Category: Europe

Highs and Lows

SDSpivey

The Rock of Cashel is an 12th century church, built upon a large rock outcropping, high above the surrounding area.

We started out towards the Rock of Cashel, but I’ve had problems with Google maps directions not working properly. This was the case this morning. I headed in the general direction, with the hopes that it would work a bit later.

30 minutes later, still no directions. I turned onto a semi-important looking road, since I knew we’d have to go that way, but wasn’t the right one. Fortune did smile down though. I spotted a reasonably nice looking castle just off the road. It looked like someones home, but there was a sign that said open, so I pulled in. The sign said it was Farney Castle.

We rang the bell and an older gentleman, Cyril Cullen, came to the door with a big smile. He invited us in for a tour of the house, starting off in his gift shop, where everything was made by himself.

Lots of porcelain figurines and statuettes lined the shelves. Most were superb quality.

Then he led us into the next room, filled with wool sweaters, caps, blankets, etc.

Rule number 1: never buy something that you are going to have to carry.

They were not pushy at all, allowing us to browse, while they would tell us about each piece. Many of his designs were worn in adverts and by models.

He even donated an inauguration dress to a family friend, Jackie Kennedy.

The walls in the round tower were over ten feet thick at the base, wide enough to hide a staircase inside.

There were many artifacts from the castle’s history, as well as his own. This was the best preserved old building we’ve seen so far. If only they allowed pictures inside the house, but it was their actual home.

After the tour, we were once again in the gift shop. We browsed some more. There were so many items I would like to get, but no possible way of them surviving the trip home in my suitcase without breaking. We did get a couple small figurines that looked sturdy enough.

Now we have been to Blarney, Killarney, and Farney.

I reloaded the maps, and they were working, so we continued to the Rock of Cashel, still about 20 minutes away.

I rounded a curve and it was visible in the distance, sitting high.

The church is under restoration, but the grounds are beautiful. The views around weren’t too bad either.

I think it would have made a better spot for a castle or fortress than a church, but for some reason they didn’t wait the 8 centuries to ask me.

We really were not looking forward to climbing into a dark, wet, cold cave, but we were close by and Mom’s maiden name is Mitchell, so we had to go to Mitchelstown.

On the M8 motorway, I saw a info sign for a castle in Cahir, so we diverted. The rain had stopped, for a bit, at least.

Unlike many castles, so far, it was right in the middle of the village of Cahir, with houses and shops within 100 feet or so, we had to park in a grocery parking lot.

It was very well preserved or restored, but it was just a museum piece, no one lived in it.

Many (all) of the roads here are narrow and have walls or hedges nearly right next to them, but the road to the Mitchelstown Caves was the smallest, almost wide enough for an American SUV, but intended for two cars to pass. Yikes!

The entrance was unimpressive, just looked like a concrete stairway to someone’s basement. Upon actually going down these stair, they quickly became steeper (and wetter), taking us down over 300 feet. The caves travel over 3 kilometers, probably more, they have not yet been explored fully, even after nearly 100 years.

The guide pointed out interesting formations, many that kids had named, and get a history and information about the cave system.

They occasionally have concerts or movie nights in the cave. Once they had a sushi chef prepare and serve a meal in one large room.

[supsystic-gallery id=13 position=center]

Muckross and Castle Ross

SDSpivey

Another rainy morning finds us on a 2 hour drive to Muckross Manor House and Castle Ross, in Killarney, County Kerry.

This finishes off the southern half of the island. We have visited 13 of the 33 counties, with at least 12 more definite, in just over a week.

Once in Killarney, we arrived at the Castle Ross and walked up the hill to it. Everything on this island is uphill.

All tours are by guide, and the next available wasn’t for about 2 hours, so we browsed around outside and then decided to head over to the Muckross house until the tour was ready.

At the Muckross house, there was a tour shortly available, but we already paid for the other. We would have to jump back and forth. Oh well.

We walked the gardens for a bit before heading for the castle tour.

They didn’t allow photos inside the castle, but I took one quick one at the end. What where they going to do? Throw us out, we were leaving anyway.

It sucks a bit, this was the first castle that had decent windows for lighting, but couldn’t take photos. Plus it was really nice inside.

Going back to Muckross, we find that they were sold out of tours for the day. With the rain picking up again, we called it quits for the day, not arriving back until almost 8pm.

