Lessons learned

We learned a lot on this trip...and some of these lessons we will use again when traveling... and some, hopefully, all the time. Here goes!

1. We have a rich history as Americans, but it is not as deep or as varied as the remarkable history of other countries. We should learn from that and learn to appreciate all that we have as a result of what our ancestors brought to these shores.
2. In Ireland, when you need to get past someone, or you ac
cidentally bump into someone, you don't say "Excuse me."... you say, "Sorry."
3. The Irish say "Thank you" a lot... if you hand something to a shopkeeper, they say "Thank you." When you give them your money, they say, "Thank you." When they give you your change, they say, "Thank you." We should all be so quick to thank others.
4. When you see something you need in a store, don't tell yourself you'll get it somewhere else. If it's something you need (or want), get it then! You may not see it ever again.
5. The opinion that others hold of Americans is stereotypic for a good reason... it fits much of what you see in Americans traveling abroad.
6. No matter how far someone says it is to your destination, it's always just a little bit farther. (Lesson: Don't give up too quickly!)
7. As expensive as we think everything is around here, it's much less expensive than in other places.
8. Heat is a wonderful thing!
9. We should all be ambassadors for our country, putting the best face on things. The Irish, to a person, want you to love their country and go out of their way to make you feel comfortable.
10. Internet access is a wonderful thing... it shrinks the world and brings us closer to people we love and miss.
11. We think Americans are fanatical about sports... You've never seen sports fans until you've watched people crowd into a pub so they can see the rugby match!
12. Baseball - it's an American thing! (And as a fan, we sure missed the box scores!)
13. Ireland is now as much a destination for immigrants as it is it is a place to emigrate from.
14. Our cars are REALLY big!
15. Our roads are REALLY REALLY big! (And, potholes and all, we should be thankful!)
16. Ireland loves its past and is racing to the future, on the cutting edge of so much technology.
17. The Irish apologize for their "bar food"... food served in pubs. It is incredible food and needs NO apology.
18. Irish accents are as many and varied as American accents. In many respects, what we hear here is an exaggerated version. Regardless, they're delightful to hear!
19. There's no place like home... but Ireland is a fast gaining second!

Blowing westward and then home again

Well, if you're reading this, you can know that we are safely home. Sorry to have been lax in blogging these last few days, but the opportunity hasn't really presented itself since we blogged on Wednesday... well, it did present itself Thursday morning, but we had nothing to say at that point!

After leaving Sligo on Wednesday morning, we were headed west, around the Belmullet Peninsula of western Ireland, skipping a few places that were on "the list", but just enough out of the way to mean too much extra time as well as driving on yellow, or (horror of horrors) road of no color. (I should explain, green roads... as noted on the map) are the "best" roads, followed by green roads of higher numbers, followed by red roads. Yellow roads can best be compared with that we'd call alleyways stateside! Roads of no color (grey roads???) are bad alleys that make you want to inhale if you're meeting a car coming the other direction... just so you're not as wide on the road as you really are! The car catastrophe happend on, I think, a road of no color... John will know definitively as he was master navigator on this trip!) Skipping the coastal road, we weren't sure what we'd find, but figured there were mountains there that might provide a terrific view. That was the hope, at least. And, in point of fact, the hope was realized. It was a hard driving (approximately 200 km - 124 miles) day, but on mostly good roads and the views were simply spectacular. In a few minutes here, I'll start downloading pictures and see if I really got anything! Anyway, the drive was grand and occasionally we just pulled over and looked and did the requisite "WOW... look at that!" and then moved on. We did stop outside Westport and had lunch... yet another GREAT meal at a pub. (More about pub food later!) then headed on. We passed by and photographed Ireland's only (they said only... but who knows) fjord. Amazingly beautiful! We found ourselves driving through the Twelve Bens, a mountain range in the Connemara region of western Ireland. They aren't huge mountains, by our Rockie Mountain standard, but to someone who's lived in some of the flattest places in the U.S. they were pretty darned impressive.

Driving through this Connemara area was really impressive and boldly different from other parts of Ireland. Filled with mountain ranges and numerous lakes, it is made up of several peninsulas cutting through the western region. At one point, we found ourselves driving through a valley that was rather flat (and with straight roads!!!) for a bit and I realized we were driving through some of the famous peat bogs. Peat is a huge source of fuel in Ireland and clearly 1/6th of the country is covered in one of two types of peat bog. Peat fires are very warm and cozy and we enjoyed very much sitting next to several. If you want to learn more about peat bogs, check this web site (http://www.wesleyjohnston.com/users/ireland/geography/bogs.html). It's very interesting.

