This is the part of the trip that if you remember by one of my first blogs is the whole reason this trip became more than a pipe-dream. Thats right, after leaving Jameson we headed towards Scariff and the make believe like thatched roof cottage that we had found online.
The drive there seemed to take forever. In part I'm sure its because of the building anticipation of getting there, the fact that I was worried we would arrive too late for what would be thought of as considerate for the owner & the fact that we got stuck behind a convoy of tractors. Thats right, once we go to close as to be able to palpably sense and feel the cottage's presence we got stuck behind a convoy of about 5 tractors that were on some kind of charity drive. Their top speed was between 15-20 MPH! As was typical it was on a winding 1 lane each way road that you couldn't see around the next curve to find out if it was safe to pass. Luckily the tractor driver's took pity on us and waived us past when the lead driver saw it was clear for us to go. After that it was smooth sailing and we rolled up to the cottage at about 9-10 PM.
I had emailed Fidelma about 2 weeks before our trip to ask her about fishing for Joe & also to find out her procedures/requests for checking into the cottage. Her response was that we weren't to worry ourselves about it, that all would be worked out when we arrived. Well we arrived but quickly realized where there was nobody there & no key to be found under the welcome mat that we had no cell phone. I drove back into town & Tracy ran into the ice cream store to call her. No answer. We waited & I tried again, this time Fidelma answered & low and behold she was at the cottage with the rest of our group!
I can't tell you how amazing this cottage is. It was sunset on the valley behind the cottage when we arrived, there are 2 donkey's that greet you as you pull up & the cottage itself is straight out of the Quiet Man. Mom would have loved it. As I mentioned previously, there were signs as to why this would be the perfect place to stay & let me just tell you now. Our expectations were exceeded!!
Here are the signs again...I still think Mom sent them my way as I fell in love with the place:
From outside it is quaint & stereotypical of what one would think when they imagine what Ireland might look like
Mom's favorite flower was the yellow rose, outside the main door of the cottage, on either side of the door are giant yellow rose bushes.
Upstairs in the loft area is a spinning wheel, Mom was a spinner! &
On one of the plant shelves in the kitchen was an old black Singer sewing machine very similar to the one mom used to have!!
My favorite part of the house, silly as it sounds was the split farm door. It was bright red set against the stark white of the cottage. Best of all, we could open the main door & keep the bottom split closed & lean out and just bask in the amazing view!! I would spend a bit of time every morning there with my cup of coffee and soak it all up. I cannot do justice to how beautiful a sight it was so if/when I can figure this thing out a bit more I'll try to put up a photo so you can see for yourself.
The cottage also came with a real peat burning fire. Our first night there the fireplace was already lit by Fidelma so we had only to keep it going. On the 2nd night the boys found out how difficult it is to actually get the fire going to begin with! I think it took them about a solid hour before the fire was going without having to be constantly tended to. Seriously it would be going great & then within minutes it would die down without the peat actually catching. By the end of the trip we had purchased a new box of fire starters because we had used so many in our attempts to start & keep the fire going the first few nights :) The effort was well worth it as the fireplace just added to the homey feeling at night time.
I can go on and on about the cottage as it was one of my favorite things about the trip, but I don't want to bore you too much. Perhaps I'll find a way to just post some pictures of the place to let you gain the understanding on your own. If you ever get the chance to visit Ireland, I cannot recommend the Barley Cove Thatched Cottage enough. If I could purchase it I would happily move there!!
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Forget Whiskey Row...
Our morning in Kinsale was spent walking through the downtown area shopping. It was an absolutely gorgeous morning and Joe & Kaylene opted to sleep in the cars to wait as Bettina, Tracy, Kelly & I opted to soak up as much of the environment as we could.
It was low tide at the harbor and all of the boats were stuck in the mud but it was still an amazing sight to see. We sat on the harbor wall just watching the fish in the 1 foot of water come in to the bugs from the surface. To say that our morning was relaxing might be an understatement. Kaylene & Joe missed out!!
After we spend more time than we had planned soaking up the scenery & stores, it was back to the road we went as we had more sights to see. On the way from Kinsale to Scarrif where the cottage is we first had to stop at a very important location that is near and dear to Kelly's heart. Thats right, we had to stop at Jameson!!
Now on the off chance that someone reading this doesn't know what Jameson is, it is a distillery of whiskey. Not any whiskey, Kelly's favorite drink & go to drink of choice outside of Guinness. Tracy navigated us there with no issues. She claims she is not a drinker & she had taken her first shot of Jameson only days before so perhaps she was drawn to it like a magnet, I'm not saying anything but me thinks she may have enjoyed the Jameson more than she was willing to admit :)
When you walk up the path to the distillery the the first thing you see is a pristine copper distiller. It is set in the ground in a patch of green that is so vividly green it looks unreal. Behind the distiller is the first view of the old/original distillery, a grey building with dozens of bright red doors dotting the side of the building. We would later find out that there were so many doors on all the levels to help contain the location of a fire if one were to break out as the grains were being dried.
