Sunday tour to Cliffs of Moher

After a sleeping as late as we dared, we ate some breakfast and headed in to Galway to catch a tour bus going to the Cliffs of Moher. The drive in was beautiful. I'm sure we drove by land characteristic of the Burren, if we weren't driving through the Burren itself. I guess I should suggest that they have a narrator for the bus ride if at all feasible, because there were plenty of towns and landscapes I'm sure I'd love to have heard more about. The drive in was also a drive up, and I couldn't sit by the window. It was far enough to look down from the bus window when we weren't on the edge of a mountain, dizzying when we were.

We enjoyed the drizzly weather, and even the rain shower that hit while we were up there, but it wasn't so great for getting photos. 

Something we saw on the bus ride up the mountains. Google info says that it's in Kinvarra, County Galway.

Another shot from the bus along the way

We made it!

Here are some of my best shots, taken from some of the higher places I reached. I wimped out of climbing to the top of the tower.

And a couple of short videos:

Joseph, Chelsea and Emma climbed the stairs to the top of the tower:

And here are some shots I took of the photos inside the Visitors' Center, because that was the only way I was going to get any sunshine-y shots:

And here's a little info and some art featuring the birds that hang out around here. We saw some puffins in the distance. Again, not my photos.

The bus driver had asked us to all be back by a quarter to four, but something was wrong with the engine, so we sat in the bus for an hour and a half, waiting for that to get sorted. On the way back, we saw a rainbow. The arch seemed shallower than those of rainbows we're used to seeing. Was it because we were closer to the North Pole than we're used to being? It also seemed like it would be somehow easier to find the end of that rainbow. We marveled, all week long, at the lateness of the onset of dusk.

Took this picture on the car ride back to our cottage, from Galway to somewhere near Quin. Noted the time. Not sure how I did that, but I wrote it in with my finger.

Day 3: Rendez-Vous with more Larrews!

Joseph, Chelsea and Emma arrived pretty early Saturday morning. We had just finished getting dressed and eating some breakfast when Cliff got a WhatsApp text from Joseph. We walked out to meet them as they walked toward the hotel entrance from the parking lot, then detoured to find a place with coffee and baked goods. Checkout wasn't until noon, fortunately, so we hung out a little longer in our lovely little room overlooking the Liffey and let our latest Larrew arrivals settle in and do a bit of recoup from the plane ride.

Upon checking out and trying to fit our luggage in the rental car Joseph had picked up, we discovered that we needed a bigger rental vehicle, so we found the nearest EuropeCar, hoping for a mini-van or something bigger. They didn't have mini-vans. Come to think of it, I'm not sure I ever saw a mini-van while I was in Ireland. But we switched for a Jaguar which had a slightly wider body than the SUV initially acquired, and we were able to fit all the luggage, because of the wider body and because the airline had misplaced Emma's stroller and would be bringing it to us in County Clare when they located it. After a stop at McDonald's for Emma and a stop at Starbucks for some of the grown-ups, we were en route to our cottage in County Clare!

Unaccustomed to this steering wheel placement! This shot is a bit deceptive--Joseph did most of the driving, not Cliff, seen here.

Those camera shots through the car window while riding along never quite measure up to what you thought you were photographing, do they? Here's one that came a little closer.

All the road signs show English names and Gaelic names. Fáilte! (Welcome!)

Two-way road?

Finally, after checking in at East Clare Golf Villages, we found our way to Dangan Lodge Cottage, #1.

Lots of petunias!

