IRELAND PART TWO

OK and now the continuation of my fabulous trip to Ireland! IF YOU HAVEN'T READ PART ONE... SCROLL DOWN...

Enjoy!

Day 6:
This morning's drive took us to Limmerick where we saw King John's Castle and the Stone on which the Treaty of Limmerick was signed in 1691. Limmerick is the 3rd largest city in the Irish Republic with a population of approximately 70,000. The treaty was to allow those who were Catholics to practice their religion freely while at the same time swearing fealty to the Protestant king. This agreement did not sit well with British Parliament and they demanded that the King break the treaty because they wanted everyone to practice the Protestant religion. The King unfortunately did break his word and now the town is known as "The Town of the Broken Treaty".

Next we drove to Adare, which is known for its prize winning thatched cottages (see bleow for picture). We stopped in Dingle for lunch and went to a place called Harrington’s which is known for their fresh, cook-to-order fish & chips. It was raining (of course) so I stood in the line to order our food, which of course was backed up out the door, while mom went in to find us a place to sit. The fish was delicious but we weren’t left with much time to shop in this cute little town. I did, however, find a couple of bookmarks for my sisters in the shop across the street from where we ate lunch.

Upon resuming our drive, we saw some absolutely breathtaking scenery in the afternoon during our drive on the Dingle Peninsula, where the 32-mile Slea Head drive afforded us magnificent vistas of the Atlantic Ocean. We passed miles of sandy white beaches, which were the setting for the film Ryan’s Daughter.

There is a story about some monks that built stone beehive shaped dwellings to live in in order to pay a penance of some sort. The inside was large enough to fit their length lying down. Many of these still exist and we were able to stop and takes some photographs. It’s pretty cool to think about how long they’ve been standing there and that people once lived in them.

This land is so beautiful. I wish I could take an extended leave, move here and experience the culture more closely. The little I know about my ancestry helps me feel connected to this great land. Learning of the Great Potato famine of the 1800’s has been intense and quite emotional. Were my ancestors part of the land workers that were driven either to death or to the America’s for escape? The famine killed one million Irish through hunger and related diseases such as cholera. A million others emigrated during the famine, with millions more following them in the following decades. There are memorials dedicated to those who lost their lives to the devastation this famine brought to the Irish farming community.

Day 7:
I got a cold! The rain aggravated my sinuses and I was starting to become miserable, sneezing non-stop! Today, at the town of Killorglin, we joined the road known as the “Ring of Kerry” for a 100-mile coastal panoramic drive. There were beautiful seascapes, mountains dotted with brightly colored farm houses, along with grazing cattle and sheep. The roads were super narrow and winding. Mom and I were sitting in the front seats of the bus this day and were quite frightened at times. Our normal driver (Phil) had a rest day (by law) and so we had a local driver taking us around. I did not care for this driver at all! He jerked the bus around quite a bit and stalled 3 times.

One of our photo stops was the Caragh River. Oh this place was absolutely incredible!

We passed through Cahirciveen where Daniel O’Connell was born. He was a real supporter in trying to gain independence for the Irish Catholics. By the time he was born, his parents thought that they had enough children already and one more was just too much for them so his uncle (who didn’t have any children) adopted him. Can you imagine?! He was educated in England and interestingly enough, when he died, his heart was sent to Rome and buried there. There is a church called The Church of Daniel O’Connell, and it is the only Catholic Church in the world that is not dedicated to a saint. He once stated, “there is no cause in this world that is worth one drop of human blood”.

We stopped at a Cumakishda (sp?) which means “Bay of the Hidden Treasure” for more spectacular views. My goodness, but the land here is absolutely breathtaking. There have now been a few places we have visited where I could easily stay and live the rest of my life and be happy.

We then passed through the town of Sneem, which is known for its salmon fishing. We drove by a rock-hewn riverbed where the salmon can be seen jumping in the water. I took a quick shot while on the bus, but alas, we didn’t see any salmon jumping.

We stopped in Killarney at a place called the Avoca Shop and Café for lunch. The eating area was upstairs and there were floor to ceiling windows which gave us some magnificent views to enjoy while we ate. I had a delicious homemade tomato and basil soup with a yummy brown bread. For desert, mom and I split a super yummy piece of fresh lemon meringue pie. Avoca is known for their hand weaving but we will be in the actual town on day 8 to see the weaving and visit the shop.

