March 28, 2014--South to Chicago

For a long time, John and I had agreed that our very first trip to Europe, which was to Ireland in 1982 with John's parents, was our most magical.  None of us had seen the Atlantic from the other side and none of us had traveled across that ocean.  We found an Are Lingus charter that included round trip air fare to and from Chicago, a rental car for a week and six nights of B&B vouchers--all for $650.  And we were off to Shannon, driving the Ring of Kerry and the southern coastal road to Dublin, where we took a flight back to the states.  

In 1990, John and I took the boys to Europe for Christopher's High School graduation.  One of our multi-country stops was in the south of Ireland to visit castles and kiss the Blarney Stone.

It was with these past adventures in mind that we set off mid-morning and began our drive to Chicago, where we were to board a British Airways plane to Dublin, via Heathrow. Since we live in northern Michigan where there is abundant natural beauty but little shopping, we decided to stop on-route in Grand Rapids.  We had decided to begin the search for a replacement to our trusty Subaru, which had taken us to/from California three times.  We had decided that it had a bit more mileage than we were comfortable with and that we needed a bit more space to carry John's growing instrument list.  So, we stopped to test drive two SUVs that were on our interest list but not available in Traverse City. 

After a couple of hours, and two test drives, we decided the day was waning and we needed to get to Chicago.  We were soon on our way south where we were to spend the night at the O'Hare Westin. 

We were surprised, as we drove south , that there was no apparent snow--not even in Chicago...quite a difference from the two feet which surrounded house in Frankfort. 

March 29--Chicago to Dublin

After a good night's sleep and a leisurely morning at the Westin, we took their shuttle to O'Hare, leaving our car in their parking lot for our return. We arrived at British Airways to check in for our flight. We had booked Business Class but a persuasive agent offered us a First Class upgrade at a reasonable charge. We had not flown first class to Europe for almost two decades. We were curious to see what changes had occurred. 

We were met at the door of the plane and taken to our seats which would become a flatbed complete with duvet, two pillows and pi's once we had eaten dinner. After take-off, we accepted a glass of champagne and selected a movie to watch during dinner. John choose the second Hobbit movie and I chose Austenland, the story of a young woman obsessed with Jane Austen. 

After the movie, we decided to get some sleep. We had about six hours of flying time to London, where we would connect on a second flight to Dublin. About an hour before touchdown, we awoke to breakfast. 

First class was a lovely experience, as long as you did not have to pay full fare to enjoy it. 

March 30--Dublin

Upon landing at Heathrow, and after a decent amount of sleep, we began the one hour and 40 minute journey that would get us to our connecting gate. Apart from Heathrow's massive size and the need to take a bus from our arrival terminal to our departure terminal, we also had to go through several security checks, including photographs of our retinas and official admission into the UK through immigration. Thank goodness we had a two hour connect window. 

The flight to Dublin was uneventful and Justin of Dublin Chauffeurs awaited in the arrivals to drive us to Number 31, the inn that would be our home for the next four days. We learned that is was actually two separate buildings on either side of a very sweet garden.  The charming and knowledgeable Adam greeted us with Irish tea and gave us a quick orientation to the city center with a local map. He then took us to our room in their Georgian guesthouse.  Arriving at our second floor room, we took a short nap. 

We later learned that the owner, Neil Comer, had been with the British military for 25 years.  He had served in Lebanon and other middle eastern posts.  In commenting on his service in that region, he said:  "Nothing is as it seems."  Very mysterious and probably true!!!

After waking from our nap, we walked to Farm restaurant, known for its excellent gluten free options and had what was to be our first of three dinners there. At dinner that evening, we instituted what was to be a nightly toast to the best thing we each experienced each day. 

My first toast was to "the arriving on the Emerald Isle."  John's was to "the excellent food and service at Farm." 

Upon returning to Number 31, we watched Endeavor on Masterpiece Mysteries. We managed to stay up until 10:00pm local time before a full night's sleep. 