View from our back porch

We settled into our rooms, folks who wanted showers got showered, we met the owner/manager (he was watering all the flowers). He was very welcoming, and wanted to make sure that we'd found the cell phone left in the unit for our use while we were there. The cottages are a bit off the beaten path, and I can well imagine that travelers have sometimes had to call to figure out how to get back, or just to make sure that the GPS wasn't leading them astray. Coincidentally, we found the GPS coordinates for the cottages listed in the welcome portfolio. Later on, we figured out that, when coming from Dublin, it's best to stay on the M (motorway) roads as much as possible, instead of taking the back roads where Google Maps led us. Not that the back roads aren't scenic, it was just a lot of driving on very narrow two-way country roads. Driving on the left. Steering wheel on the right. Narrow roads with stone walls, walls often camouflaged with plant growth. We may or may not have left a patch of scraped paint on the front passenger door.

Joseph's wallet was missing. We later found out that he'd left it at the car rental place in Dublin (they sent him an email), but in the meantime we each took a turn or two or three scouring the car, and Joseph froze all his cards. They would be able to use Chelsea's in the meantime, and we were all ready to go find the restaurant that we'd heard about from the lady at reception.

The Abbey Tavern.

I have to pause as I think about how much I enjoyed that experience.

I enjoyed the plate that I ordered, some sort of creamy pasta, tagliatelle, if I remember correctly. BUT, the plate that Chelsea ordered, a garlic vegetable bake--oh my gosh! And, as if to remind her that she wasn't dreaming, and was really in Ireland, the plate came with TWO baked potatoes on the side.  And while we were waiting, the server brought a plate full of bread with a bowl of the best butter I've ever tasted in almost six decades of living. I slipped off the vegan wagon a few times while we were on vacation, must admit. Probably more than I would have if I hadn't tasted that butter.

And here's a couple of pictures of Quin Abbey, across the street from the tavern.

We walked closer after dinner, and wandered around the graveyard. Joseph and Chelsea went through a door and into part of the building, but the sun was starting to set, and I'm not comfortable wandering near crypts close to sundown. There are some lovely photos of this place out there on the internet. Just put Quin Abbey, County Clare, Ireland in a Google search window. I just did. Ah well, traveler's regret--should have gone back and gotten a closer look earlier in the day during the week.

All in all, cramped car, driving in and from Dublin, wandering where Google Maps was taking us, lost wallet, and everything, we were a happy, well-fed bunch. We stopped at a little convenience store for a couple of necessities and niceties, then tried to find our way back to the cottage. Oops. A little bit of a challenge. We made sure to drop pins in our Google Maps apps after we finally made it back, referring to the aforementioned GPS coordinates provided in the aforementioned welcome portfolio.

Went to bed sometime after midnight, looking forward to visiting the Cliffs of Moher after a good night's sleep, and a morning of sleeping late.

Day 2 - Why Not Tour a Distillery on Friday the 13th?

Love love love the Raymond Chandler quote on the edge of the mezzanine! Just inside Bow Street Distillery.

We slept in, of course. Originally, the morning hours included visiting Drimnagh Castle, but we decided to save that castle in a southern suburban-ish part of the city for another day, take our time walking to the Bow Street Distillery, and see what sights we might see along the way. We grabbed a loaf of bread and some other provisions from a nearby M&S Simply Food. It was a great little store for hotel-sojourners, with a decent coffee machine and a small patisserie station. I even found ready-made roasted veggie sandwiches there. We had a lazy breakfast in our hotel room and then set off to find Bow Street. Here are some things we saw along the way.

We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn Customs House, so had to get a shot of this.

A Daniel McConnell monument. Not the last one we saw while we were in Ireland.

Not sure what this building is, but it looks important!

We may have taken a longer route to get there than was absolutely necessary, probably on more narrow old cobblestone streets than we had to, but we enjoyed it. Finally, ta-da!

Our tour guide was from County Cork, where Jameson whisky is currently distilled. The facility on Bow Street in Dublin serves mainly as a museum and gift shop these days. Oh, and let's not forget, a place to taste and compare! Not to mention being entertained by a witty tour guide telling stories as you compare the smell, taste of this grain and that, one malted, one not, or peer at the side of your shot glass under the light to look for the tiny bubbles or "tears" that form when the whisky coats the inside. Also, learned that the Latin words (Sine Metu) in the Jameson crest mean "without fear," awarded to Jameson because he fought off pirates.