We then traveled to see the Lakes of Killarney from "Ladies View". This name stems from the admiration of the view given by Queen Victoria's ladies-in-waiting during their 1861 visit. Here you can see three major lakes and the view is once again, spectacular.

We stopped somewhere a little further up for a group photo (I declined to purchase one) and were then given some time to look at and photograph more views of the Lakes of Killarney. I, however, noticed a pasture and some beautiful horses grazing. Anyone who knows me and my love of horses know that I headed straight there. There was a wire fence just beyond the wooden fence in which the horses were enclosed so I couldn’t really get close enough to touch them. There was one horse lying down and another one “pawing” him to get up. He finally did but you could then tell that he was injured because he was favoring his right hind leg. Poor baby, I wanted to go and find the owner straight away, but there were several homes in the area and the bus was getting ready to leave. Aren't they beautiful?!

We stopped a while later at a place called “Macken of Ireland”. They are known for their rare and interesting pieces of jewelry. I have been waiting many years to get my claddagh ring and really wanted to buy one while here in Ireland. I found a beautiful 14K claddagh set in the middle of a Celtic knot. It is really beautiful. I wasn’t planning on spending so much money on my ring... but I did! The other nice thing about this shop is that every design is made in a limited quantity, so I believe there have only been 100 pieces of the design I bought made. Hopefully the chances are pretty low that I will run into someone here in Florida with the same ring!

For dinner we headed into Tralee and then attended a performance at Siamsa Tire, which is Ireland’s National Folk Theatre. They have a different themed performance every night of the week and for Thursday (the day we attended), it was about the potato famine entitled “Tearman”. There was a live 8 piece orchestra to accompany the performers is song and background music. As we have been learning about the potato famine during the week, I was looking forward to the performance. There were no words spoken, songs sung in Irish (Gaelic), tap dancing, and movement. I wish I could have understood the words to the songs sung, but it really wasn’t necessary to understand because you could feel what was happening. It was a very moving and emotional performance. I could feel the emotion emanating from every performer and it touched my heart. It was quite intense and very sad. I believe 11.2 million people died during the famine. I cannot imagine what the people went through; to see their families and friends dying of starvation and disease.

Day 8:
Today we made our way over the Kerry Mountains and into County Cork. Mom has traced some of our ancestry to County Cork. We stopped in Blarney for two hours but it really wasn’t enough time. First, we headed to Blarney Castle to explore and kiss the famous Blarney Stone. It is known as the Stone of Eloquence and is supposed to give those who kiss it the “gift of gab”. I think I have that gift as it is, but of course you have to do it if you’re there! The stone is located at the top of the castle and there are approximately 200 teeny tiny steps going around and around super narrow stone stairwells (towers). I wanted mom to go with me so that she could take some photos with my camera. I really didn’t think she would do it (being claustrophobic and all)… but she did! She must really love me! I’m telling you, I don’t know who these people were building these steps for way back then but they looked like they were made for the “wee people”! We had to step sideways just to fit some part of our shoes on the steps! Every so often there was a “hole” in the walls that allowed a bit of light and breeze; I think this is the only way mom was able to make it, although she did confess to having a few moments of fright. She went ahead of me and all of a sudden I reached a point where the steps were no more and I had to climb my way up! Along the way there were some rooms labeled as bedrooms. Nothing like my bedroom! But it really did continue to make some of the books I’ve read come alive just a little bit more.

This is one of the dungeons!

Once at the Blarney Stone, you have to lie down on your back, grab a hold of iron bars on either side of you, scoot back and hang almost completely upside down to kiss the stone! It was kind of crazy. I think the picture of me actually “kissing” the stone is a bit blurry but you get the idea! Mom couldn’t quite do it due to her back problems (I don’t think she was too disappointed though)! I got some nice photos of the view from the top of the castle as well. I also got a shot of mom going back down (though those steps look a little better than the ones we climbed going up)!!