Upon entering the building the next thing you see is a gorgeous chandelier. It is 5 tiers of the green Jameson bottle and it practically glows from within. Who knew that a light built from empty whiskey bottles could be so pretty. I'm not even a whiskey drinker and I found it to be very cool :) Our tour was lead by Sinead (not the once popular bald Irish singer, rather a cute little girl with a full head of blonde hair!) The tour is of the old restored distillery where Jameson was started. Its all very educational, but lets get real, Kelly was more excited that he would get to sample their product. Not only that, he & Bettina volunteered to be official tasters who to to compare Jameson to Johnny Walker & Jack Daniels so they could taste the difference that Sinead had just been explaining to us during the tour. They both confirm that you can tell that Johnny walker dries their grains over an open wood fire as they could taste the smoky taste in the whiskey. If I remember correctly their order of preference was Jameson, Jack & lastly Johnny. What really matters is that the two of them were given certificates verifying that they are officially qualified to now be Jameson taste testers!!
The rest of us were given the option of a Jameson shot or a mixed drink using Jameson (we didn't get the Johnny Walker or Jack). Believe what you will, but I actually turned down the Jameson shot/mixed drink as again, I'm not a whiskey drinker. Guinness I'll take, whiskey not so much. What I did take a way is an appreciation that I didn't have before as every single bottle of Jameson is distilled at this location. It is not made anywhere else in the world as Jameson has only the 1 distillery to date!
Enough talk about whiskey for now....its time to get to the cottage!
It was low tide at the harbor and all of the boats were stuck in the mud but it was still an amazing sight to see. We sat on the harbor wall just watching the fish in the 1 foot of water come in to the bugs from the surface. To say that our morning was relaxing might be an understatement. Kaylene & Joe missed out!!
After we spend more time than we had planned soaking up the scenery & stores, it was back to the road we went as we had more sights to see. On the way from Kinsale to Scarrif where the cottage is we first had to stop at a very important location that is near and dear to Kelly's heart. Thats right, we had to stop at Jameson!!
Now on the off chance that someone reading this doesn't know what Jameson is, it is a distillery of whiskey. Not any whiskey, Kelly's favorite drink & go to drink of choice outside of Guinness. Tracy navigated us there with no issues. She claims she is not a drinker & she had taken her first shot of Jameson only days before so perhaps she was drawn to it like a magnet, I'm not saying anything but me thinks she may have enjoyed the Jameson more than she was willing to admit :)
When you walk up the path to the distillery the the first thing you see is a pristine copper distiller. It is set in the ground in a patch of green that is so vividly green it looks unreal. Behind the distiller is the first view of the old/original distillery, a grey building with dozens of bright red doors dotting the side of the building. We would later find out that there were so many doors on all the levels to help contain the location of a fire if one were to break out as the grains were being dried.
Upon entering the building the next thing you see is a gorgeous chandelier. It is 5 tiers of the green Jameson bottle and it practically glows from within. Who knew that a light built from empty whiskey bottles could be so pretty. I'm not even a whiskey drinker and I found it to be very cool :) Our tour was lead by Sinead (not the once popular bald Irish singer, rather a cute little girl with a full head of blonde hair!) The tour is of the old restored distillery where Jameson was started. Its all very educational, but lets get real, Kelly was more excited that he would get to sample their product. Not only that, he & Bettina volunteered to be official tasters who to to compare Jameson to Johnny Walker & Jack Daniels so they could taste the difference that Sinead had just been explaining to us during the tour. They both confirm that you can tell that Johnny walker dries their grains over an open wood fire as they could taste the smoky taste in the whiskey. If I remember correctly their order of preference was Jameson, Jack & lastly Johnny. What really matters is that the two of them were given certificates verifying that they are officially qualified to now be Jameson taste testers!!
The rest of us were given the option of a Jameson shot or a mixed drink using Jameson (we didn't get the Johnny Walker or Jack). Believe what you will, but I actually turned down the Jameson shot/mixed drink as again, I'm not a whiskey drinker. Guinness I'll take, whiskey not so much. What I did take a way is an appreciation that I didn't have before as every single bottle of Jameson is distilled at this location. It is not made anywhere else in the world as Jameson has only the 1 distillery to date!
Enough talk about whiskey for now....its time to get to the cottage!