We also found ourselves sharing the roads, quite often, with sheep. Now, it wasn't that picturesque view of the herdman taking his herd across the road. It was the odd sheep who had managed to get outside the fence and was enjoying grazing along the roadside. On several occasions, we figured they were enough in the roadway that they might end up as lamb chops that evening if they weren't quick getting out of the way of an oncoming truck. We stopped at a shop that seemed to be in the middle of no-where and John was chatting with the proprietor who noted that those sheep can move pretty quickly when required!

After a day of driving, we went in search of the evening's B&B. Once again, we were aware that the phrase "just a short distance" is a relative term in Ireland and that when you think you've gone the wrong way or passed something up, you should just keep going... it's most likely just up the road. We spent the evening in Oughterard with Mary Maloney and her dog, Sandy. Once again, we faced steep stairs (NOW we know what some B&Bs focus on "all rooms on the ground floor"!), but Mary's son was home and he hauled our large bags up the stairs. We had decided it was time to do the serious packing up, getting rid of the too many shopping bags we had acquired and seeing if the thought of purchasing a small suitcase was going to be a reality -- it wasn't!)

Things were nice and toasty in the room when Mary showed it to us and we were thrilled at the thought of all that warmth... we were also very aware that it was most likely that the heat would be turned off at some point, usually when the proprietor went to bed or figured you should be in bed and not turned back on until sometime the next morning... hence the early morning temps of 55 degrees in our rooms! Fortunately, the room was so nice and warm... and the heat stayed on until about 10:00... that the early morning temp next day was about 61! Wooo hooo.... a heat wave! It sure made you get up and moving in the morning and out the door where you could crank up the car heat and get toasty again!

Thursday, our last full day in Ireland (THIS trip, as John keeps reminding me!) was set for seeing the Cliffs of Moher. The weather didn't hold out much hope as it was very cloudy and rainy, but this is a must see sight in Ireland and we were bound to see it. We also made a few side trips to see some last minute additions and the occasional ruin you notice as you're driving down the road. As we made it toward the Cliffs, I passed the B&B where Kerry and I spent our first night in Ireland 5 years ago. They aren't listed in the guide we had so I don't know if they're still in business. A quick stop into a little woolen shop (in search of great socks!) prior to reaching the Cliffs had us warned of the changes that have taken place. The old visitor's center has been knocked down and they're in the process of building one into the side of the hill... guess they think it won't be "noticed" there???.... so I was prepared for some of the change. What we weren't prepared for was the wind. Talk about brutal... John said it did help us get up the hill, but it certainly didn't help going back down the hill. Once again, I was thankful for my earmuffs as a hat would have blown out to sea on that day! We made it up to the top where we could see some of the cliffs, but the weather prevented the impressive view that can take your breath away on a good, clear, weather-friendly day. Needless to say, we didn't hang around long as it was simply too raw to hope the clouds would clear. Next trip, better weather and better views!

And then it was time to head off for the last B&B and our last night in Ireland before the day of airports that we knew would face us on Friday. We found a lovely B&B, very comfortable and nicely warm... the first "find" with a heater we could plug in if we got cold during the night. (That heater goes on the list of things to remember if and when we're ever B&B proprietors!) We had a comfortable evening in a beautiful room and managed to get those last few things packed into our suitcases before Friday morning.

Friday was much like any travel day that you spend when winding up a trip... it was a day filled with airports, short and longer delays... and the added fun of going through immigration and customs... all went smoothly and we managed to get to Indy about an hour later than anticipated, got the courtesy van to the hotel and made a cup of tea, turned up the heat (which stayed on ALL night!), took long hot baths and then crashed.... after, of course, being amazed at all the channels on the TV (after only 4 channels - one in Irish Gaelic - most of the time!). A slow morning got us back on (hopefully!!!) the right body clock schedule and we rolled into Terre Haute about 1 p.m.... after breakfast at Crackerbarrel....

So... we're home... after a grand, lovely, brilliant trip to Ireland, relishing our Irish Adventure and thinking fondly about all the wonderful moments we shared.

Time to download the pics.... Cross your fingers!

Until later... and the next trip... .Dawn

Go west, young man (And old broad!)