Long day for so little done.

[supsystic-gallery id=12 position=center]

Just a bunch of Blarney

SDSpivey

We went down to Cork, to the Blarney castle, home of the blarney stone.

It was rainy all the way down, worrying us about being too wet to spend the time out side.

Just inside the park, I saw a sign stating that they were employing anti-drone technology. Strangely, I haven’t yet heard of any, barring that of shooting a net over it as it flies low enough.

You have to walk over a short bridge that crosses two rivers at once. More remarkable, the rivers cross themselves, one goes through a tunnel under the other.

After entering the castle and starting the 100 step climb, I noticed that the walls are around 8 feet thick. The inner walls weren’t that thick, but you wouldn’t have to worry about noisy people in the next room.

There were small rooms off the spiral stairway, so we could make short breaks from the long climb. None of the rooms in the castle had privacy (or windows to close). Even the lord and lady would have slept in a communal room.

There were two “garderobes”, small rooms where you did your “business.” Yes, in front of whoever also happened to be there. It was the place where you would “guard your robes.” The ammonia flumes would kill fleas.

We made it up to the tippy top of the castle, wind blowing strong. there are slots running the battlements, where you would drop stones or shoot arrows down upon invaders at the bottom. Even with steel bars running across, you feel as if you’d fall through. I managed to crawl up and stand on the battlement to take a photo. It was only knee high, but extremely hard to do, without anything to help you balance, and a very long view of the ground below. I tell myself I was mostly scared to drop my ipad, even with the best case, it wouldn’t make it.

Watching others get out and kiss the stone, we realized that our backs really wouldn’t bend that well. Especially after all the walking we’ve been doing.

Plus, who wants to put their lips on something that thousands have already put theirs on. Eww.

The park is large, with plenty of flowers and trees. What caught my attention was the Poison Garden. There are lots of poisonous plants like hemlock, wisteria, and poison ivy, but many I didn’y know that were poisonous, like rhubarb and rosemary… wait, we just ate both of those things this week. Ah, good bye sweet world.

[supsystic-gallery id=11 position=center]

There once was a man from …

SDSpivey

As much as we hated to, we had to leave the warmth and tranquility of Wexford and the Round Chalet.

Our next stop was near Limerick, a 3 hour drive, but first there were a few items yet to be seen.

In the middle of the town of Wexford, there is a ruins of an old church, Selskar Abbey, so we headed over.

It was a bank holiday, so I was uncertain if we had to still pay for street parking, so I did. Better safe than sorry. As we walked up to the gates, there is a sign stating that tours are given daily, at 3pm. is was only 10, so we could not go into the grounds to see it. Oh, well.

We then zipped up the highway, back towards Dublin, to Enniscorthy. There is a castle that is listed on all the brown “informational” highway signs, so it must be something to see. It is now a government office, and closed on bank holidays, of course.

Spying a steeple, we walked up (and I do mean up) the hill to St. Aidan’s Cathedral, an actual functioning church. Most old churches we had seen were no longer functional or had limited services. We went in and luckily there were only a few parishioners inside. Still, I didn’t want to be rude, snapping pics everywhere, so I just grabbed one from the back, as we were going out the door.

Driving down yet another skinny road, mom needed to pee. There was obviously no stores or petrol stations. I spotted another church ruins and was able to do a U-turn and park close to a wall, for privacy, there wasn’t anyone about, except a terrier across the road that just sat and looked at us.

We found the place easy enough. It is right next to a small park, with a small river running down beside it.

It is a 2-story, and a lot more room than the two of us need. We even have a spare bedroom.

I had received instructions from the owner that we needed to call the local manager, but we don’t know how. Since I wasn’t able to check my email for a few days, I didn’t know if I could send one or not. Fortunately, his wife was on their computer when I sent is, so he was able to get there in about 15 minutes. We weren’t going to have to sleep on the grass. Hurray!

We had dinner reservations (yes, like civilized folk) at Bunratty Castle, so we changed and head out.

The dinner was “by hand” no forks or spoons, only a knife to cut and pick up the food. Or using your fingers. It was served in 4 courses, a soup (good), short ribs (good, but messy), chicken and vegetables (juicy meat but not much flavor), and a small cheesecake (yum).

Period songs were sang and played on violin and harp throughout the evening by the hosts and hostesses, while we sat on benches at a longtable.