Dalton's Pub & Oliver
Oliver..oh Oliver
As many of my avid readers know, when one has a drink or two the natural inclination is to find a restroom (but don't call it that in IRE...its not a bathroom, a restroom, the ladies room or any other euphemism...its a toilet, a no frills toilet!) So after a pint or two I
Bettina made her way to the toilet which is outside on the "smoking patio" for the pub. The patio is about 4 feet wide by about 12 feet long. Its just long enough for a row of chairs against 1 wall & a few spent kegs for seating along the other. When she comes back in she tells me that I just have to go out to the patio and that it was awesome. Now in my mind I was thinking...yeah whatever I've seen walk-in closets with more space than this "patio". I go out anyway because, well why not.
I am so glad that I did. Turns out there was this older gentleman that was outside just singing away. Little ditties with a traditional Irish sound to them that you can't help but tap your toes to. I had never heard any of his tunes and probably for good reason. The majority of the ones I heard were dirty & hilarious. This man who was keeping the entire patio area entertained is a local by the name of Oliver. Kaylene fell in love with him & wanted to bring him home with us, I have to say, I think all of us had a little crush on him by the end...even Kelly & Joe had man-crushes I think.
After Oliver sang a song titled "To the Moon" about a monkey going to the moon he told me a story that went along with the song. As he tells it one of his good friends moved to America & became an astronaut. He goes on to tell me that this friend of his has since gone to the international space station and that Oliver himself had the honor of doing a "wake-up" call to his friend. According to Oliver he sang "To the Moon" and Nasa played it to all the astronauts to wake the up one morning as a gift to his friend who was there at the time. Now I had just been to Blarney Castle a few short hours before so I thought Oliver was just feeding me a bunch of blarney & was laughing it off as a great story when Oliver suddenly became serious and told me to google it.
I didn't google until I got home from my trip because...well I didn't want to pull my iPad out again after everyone had been drinking...after I had been drinking :) Since leaving I can confirm that Oliver did indeed sing his ditty as a wake up call to the astronauts of the international space station for his friend who moved from Kinsale Ireland to the USA!! If you want to hear the ditty, I am sharing the link I found when I googled Oliver...its not the whole song but it will give you a bit of an idea about what we were lucky enough to experience that night.
Oliver
Thank you Daltons Pub...thank you for wi-fi and thank you for Oliver!
As many of my avid readers know, when one has a drink or two the natural inclination is to find a restroom (but don't call it that in IRE...its not a bathroom, a restroom, the ladies room or any other euphemism...its a toilet, a no frills toilet!) So after a pint or two I
Bettina made her way to the toilet which is outside on the "smoking patio" for the pub. The patio is about 4 feet wide by about 12 feet long. Its just long enough for a row of chairs against 1 wall & a few spent kegs for seating along the other. When she comes back in she tells me that I just have to go out to the patio and that it was awesome. Now in my mind I was thinking...yeah whatever I've seen walk-in closets with more space than this "patio". I go out anyway because, well why not.
I am so glad that I did. Turns out there was this older gentleman that was outside just singing away. Little ditties with a traditional Irish sound to them that you can't help but tap your toes to. I had never heard any of his tunes and probably for good reason. The majority of the ones I heard were dirty & hilarious. This man who was keeping the entire patio area entertained is a local by the name of Oliver. Kaylene fell in love with him & wanted to bring him home with us, I have to say, I think all of us had a little crush on him by the end...even Kelly & Joe had man-crushes I think.
After Oliver sang a song titled "To the Moon" about a monkey going to the moon he told me a story that went along with the song. As he tells it one of his good friends moved to America & became an astronaut. He goes on to tell me that this friend of his has since gone to the international space station and that Oliver himself had the honor of doing a "wake-up" call to his friend. According to Oliver he sang "To the Moon" and Nasa played it to all the astronauts to wake the up one morning as a gift to his friend who was there at the time. Now I had just been to Blarney Castle a few short hours before so I thought Oliver was just feeding me a bunch of blarney & was laughing it off as a great story when Oliver suddenly became serious and told me to google it.
I didn't google until I got home from my trip because...well I didn't want to pull my iPad out again after everyone had been drinking...after I had been drinking :) Since leaving I can confirm that Oliver did indeed sing his ditty as a wake up call to the astronauts of the international space station for his friend who moved from Kinsale Ireland to the USA!! If you want to hear the ditty, I am sharing the link I found when I googled Oliver...its not the whole song but it will give you a bit of an idea about what we were lucky enough to experience that night.
Oliver
Thank you Daltons Pub...thank you for wi-fi and thank you for Oliver!