This whole process took us about an hour, so that left us only one hour to get back over to the Blarney Woolen Mills to shop and eat lunch. There are three floors to the Woolen Mills! I was able to find a scarf that matches my cool new hat. I was looking for a nice sweater or jacket but then looked at my watch and it was 12:25 (bus was leaving at 12:30)! Mom and I rushed to get in line to pay and then what happens? My credit card was declined! The employee tried it 3 times and it declined each time. Oh I’m getting really frustrated by this point. Thank goodness mom was there – she just put it on her card and told me to hurry to the bus and not let it leave without her. Mom ended up putting some of her items back because we were running so late. We didn’t even get a chance to eat lunch and my tummy was rumbling. I had a chocolate bar in my bag so we ate that as we pulled away from Blarney.

Our next stop was the world-famous Waterford Crystal Factory. We had a guided tour around the facility where we were able to see how some of the pieces are created. It was pretty cool. We watched this guy firing a piece of glass that was to be added to a pitcher as a handle. We then saw how the handle was attached and molded. It was really neat to watch.

The pieces here are quite stunning (both to the eye and the wallet). There was a piece dedicated to the heroes of 9/11 that was beautiful. There was a piece of a girl and horse that I absolutely fell in love with! We also had a glass etcher show us how the etching is done. Most of the positions in the factory require a 10 year apprenticeship and I can understand why! I posed with the guy who showed us a demonstration (and also created the seahorse shown in the picture).

I called my bank as soon as we got to the hotel to check on my account since my card had been declined. My account was fine; they were having problems earlier in the day so the bank disabled everyone’s cards for a few hours! I would have been soooo mad if my mom hadn’t been there to help me out – I would have missed a chance to purchase items at the Blarney Woolen Mills! Grrrr….

We stayed the night at a nearby seaside resort in Tramore. We took a walk down to the beach (Pebble Beach) before dinner and walked along the shore. We found some cool rocks to bring back and let our hands run through the waters of the Irish Sea.

After dinner we went to a local pub for some entertainment. This pub (Hayes) has been run by the same family for 300 years. The current owner took us on a little tour of the town and gave us some of the history.

There was a musician there (Richie Roberts) who played the guitar and sang. He had a great voice and was quite funny. He led us in some sing-a-longs, which was bunches of fun. Mom and I were sitting pretty much right in his face and he turned to me, asked me my name, held out his hand and then proceeded to pull me up from my seat to stand next to him. I was to be his “assistant”. All right – so now I get to be the celebrity! He pulled out a harmonica and told me that when he gave a nod, to hold the harmonica against the microphone and then he proceeded to play it and the guitar while I held it to the microphone. How fun! He called me back up later on to “assist” him in one more song. He played for about an hour and it was a great time.

Day 9:
This was the last official day of our tour. We traveled northbound through Enniscorthy, which is the sight of the final battle of the Great Rebellion of 1798. Next we were off to visit Ireland’s oldest hand-weaving mill at Avoca. I bought a scarf for my mom, one for me and then I got another one free (after buying two). We had a tour of the mill and watched one of the weavers at work. The looms are incredible and it was pretty cool to watch one at work and see the lines (threads) of material be fed through and pressed into place. I think he was using alpaca or mohair.

Back on the road we saw the beautiful Wicklow Mountains. Next we were off to Glendalough with its ruins of an Irish Christianity center of founded by St. Kevin (a hermit priest) in the 6th century. It was destroyed in 1398 by English troops. This ruined village contained a former monastery and grave sites. The location was sought out as a peaceful retreat by Saint Kevin because of its remoteness and serenity, but several men who wished to follow his teachings built a temporary place of churches and living quarters in the valley below the site of his house. This soon grew and became an important school.

There were some nice walking trails that led to the Lake. We walked one of them and had some really pretty views. Mom was climbing into the forests so she could get her photo with some big rocks and trees. It was pretty muddy and I was afraid she was going to fall! Silly woman!

We stayed at the Montrose Hotel for our last night in Dublin. After arriving at the hotel, we decided to go explore Dublin one last time before we had to leave. We took a local bus to city centre and walked around for a while. I really enjoy people watching and there are all kinds in downtown Dublin! We did a little more shopping (mainly just little trinkets and such) and then decided to have our last evening meal in Ireland. We found Gallagher’s Boxty House again and decided to end the trip the same way we had started it… with a yummy corned beef and cabbage boxty. We had quite the time trying to find the right bus stop, to catch the right bus, to bring us back to the hotel!