The castle was about 100 feet tall, but only 3 floors. Very tall ceilings. Very narrow spiral stairs. Mom loved those.

After returning, it was almost midnight, off to bed.

[supsystic-gallery id=10 position=center]

Johnstown Castle

SDSpivey

For our last full day in Wexford, we set out for nearby Johnstown Castle.

I needed to squeegee the rear window, staying on a dirt road does have some disadvantages. Apparently, gas stations here do not have any squeegees. Perhaps it is to get you to buy a car wash.

Shortly after the second gas station, I noticed google maps had gone “offline”. It had no directions, but still updated the maps as I zoomed and panned.

We were still able to follow informational signs to get to the castle, so no harm.

Our trip came at an inopportune time, the castle was closed and being renovated. It has stood since the Normans invasion of Ireland. There is still a large landscape we walked around, as well as an agriculture history museum. Mom and I are both over castles and churches, so this made a interesting diversion that we would not have chosen otherwise.

Prior to entering the museum, some owners of antique cars (pre-WWI) pulled up in the museums courtyard. One of them had kerosene powered headlights.

Inside there was a large collection of manual and powered farm equipment and period furniture that the Irish families had used. Also included were several “shops” that would have supported the farmers, cobblers, furriers (horse bridle makers), blacksmiths, etc.

The grounds were quite nice, but another timing problem was that there was an apparent storm recently (a week ago?) that damaged a lot of the trees, requiring many branches and even whole trees to be cut unattractively.

There was a “fishing” tower, but I’m not certain there were fish. There were lots of birds, including peacocks, hawks, doves, swans, and ducks.

Several small streams ran through the property, some with small water falls.

As we were ready to leave, I noted that google maps was still not working. We were close to the house, 30 minutes, so I was able to drive back without difficulty, but I had to skip the other sites we were going to visit today. It is hard enough to drive on the wrong side of the car, with maps, there is no way I would find my way to there and back, without.

Weeks ago, I signed up for an international data plan on my ipad. I am afraid I may have already used up my allotment. I don’t remember the monthly limit. My username/password doesn’t seem to work and I noticed yesterday I was unable to get my email on my computer or ipad (on wifi), so I can’t reset the password. I’m not able to check or renew.

I still have more than 2/3 of my trip to go and I need my maps.

Hopefully, it works tomorrow (and everyday) or we will be lost forever.

Ruins and Famine

SDSpivey

Finally, a good night’s sleep.

We prepared breakfast and then headed out to New Ross, a town near the borders of counties Wexford and Kilkenny.

I found a brochure in our house for a old church, St Mary’s Abbey, that looked interesting. It had no roof!

Okay, most of it had no roof, but it was still a functional church in one “wing”. Supposedly, the functioning part was well maintained. There was no service today, so we were unable to go in and verify this.

A block away was a church of the Augustinian Order, but also not open today. <grumble> <grumble>

The other item I wanted to see was a bit far away, over an hour. It was an old copper mine and smelter, right on the southern coast. I do mean right on it, the drawing of the original buildings showed some that would now be down in the sea, as the cliffs have receded.

We were there at about 1pm, but the fog was rolling in from the sea. We couldn’t see anything more than a mile or so away. There was sun here in Wexford when we left.

Strangely, this was a popular spot. There was a couple already there when we arrived, and 2 more cars while we visited.

We cruised around the area, not having any destination, stopping into a pub, looking for some sandwiches to go. They had none on the menu, so we left. There was too much manure in the air to enjoy eating anyway.

I was trying to get far enough away that we could travel back on a different route, but at one point I noticed I was back on a road I had already seen. So much for that plan.

With nothing else in the area to see, we headed back to the house, coming right through New Ross again.

I hadn’t really want to see the Dunbrody, an 1840’s transport ship during the Famine years, but since we had time to kill, and we were driving back right by it, why not. Especially since we were rained out from the Dublin ship, Jeanie Johnson.

We took their little tour, which was pretty cool. They said the quarters were sparse and cramped, but I think they had more room than most airline flights nowadays.

New Ross is only a few miles away from the Kennedy Homestead, where JFK’s grandfather came from.

We spotted a Tesco and went in, hoping to find ready made sandwiches, but failed, they had no deli. We did find some salads (including forks) and we ate them in the parking lot before heading back.