Kinsale Vs. Wi-Fi
Its been a long day & its time to finally make our way down to Kinsale. I have heard so much about this town & viewed tons of photos online thanks to Google. It looks amazing & I can't wait to get there. Unfortunately we had to drive back through the traffic filled city of Cork. Who knew this was such a booming metropolis in Ireland. Also, who puts traffic lights in the middle of a round about. Doesn't that defeat the purpose of a round about? It was on the way out of Cork that my car got separated from Joe's thanks to poor timing at a traffic signal. Joe made it, I didn't. Unfortunately there was also construction going on so we couldn't see what exit from the roundabout that Joe had taken. As my light turned green I took the first exit...no Joe so I turn around and go back thru the roundabout & take the 2nd exit...no Joe, so I turn around again & take the last exit...still no Joe. At this point I just looked at Kelly and told him to get the map & we'd get there on our own like we did when we went to Donegal.
As luck would have it, we were headed in the right direction before Kelly could even figure out where we were on the map (mainly because we hadn't really been paying attention to street names as we were concentrating on not losing Joe's car...which we lost anyway). The road leading into Kinsale opens you to a view of the harbor & colorful downtown area. Holy crap it is even more scenic than the photos I saw online give it credit for. As I wind my way into town however the roads became decidedly more narrow and there is nowhere for you to move over to in the event that an oncoming car is bigger than the size of a gnat! There is also no straight roadway in the entire town & we have absolutely no idea how to get to the Ashgrove B&B. I pull into a parking lot for a tourist/visitor center, but wouldn't you know it, the place was closed. Being the amazingly quick on my feet thinker (hahahaha) I sent Kelly across the street to the chocolate store to ask for directions, not that I had ulterior motives or anything, but can you believe Kelly only came back with a map of the town & directions. I mean seriously where was the friggen chocolate!!
We find our way up the walking path...err I mean up the road & find the B&B with no problems once we have the non chocolate map. Upon our arrival Bettina comes running out with such relief on her face that it is obvious that they thought I was going to go ballistic on them for losing me once again. Admittedly it was through no fault of their own this time & probably because the view upon getting to Kinsale was very calming I was in a great mood. Not only because of where we were, but because I was going to Skype with my dad tonight for the first time since we got there. The B&B had wireless!! Well okay it was supposed to have wireless anyway. Oh well it was a nice idea.
By the time we reach Kinsale it is dinner time and we are all starving since we hadn't had anything to eat since leaving Belfast early that morning. Our B&B host, Martina, gave us a list of places we might find some grub. We decide on a place called the White House. I had brought my iPad just in case they had wi-fi as I was not ready to give up on Skyping with pops. Alas, the restaurant did not have wi-fi. There was a cafe next door so I decide to go over there to test the waters...I mean what cafe/coffee shop now a days doesn't have wi-fi. The answer...the one in Kinsale. Thats right still no wi-fi, but oddly enough my iPad does detect a wi-fi in the area. As I walk around to see where it gets stronger I can't help myself...I started laughing out loud. So the coffee shop doesn't have wi-fi, but the pub does! We make our decision that this pub is now the pub we will spend the remainder of our evening at so that I can call my dad at the designated time. Apparently not many people do this as we got some funny looks as every web addicted person in our group got online to send updates to friends...emails & photos etc. After about an hour I go just outside the front door so it will be a little quieter when calling pops. When he answers I immediately tell him that he is at the pub with me & I think he finds that a bit humorous. Its just too bad it was dark out, I would have loved if dad could have seen the colorful town & street from where I stood. The party was really getting going in the short time I had been on the phone with pops. It seems the Guinness & Jameson had started to flow freely! Let the fun begin again...
As luck would have it, we were headed in the right direction before Kelly could even figure out where we were on the map (mainly because we hadn't really been paying attention to street names as we were concentrating on not losing Joe's car...which we lost anyway). The road leading into Kinsale opens you to a view of the harbor & colorful downtown area. Holy crap it is even more scenic than the photos I saw online give it credit for. As I wind my way into town however the roads became decidedly more narrow and there is nowhere for you to move over to in the event that an oncoming car is bigger than the size of a gnat! There is also no straight roadway in the entire town & we have absolutely no idea how to get to the Ashgrove B&B. I pull into a parking lot for a tourist/visitor center, but wouldn't you know it, the place was closed. Being the amazingly quick on my feet thinker (hahahaha) I sent Kelly across the street to the chocolate store to ask for directions, not that I had ulterior motives or anything, but can you believe Kelly only came back with a map of the town & directions. I mean seriously where was the friggen chocolate!!