I've seen lots of young men around here (some very nice looking lads, mind you!)... and I've wondered if they yearn for a time in the west... meaning the USA.

At one point in Irish history, emigration to the States was almost a given for certain generations of Irish. That's no longer the case. The Irish economy is booming and unemployment is almost non-existant. So, I wonder, do people still long to spend time in the US? I rather doubt it. What we've gleened from folks we've met on this trip, the overall opinion of the US isn't very high. The press (I suppose) pretty much portrays our country as one of high crime, unemployment and poor social services. Not a very nice reputation to have, even if it's mostly true.

Just thinking through my fingers here.

John and I have laughed over the last few days about a running joke Kerry and I had when we were here 5 years ago... that soft little dream of starting a B&B and a pub. The B&B would have to be the Lone Star B&B and in addition to the traditional Irish breakfast, we could serve a real southern breakfast. (Guess we'd have to import grits!) Next door, we laughed and said that we'd have a pub called "Kerry O'Curlee's"... Now, John and I have decided it would have to have music EVERY night and not just on weekends. And, it would be nice if there were music sometimes during the lunch time period... for those tourists (like us) who only make it to a pub in the middle of the day for a grand lunch. We have had great times laughing over this dream... who knows... if we win the lottery, we just might have to make the dream come true. (Don't pack your bags just yet, but if the dream became a reality, you'd all have a place to call home in Ireland!)

This morning, after leaving our beautiful Sligo B&B, we zipped up the road for the requisite visit to the grave of W.B. Yeats. While Yeats never truly lived in Sligo, he did have many ties to the area as his great grandfather was rector of the church at Drumcliff, in whose cemetary he is buried (at his own wish). Interestingly enough, in "Under Ben Bulben", Yeats wrote his own epitaph. The poem reads:
Under bare Ben Bulben's head
In Drumcliff churchyard Yeats is laid.
An ancestor was rector there
Long years ago, a church stands near,
By the road an ancient cross.
No marble, no conventional phrase;
On limestone quarried near the spot
By his command these words are cut:

Cast a cold eye
On life, on death.
Horseman, pass by!

And those words are on his tombstone. Lovely church there, as well, built in the mid 19th century on a spot where Christians have worshipped for over 1500 years. (There's a lot of that around here!)

We have moved on to Westport; made a few phone calls home; had a lovely lunch; and are now ready to move forward, toward Clifden and a drive along the Atlantic Coast. Tonight we sleep in Oughterard. Not sure how to pronounce it either! Then tomorrow is our last day and we make the pilgrimage to the Cliffs of Moher, a truly special place.

We're grand, simply grand. We hope you are all fine.

Take care... and more soon!
Dawn

And now, a wee bit more Yeats...


Aedh Wishes For The Clothes Of Heaven
Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

Thus endeth the lesson!

Happy Birthday, Sydney Grace!

Today is thye 1st birthday for Miss Sydney Grace, my great niece, daughter of Kerry... my previous Irish traveling companion. So.... everybody with Sydney Grace a very happy birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Or... as we say here in Ireland.... "Lá breithe mhaith agat!"

And one more thing

I truly dislike a hot tap and a cold tap... two separate spickets. There's no getting water just the right temperature if you want to wash your hands, brush your teeth, do a wee bit o'laundry... it's either hot or cold and no in between.

Irish Roots

Oooh... I keep forgetting to write about this.

As we were visiting with Carmel and Padraig, and John was telling them about his Walsh Irish roots, they asked about mine. Well now, the Earlys came from right around here, Donegal, but according to Carmel, it's now a Leitrim name. (County Leitrim is the least populated county in Ireland... wonder if that's a coincidence!) Anyway, that's the skinny on that part of the family.... HOWEVER! At Clonmacnoise, we found the grave of a B. Curly, 1777. Woooo hooo.... Surely that's a relative, yes? YES! Must be... gotta be.... gonna be!

Now... as for the Walshes.... they are EVERYWHERE. I think we've seen a Walsh grocery, Walsh pub, Walsh something or other in almost every town!

So much for today's genealogical discussion!

Later, kids!

If it's Tuesday.... we're somewhere in Ireland

Another beautiful day... and, as of yet, we haven't seen a drop of rain today. Of course, I have just jinxed that and it will start pouring as soon as we walk out of here.