[supsystic-gallery id=8 position=center]

Leaving Dublin

SDSpivey

Last night, I walked down to the parking garage to get the car and park closer to the hostel. The fee was €56, but I had a discount from the hostel that brought it down to €25, that’s awesome. I realized half way to the hostel, I didn’t have my license with me. Oops.

We had a new roommate when I got back. Saying he was a chainsaw, would have been an insult to power equipment everywhere. I slept some, but awoke around 4am. It seems to have been habit for me in Dublin.

I was going to have to start paying for the street parking after 7, but since we were both awake, we decided to go ahead and leave.

This was the best looking day we’ve seen so far. Sunny, without being hot. Perhaps it was because we were out of Dublin. They say that it only rains twice a week in Dublin, once for three days and once again for four.

We headed out, taking side roads as much as possible and had no specific route and meandered southward.

We started up a small (extremely small) road going up one of the mountains near Dublin. Mom hated this road as it was barely wide enough for two cars to pass each other. Also, there was often a hedge or wall, right on the edge of the road, so it was very close to her side of the car.

It was very nice looking, but she wouldn’t let me take pictures while driving. Mothers, right?

I only had one destination en-route, Ashford Studios, where many scenes from the TV show Vikings were filmed. As we pulled up, the gates were closed. I though we were just too early, too many places in Europe don’t open until 10 or 11.

Driving down the road we found a pub, the Brass Fox, and went in for breakfast. I spoke with a man outside and he let us know that the Studios were closed until June. Dang!

He recommended checking out the remains of the Black Castle, which didn’t seem to be black. He also had us visit the Wicklow Gaol, another 1800’s prison. It had a very similar history, being mainly known for the many prisoners that were guilty of insurrection against the crown, or even being Catholic, the most grievous of crimes.

At this point, I was getting very tired, having so little rest in the past few days, so we skipped any other possible sights on the way and headed straight for the house we rented. Going down some more of the tiny roads, only now many were unpaved and had few street signs.

We pulled up and were greeted by the owner’s two black dogs, very friendly.

This place is beautiful, truly. Raw, unstained wood throughout. It is called the Round Chalet.

I’ve never really been in a round house before, but this place has a good layout, plenty of space, and large, soft beds. For the latter, I know because I crashed out for a couple of hours, until Mom woke me up to go get food.

We drove down to the city and found a Tesco Extra. The extra was that they had free parking. That is always a plus in a city.

We got a couple ready-made items and some breakfast foods to add to the farm-fresh eggs that are included at the Chalet, from their free range chickens. It took a few moments trying how to turn on the oven, and then we puzzled over why the oven wasn’t getting warm. There is a master switch on the wall for the stove/oven. That is certainly a novelty.

Tonight, we will certainly have a good sleep. We have no roommates coming in at all hours and we even have separate bedrooms, so we won’t bother each other.

Going to Jail

SDSpivey

Spoiler Alert: We got out.

We first headed out to the Jeanie Johnson, a ship used to transport the few lucky Irish families who were able to scrape up the money for passage to America, instead of starving during the many famines of the 1840’s and 1850’s.

It was not yet open and it was beginning to rain, again, so we nixed that plan and headed off to the Little Dublin Museum. Again, we got in for free. I wish there was a Dublin Pass for the whole country.

The museum was devoted to the modern history of Dublin. There was one room devoted to local boys U2.

We then headed to Dublin Castle. It is still used to house some government officials and several offices.

There was also a memorial garden and a small museum about the famines.

A short bus trip later, we toured the Kilmainham Gaol, an old jail from the time of the Famine. Ha Ha, tricked you. We didn’t get arrested.

Many political prisoners from the independence movement were jailed there, as well as many were executed by public hanging.

There was a long wait for the bus afterwards. Our last attraction was the Leprechaun Museum. Because of the long wait, we arrived just a bit late to go in. Dang it.

Tomorrow, we leave Dublin to go to Wexford, in the south east. Just when we were starting to get the hang of knowing where we were, we are leaving. Then we’ll have learn a new place all over again.

No more hostels on this trip. All the rest of the places are via AirBnB. No more roommates. It is cool to meet people from different areas of the world, but it sucks to have to be woke up by not just the roommates, but by loud people in the halls and other rooms.

[supsystic-gallery id=6 position=center]

Getting drunk in Dublin

SDSpivey

Today we awoke to rain and strong winds and cold, of course.