We find our way up the walking path...err I mean up the road & find the B&B with no problems once we have the non chocolate map. Upon our arrival Bettina comes running out with such relief on her face that it is obvious that they thought I was going to go ballistic on them for losing me once again. Admittedly it was through no fault of their own this time & probably because the view upon getting to Kinsale was very calming I was in a great mood. Not only because of where we were, but because I was going to Skype with my dad tonight for the first time since we got there. The B&B had wireless!! Well okay it was supposed to have wireless anyway. Oh well it was a nice idea.
By the time we reach Kinsale it is dinner time and we are all starving since we hadn't had anything to eat since leaving Belfast early that morning. Our B&B host, Martina, gave us a list of places we might find some grub. We decide on a place called the White House. I had brought my iPad just in case they had wi-fi as I was not ready to give up on Skyping with pops. Alas, the restaurant did not have wi-fi. There was a cafe next door so I decide to go over there to test the waters...I mean what cafe/coffee shop now a days doesn't have wi-fi. The answer...the one in Kinsale. Thats right still no wi-fi, but oddly enough my iPad does detect a wi-fi in the area. As I walk around to see where it gets stronger I can't help myself...I started laughing out loud. So the coffee shop doesn't have wi-fi, but the pub does! We make our decision that this pub is now the pub we will spend the remainder of our evening at so that I can call my dad at the designated time. Apparently not many people do this as we got some funny looks as every web addicted person in our group got online to send updates to friends...emails & photos etc. After about an hour I go just outside the front door so it will be a little quieter when calling pops. When he answers I immediately tell him that he is at the pub with me & I think he finds that a bit humorous. Its just too bad it was dark out, I would have loved if dad could have seen the colorful town & street from where I stood. The party was really getting going in the short time I had been on the phone with pops. It seems the Guinness & Jameson had started to flow freely! Let the fun begin again...
Whats My Gift?
Let me just tell you, my car was just a barrel of energy on our drive from Northern Ireland down to the southern region. My guess is that it had to something to do with the chitlin's nightlife. I was just hoping that their car-ride beauty sleep would help to energize them as both were sound asleep majority of the drive. They in fact had no idea until we got close that we were not actually going straight to Kinsale, rather we were taking a slight detour through Cork & then to Blarney.
Driving through Cork was frustrating as traffic was heavy, but we made it to Blarney. What I found amazing is that this is a big flippin castle and we still failed to find it immediately. I'll admit that in Blarney I got a wee bit upset with Joe. You see Tracy was finding it difficult to navigate as there were no really clear signs as to where we needed to go and everything there seems to have had Blarney in its name. After an unscheduled detour thanks to a wrong turn we had flipped a u-turn & headed back to town. It was at this point that Joseph decided to take a right turn in an area where right turns were not allowed. He nearly got himself hit by another car & I was forced to follow where traffic was meant to go. This was after countless requests by me that I'd rather they make a wrong turn and we flip a U-turn to correct it then to make a last second decision that I can't follow in suit due to the traffic I have following me. It was the last straw & I was pissed off. For any of you who knew my mom, then you know what my temper can be like. Joe for the first time in our friendship learned how my temper can rage sometimes. Don't get me wrong, I totally understand that due to the road signs vs the map that sometimes the lead car literally didn't know until last second which way to go. All I was asking was that the commit to a safe turn one way or another. What I' don't think they realized until this boiling point for me is that the cars behind us were not traveling with us, therefore they didn't have the patience for the literal stopping at a round about, or the last second turn that cuts off traffic. Oh no, until this point they were blissfully unaware that their driving habit had my car nearly hit multiple times from the rear. The straw the broke the camel's back was the last second turn this time that nearly had my car rear ended by a lorie (no, not by a woman....by their version of a semi!)
After having a spat at the Blarney gift shop we calmly (with a few looks of relief by the store staff) make our way onto the actual Blarney grounds. Within a few short minutes our spat was forgotten as we were transported back into awe-filled sight seeing. We have heard so much about this place before we left..."don't waste your time on this tourist trap", "who would want to kiss a stone that has been pissed on", "the stone is covered in lipstick & gum" etc. Well I'm here to say that I am happy we went anyway. The beauty of the castle as you approach from the walk is amazing. I'm guessing you have to kiss the blarney stone to get the gift of blarney just to regain your power of speech after your first glimpse from afar. I can only imagine what this place must have looked like in its hay-day. As you get closer there is an exploratory area where you can climb in and out of the caves at the base of the castle itself. We definitely took advantage of this to act like the children we are :)
The signs take you around the castle to the front to gain entry and as you slowly begin the climb to the top of the castle walls there are a few stops for the views & explanations about the family that didn't think the grounds were fit to be lived on etc (really those people were clearly out of their minds...) but lets get real, people just stop to read those signs so they don't appear too excited to reach the summit & the lore filled stone that bestows a gift to its visitors. It is here that I'd like to point out that despite the death-trap like spiral "staircase" that takes you to the top I made it safely...if one defines safely as slipping and falling only 1x. Bettina, Joe and I reach the top first because we opted to go straight up vs stopping in empty areas that used to be rooms for blah blah blah blah....give us the blarney!! Bettina was up first & all I could think of while watching her was 1. I hope she doesn't fall 2. I hope she can reach the bottom stone (aka the Blarney Stone) & 3. I hope when its my turn that the old man assisting everyone has enough strength to hold me as I am shorter & thus have to scootch majority of my weight over the edge.