Day 10:
Up early for breakfast (6:30) and then off to the airport at 7:30 am. Our flight wasn’t until 11:30 but it was a good thing we got there early. It took us a while to get through check-in, security and processing our tax back forms. The sales tax here in Ireland is 21% (choke, choke). The only good thing is that American’s get the tax back. We had to get tax back forms from every place we bought something and then stand in 4 different lines at the airport to submit them. Such a pain but at least we will get it back (6-8 weeks I’m sure). The flight from Dublin to Atlanta was a little over 8 hours (I think I watched 4 movies – helped the time go by). After arriving in Atlanta, we had to go to the baggage claim area, get our luggage and then go through customs and re-check them! That took us a hour to do – super pain in the butt. The only good part of this day was taking a shower after getting home and crawling into my scrumptious bed! I do miss Ireland though – I am sure I will go back, especially now that I know which areas I would like to re-visit. ERIN GO BRAUGH!!!!

IRELAND PART ONE

OK so I have returned from my trip to Ireland. For those of you who may not know, I have finally completed my Master's Degree and as a (most generous and fabulous graduation gift from my mom and step-dad), my mom and I set off for Ireland. Yay! After several attempts, I have finally been to the land of my ancestors. The following recounts the first 5 days worth of travels. It may be lengthy but stick with me! Part TWO coming soon!

Day 1:
We arrived the morning of Friday (9/5) in Dublin to pouring rain! We had to stand in a (super long) line for a taxi to the hotel in the pouring rain (with all of our luggage) for about 15 minutes. Welcome to Ireland! We finally made it to the hotel and since we were so tired from the overnight flight, we decided to take a quick nap. We had arrived one day earlier than our scheduled tour in order to have some time to explore Dublin. After waking up a little later we headed out to explore the City Centre of Dublin. Of course as soon as we left the hotel it started to rain again! We passed through a lovely park to get to Grafton street where the shopping starts! There was a Blarney Woolen Mills shop there and I found the cutest hat! After walking around a while, we were hungry and set off for some authentic Irish food. We found this place called Gallagher's Boxty House and I think I had the most delicious dinner I've ever had! I had what is called a corned beef and cabbage boxty. A boxty is an Irish pancake (almost like a crepe) that was filled with corned beef and cabbage with a delicious creamy sauce over the top. We had some colcanon and Irish soda bread. Oh my goodness! Every last bite was simply magnificent!













After dinner we decided to walk off our very heavy dinners and found ourselves in a place called Temple Bar. It is evidently a place to party at night. We decided to head back to the hotel at that point, seeing as how it was getting dark anyhow... but we did get about 4 hours of walking exercise today! We didn't have enough time to get to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells so we planned on getting up early on day two so we could get there before we had to meet up with our tour group.

Day 2:
Mom didn't feel good at all. She's been sneezing and coughing - not good. We had to pray that she would be feeling better soon. So we headed out to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells. What magnificent artistry the monks created so long ago. Transcribed by Celtic monks circa 800, it contains the four gospels of the New Testament in Latin. The illustrations within the book are magnificent. It combines traditional Christian iconography with the ornate swirling motifs typical of Insular art. Figures of humans, animals and mythical beasts together with intricate knotwork and interlacing patterns in vibrant colours enliven the manuscript's pages. Many of these minor decorative elements are imbued with Christian symbolism and so further emphasize the themes of the major illustrations. The library of Trinity College is just as stunning. The Long Room contains rows and rows of ancient leather bound volumes - it holds thousands of rare, and in many cases very early, volumes. Oh how I wished I could have cracked open just one of those beautiful leather-bound volumes. Check out my cool new hat and the GREEN on the College grounds!

We had to race back to the hotel in order to pick up our luggage and get to a different hotel to meet our tour group. We barely made it, got lost trying to find our room, and had to run outside as we saw a group of people filing into a Cosmos coach bus. We took a drive through town and the tour guide gave us some history on Dublin and Ireland as we passed buildings rich in history. We were later dropped off at the hotel and since we hadn't eaten since the morning, we decided to just go to the hotel restaurant. I had the grilled seabass in a lobster sauce and mom ordered the lambchops. It was the first time I'd had seabass and it was delicious!