We walked down to find the Hop-On-Hop-Off bus that will take you around town. I had ordered a 3-day pass. I was using a map I picked up in the hostel, but since Dublin has so few street signs, I wasn’t always sure of our location.

We stepped into the bus and I presented the passes and was told are only good for a single day on the bus, but we can “upgrade” each day if we want.

We rode until we saw the Dublina museum, which is a history of Dublin. Our passes got us in for free.

The end of the museum leads across the road to deposit us into the Christ Church Cathedral, which we also got free with the passes. There was a “crypt” downstairs with cool objects and some outfits from the HBO series “the Tudors” that was partly filmed there.

We jumped back on the bus and got off at the Guinness Brewery, again FREE with the passes, which included a free pint at their restaurants. During the tour they offered everyone a small (~6 oz) glass of Guinness and “taught” us all how to properly drink it. Neither of us cared for it at all.

Afterwards, we used the bus again to go to the Jameson distillery, again free entry and a shot at the end.

Departure and arrival in Ireland

SDSpivey

Mom came down to Inverness on Sunday, staying at Grandma’s. I went over to meet her, but when I pulled into the yard, I noticed that the trailer was not in the yard, where I know it was left.

I checked the garage and found the back screen had been pried out and someone had taken my air compressor and nail gun also. Strangely, other tools were still there.

I saw no evidence of entry into the house, fortunately.

Once mom arrived, I told her about it and we then filed a police report. It is considered “grand theft auto” as it did involve a titled, VIN item.

We had to displace this event in our minds, so we would be able to enjoy Ireland properly.

We left the next day, late in the day, so no rush.

It was an overnight flight, getting in at about 10:15am. Because we booked later than we should have, we were right behind the wings, the noisiest part of the plane. Plus the general talking and such, we didn’t sleep much, if any.

Dinner wasn’t bad, but they served an “Irish” breakfast burrito that was mostly mashed potatoes in a barely cooked tortilla, with a small amount of cheese and egg added.

We easily passed passport control and headed out. Apparently, there was no customs control. Odd indeed.

We found the car rental desk and the lady sent us down to the “car park”, but someone there said we had to take a shuttle to the pickup area. What was the point of this first lady then, she didn’t do anything that a series for signs couldn’t do better.

Regardless, we got our car (a Skoda) and drove out.

Since we couldn’t check into the hostel until 2, we just drove around looking around and allowing me to get used to driving on the wrong side of the car.

After driving around the hostel a few times looking for somewhere to park, I managed to grab one just around the corner, still too far to carry our heavy bags, but it would do. It was €2.40 per hour and only took coins. Luckily I had brought the remaining coins from the last trip so I was able to drop in a €2 and got almost an hour.

We walked toward the Tesco grocer, to find mom’s distilled water for her CPAP. Nobody in Ireland needs any, so nobody has any. So we ended up just getting filtered, which still has minerals.

We didn’t take any photos today, as we only saw one thing that we might want a photo of, a spire about 10-12 feet in diameter and about 700 feet tall, seriously. This thing was so tall it hurt my neck just trying to see the top. But there isn’t any way to photograph it, as you’d never get the whole thing into frame.

After shopping, we were going to drive out and find some food, but we didn’t want to loose the spot, it would be free after 4pm, so we we walked toward a Subway restaurant, but luckily, we spotted a Chinese restaurant before we got there.

Food was good, but slow and after eating and waiting on the check I was starting to fall asleep. It was only 5, but I had gone about 27 hours without sleep, so we ended up crashing around 7. I slept for about 2 hours until one of our roommates came in and then left a minute later. The only way to close the door is to slam it, which is always the preferred way anywhere someone tries to sleep.

I was chilled when I went to bed, but it wasn’t too bad, and I got under the duvet they provided. When the guy woke me, I was drenched in sweat, something I didn’t think I would have to worry about until back in Florida. The duvet was very efficient, too efficient. It wouldn’t let any air flow through.

When the guy came back a few minutes later and was making up his bed, our other roommate came in and they talked a bit. The first said something about his stuff being moved, but it was that way when we arrived.

They both went to bed, but tossed a bit, so I didn’t get back to sleep for a few hours.

I awoke just before 4am, and was too restless, so I dressed and grabbed my computer and went downstairs to type up the day’s events.

So far, not a lot of good to talk about, but we still have 20 more days to turn it around.