After snapping a picture of Bettina's lips making contact with the stone it is my turn. Its now or never & they way I see things, when in Ireland...so I sat my bum down & leaned back. By "leaned back" I mean I practically did a back bend while having a death grip on the bars they have installed for assistance. Thanks to watching Bettina I knew I had to lean back further in order to kiss the stone so I was quick about my business. I didn't trust that the old (but nice) man helping out could hold me for more than a few second. Unfortunately I was too fast for Joe so no picture for me. Joe decided that he didn't need to kiss the stone, not sure if its because he realized we were about 3 stories up or because he didn't want some old man holding him up over the edge of the wall. At any rate, by the time we were done the rest of the group had reached the wall & were in line themselves to give her a go. I became the official photographer-o-the kiss & got multiple shots of the rest of our group.
As we made our way down to the ground level we found that to the back of the castle is a gorgeous but deadly garden. I mean that literally. It was beautiful but every plant had a warning sign about not touching/eating the plant due to its unfortunate effects. You see it was a "poison garden". Used for various reasons by those back in the day who may or may not choose to do things that may or may not cause others to be temporarily ill or worse. Most of the plants didn't seem to be so bad, like poison ivy, but there were a few plants that were literally inside cages so nobody could accidentally come into contact with them.
Rick Steve's warns against visiting this landmark, but I have to say that after experiencing the beauty this castle and the fun that this castle has to offer I say he got it wrong on this one. Yes it is a tourist trap to a degree, but it is a tourist hot-spot for a reason!! I mean the place gives you a gift for crying out loud...you leave with the gift of Blarney!!!
Driving through Cork was frustrating as traffic was heavy, but we made it to Blarney. What I found amazing is that this is a big flippin castle and we still failed to find it immediately. I'll admit that in Blarney I got a wee bit upset with Joe. You see Tracy was finding it difficult to navigate as there were no really clear signs as to where we needed to go and everything there seems to have had Blarney in its name. After an unscheduled detour thanks to a wrong turn we had flipped a u-turn & headed back to town. It was at this point that Joseph decided to take a right turn in an area where right turns were not allowed. He nearly got himself hit by another car & I was forced to follow where traffic was meant to go. This was after countless requests by me that I'd rather they make a wrong turn and we flip a U-turn to correct it then to make a last second decision that I can't follow in suit due to the traffic I have following me. It was the last straw & I was pissed off. For any of you who knew my mom, then you know what my temper can be like. Joe for the first time in our friendship learned how my temper can rage sometimes. Don't get me wrong, I totally understand that due to the road signs vs the map that sometimes the lead car literally didn't know until last second which way to go. All I was asking was that the commit to a safe turn one way or another. What I' don't think they realized until this boiling point for me is that the cars behind us were not traveling with us, therefore they didn't have the patience for the literal stopping at a round about, or the last second turn that cuts off traffic. Oh no, until this point they were blissfully unaware that their driving habit had my car nearly hit multiple times from the rear. The straw the broke the camel's back was the last second turn this time that nearly had my car rear ended by a lorie (no, not by a woman....by their version of a semi!)