March 31--Dublin

After a full Irish breakfast, served by the delightful Elena, we set out on foot for Dublin city center. We passed through St. Stephen's Green, a significant and lovely city park with sports fields, ponds, ducks and a riot of blooming bushes and trees. Daffodils were popped out everywhere. As two visitors, who had seen only snow on the ground for months, we were thrilled. We carried on to Trinity College where we saw the Book of Kells, a famous 9th century manuscript rendering of the four gospels by Irish monks. The pages featured their uniform script as well as colorful and intricate drawings with stunning symbols including Celtic knots, figures of real and 
inspired beasts and various Christian symbols.


Upon departing Trinity, we visited St. Patrick's Cathedral, built in 1220, where we lit candles for our mothers. While grand, we found the interior generally stark, with little color, even in the stained glass windows.  The exception was the exquisite tile floor with a stunning geometric pattern and a riot of color.

We decided on a picnic lunch in our room so that John would not be late for  the first of three classes in Irish fiddling at the Walton School of Music. While John was in class, I had a massage, which certainly eased the rigors of travel. John was very pleased with his teacher and with new techniques that he learned.  Spending several days in Dublin, so he could attend the lessons, was proving to be a good choice. 

Since we thoroughly enjoyed our meal at Farm on Sunday, we decided to return and had a marvelous meal of lamb with a spectacular bottle of Chateauneuf de Pape. We both said "Wow!" after our first sip. 

My nightly toast was to" the daffodils in St. Stephen's Green." John's was to his "first music lesson." 

After dinner and our walk back to Number 31, we retired to watch BBC, this evening less successfully. We both fell asleep watching Silk. Jet lag was catching up with us. 

April 1-Dublin

After a lovely breakfast of porridge, oatmeal by any other name, but never so good as this, we set out by taxi to Christchurch Cathedral, a second 9th century cathedral, where we did see spectacular tiled floors and ornate stained glass windows. Apart from its elaborate sanctuary, Christchurch had a vast crypt which was utterly fascinating. John was taken with the mummified cat and rat found in an organ pipe. I found the superstructure of the building, so clear underground, to be amazing. 

Before leaving the cathedral, we lighted candles for our Mothers.  We next visited Dublinia, which presented the history of the Viking's involvement with Dublin beginning with their settlement in 841. We learned a lot about the Vikings and enjoyed the exhibit and the humorous docents, dressed in period apparel, who enlivened our visit.  

Since it was by now close to lunch, we walked to Avoca Cafe where we each had the delicious crab salad. John's was made gluten free.  Thoroughly pleased with ourselves, we returned to the room in time for John to grab his violin and head to Walton's. I walked to a laundry where I dropped off our first few days of clothing and went to have my hair done. 

When John returned to the room, we decided not to knock a good thing and headed, once again, to Farm for dinner. We were greeted by the now familiar staff and enjoyed another excellent meal. 

My toast that evening was to "the Christchurch Crypt." John toasted "the first four bars of the Musical Priest" that he had learned that day. 

Once back at Number 31, we read until bedtime. 

April 2--Dublin

After a hearty breakfast in the sun room at Number 31, we made our way to a near-by location of Hertz to secure our rental car for the journey north and west that was to commence the following day. John had chosen a Nissan Qashqai SUV. He drove it back to Number 31 where one of the staff drove it to their car park for the night. 

John's fiddling lesson, on this third and final day, was scheduled for noon, so we ate a light snack before he set off for class and I headed to Dublin Castle, known as the seat of official state functions in Ireland since 1204. Its resplendent rooms ranged from the Throne Room to the State Dining Room, made for a circular table. Each were hung with portraits of kings, noblemen and women. One room featured the life of Lord Pomfrey, who, as a member of Britain's Parliament, served as the head of government in Ireland for many years. He worked well across the aisle and was beloved by the Irish people. When he lost his seat in parliament, a scroll of thanks was signed by over 100,000 Irish people. 

