Cliffs, caves and hurling

What an action packed day we've had.  Up early and a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs before we rushed out the door for our last day of sightseeing.

Jenny drove Tom and I out to the coast for a whirlwind tour of some very impressive sights.

The first place we stopped was the Portal Tomb, a tomb from the Neolithic Era.  The limestone covering the ground was amazing geology as water has cut millions of small ravines into the rock.

Then it was into the dark of the Aillwee Cave.  A man named Jack MacGann discovered this cave in his field in 1940, but didn't tell anyone until 1970-something.  At that time he was speaking to cavers from Bristol University and he though they would be interested in what he found all those years ago.  I think he is a brave man going deep into the caves with just a candle.  At one point of the tour the guide turned out the lights and I couldn't see a thing.  It was a bit scary, especially as your eyes can never adjust because there is absolutely no light.  I was glad when the lights turned back on and we got to see a pretty waterfall.

Once out of the caves we raced down to the bird show.  They flew an owl, an eagle and a falcon for us.  I was a bit sad I wasn't chosen to have the eagle fly onto my arm, but they seemed to prefer the cute little kids.  The birds were impressive and it was fun watching the trainers fly them about.

Next stop on our tour, the Cliffs of Moher.  What an impressive sight!  These cliffs are absolutely gorgeous standing proudly out of the Atlantic. We were very lucky to have the sun shinning, it made the cliffs that much more magnificent.

        

This evening we went and watched a sport I hadn't ever heard of before coming to Ireland, Hurling.  This is the most popular sport here in Ireland; everyone plays it.  James coaches an under 16 team and they are who we went to watch.  I was impressed at how these boys could flick the ball up with their sticks, called hurly to catch it.  And then, how they could run whilst balancing the ball on their hurly.  It's a fast paced game and went by very quickly.  James' team came out with the win.  It was close though, they were behind at the half and finished only two points ahead.  I also enjoyed the brilliant rainbow that shone during part of the game.  Silly me though, I'm in Ireland and I didn't go looking for my pot of gold.

It's late now, half ten and just getting dar.  I think it's time for bed; we need to be up at six for our early morning flight back to England.  Good night.

Love

Lough Derg

It was a great late night at the pub and a late morning out of bed.  We had a big fry up to recharge ourselves after our night out.  I spent last night sipping Bulmer's cider, and questioning the difference between it and Magners.  At the rugby yesterday I was confused because obviously Magners was the main sponsor as it was the Magners Cup Final, but yet they only served Bulmers.  That didn't quite make sense.  Are the companies related I wondered?  The logos are just about the same? So I googled it today and this is what I discovered.

This afternoon we took in the gorgeous views around Lough Derg, the third largest lake in Ireland.  

We drove around stopping at all of the vantage points to take pictures.  It is stunning.  There were some out of place "blow ins" (Irish term for non-locals) when we were taking the pictures above who were standing around their car playing middle eastern music far too loud.  It was quite anti-social considering everyone else around we there to enjoy the relaxing views.

We stopped in the town of Killaloe to check out the goods being sold at their market.  They must have seen us coming from a mile away.  We were drawn into many of the stalls and easily convinced to buy a number of little things to take home for family and friends.  Stalls in this market sold a variety of delicious treats, from sausages to curry spices, cookies, cheese, fudge, olives and home made clothing.  I even threw a coin into case of the little boy who was happily busking with his guitar.

A large group of motor bikers followed us as we left Killaloe and drove up the hill to our final vantage point.  They were the friendly sort, waving at us with cheesy grins as we drove by.  It was all so pretty and lovely.  I'd love to go back with a picnic on a sunny day.

This evening Jenny took us for a meal at The Snug.  We feasted on home baked pizzas and salads and topped it of with sugary treats.  I had a goats cheese and black olive pizza and finished my meal with a caramelized apple tart (yum yum!).  The evening was good food, good atmosphere and good chat.

All in all a pretty, peaceful and satisfying day.

Love

Mighty Munster Men

Low lie the Fields of Athenry
Where once we watched the small free birds fly.
Our love was on the wing
we had dreams and songs to sing
It's so lonely 'round the Fields of Athenry.

                                            - Fields of Athenry

This morning Tom and I explored the village of Mountshannon.  Unfortunately, as I went to snap my first picture my camera responded with "battery exhausted."  Luckily I did pack my charger, but I wasn't able to capture the village for you this morning.  It is lovely.  down by the little harbor there is a green grassy area with a fairly easy maze and a few historical plaques.  The highlight was the Saturday market.  A few stalls are set up each weekend alongside the road that display yummy home made breads and cakes.  One stall even has live chickens and sells their eggs.  Inside the cafe nest to these stalls is a few more tables with people selling more baked goods, home made jams and fair-trades woolen rugs and bags.  We were surprised that it seemed a bit hippy with all of the fair-trade/ home made/ organic goods.  We came away with a few tartlets to have with tea.  Mountshannon is a quiet little village sitting on a pretty lake with a couple of shops, restaurants and pubs. Hopefully I'll be able to go back quickly with my fully charged camera.

We returned to a delicious meal of steak with potatoes, mushrooms, peas and onions followed by fruit salad.  It was a filling meal, perfectly preparing us for the afternoon ahead.

