Saturday, September 22, 2007
Fields of Ireland
I can't get over how green it is everywhere - and so many different shades and tones of green. Oh to be an artist and have the paints and easel set up. The other common sight is the stone - fences (in the fields and around homes), houses, walls etc. Mom had BIG plans for the garden fence in Paisley!
Dingle, Ireland!!
I left Dublin on much friendlier terms than when I arrived but it was love at first sight with Dingle - despite several hours of white knuckle driving!! I have adjusted to the right hand drive, the manual shifting and even the roundabouts but the narrow, winding roads are still terrifying!! It's beautiful countryside through quaint little villages but there are no shoulders and hedgerows (fushia in this area) grow right up to the edge of the road! The lanes are narrow and all is well until a car (OR TRANSPORT TRUCK!!!) approaches from the opposite direction. The choice then is to go right and brush the hedgerow or stay your course and chance being clipped by the oncoming vehicle! I took the hedgerow a few times yesterday - much to Mom and Dad's distress!! KEEP RIGHT! is the commonly used phrase on our driving days!! AND, the speed limit along these lovely little roads?!! 100 kph?!!!!
We had dinner at the pub which was followed by live entertainment - good Irish music! The stress of the driving melted away very quickly - good food and good music!
We had a full Irish breakfast this morning and headed out on the Slea Head Drive. We saw the beehive huts - dating back to 400 AD! Christian monks from Europe escaped here to preserve literacy and lived in similar huts around the area. Quite amazing!
Also amazing is how low-key tourism is at these sights. Small, often worn signs alert you to some significant site and a little, often rundown shack is set on the edge of the road to take a couple of Euro so you can walk through a farmer's field to see the sights - no grand markers, no glossy brochures and very few tourists!!!
At one point on our tour, some sheep entered the roadway and the farmer and his dog herded them down the road to a nearby field!
I have always heard that Ireland is green but you have to see it to truly believe it! So many shades of green and lush, lush landscape!! The colours and textures are truly amazing. I'm finding I need a thesaurus to get some different adjectives - spectacular, magnificent, awesome...have been used so often on this trip!
And the weather has been glorious! We had rain when we left Dublin yesterday and a brief shower when we arrived at Rock of Cashel. But it cleared and was beautiful, sunny and warm. Today has been sunny with a wonderful brisk wind. The clouds are low and often covering the mountains.
We drove on to Gallarus Oratory - a dry rubble masonary building about 1300 years old!!It was built by early Christians and was another example of lasting architecture without the use of machines etc.!
We have the afternoon to wander the shops of Dingle. The whole area reminds me of Cape Breton, Newfoundland and St. Pierre - the pastel or brightly coloured houses and shops, the craggy coast and the fields and hills. I will be truly sad to leave tomorrow - especially since it means another ferry trip!! Hopefully the winds will be with us this time!!
We had dinner at the pub which was followed by live entertainment - good Irish music! The stress of the driving melted away very quickly - good food and good music!
We had a full Irish breakfast this morning and headed out on the Slea Head Drive. We saw the beehive huts - dating back to 400 AD! Christian monks from Europe escaped here to preserve literacy and lived in similar huts around the area. Quite amazing!
Also amazing is how low-key tourism is at these sights. Small, often worn signs alert you to some significant site and a little, often rundown shack is set on the edge of the road to take a couple of Euro so you can walk through a farmer's field to see the sights - no grand markers, no glossy brochures and very few tourists!!!
At one point on our tour, some sheep entered the roadway and the farmer and his dog herded them down the road to a nearby field!
I have always heard that Ireland is green but you have to see it to truly believe it! So many shades of green and lush, lush landscape!! The colours and textures are truly amazing. I'm finding I need a thesaurus to get some different adjectives - spectacular, magnificent, awesome...have been used so often on this trip!
And the weather has been glorious! We had rain when we left Dublin yesterday and a brief shower when we arrived at Rock of Cashel. But it cleared and was beautiful, sunny and warm. Today has been sunny with a wonderful brisk wind. The clouds are low and often covering the mountains.
We drove on to Gallarus Oratory - a dry rubble masonary building about 1300 years old!!It was built by early Christians and was another example of lasting architecture without the use of machines etc.!
We have the afternoon to wander the shops of Dingle. The whole area reminds me of Cape Breton, Newfoundland and St. Pierre - the pastel or brightly coloured houses and shops, the craggy coast and the fields and hills. I will be truly sad to leave tomorrow - especially since it means another ferry trip!! Hopefully the winds will be with us this time!!
Friday, September 21, 2007
St. Stephen's Green
9 hectacres of treed and fenced green space in the middle of Dublin!! Flowerbeds and fountains and peace and quiet away from the hussle and bustle!
THIS is Dingle!