Within the gardens of the Castle, sits the Chester Beatty Library, which houses the largest private collection of books in Europe. Beatty traveled the world, with his parents, as a youth, and later as an adult. His collection includes many ancient texts from China, India, Turkey, Iran and Japan. It also contains many ancient books of Buddhism, Islam and Christianity including the oldest copies of several of Paul's letters. I was so excited by the letter that I snapped an iPhone photo and sent it to our Disciples class.  I was sorry John had missed it.
By returning to the room, just after his class, we were able to nap before going to the theatre that evening.

On the way to the Abbey Theatre, we stopped at the Canal Bank Cafe for appetizers.  John toasted "his nap" and I toasted "St. Paul's letters." 

The play, Sive, is a tragic tale of a young girl, whose choices are limited by fate and her family, when the village matchmaker offers a substantial sum should she marry a man old enough to be her grandfather. The writing was thoughtful.  The acting was excellent.  The direction was on point.  We both enjoyed the drama.

We got to bed quite late for two visitors planning to drive to Belfast the following day.  

April 3--Dublin to Belfast

We drove north out of Dublin, after paying our 888 euro balance at Number 31, through several round-abouts, to get to the M-1, a four to six lane highway that leaves Dublin and connects to the N-1, a coastal route north. It was to be a three and a half hour drive, with a side trip to Newgrange, a Neolithic passage tomb, dating from 3200 BC, that was the oldest site of its type in Ireland. We we're enthralled by our guide's remarks as we stood in front of the entrance overlooking two other similar tombs, a few miles away, in the distant sweeping meadows.

Our group entered the narrow, and sometimes short, passage to arrive at the central circular section where cremated remains were originally found. The Newgrange tomb is famous for its winter solstice alignment.  An opening, in the ceiling, over the entrance, allows for sunlight to enter the tomb and glow all the way down the passage to the central section. This can happen for a day or two at dawn on each side of the actual solstice date. So many people want to see this example of ancient engineering and mystery that Ireland has to hold a lottery for attendance.

We enjoyed Newgrange so much that we decided to drive about 45 minutes south to see Trim Castle, a siege fortress from the 12th century, that is still somewhat intact.  There, we were guided through the ruins, by a very competent and well informed guide. We learned about siege warfare:  burning the stairs as you raced into the castle...diverting rain off the steeply pitched roof to obtain drinking water...building a flared out skirt around the base of the keep to avoid tunneling by the enemy.

From Trim Castle, we drove to Comber, a rural suburb of Belfast, to the home of Ken and Anna Johnson. A two story atrium with picture windows all around had been added to their home, about ten years ago, making for a very dramatic setting to greet one's guests. There Anna served us tea while Ken answered the phone to take another booking. There were two upstairs bedrooms set aside for guests such as ourselves. Ours had a wee bathroom with shower and a side sitting room...for early risers like John.

Over tea, we learned that the Johnson's had lived there for 38 years, much of that time Ken, now 85, had worked as a structural engineer at the Belfast Shipyard. Anna, who had studied philosophy in college, raised two sons:  one now lives and works in Singapore for a bank, the other, a microbiologist researcher, is an Oxford professor.

We settled into our room and later drove to a nearby pub for a simple dinner. At a neighboring table, a young local couple struck up a conversation with us, asking if we were Canadians. We later agreed it was the nicest compliment we had received all day.  They recommended a number of stops for our journey.

As dinner was served, with our pints in hand, John toasted  "surviving the drive" and I toasted "the passage tomb at Newgrange."

April 4--Belfast to Bushmills

John was up early. I joined him in time to watch Ken cook a Ulster Fry for our breakfast. We asked Ken to join us. I wanted his take on the sinking of the Titanic, the exhibition we would see later that morning. I knew he had worked at the very same shipyard that 100 years ago had built the Titanic.  Anna was on her way to swimming, so we bid her good-bye.  What a lovely woman!  