Day 3:
Luggage had to be outside the door at 7:45 and then breakfast until 8:45 and then we were off for our first day in the Irish countryside to discover why it is known as the "Emerald Isle". We travelled north through history-steeped landscapes, with plenty of Ireland's typical round towers and castle ruins. Our first stop was the Hill of Tara (nothing to do with Gone With the Wind my friends). It contains a number of ancient monuments and according to tradition, was the seat of the High King of Ireland until the 6th century. Here's mom amongst the "hills".





We then headed for Trim Castle on the shores of the River Boyne. This is located in County Meath where mom has traced some of our ancestry. Trim Castle is the largest Norman castle in Europe and is Ireland's largest castle. It was built by Hugh de Lancy and his son Walter. It is also noted for the part it played in the filming of Mel Gibson's Braveheart. We only stopped to take pictures and weren't able to go inside. Mom was pretty ticked at that! And for those of you wondering if there is a little something different about me... yes I chopped all my hair off! My hair has never been this short! Below: Mom and I near Trim Castle.




We stopped at Carrick-on-Shannon for lunch. It was a quaint little town along the River Shannon. Mom and I got toasted cheese sandwiches and sat along the river to eat. Our next stop was the Cistercian abbey ruins at Boyle. Here I am in front of the ruins.





We then headed for the hotel in Sligo and of course... had trouble finding the room again! A short while after settling in, we set off for our afternoon excursion to Lough Gill. Lough is Gaelic for Lake. Along this lake is Parke's castle. We stopped here for a guided tour of the castle. In 1610 Roger Parke completed his fortified manor house on the site of an earlier fifteenth-century O'Rourke castle. One of two round fortifiers guarding the north side of the bawn forms one end of the manor. The other end has the gate building with an arched entrance leading into the enclosure. Inside the courtyard are many stone work buildings and a covered well.




The River Shannon is also where the great poet William Butler Yeats was inspired to write his famous poem, "The Isle if Innisfree". Sligo is where he grew up and he loved to go to Lough Gill for peace and inspiration.

We then headed to a local pub for a "drink". We ordered gingerale and recevied a glass that contained about two sips worth of soda... I guess you have to order a Guiness or a "pint" in order to get a full glass! But this day was truly a beautiful one. It was sunny and the views have been magnificent. The green here is just amazing. I love to see the hillsides full of sheep and cattle and horses grazing. There is something peaceful about it all.


Day 4:
Our first stop of the day was at Drumcliff where we saw the grave of native son and poet W.B. Yeats. This is the church where his father was rector. Yeats was originally buried in France (where he died) but was later exhumed and brought to rest here. It is a beautiful church and there is also a monument to Yeats outside the cemetary, in the front of the church.



We then passed across the border into Northern Ireland to visit the Bellek Pottery Factory, which is renowned for its exquisite cream-colored Parian china. We had a guided tour of the process for each creative piece of pottery. It is a very detailed and intricate process. We watched some of the artists craft tiny rosebuds by hand - every petal is molded by hand. It was amazing.

We then headed to the fascinating city of Derry where we enjoyed a walking tour with a local guide. She took us around the old city walls and St. Columb's Cathedral. Derry was the last city in Britain and Ireland to be encircled with defensive walls; and is one of the few cities in Europe that never saw these fortifications breached. It is most known for "Bloody Sunday" which took place on 1/30/72. It was on this day that 26 civil rights protesters were shot by members of the IRA during a Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association march in the Bogside area of the city. 14 people were killed (7 teenagers) and witnesses testify that all injured were unarmed. Our local guide grew up in this area and spoke to how she never really had a normal childhood, she was raised in an era of extreme violence where even the very nature of your religion could be dangerous. The two main religions in the area are Catholic and Protestant. One group stayed to one side of the river bank while the other took the other side. I can't even imagine what she must have lived through. Only a few years ago, we wouldn't have even been able to visit the area.