After having a spat at the Blarney gift shop we calmly (with a few looks of relief by the store staff) make our way onto the actual Blarney grounds. Within a few short minutes our spat was forgotten as we were transported back into awe-filled sight seeing. We have heard so much about this place before we left..."don't waste your time on this tourist trap", "who would want to kiss a stone that has been pissed on", "the stone is covered in lipstick & gum" etc. Well I'm here to say that I am happy we went anyway. The beauty of the castle as you approach from the walk is amazing. I'm guessing you have to kiss the blarney stone to get the gift of blarney just to regain your power of speech after your first glimpse from afar. I can only imagine what this place must have looked like in its hay-day. As you get closer there is an exploratory area where you can climb in and out of the caves at the base of the castle itself. We definitely took advantage of this to act like the children we are :)
The signs take you around the castle to the front to gain entry and as you slowly begin the climb to the top of the castle walls there are a few stops for the views & explanations about the family that didn't think the grounds were fit to be lived on etc (really those people were clearly out of their minds...) but lets get real, people just stop to read those signs so they don't appear too excited to reach the summit & the lore filled stone that bestows a gift to its visitors. It is here that I'd like to point out that despite the death-trap like spiral "staircase" that takes you to the top I made it safely...if one defines safely as slipping and falling only 1x. Bettina, Joe and I reach the top first because we opted to go straight up vs stopping in empty areas that used to be rooms for blah blah blah blah....give us the blarney!! Bettina was up first & all I could think of while watching her was 1. I hope she doesn't fall 2. I hope she can reach the bottom stone (aka the Blarney Stone) & 3. I hope when its my turn that the old man assisting everyone has enough strength to hold me as I am shorter & thus have to scootch majority of my weight over the edge.
After snapping a picture of Bettina's lips making contact with the stone it is my turn. Its now or never & they way I see things, when in Ireland...so I sat my bum down & leaned back. By "leaned back" I mean I practically did a back bend while having a death grip on the bars they have installed for assistance. Thanks to watching Bettina I knew I had to lean back further in order to kiss the stone so I was quick about my business. I didn't trust that the old (but nice) man helping out could hold me for more than a few second. Unfortunately I was too fast for Joe so no picture for me. Joe decided that he didn't need to kiss the stone, not sure if its because he realized we were about 3 stories up or because he didn't want some old man holding him up over the edge of the wall. At any rate, by the time we were done the rest of the group had reached the wall & were in line themselves to give her a go. I became the official photographer-o-the kiss & got multiple shots of the rest of our group.
As we made our way down to the ground level we found that to the back of the castle is a gorgeous but deadly garden. I mean that literally. It was beautiful but every plant had a warning sign about not touching/eating the plant due to its unfortunate effects. You see it was a "poison garden". Used for various reasons by those back in the day who may or may not choose to do things that may or may not cause others to be temporarily ill or worse. Most of the plants didn't seem to be so bad, like poison ivy, but there were a few plants that were literally inside cages so nobody could accidentally come into contact with them.
Rick Steve's warns against visiting this landmark, but I have to say that after experiencing the beauty this castle and the fun that this castle has to offer I say he got it wrong on this one. Yes it is a tourist trap to a degree, but it is a tourist hot-spot for a reason!! I mean the place gives you a gift for crying out loud...you leave with the gift of Blarney!!!
On the Road Again
So it is very friggen early. Too early to be up during my vacation, but we have a long day of driving ahead of us today. We left Kaylene & Kelly to their own devices in Belfast as the rest of us stayed with Patrick which means we have to drive the 15-20 minutes back into the heart of Belfast in order to pick up the chitlins. I think perhaps the only thing keeping me in good spirits this morning is that I woke up to my t-rex duvet cover....that and the sheer fact that I'm still in Ireland!!
So staying with Patrick has been awesome, not just because he has an amazing job in football, or because he helped arrange a visit with Belfast's Lord Mayor, or because of the insightful tour of the Belfast Murals...no, it was partially awesome because Patrick has a normal human size shower! Seriously. You try to take a shower in a stall so tiny that your butt opens the shower door accidentally when you try to wash your legs (not to mention attempting to shave!!) While my shower was frigid by the time I was able to rinse the shampoo from my hair I didn't give a hoot!! I even shaved for the 1st time on the trip. Yes, I realize this is probably more information than you actually wanted, but seriously it was totally exciting!!
Anyway, we had to get up early to pick up the chitlins...so early that we in fact beat Patrick up for the morning...and he had to still go to work. After we all said our goodbye with heavy hearts, we made the drive back into Belfast. Thankfully by this time we knew how to get where we were going! Unfortunately for Kaylene & Kelly this meant that we were actually on time to pick them up. I'll give you 2 guesses as to who wasn't quite ready by the time we got to the hotel. Luckily for them the hotel had a restaurant in it so we all got breakfast while giving them some more time to finish their morning routines. I even got them a care package of cross ants & muffins since they were missing breakfast.
.....and thus the circus was back on the road!
So staying with Patrick has been awesome, not just because he has an amazing job in football, or because he helped arrange a visit with Belfast's Lord Mayor, or because of the insightful tour of the Belfast Murals...no, it was partially awesome because Patrick has a normal human size shower! Seriously. You try to take a shower in a stall so tiny that your butt opens the shower door accidentally when you try to wash your legs (not to mention attempting to shave!!) While my shower was frigid by the time I was able to rinse the shampoo from my hair I didn't give a hoot!! I even shaved for the 1st time on the trip. Yes, I realize this is probably more information than you actually wanted, but seriously it was totally exciting!!