Once at table, Ken thought for a moment and said that he felt the Titanic's sinking essentially came down to mis-management and arrogance. The White Star line executive director, who was aboard but survived, wanted to break a speed record. The Captain, who should have known the waters of the North Atlantic were dangerous, allowed a more northerly route than he knew to be safe. The Captain of a passing ship had reported icebergs but no one took the warning seriously. The waterproof bulkhead compartments did not have tops, allowing them to fill and take the ship down (this, Ken said, was the technical reason for its sinking.) The radio calls for help were "walked over" by other operators. There was no SOS or other set protocols for such a disaster.  There were only enough life boats to hold about one-third of the guests and crew members.  

A knock at the door brought our previous night's dinner companion, John Clark, who had come to sell Ken some engineering parts. Small world.   We had an enjoyable chat as John loaded the car for our trip north.  

As it turned out, later in the day, I learned more at breakfast from  Ken then from our visit to Titanic Belfast. In any case, after our Ulster Fry, we set off and reached the Belfast shipyards in only 25 minutes, where we parked at the Titanic museum. As we climbed the six stories of the museum proper, we learned about early 20th century Belfast, the linen industry, ship building, the vision for the Titanic, the largest ship of its time, and its disastrous cruise. It disembarked from Belfast, where most of its 900 crew complement boarded. It took on passengers in Southampton and made two other short stops before it began its journey on April 10, 1912 with 2224 people aboard. 

On April 12, 1912, it hit an iceberg ripping open 5 of the 16 watertight bulkhead compartments. Seven hundred and five people survived.  Over 1500 died, many the sole breadwinners for their families. The disaster led to new laws of the sea governing safety, most of which are still in place today, including number of lifeboats required, SOS and other radio protocols.  Our tour ended with video from the salvage operation mounted in 1985. 

Causeway Coastal Route, along the North Ireland coast where we hiked to and crossed the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. The 66' bridge connects the mainland to a tiny island.  Along the northern coast were many shooting locations for a popular HBO series, Game of Thrones.  We spend some time, with a very tricky map, trying to find the shooting locations.  We were never quite sure we had gotten it right.  




















We stopped, for the night, at Islandcorr Farm B&B. Dinner was at the Bushmills Inn, where John ordered the best salmon either of us had ever eaten. He toasted "the rope bridge" and I toasted "Ken and Anna Johnson."  We returned to the B&B for a restful night's sleep. 

April 5--Bushmills, North Ireland to Ardara, Ireland

After a breakfast of lovely farm porridge prepared by the friendly Anna, we set out for the Giant's Causeway, a natural stone formation of hexagon shaped stones leading from Bushmills into the waters of the Irish Sea. A similar formation in Scotland suggests a distant past connection. We self-guided from the Visitors Center to the Causeway and back walking in classic Irish soft rain. We were both quite impressed by the remarkable stones of the Causeway and enjoyed the clever self-guided audio tour.



Much of our walk was through soft Irish rain, adding to the magic and mystery of the Causeway.  How Mother Nature came up with perfectly shaped four to ten sided stones, is a wonder.  The columns themselves were well over our heads where a passage had been constructed to allow for hikes along the Causeway.

As we drove to the far west coast of Ireland, 
County Donegal, we stopped, along the way, 
at Grianan Aileach, a ring fort which was the 
historic seat of the O'Neills, Kings of Ireland 
from the 5th to the 12th century.  The fort is 
located on a hilltop with commanding views 
over two loughs and the counties of Donegal, Derry and Tyrone.  It would have been impossible to approach it from land or water without warning.  

Lunch, one of our best meals--pork belly and cabbage--was at a very unlikely roadside bar. We proceeded onto Teach Ceann Tui, in Ardara, an authentic thatched roof cottage, our only disappointing lodging, due to a persistent odor of smoke from its many previous peat firs,   Its young owner, Paul, was a remarkably delightful host.  We learned a lot about the surrounding area from him and we got to play with his two children, one of whom was named Murphy.  



Since we had arrived somewhat late and since there were no nearby restaurants, we picnicked in the cottage for dinner and retreated to the bedroom to read since there was little smell of smoke there. John toasted "the ring fort" and I toasted "the stepping stones of the giants."  Following dinner, I made the mistake of doing a load of laundry. The washer took over two hours and the dryer an hour more. I gave up on my planned second load.  