Today was the Magners Cup Final, a big rugby event.  Munster, the team James supports was facing Leinster, the team who last weekend miraculously came back in the second half of the Heiniken Cup Final for the win.  Also, they are Munster's main rivals.  To put this game into perspective Tom explained to me that this event was like Apple cup, vital stuff!!  James was hot hopeful this morning, in fact he was fairly certain Munster was going to loose.  We arrived a the stadium in Limerick in good time and enjoyed a pint in the sun before the match began.  Then it was into the stadium.  Now, I'm obviously not going to be good at explaining the plays during the game, so I'll cut to the chase - Munster WON!!  It was so exciting, the entire game was!  The score remained close throughout but Munster pulled away at the end winning 19 - 09.  One of the trys (that is what you score, like a touchdown) was right in front of us.  I didn't think the Munster man was going to catch it at first, but he did, and then ran right across the line!  I was jumping up and down screaming with cheer I also loved that when we entered the stadium the gave us big Munster flags to wave.  I was right there cheering, shouting and waving my flag with the Munster crowd.  I do find rugby exciting, and its always good when the team you are supporting wins, even better when you don't expect it.  I don't think James could quite express how happy he was as we left the stadium.  Today was a proud day for Munster rugby!

We celebrated at the pubs at night. I almost felt as though I was in Selah in the second one.  It had a the small town feel and a band that mixed "Sweet Home Alabama" and other american songs in with their Irish tunes.

Love

Family history and a historic castle

(the view from Jenny and James')

Today was a relaxing day.  I slept incredibly well as it is so peaceful here and I was very comfy in bed.  I was shocked when Tom came in and woke me up saying it was half nine.  That is late for me these days. 

We had a good breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon and both black and white pudding.  Delicious.  It’s a luxury for me to have cooked breakfasts, as usually it’s a quick bowl of cereals or porridge on my way out the door before work.    

After breakfast I experienced an exciting bit of Tom’s family history…  Jenny has a collection of letters her Mum, Monica, wrote throughout her life.  In the 1940’s Monica married a soldier named Paul.  He is a descendent of the affluent Colman family.  The Coleman’s make Colman’s mustard, the traditional English mustard.  Her mother-in-law regularly collected letters from all of the family members and condensed them down into one.  This condensed letter, called the Budget, was sent out to everyone who wrote in so that they could stay up to date with each other’s news. Paul ended up dying in the war, but Monica continued to write letters to her mother-in-law and family.  The letters begin with her talking of air raids and bombings, of letters to Paul and trying to find a job to help the war effort.  After Paul died Monica remarried Tom’s Grandpa, Malcolm.  Malcolm worked for an oil company in the Middle East.  So the letters continue with Monica making her journey across Europe and northern Africa to join him, of having children (Tom’s aunts and eventually Mum and uncle), life in the middle east and all of the back and forth between there in the winter and England in the summers.  Then, finally settling back in England and watching her children grow.  It is a very interesting collection of letters that tells story of an exciting life over a range of forty years.  Jenny has the idea to turn these letters into a novel setting them within a historical context.  That is an ambitious project, but I’m sure people would find it intriguing.   

After exploring these letters we set off for anther castle.

Today we went to King John's Castle in Limerick.  It is much different than Bunratty Castle.  King John's Castle was a military castle built to protect and keep out unwanted soldiers.  It is much older than Bunratty and saw a lot of war and fighting in its time.  Archaeologists are still digging and learning more about this castle, as most of the old city is now underground.  The story of the Siege’s of Limerick confused me greatly as I really don’t know anything of Irish history.  To be honest I don’t know much of European history in general.  Tom patiently went through it with me a couple of times and Jenny got me a book on the history of King John's Castle. There were so many families and so many countries coming in and fighting it’s hard to keep straight, but I think I get it now.  As we left the castle today I felt as though I had really been educated.  We then visited the Limerick Museum next door, which houses an impressive number of artefacts that show the history of the city through many years.

We have now just finished a Chinese and are settling in for the night.  The weather has been grey and drizzly today, reminding me of Seattle.   Although, hopefully those of you over there are still seeing the sun that has finally come out of hiding for you.

Love

First day in Ireland

I am in Ireland.  This morning at the very early hour of 5.30 Tom and I left Brook Farm, boarded a plane and after a nice nap for me and some paper reading for Tom we arrived in Ireland.  We are here in Mountshannon (see on map or a bit read a bit of tourist info) visiting his Aunt Jenny and Uncle James.

Before we came, I tried to be a very good girlfriend by packing for both us.  Tom’s last exam ever was yesterday and he’s been horribly busy/stressed revising (studying), so I thought by packing for him I was doing my part to help.  I was proud of myself.  That was until we were on the way to the airport and Tom asked if I had the map Jenny sent us.  Oops, the one thing I forgot.  Luckily the place we hired a car from gave us a map, and when we got close, after driving down a few wrong lanes, I asked a couple of people in the village for directions and we did make it alright.

We spent our first afternoon here at Bunratty Castle.  I must say this is one of the best castles I’ve ever been too! It wasn’t just the castle we got to see.  Numerous old houses from around the county have been transported to this site to build an old fashioned village.  A path lead us around all of the houses, which were each done up authentically inside.  One even had bread baking over the open fire, as they would have done many years ago. 

The castle was the grand finale of our day.  It is such an impressive castle.  It has loads of different spiral staircases leading up in each and every way.  We went up one and all of the sudden found ourselves in the Great Hall.  From each corner of this immense square room were further spiral staircases leading up to other bedrooms, chapels, private breakfast room, the Earl’s pantry and eventually up to the outdoor solars which gave gorgeous views of the countryside.

The one thing that surprised us about the day was the number of Americans at the castle.  Especially seeing as we are out in the rural country and not in a city such as Dublin.  I almost felt at home with so many Americans around.  Oh, also the weather.  It was warm and sunny about half of the afternoon disrupted by showers that each lasted only a few minutes.  Luckily we came prepared with rain gear.

It was a wonderful outing, I had lots of fun and found it very interesting.  I do love touring castles and old stately homes.  We are back at Jenny and James’ now and James has just arrived home from work so I shall go.

More tomorrow on the next adventures we find on this island.

Love