So nice to see the sun shining this a.m. and it made for a very lovely drive up the coast to Donegal. And, here we are in the 3rd "D" of the Dublin to Dingle to Donegal Tour - 2006.

Donegal is a beautiful town, laid out around a town square, very uncharacteristic for an Irish town, yet PERFECT. As with so many towns, there is the requisite castle, but this one is in the heart of the city. That doesn't often happen. We did the walk down through town and then visited the castle before the search for lunch. It is quite small and is really more the remains of a manor house than a traditional castle, but interesting nonetheless. Hopefully, there will be pictures.

Then we headed for the Diamond, the town square, in search of lunch and a book on the Annals of the Four Masters, a history of the Gaelic people, written in 1616 (or thereabouts) by four monnks in Donegal. According to Wikipedia:

"The Annals of the Four Masters or the Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters are a chronicle of medieval Irish history. The entries span the dates between the Deluge in 2242 A.M. and AD 1616, although the earliest entries are believed to date from around AD 550.

The annals are mainly a compilation of earlier annals, although there is some original work. They were compiled between 1632 and 1636 in the Franciscan monastery in County Donegal. The entries for the 12th century and before are sourced from medieval monastic annals. The later entries come from the records of the Irish aristocracy (such as the Annals of Ulster), and the seventeenth century entries are based on personal recollection and observation.

The chief author of the annals was Michael O'Clery, and he was assisted by, among others, Peregrine O'Clery, Fergus O'Mulconry and Peregrine O'Duignan. Even though only one of the authors was an actual Franciscan, Michael O'Cleary, they became known as 'The Four Friars' or in the original Gaelic, 'Na Ceithre Maistir'. The Anglised version of this was 'The Four Masters', a name which then became attached to the annals themselves. The patron of the project was Fearghal Ó Gadhra, a lord in County Sligo.

The annals were originally written in Irish. There are several manuscript copies in existence, which are kept in Trinity College Dublin, the Royal Irish Academy, and University College Dublin.

The first substantial English translation (starting at 1171 A.D.) was published by Owen Connellan in 1846. The Connellan translation included the annals from the 11th to the 17th centuries complete, and was the only version to have a four colour frontis and include a large folding map showing the location of families in Ireland. It lay nearly forgotten for over 150 years, but was finally salvaged and republished in the early 21st century. The Connellan translation was followed several years later by a full translation by the historian John O'Donovan."

Now... if I read this right, we can all assume that Noah was Irish. :) We stopped in the Four Masters Bookshop... and couldn't find a single copy in English. Fortunately, I think we can get most of the English translation on line, we we'll read more about that later. As we so often hear and say... "Grand... Amazing... Brillian!"

Enroute, we stopped in Belleek and went to the china factory. (http://www.belleek.ie/). Actually, going to Belleek took us out of the Republic of Ireland into Northern Ireland, part of Great Britain. (Hey... we visited a whole other country... and never even stopped the car -- not sure where the border was!) There wasn't a tour available, but they had areally nice historical area where you could learn about the history of Belleek China AND, as usual and customary (maybe even required), you exit into the, where else!, GIFT SHOP... where you can shop to your heart's content, using the currency of your choice (in Britain, it's pounds sterling instead of the Euros we use in Ireland), and they'll gladly ship it to you! And, so... I did a little shopping. (Hey, my Aynsley china stuff was on SALE!) I bought a few little things and they are now enroute (well, maybe not NOW, but soon) to the good ol' US of A).

Not sure where we're headed next... back to Sligo I think as thoughts of driving out the coast road are not pleasing to me today. The spectre of the flat tire looms large in my memory!

Until later... Dawn

Hit and Miss

Well, this a.m. as I was getting dressed and being quiet before John woke up, I started thinking about things I miss about home and love about Ireland, so here's my shot at a very incomplete list.

Miss: Alex
Love: Real brewed tea, available for take-away (carry out) at any filling station with fountain drink capability
Miss: Heat throughout the night!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love: The smell of breakfast wafting up from downstairs and I dont' have to cook it!
Miss: Katie, Matt and Al in the mornings
Love: The fact that ALL weathermen, regardless of country, are wacky!
Miss: Alex
Love: Everyone you meet seems to be an ambassador for Ireland and wants you to have a great time and enjoy yourself. They are friendly, polite, caring, funny, kind. This is a lesson we could all learn and use back home.
Miss: Being able to pick up the phone and call my Mom and Dad anytime, anywhere and it wouldn't be costly.
Love: Tea anytime, anywhere.
Miss: Iced tea with lunch.
Love: The gorgeous vistas one sees when just driving down the road.
Miss: Highways with wide shoulders.
Love: Old ruins and megolithic burial tombs, just off the main road.
Miss: The phone ringing and hearing Alex on the other end.
Love: You all!
Miss: You all!