We finished our tour, had our end-of-tour drinks (you could have either a glass of grog or a shot of whisky), and made our gift shop purchases. Time to head back and maybe look for some lunch. :

We found this big bell right outside the distillery. Couldn't really make out where it was from, or much else, but it looked kind of familiar, maybe in the way all big bells remind of other big bells . . .

Anyway, as we got closer to the river, I got a shot of this Dublin landmark:

The Ha'penny Bridge

And I'm a sucker for those plaques or signs that provide more information, so here they are, in an order that makes sense to me:

And then some more photos taken on our walk back toward our room, just because-flowerboxes!

And a more complete photo of the Samuel Beckett Bridge:

We then visited the Trinity College Campus (but too late to get in to see the Book of Kells, arrrgh!)

Provost Salmon. You can scan a bar code on your phone, resulting in an iPhone marimba ringtone sounding and a voice, purporting to be Provost Salmon, telling you all about himself and Trinity College during his long, long tenure as Provost. In probably unrelated information, there is also an old Irish legend about a Salmon of Knowledge, and a boy (Fionn, if I remember correctly) who never had to ask anyone another question again after he'd tasted the salt from its skin while sucking on a wound that occurred as he was cooking it for the master for whom he was apprenticing. He'd always know the answer as soon as he put his thumb in his mouth.

Sphere in a Sphere

Just a lovely old tree

We felt like we'd put in another pretty good day of sightseeing and museum-visiting, so we started walking back toward the Custom House Quay and our room. Saw this on the way back, and made me think of the bank in Mary Poppins. I mean, we have pretty big bank buildings at home, but geez:

Also took a photo of the base of one of the streetlights

And then there was this eye-catching installation:

And a closer shot:

And the plaque with pertinent info:

We grabbed some more provisions at the M&S Simply Food place, took them up to our room and ate a simple supper, then opened one of our Jameson purchases and had a sip or two. Enough to make me want something crunchy and salty. Found these in the hotel lobby's "pantry."

Lovely packaging, but no discernible difference in taste from the sour cream and onion crisps/chips I've tasted at home in the U.S. Cute cow!

Went to bed looking forward to seeing our younger son, Joseph, his wife, Chelsea, and our precious Grand-Emma in the morning!

First Day in Dublin

Wednesday, June 11, 2018, 10:00a.m.

Almost finished packing. Cliff has sent an email to inform me of our "itinerary" for next week. He has us signed up for something every day. We'll be in Dublin tomorrow morning, at 9:00a.m. local  time, less than 24 hours from now -- they're 5 hours ahead. He also attached a picture of the weather forecast in County Clare next week.  Saw in the news that Prince Harry and Meghan will also be in Irelenad. Weather looks airish. I'll throw a couple of sweaters in the carry on.

6:30p.m.
Got to the airport before 5:00p.m. Went straight through TSA protocols, no removing shoes or anything. Got to my gate by  5:30. Had enough time to walk the concourse a couple of times before boarding, and was sitting at the gate again by 6:30, realizing it was 11:30 in Dublin, and hoping I'd be able to sleep on the plane. Spoiler alert, didn't sleep much on the plane. not sure how anyone does.  In my seat by 7:51, checked in on Facebook.



Thursday, July 12, 10:50a.m.

Here at the Hilton Garden Inn Customs House. They let us go ahead and check in! The cab ride here from the airport was a new experience, but I was sitting on the left side of the back seat. For some reason, seeing the driver in the front right didn't seem so disorienting. The driver mentioned that they haven't been getting much rain lately, and that the grass wasn't very green. Cliff, getting away from the desert for a couple of weeks, remarked that it looked pretty green to him!  Our hotel window overlooks the River Liffey.

Our cab driver informed us that we could walk along the riverwalk and into the city center.