Our last stop of the day was in the town of Donnegal to shop for hand-knitted woolen goods. Mom and I were able to take a quick tour of Donnegal castle where the McDonald's once lived and then the Brookes family. I read a lot of books that are set back in the 10th-18th centuries in Ireland and Scotland and it is pretty cool to see real histroy of the castles in which the people lived. I try to imagine what it was like to have such strong warriors and men who fought to defend their land and familes. In a way it reminds me of the histroy contained in the Book of Mormon. The great Nephite warriors and their bid to defend their lands and families against those who would do them harm. I loved to see the stone hearths built into the rooms and the long wooden tables and benches upon which these people ate their meals of pigeon and duck and rabbitt. It is a completely different life than what I have enjoyed.



Donnegal means "fortress of the foreigners", the foreigners in this case being the Vikings. The town of Donnegal is famous for their tweed.


Day 5:
We headed south to Knock, a village that attracts pilgrims from all over the world because it is said that the townspeople saw apparitions there. They claim to have seen a vision of Mary, Joseph and John the Baptist on the back of a church wall. There are now statues representing these 3 in a glass enclosure at the back of the church. It is called the Holy Shrine of Knock.


We then travelled to Galway, a vibrant city with a great seafaring tradition and where you hear about the infamous Lynch Stone, commemorating the day Mayor James Lynch Fitzstephen hanged his son for murder. It's quite the story. His son accused a friend of trying to flirt with his fiancee and then they fought. He pushed his friend, who then fell and hit his head on a rock and died. The town was known for its very strict system of justice and the mayor of the town was this young man's father. The young man was accused of murder but no-one would build any gallows to carry out the sentence of death for fear of retribution by the mayor. So the mayor took his son to a building and asked him to forgive him, the son did likewise and then the father hanged his son from a window. They have the very same window in the town centre. Can you imagine? They beleive this is where the term "lynching" came from.


Galway is also where the claddagh ring originated. I've been waiting years for a claddagh ring and I was determined to get one while I was in Ireland. The Claddagh's distinctive design features two hands clasping a heart, and usually surmounted by a crown. The elements of this symbol are often said to correspond to the qualities of love (the heart), friendship (the hands), and loyalty (the crown). The expression which was associated with these symbols in the giving of the ring was: "With my hands I give you my heart, and crown it with my love."

While travelling through Galway, we passed through the town of Lisdoonvarna, which is known as the "matchmaking town". Every September (for the whole month) there is a "marriage festival" where single people from all over come to find a mate! There is a bar called the "Matchmaker Bar" that has a saying, "marriages are made in heaven but most people meet in the Matchmaker Bar"!!! Mom nudged me and told me to get off here! Thanks Mom!


We then travelled across the limestone plateau of The Burren (a unique karst-landscape region) to visit the spectacular 668-foot Cliffs of Moher. Ahhhhh.... this is the place I have been itching to see! The Cliffs are referred to in my favorite book of all time Wuthering Heights. In addition, they were filmed as the "Cliffs of Insanity" in the 1987 movie The Princess Bride (a great, classic movie... "as - you - wish"). On a clear day the Aran Islands are visible in Galway Bay, as are the valleys and hills of Connemara. Moher tower, located at Hag's Head, is a square stone ruin. It appears to be the remains of a watchtower placed during Napolean's reign in Europe.


It had been a rainy day and an unbelievable fog had rolled in. I'm not sure how our coach driver (Phil) was able to even see the parking lot or where to turn! Tricia (our tour guide) sadly informed us that is was highly unlikely that we would be able to see the cliffs. I was super upset and prayed real hard. We left the bus to head up the MANY steps leading to a vantage point and as we walked, the rain started to subside and the fog began to clear. I started getting excited. The wind was unbeleivable. We were told to stay within the marked paths beacause there have been incidents in the past of those who strayed outside the marked path because the view or photo opportunity was just too tempting.... and... whoosh, the wind picked them right up and over the cliffs!!! OH MY! Can you imagine?! Not to worry, I stayed quite within the paths.


These cliffs! Oh but they are so beautiful! I couldn't help but scream, "Heathcliffe, where are you??!!" as I reached the top... tee-hee What a magnificent creation. I could have stayed there all day. I think I took 37 pictures up at the cliffs!!! Here are just a few (including the proof of the crazy wind!).



In the evening we went to Bunratty Castle for a medieval banquet. Some of the sights include the 'great hall', dungeons and four towers with spiral stairwells. As we entered the castle, we received a welcome from the "patrons" of the castle and were given a goblet of mead. Mead is a honey wine and as we don't drink, we asked for something non-alcoholic and were given orange soda! Whatever!