April 6--Ardara, Ireland to Westport, Ireland

After a hearty Irish breakfast, we set out for the seaside town of Westport in County Mayo. Along our route, we stumbled upon Yeats grave in a churchyard at Drumcliffe. Yeats actually died in Morocco but was returned to the churchyard of his Grandfather's church, ten years later. We bought a book of his poetry and had a tea to go in a local tea shop.


We stopped in Sligo to visit Sligo Abbey, 
the partial ruin of  a 13th century Dominican 
Friary. We learned that the Abbey graveyard 
was the primary burial site during the era of 
the Black Death.  Men joined such orders to 
be safe, have three meals a day and a roof 
over their heads. Not a bad life in the 13th 
century. 

Driving south, we decided to visit another "ancient thing," making full use of our Heritage Pass. This visit was to Carramore Megalithic Cemetary, another site of passage tombs, though more modest than Newgrange.  There were over 30 tombs at Carramore, some as old as 5400 BC, although most were from 4000 to 3000 BC. We hiked in soft rain to the largest of the tombs and quickly down again. 



Unable to find an official picnic stop, we parked the car outside of Temple House, a classic Georgian mansion, dating from 1665, that now serves as a B&B. We ate in the car, due to the rain, but did have quite a nice time of it making jokes about the weather and getting lost, which, John adamantly insisted, we were not!

We drove onto Westport, where we spent the night at the Ardmore Country House Hotel, thus varying our night's lodging choice once more from guesthouse to B&B to working farm to thatched roof cottage to small hotel. We ate dinner out and our delightful waitress explained that the nearby conical mountain, Croagh Patrick, was the legendary location where St. Patrick cast out all of the snakes in Ireland. Every August, thousands of tourists climb to the top...barefoot...in commemoration of that event. 

John's toast this evening was to "Ancient Things." Mine was to "Croagh Patrick," a most impressive mountain. 

April 7--Westport, Ireland to Oughterard, Ireland

 After a porridge breakfast, we set out to visit a Westport House, a 19th century manor house, built atop the 17th century castle of Grace O'Malley, famous pirate queen, who learned to sail on her father's trading ships, which she inherited upon his death. 










She was a woman of wealth and prestige. Her visit to a Queen Elizabeth resulted in a pact that allowed Grace and her family to continue raiding and looting ships, as long as they were Spanish. She was also granted a peerage, so her sons and their heirs remain, to this day, members of the nobility. 







John was quite taken with Grace, having read 
about her exploits in many a sailing story.

From Westport House, we drove to a grocery to shop, since we were to spend the next five days in a self-catering cottage in Connemara--Jasmine Cottage, owned and operated by Amelia Joyce, of the Joyce Clan. Born in Connemara, Amelia lived in California, Italy, London and Mexico, for 37 years, before returning to her beloved Ireland.   A designer by profession, Amelia is now engaged in writing a Connemara guide book, which she encourage us to use as we drove out for day trips.   It contained similar information to any guide book but also had special comments by Amelia, that encouraged us to explore more deeply.  

She had decorated Jasmine Cottage, and her two bedroom home next door, with Mexican art and furnishings.  Jasmine Cottage is an adorable one bedroom, one bath house with a tile roof, a tiny but efficient kitchen and a large open fireplace.   John was able to make the adjustments that provided wi-fi for our stay.  Amelia was delighted and so were we!

John prepared local salmon for dinner, which was marvelous. John toasted "the Pirate Queen" and I toasted "Lough Corrib," which Jasmine Cottage overlooked. After dinner we walked down to Lough Corrib, which boasts 365 islands, and several rowboats cast about on shore. 

After unsuccessfully attempting to watch tv, we retired to our books for the evening. 

                                                                      

April 8--Day tripping from Oughterard

Since this was our first full day at Jasmine Cottage, we decided to take it easy. John took time to practice his violin and I prevailed upon Amelia to use her laundry. We had a very lazy morning. 