You can see part of the Jeannie Johnston (replica of emigrant ship) from our window (if you lean forward and peer out from the very far side). The shot on the bottom right was taken using a bit of zoom.

Perusing a copy of the local paper that someone had given Cliff while he was waiting for me at the airport, I learned that Prince Harry and Meghan had finished their visit in Dublin the day before.

This inspired a walk to the Famine Memorial, which was a very short walk from our room.

Everyone seems to get quiet and serious when walking through and around these statues, understandably so. The atmosphere reminded me a bit of being in the Musee des Deportees behind Notre Dame in Paris, it inspires meditative reflection, and perhaps (and hopefully) some empathy. Here's the dedication plaque, set in the pavement.

12:50p.m. Now, on an entirely different note--
Our first meal in Ireland? Vegan pizza at a restaurant called Milano's.

The menu listed polenta chips as one of the side items.
I was intrigued. The waitress felt obliged to inform us that these did not contain potatoes.

I must confess, I was expecting something that looked more like what I would call chips, having forgotten that they would dub those "crisps." I was also still going on very little sleep. Couldn't sleep in the plane, and sure couldn't sleep while there was still daylight in Dublin.

After lunch, we stopped in to see what the EPIC right next door to our hotel was all about. 

This is right outside EPIC: The Irish Emigration Museum. We did visit, and it was well worth the time and money we spent there, but we decided to find some other things in Dublin first. Specifically, I wanted to find the statue of Oscar Wilde I'd read so much about, especially after I checked Google Maps and found out it was only a 23 minute walk from where we were, in Merrion Park.  Got a little confused trying to follow Google Maps. A kind lady walking a bicycle across the street asked if she could help. When she heard we were looking for Merrion Park, she said, "Oscar Wilde, right? I nodded, then she smiled while telling me all about Sweny's the pharmacy frequented regularly by James Joyce, that we'd pass on the way to see Oscar. Turns out she does some voluntary work there and she informed me that there are literary readings there, and would be one that evening. I thought that might be exciting if I hadn't just arrived after spending all night in a plane. But we found Sweny's, and then Merrion Park, and Oscar. Also took a walk around a small bit of Merrion Park, which includes a playground and is otherwise a lovely green space in the city center.

On the way back, we passed Sweny's on its side of the road, so I could read some of the signs advertising which days of the week Ulysses is read in which languages. Looked like a different language almost every day of the week.

At some point during all of that, I took a picture of what, I learned later, is the Samuel Beckett Bridge. Actually, I took a partial photo of the bridge. Cliff suggested that I take a photo that included one of the charming streetlights in the foreground.

I also noticed building with a striking feature:

Didn't get close enough to discover anything else about it until Wednesday, but I'll spare you the suspense 😏

After all of that, we visited the Irish Emigration Museum. They give you a "passport" when you purchase your entry, and in each gallery (20 of them), there's a place to stamp your passport, showing that you've been through.  We spent a solid two hours exploring all the interactive installations, but I didn't get any photos because I downloaded the museum's app, and used it as a guide for the first part of the tour.  My favorite interactive gadget was a replica of a giant open book. A flashing dotted line indicated when you should sweep your had across it, as if to turn a page. Each page turn started a clip about a famous author from Ireland. There was also a gadget that featured a quiz about Irish pubs in Ireland and around the world. I only missed one question, which, the gadget informed me, made me a barfly. No comments, please. 

I am very glad I still have the app, and looking forward to listening to the narration for each gallery again soon. Looking back, someone must have felt like it takes an entire museum experience to begin to explain why anyone ever left this green, temperate island. I sure didn't want to.

We had dinner at the hotel restaurant (Oly's). I feel like I really made the most of this first day, especially for someone who flew in on an overnight flight during which I may have dozed off for a few minutes once or twice. I was a sight-seeing machine. Also, I slept very well after our first day in Dublin.