The "tree" musicians who entertained us at the pub last night!! We could still hear the music when we finally succumbed to exhaustion and returned to our room but it was a great way to fall asleep!
Rock of Cashel
The approach to this site is truly breathtaking! It stands high on a hill surrounded by lush, green countryside! The site is mostly ruins but they are in the process of restoring what they can. The chapel has some wall and ceiling paintings dating back to 1135!
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Dublin!
Cead mile Failte! We survived the "Titanic" crossing but what an ordeal - and we had to pay for it!!! I was proud of myself though 'cause big, strong macho men were using numerous "sick" bags and I managed to keep my breakfast down!!! One of the stewards told us they cancel crossings when the waves are 3.5 m. high but they were "only" 3 m yesterday!!! We could hear pans and dishes crashing in the snack bar area every time we rose and fell on one of those waves! The songs (Theme from The Titanic and "I Will Go Down with this Ship") certainly provided some comic relief for the passengers!!
It's been quite the time for adventures the past couple of days. I drove for the first time when we left Heathrow. Right hand drive on the left side of the road in a manual transmission car with the stick shift on the left and trying to remember to use the clutch PLUS dealing with ROUNDABOUTS?!!!! Does anybody know what the purpose of those things are...except to stress out tourists?!!!
I did enjoy the M4 and got the hang of the driving - eventually found 3rd and 4th gear too!! Seemed to go straight from 2nd to 5th for much of the drive!! We also couldn't find reverse so had to rely on gravity to get turned around at one point!!
Our drive through Wales was lovely - looking forward to our 6 days there - and, despite some rain yesterday (our first since we arrived), Ireland is very pretty too. I wasn't terribly impressed with Dublin when we first arrived - NO STREET SIGNS?!!!! We drove around for an hour and a half looking for a sign so we'd know where we were ('cause the highways weren't marked on the city maps) to find our hotel!!! We did finally find some signs high on the second storey of buildings but many of them were worn and hard to read. A kind "local" got us on our way and we arrived safely - and exhausted!!
We are staying at The Harcourt Hotel - with a connection with George Bernard Shaw (don't have my "notes" with me but his portrait is in the lobby. The ceilings in our room are 14 feet tall with very ornate crown molding and a gorgeous crystal chandelier in a leaf motif medallion in the centre of the room! The DART tram goes by frequently and rings it's bell so that adds a bit to the charm! The hotel is on another great Georgian street and I have started my series of Georgian doors in Dublin!
The weather has been good today - a brief shower just now but it ended quickly and the sun is back out. We have been to St. Patrick's Cathedral and got fish and chips from Leo Burdock's to eat in front of Christchurch Cathedral. We've seen Dublin Castle and are headed down to Temple Bar and Trinity College then will do some shopping on Grafton Street!!
We head to Dingle tomorrow via Cashel and Tipperary. I have loved seeing London and Dublin but I really am a country girl at heart and am looking forward to green, open spaces!
It's been quite the time for adventures the past couple of days. I drove for the first time when we left Heathrow. Right hand drive on the left side of the road in a manual transmission car with the stick shift on the left and trying to remember to use the clutch PLUS dealing with ROUNDABOUTS?!!!! Does anybody know what the purpose of those things are...except to stress out tourists?!!!
I did enjoy the M4 and got the hang of the driving - eventually found 3rd and 4th gear too!! Seemed to go straight from 2nd to 5th for much of the drive!! We also couldn't find reverse so had to rely on gravity to get turned around at one point!!
Our drive through Wales was lovely - looking forward to our 6 days there - and, despite some rain yesterday (our first since we arrived), Ireland is very pretty too. I wasn't terribly impressed with Dublin when we first arrived - NO STREET SIGNS?!!!! We drove around for an hour and a half looking for a sign so we'd know where we were ('cause the highways weren't marked on the city maps) to find our hotel!!! We did finally find some signs high on the second storey of buildings but many of them were worn and hard to read. A kind "local" got us on our way and we arrived safely - and exhausted!!
We are staying at The Harcourt Hotel - with a connection with George Bernard Shaw (don't have my "notes" with me but his portrait is in the lobby. The ceilings in our room are 14 feet tall with very ornate crown molding and a gorgeous crystal chandelier in a leaf motif medallion in the centre of the room! The DART tram goes by frequently and rings it's bell so that adds a bit to the charm! The hotel is on another great Georgian street and I have started my series of Georgian doors in Dublin!
The weather has been good today - a brief shower just now but it ended quickly and the sun is back out. We have been to St. Patrick's Cathedral and got fish and chips from Leo Burdock's to eat in front of Christchurch Cathedral. We've seen Dublin Castle and are headed down to Temple Bar and Trinity College then will do some shopping on Grafton Street!!
We head to Dingle tomorrow via Cashel and Tipperary. I have loved seeing London and Dublin but I really am a country girl at heart and am looking forward to green, open spaces!
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