Anyway, we had to get up early to pick up the chitlins...so early that we in fact beat Patrick up for the morning...and he had to still go to work. After we all said our goodbye with heavy hearts, we made the drive back into Belfast. Thankfully by this time we knew how to get where we were going! Unfortunately for Kaylene & Kelly this meant that we were actually on time to pick them up. I'll give you 2 guesses as to who wasn't quite ready by the time we got to the hotel. Luckily for them the hotel had a restaurant in it so we all got breakfast while giving them some more time to finish their morning routines. I even got them a care package of cross ants & muffins since they were missing breakfast.
.....and thus the circus was back on the road!
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Northern Ireland
And on to Belfast we go!!
Belfast...ahhhh....WTF, I mean seriously...why can't this city have a map or street sign that is accurate. I think we must have made at least 5 u-turns before we just pulled into a parking lot in hopes of gaining our bearings.
The confusing streets actually made us feel like we were on the Grizwald's European vacation with them as we passed the same clock tower at least 3x. Seriously...we almost named a statue of a girl holding a hoop because we saw her 3x as well. After being lost for about 30 minutes we finally found the hotel that the kiddo's were staying at.
Thank god our host for the next two nights, Patrick, decided to come meet us vs us trying to find his home. Now Patrick...how do I describe him. Lets just say he has a job my brother would love to fill. Patrick is the CEO for the Northern Ireland Football Association. Thats right, the head of the Northern Ireland national team et all.
Patrick decides to take us out to dinner at an American diner called Springsteen's so we can feel a bit at home. One of his team (executive staff, not actual footballers) meets us as his wife is from Florida & just recently moved to Ireland. Our group was split up into 2 dable as there was not nearly enough room for all 9 of us at one table. Table 1 consisted of Bettina, Joe, Kaylene, Kelly & Patrick. Table 2 was myself, Tracy & Patrick's friend & wife. All I know is that before we left for Ireland I had joked with Bettina that I was going to hit Patrick up for a job because...well A) he lives in Ireland & B) the job would be in Football!!
Well as I was peacefully sitting there eating my Truman (aka mushroom swiss burger). Bettina yells across to me that Patrick is hiring! In fact, he was really hiring, he was actually conducting interviews the entire next day. All I know is that I jumped up & immediately pointed out that he shouldn't waste his time running interviews when I was clearly the best candidate for the position. Patrick was nice enough to humor me & thus the joke about me working for him lasted the remainder of our trip to NI. No but seriously, I'd have totally taken the job....and still will if he calls or emails me :)
I did however score his NI Football pin right from his lapel.
Belfast...ahhhh....WTF, I mean seriously...why can't this city have a map or street sign that is accurate. I think we must have made at least 5 u-turns before we just pulled into a parking lot in hopes of gaining our bearings.
The confusing streets actually made us feel like we were on the Grizwald's European vacation with them as we passed the same clock tower at least 3x. Seriously...we almost named a statue of a girl holding a hoop because we saw her 3x as well. After being lost for about 30 minutes we finally found the hotel that the kiddo's were staying at.Thank god our host for the next two nights, Patrick, decided to come meet us vs us trying to find his home. Now Patrick...how do I describe him. Lets just say he has a job my brother would love to fill. Patrick is the CEO for the Northern Ireland Football Association. Thats right, the head of the Northern Ireland national team et all.
Patrick decides to take us out to dinner at an American diner called Springsteen's so we can feel a bit at home. One of his team (executive staff, not actual footballers) meets us as his wife is from Florida & just recently moved to Ireland. Our group was split up into 2 dable as there was not nearly enough room for all 9 of us at one table. Table 1 consisted of Bettina, Joe, Kaylene, Kelly & Patrick. Table 2 was myself, Tracy & Patrick's friend & wife. All I know is that before we left for Ireland I had joked with Bettina that I was going to hit Patrick up for a job because...well A) he lives in Ireland & B) the job would be in Football!!
Well as I was peacefully sitting there eating my Truman (aka mushroom swiss burger). Bettina yells across to me that Patrick is hiring! In fact, he was really hiring, he was actually conducting interviews the entire next day. All I know is that I jumped up & immediately pointed out that he shouldn't waste his time running interviews when I was clearly the best candidate for the position. Patrick was nice enough to humor me & thus the joke about me working for him lasted the remainder of our trip to NI. No but seriously, I'd have totally taken the job....and still will if he calls or emails me :)
I did however score his NI Football pin right from his lapel.
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