What day is it?????

Hello, one and all. Greetings from the North of Ireland (not to be confused with Northern Ireland... as we say in Texas, it's a whole other country!). We have at last made our way to Sligo, along the Atlantic Coast of Ireland. I have to stop and think about our last blog.... I think it was on Saturday from Dingle. If you look at the map, you can see that we have covered LOTS of space over a very few days. Especially if you think that we started out on Friday from Clonakilty, the other end of the island.

We left Kingdom View and our lovely hostess, Eileen early on Sunday morning. Because we were so close to the Gap of Dunloe (literally, just down the road!), I thought we should drive and walk a wee bit so John could see one of God's greatest Cathedrals. (AFter all, it was Sunday, yes?) (http://www.killarney.ie/dunloe.htm) Quite a place the Gap and as lovely a place to spend a Sunday morning as any church. I'm not sure it's easier to be closer to God anywhere else. We spent about an hour and a half walking up to the second bridge, where you can actually see down the Gap. We had thought it might be too chilly to take a jaunting cart, but it might have been better. Anyway...the walk was refreshing and afforded us the opportunity to stop and shoot wherever the muse struck. There were LOTS of opportunities to take incredible pictures, though early morning light is not always the best light for photos. (Well, it depends on which direction your shooting and where the sun is, but that's another story for another day.) We enjoyed the walk immensely and am delighted we did it. It's one of the few "repeat" experiences from my first trip in Ireland.

After this, we stopped off in Killarney and did a wee bit of shopping and then headed out for whatever came next, enroute to Cloghan (up in the midlands, County Offaly). We were blessed with good roads the whole way and the trip went much more quickly than we had anticipated. (Always a blessing!) We were met in Cloghan by Carmel Finnerann, another of Ireland's lovely B&B proprietors. Carmel and her husband (Padraig - pronounces Paw-rick) were great fun to sit and chat with. Carmel greeted us with tea and her dilemma of wanting to leave very early this a.m. so should could accompany Padraig to the doctor) then after we ended up chatting on the stairs, just as Padraig arrived home from his nephew's confirmation, Carmel insisted on making us a "proper tea" and we sat and talked for over an hour. What delightful people. Truly gracious, humorous and endearing. We discovered that much of what currently faces Ireland, with regard to economics, health care, youth.... is exactly what we've been facing in the States for several years. Interestingly enough, the economy in Ireland is currently in a boom phase. (Easily recognized by the ever present building site at every turn!) Seems that young folks are mortaging their futures on 40 year mortages and LARGE houses! Doesn't sound much different from home, does it!

We collapsed, with an emergency bit of laundering (and NOTHING dries as fast here, where radiators seem to be turned off through the night -- more about that later!) and a very light supper (bread and cheese and the requisite tea!) we settled in for an evening of TV... ending up watching Law & Order after watching Men in Black... a definite evening of American accents!

Got up this a.m. praying for the radiators to be turned back on.... we had a new record when I looked at the clock and realized it was 57 degrees in our room! YIKES! (Or as Carmel would say, "Crikey!"). We did manage to get underwear washed and dry... finished off my pants this morning as we had the house to ourselve since Carmel and Padraig left early for this doc's appt. (Can you imagine... these lovely people left their house AND keys with total strangers! A trusting and gentle people these Irish!) So... we took our time and got back on the road around 9 a.m.... heading for the next adventure!

Then we were off to Clonmacnoise (http://website.lineone.net/~tom.dunne/clonmacnoise.htm) As one of the oldest and most intricate monastic sites in Ireland, this had long been on our list of "must sees"... and worth every minute. (Perhaps I should say, worth every shiver as we always seem to end up near wind blowing over the water!). I was thankful for my CuddlDuds! and my ear muffs! As always... simply spectacular! (you know... I'm starting to wonder if any pictures will turn out since my hands are always mid shiver when I click the shutter!)

As we left Clonmacnoise... we had yet another adventure... which, dear John will no doubt talk about in his blog.... needless to say... I got my anniversary present!

Hugs to all... Until next time... Dawn