We were entertained by a woman playing the harp and a gentleman playing the fiddle. We were to mingle in this main room. There were tapestries and hand carved wardrobe chests, as well as other time period items. There was a replica of the chairs that the Lord and Lady of the house would have seated themselves. The Lord's chair was of course at least twice the size of the Lady's... harumph! Here I am wondering where my "Lord" is!!! tee-hee




We were given a brief history of the castle before moving toward the lower tower and enjoying a four-course medieval dinner. We were first given soup and yummy Irish soda bread. Just as the people in the 13th century did not have utensils, we didn't either (only a "dagger" with which to use for our meat)! So we "drank" the soup and dipped the bread. It was very good. The second course consisted of pork ribs. That was interesting to try and cut and eat. I seriously needed to floss after that course! But it was delicious. We had "finger bowls" (water bowls) in front of us to clean our fingers after eating the food with our fingers and daggers. The third course was chicken, potatoes, veggies and some sort of sauce for the chicken. The chicken was very tender and juicy and super yummy. Our final course (desert) was a strawberry mousse of some kind. It too was yummy.


We were entertained by the partons as they sang with the harpist and fiddler as accompaniment. There had been pitchers of both red and white wime on the tables. Our table was drinking the wine like there was no tomorrow, all the while complaining that it wasn't good! I guess it was good enough to keep drinking! Mom and I sipped our orange soda and had a great time.




OK... I beleive I will end here with Part One of my trip to Ireland. Stay tuned for the remaining 5 days (you don't want to miss Blarney Castle and me kissing the Blarney Stone)!!!

Weekend News

So what a crazy weekend... Saturday night was great. My mom, Jessica and I had a girls night out (Janet wasn't able to come). We went to see Mama Mia in the theater and oh what great fun! We've all seen the play and they did such a great job with the movie adaptation. It was a sing-a-long movie and you can bet we were singing our hearts out! I love ABBA (thank you Amber for introducing them to me way back at Rick's College)! After the movie, my mom had made reservations at the Melting Pot for dinner. This was our first experience there and it was super yummy, especially the desert! Oh goodness! I love fondue! It was really interesting to just cook our meat and veggies there at the table but really yummy! And the (dark) chocolate fondue for desert was DELISH!

Went to Melbourne Ward for church and my sister Jessica gave us a scare. There was a combined 3rd hour meeting and my mom comes rushing in toward the end, grabs my purse, my arm and says "come with me now". I had a thought that something was wrong with Jess and as I came into the foyer, I see their Jeep pulled up to the door and she's lying on her side with the seat laid back. She was back in Primary and her legs just gave out on her and she couldn't put any weight on them, said they felt really numb and tingly. My mom was pushing me into the Jeep with orders to go with her and Rocky, so we rushed her to the emergency room to get checked out. I'm sure she will blog about it soon. Baby Ruthie is doing just fine and we think she might have just been pressing on a nerve or something that was cutting off circulation to her legs. She had an MRI and other tests but they couldn't really find anything.

She ended up going home that evening and yesterday she was able to put a little weight on her legs - just enough to hold onto the wall to get to the restroom. Today she says she's back to 100% so that is great news. She's 34 weeks I think so she will be ok to deliver anytime now - BUT it better not be while I'm in Ireland!!! Do you hear me Jessica?!

So just a couple of days and counting! My mom and I are leaving Thursday for Ireland! I'm super excited and can hardly wait! I am praying that Hurricane Hanna won't give any interference as far as weather and that we will be able to fly out of here with no problems. I will be sure to take lots of photos and post as soon as I can. Erin Go Braugh! I think I will pack most of my suitcase tonight to get a jump on things (I think my mom has already started her packing). My mom is a master packer.

I can only take one suitcase and one carry-on with me so I will need to be creative in my packing! This unfortunatley means that I will have to be conservative in the amount of shoes I take with me - oh bother! :)

So I finally finished editing the pictures of Nancy & Jason Fudge's wedding (July 26, 2008). They came out really nice and they were happy with them - that's all I wanted. If they're happy, I'm happy!

Here is the happy couple!