After a delightful crab salad lunch, prepared by 
John, we ventured out. Our first stop was to the 
local butcher where we bought tenderloin for dinner. 
We followed this stop with a walk around the little 
village of Oughterard. From there, we drove to a 
nearby heritage site:  Aughnanure Castle, built in 
1500 by the O'Flaherty's. It was to this castle 
Grace O'Malley came at 16 when she was first married. 

Driving back to the cottage, we found a candle shop where we stopped and made a purchase and I had my first experience counting out Irish currency.

Dinner of tenderloin beef was followed by some light TV. John's toast was "to wearing my pajamas past noon," and mine was to "the grace and elegance of Jasmine Cottage." 

April 9--Day tripping from Oughterard

After a lavish Irish breakfast prepared by John, complete with blood pudding, we drove into nearby Galway City, which has long been an important port city. We parked the car and proceeded on foot to visit the sights. First, on our list, was the Spanish Arch, erected in 1584 as part of the city wall designed to protect the quay. 

A short distance from the Arch was St. Nicholas Collegiate Church, built in 1320. Many Galway men, who were part of the 19th century Connaught Rangers, who fought in India and Africa, were buried in the church. St. Nicholas is the largest medieval parish church in continuous use in all of Ireland. During Cromwell's era, he used it to stable horses.  There we lit candles for our mothers.

Lunch was at a French creperie. John had soup and a salad while I had a Nordic crepe: salmon, spinach and cream.

On the way back to the car, we bought a lovely cotton sweater for Dorothy.  Unfortunately, while paying for it, John set his iPad down, and, it was not until we had returned to the car and driven out of the city center, that John realized he did not have it. We did a quick u-turn and re-entered the city centre. John drove right up to the shop, I jumped out and the shop attendant handed me the iPad. She looked relieved and I felt relieved. John clearly was, as well

Dinner was in:  a light meal of tuna salad and local gluten free bread.  John's toast was to "finding lost things."  Mine was to "a soft Irish day. "

April 10--Day tripping from Oughterard

After waking to a soft rain and having a lovely breakfast of porridge,  we set out for Ashford Castle in Cong, about an hour's drive northeast. Ashford Castle was originally built in the 13th century. In the 19th century, it was purchased by Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness who restored it and passed it down to his son. 

In the 20th century, it was converted to a hotel. John Ford used it, in 1952, as his base while filming The Quiet Man.   One of the scenes was filmed on the bridge that we found.  We also learned that Maureen O'Hara's stand-in, during filming, was the aunt of our hostess, Amelia Joyce. Small world. 








We enjoyed the gorgeous Connemara scenery on-route to the Castle. Once there, we visited the lobby and adjacent rooms as well as the formal garden. Our plan was to participate in the 1100 hour boat trip of Lough Corrib that departed from the Castle's pier. 

We arrived a bit before other passengers and got to visit over a cup of coffee with Captain John, who was surprisingly knowledgeable of the States, and his brother and crew, Patrick. The vessel, the Isle of Inisfree, was about twice as long as Peregrina and half again as beamy. Capable of holding 80 passengers, we departed with ten. Captain John took us on an hour circuit of the Lough.  

We learned that four flour mills operated around the Lough in the late 18th/early 19th century and that flour was taken to market in Galway City by boat. On several of the 365 islands, that can be found in the Lough, archaeologists have found a dugout canoe dated to 3000BC and an ax handle which is considered to be evidence of the Vikings. In the 5th century, St. Patrick was banished to one of the Lough islands by the Druids. Even today, there are pilgrimages to the remnants of his church there.  

Today the Lough is famous for angling, especially trout, and for woodcock shoots. 

We stopped for some modest provisioning on our return to the cottage. John prepared lovely local pork chops for dinner with mashed potatoes and a cabbage/leek dish.   I toasted "the crew of the Isle of Inisfree" and John toasted "the boat ride."

We watch some TV before sleep. 

April 11--Day tripping from Oughterard

After breakfast of eggs, local bacon and pudding, we set out for Kylemore Abbey.  As we were loading the car, Amelia popped out and we had a short chat. She wanted to be sure we were comfortable and that everything worked. When she learned of our plans for the day, she urged us to add a stop in Delphi.

