours talking to Heather and her S.O., got the tour of the farm, and
agreed to pick up Heather the next morning at around 10 to go play
tourist.
May 10 -- I woke up very early so I wrote out the postcards we kept
meaning to mail, but hadn't gotten around to doing. Then after
breakfast we picked up Heather and went to see the Cliffs of Moher,
which are amazing! Unfortunately it was very foggy that day, so we
couldn't see the Aran islands, but we did climb up O'Brien's tower for a
more dramatic view of the cliffs. Then it was on to the Burren
Smokehouse to see their presentation on smoking salmon (DH and Heather
are both huge fans) and to have tastes. We had lunch in a local pub
that sells their fish (they do trout, eel, and mackerel in addition to
salmon) before going to Ailwee cave, the only Burren cave open to the
public. The tour was interesting, but our guide's sense of humor was
grating by the end :-/ After the tour we tried some of their home-made
fudge and then drove through the rockier parts of the Burren, stopping
at a dolman tomb, on the way back to Feakle. Heather invited us in for
tea and we ended up staying for hours again chatting with them about all
manner of things (they're an English couple largely living off of the
land in Ireland). We skipped dinner that night since we were still
stuffed from lunch and accumulated heavy breakfasts over the week.
May 11 -- We drove down to Bunratty, very close to the airport, and
toured Bunratty Castle and Folk Park. The castle is completely restored
(I think it's a 14th c. one) and they have Medieval-themed banquets
every night (which we skipped). The Folk Park, where we spent a good
three hours, has dwellings from all over Ireland as they would have
appeared circa 1900. It was fascinating! We took a break for apple
pie, which they make on site, and then had lunch at Durty Nelly's, a pub
which was originally the watering hole for the castle guards and is
largely unchanged inside since 1620. Then we checked into our room and
wandered back out to the Bunratty winery, where they make mead and
potcheen. I tried a sip of mead (very good!), but the potcheen smelled
awful! DH said it tasted pretty awful too. Then we spent the rest of
the afternoon browsing and the various shops and buying nothing, before
having dinner at the hotel restaurant.
May 12 -- We got up and decided to go back to the Bunratty Avoca
Handweavers store to get scarves for the couple who was looking after
our cats and while there I fell in love with a lambswool baby blanket,
so we got that too :-) Then we filled up the car and drove to Shannon.
We were early enough that we did get exit row seats for the trip back --
yay! We had a wonderful lunch at the airport cafeteria and spent the
last of our currency in the duty-free shop. We bought some chocolates
for a gift for DH's step-mother, a tie patterned with interlaced Celtic
dogs for my brother, a scarf and baseball hat (for hiking) for me, and a
nice wool hat for DH, which I'd been trying to get him to look at all
trip. I'm always amused that sometimes the best things are in the duty
free shop as you're leaving. The flight back was smooth -- we got to
see the movie Chocolat, and our time in Logan was brief as we'd cleared
US immigration in Shannon. Because we'd been on farmland (and were
honest about it) we had to have our shoes sprayed with disinfectant, but
it didn't take too long. I was shocked at all the others on our flight
back who said they hadn't been on a farm. There is so much farmland in
Ireland and we must have been on at least a dozen seperate farms at all
the sites we went to (and were thoroughly disinfected there, too). Oh
well.
Our trip was the perfect length for us and went very smoothly. We had
beautiful weather the entire time -- it was between 60 and 75 degrees
and only rained once (lightly) while we were in Dublin -- the rest of
the trip was sunny and bright. If anyone else is planning a trip and
wants specific info on where we stayed and ate, let me know.
-Stephanie
Jean
Stephanie Scales wrote
>
> Well, before I get too much back into the routine here, I figured I'd
> better post this :-)
>
> DH and I had a wonderful trip to Ireland!
Glad to hear that :-).
>
> May 3rd -- We got picked up at 4:00 p.m. at home (taking a limo from
> here to Boston works out cheaper than parking, and it's wonderful to
> have someone else driving) and made our way to Logan. There were no
> exit row seats available when we checked in, which was a bummer. When I
> made the reservations, the agent said he'd put a note in the computer
> system since we're both tall (I'm exactly 6 feet, DH is 6'8"),
No wonder I was walking around feeling like a midget (my DH is also 6ft,
while I might reach 5'0 on a tall day).
> where I called Jean to set up something for the next day.
> I confused her into thinking I was English (since I studied in London
> for 6 months in college, I picked up some of the more English
> expressions and for some odd reason I slip into that when I travel --
> weird).
What she fails to mention is that I was in the middle of writing an
end-of-year chemistry exam (that still isn't finished btw) and was half
expecting another call.
> May 5th -- After breakfast Jean and her DH met us at the hotel and I
> gave them the maple syrup and local jams I'd brought, which we took to
> their car so they wouldn't have to be carried around all day.
And very good maple syrup too according to DH (who also appropriated the
candy)- the jams remain unopened in the fridge :-).
First
> stop was Bewley's for coffee (them) and water (us). Then it was off to
> Trinity College to see the Book of Kells (I'd studied it a bit in
> college, so it was neat to see the actual book) and the Long Room.
> Jean's DH regaled us with stories of how it was still legal to shoot a
> Catholic priest on the college grounds, but that one had to use a bow
> and arrow and must shoot from one of the old buildings covered by that
> ordinance :-)
I swear it's true - the actual ordinance states that it is up to the Provost
of the College whether to hand the transgressor over the authorities or not.
> Then we went to Kilkenny Design Center where I began my
> search for the perfect Aran sweater made from the dark wool (called
> black, but really a nice medium brown), and Jean looked for earrings to
> wear to her BIL's wedding the following week.
Didn't find any anywhere else either - went earring-less because I couldn't
find anything else to match my choker and bangle.
We had lunch there at the
> cafeteria upstairs, which was very good. My DH pulled a "stupid DH
> trick" by shaking his carbonated lemonade before opening it and ended up
> spraying half the bottle and catching one of the staff with it. Luckily
> he missed Jean!
I forgot about that! He did get the guy clearing tables who just happened
to be walking by at that moment.
>
> May 6th -- We'd already seen most of what we wanted to in Dublin, so we
> wandered around again. First we headed up O'Connell street and stopped
> at the post office, where we looked at the paintings about the 1916
> incident/battle (not sure of the correct term, Jean?) between the
> English and the Irish Republicans.
We call it "The Easter Rising" - the British call it a rebellion ;-). Did
you notice the holes in the pillars outside - caused by ricocheting (sp?)
bullets and shrapnel during the Rising?
It was great to meet you both, even if neither of us got any photos (I left
the camera in the car :-( ).
Jean
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