John drove our sturdy Nissan about an hour northwest, directly to the Abbey. On route, we drove through the Lough Inagh valley, which, to me, was the most beautiful site in Ireland.

We arrived at the Abbey in time to join a "history talk" led by a young woman who reported on the building of the manor house.  A young couple, the Henrys, came to the area in 1867, on their honeymoon, and returned nine years later to purchase 15,000 acres of land on which they constructed the manor house. After birthing nine children, while she was in her mid-40's, on vacation in Egypt, she died. Her distraught husband had her body returned to the estate where he built a perfect miniature of a Gothic Chapel in her memory and a nearby mausoleum where she, and later he, were buried.

The house changed hands a number of times over the years. Currently, it is owned by the Benedictine order of nuns who, for decades, ran a girl's boarding school on the property. The Benedictines also restored the Abbey's walled gardens, which are the largest in Ireland. Before departing the Abbey, we lit candles for our Moms.

On our return, we drove to Delphi and out to a famous fishing location, the Delphi Lodge. There we discovered that lunch was not available, so we drove onto Leenane, where we had a delightful meal at the Blackberry Restaurant. John's lunch was mussels, farmed from the nearby lough. Mine was calamari from France.

We returned to Jasmine Cottage where John prepared a lovely dinner of lamb chops. John toasted "the Blackberry Restaurant" of Leenane and I toasted "the chef of our evening meal--meaning John." After our meal, we worked on gathering our things and getting ready to load the car in the morning.

Before bed, we watched an old Star Trek episode.

April 12--Oughterard to Clifden

We arose early, as we were asked to be out of the cottage by 10:00, so it could be readied for its next arrivals.  We actually bid Amelia farewell at 9:30 and were on our way to the Clifden Trad Music Festival. On route to Clifden, we drove beside the Killery River, which was speeding past the roadway. We stopped at Ballynhinch Castle for tea. Everywhere we turned, there were sheep--in the fields, along the roadways and, sometimes, on the road. 

We arrived before lunch at our lodging for the night and, since our room at The Quay House, recommended by Linda at Number 31, was not ready, we walked into the city center for lunch. We window shopped for awhile, resisting the urge to purchase. We had firmly decided, before the trip, not to make our visit a shopping expedition. We had only slightly violated this agreement, and we were clearly out of space for any purchase other than a very small piece of jewelry.  



After lunch at a Clifden pub, we stopped by the 2:00 trad fest session at Mannion's Bar, where local musicians and dancers held forth.  

After listening for awhile, we returned to The Quay House and moved into our room.  The innkeepers, Paddy and Julia, had, repeatedly, been selected as Innkeepers of the Year.  They certainly lived up to their reputation.  Our only disappointment was the extremely weak internet signal that could only be accessed in the drawing room...and then, infrequently.























We were given the "Mirror Room" for our two night stay. 
 The room was replete with mirrors and antiques, 
including antique hats, as illustrated by the Lord of the 
Manor.

We returned to Clifden City Center for dinner at Marconi's, where John's toast was to "kicking up our heels" and mine was to "trad music."   We hung around for awhile so that the professional musicians--"Return of the Dartry"-- could set up.  In somewhat chilly weather, about 100 of us stood in front of an improvised stage, and listened to excellent and entertaining music for almost two hours before returning to our room and a welcome night's sleep.. 

April 13--Clifden

We awoke to a brilliantly sunny morning, perfect for Palm Sunday.  We planned to attend the Trad Music mass at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in city center.  After a lovely breakfast in the sunroom of The Quay House, where we met another traveler from Michigan.  John, a retired pharmacist, was visiting Clifden for the 15th year and was soon to be on his way to Ardara.  What a small world it is!

At St. Joseph's, we participated in a mass that "staged" the Passion of Christ by multiple individuals reading portions of the Gospel of Mark.  The priest read the part of Jesus and the congregation read the part of "the crowd."  During the service, children of the parish brought up gifts that reflected the presence of trad music and dance in their lives...dancing shoes, musical instruments, etc.  During communion, several female deacons assisted in distributing the hosts.  Trad music punctuated the service.  All in all, it was a lovely Palm Sunday service and my first attendance at a Catholic mass since I had attended with my parents when they moved to Covington.  

Just before we left St. Joseph's, we lit candles for each of our parents.  Following mass, we briefly stopped at Mallerky's Bar, for the closing trad session.  We headed to Mitchell's Bar for lunch where John had oysters and I had a delicious crab salad.  


On our way back to The Quay House, we drove out the 
estuary roadway to its end, where the Clifden Boat Club 
had a small structure.  We watched as the tide began to 
return before heading to our room, where we repacked 
our suitcases and enjoyed a final picnic dinner with our 
last bottle of wine and our various picnic items.  John 
toasted "peat and repeat" in honor of the fire that Paddy 
had set in our fireplace and I toasted "the drive along the estuary."  After dinner, we watched a Denzel Washington movie on the room tv before turning in for the night.

April 14--Clifden to Shannon

After a lovely breakfast of eggs benedict and other treats, we checked out of The Quay House and headed east to Galway City and then south toward Shannon.  We took a "not so short detour" to visit the Cliffs of Moher, a stunning natural phenomenon of shear cliffs along the extreme west coast of Ireland.  We had not been able to include a visit to the Cliffs when we were previously in Ireland and we really wanted to see them, enough to drive a couple of extra hours in order to do so.

We were not disappointed.  Our only surprise was the crowds.  Given it was Monday in mid-April, an astonishing number of motor coaches and an even more surprising number of tourists were there.  During our two and a half weeks in Ireland, we had largely been spared significant crowds, expect for the big cities, but the Cliffs of Moher were an exception.

Returning to the car, where we ate the last of our picnic foods for lunch, John decided to take up his violin and play a few trad tunes.  We were faced away from the main parking area but, nonetheless, a few folks ducked around to see where the music was coming from.  

On route to our Shannon Airport hotel, we drove to the airport to check out where we would come the next morning. We gassed up, and we checked into the Oakwood Arms where we would spend the night and have dinner.  John's dinner toast was to "Fiddling around" and mine was to "the Connemara ponies," descendants of the Spanish armada horses that swam ashore when the high seas and winds destroyed the Spanish fleet in 1588.  

We repacked--one last time--and settled down to sleep.  It was our last night in Ireland.

April 15--Shannon, Ireland to Chicago, Illinois

In the wee hours of Tuesday, April 15, we drove to Shannon Airport where we returned our rental car, after 985 miles and the Tom-Tom, a gift of flawless navigation, to Hertz.  She has made 48 miles to the gallon, convincing us that a diesel was a good choice. The Hertz station manager gave us a quick ride to the terminal where we checked in with Aer Lingus for our connecting flight from Shannon to Heathrow.  

After check-in, we stopped for our last Irish breakfast and a bit of last minute shopping (boxes of Irish chocolates).  We debated whether to also buy and ship a lovely Irish woolen throw but decided to do that from home should we still want to when we got there.

After a long bus ride and two security stops in Heathrow, we boarded our connecting flight for home.  Our side-by-side flat bed business class seats allowed us to make a final toast over lunch.  John toasted to "home--where the heart is" and I toasted to "doing it well" in tribute to an excellent trip.  We never got lost.  We were able to do everything we planned and a lot that was serendipitous.  We managed the weather and only once got soaking wet. We enjoyed the people of Ireland and we enjoyed ourselves.

We agreed to the following Top Ten list:

--Fiddling lessons with Cathy McAvoy
--The Lough Corrib boat ride and terrific crew
--Visiting with Ken and Anna Johnson of Comber, North Ireland
--Searching for and finding "Ancient Things"
--Visting Titanic Belfast
--Walking to The Giant's Causeway
--Connemara, with its splendid mountains and magical valleys
--The Farm Restaurant in Dublin
--Cooking an Irish dinner
--Playing the fiddle at the Cliffs of Moher