Don and Kathie Visit Ireland

Our path in red

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Change of Plans Dublin Castle and the Chester Beatty Museum Flying to Ireland Christ Church Shannon Airport Driving in Ireland The Road to Cashel Guinness The Rock of Cashel Dublin to Blarney Buying Gasoline Back to Dungarvan Cahir Castle Blarney_Castle On to Waterford Kinsale Waterford Crystal Off to Ennis Reginald Tower Cliffs of Moher Waterford Experience Doolin On to Dublin Monks Ballsbridge to City Center Bunratty Castle Trinity College Going Home Kilmainham Gaol

Change of Plans  
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The  genesis of our trip started two years ago when our friends Liam and Maria O'Connor came to D.C. for a 3-week holiday.  In conversation Kathie promised to visit them in 2006 (after kids were off to school). So, last fall we started planning for our trip.  We bought a Fodor's book and in December reserved our flights.  The plans came together in March as, 3 days in Waterford, 4 days in Dublin, 3 days wondering around Ireland and 3 days in Killarney with Kathie's brother Steve and his family.

A few weeks before departure we got the disappointing news that Steve and Family had to cancel their plans. This left us with more roaming time.  

Take off was scheduled for Good Friday. On Thursday, I came home from  work with symptoms of chest pains that were too persistent to ignore. I called Kathie at work and told her that I was going to check into the hospital. The good news was that I was tested on Friday and given a clean bill of health. The problem is a GI problem and was not likely to cause me significant problems in the short term.

On Friday Kathie was able to reschedule our flights to Sunday, arriving on Monday Morning. This took up much of the extra time opened up with Steve's cancellation. We did however miss a planned reunion with the Bounds. They are another couple that we knew in the early days of family life. The Bound's are living in England and had to return from Easter Holiday in Ireland on Monday morning. 

Flying to Ireland    
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On Sunday our friend Gail picked us up at about noon to take us to Regan National. We got to Regan and checked in at ticketing. The American airlines ticketing agent had some problems figuring out how to charge us for the schedule changes and eventually just let us handle it in JFK with the Aer Lingus agent.

We took off about 3:00PM EDT and arrived at JFK a little after 4:00.  We thought that we had allot of time in JFK (about 5 hours) but by time we walked from the arrival gate, found the Air-Train shuttle to the International terminals and straightened out the ticket changes, we only had about 90 minutes to relax.

My carry-on luggage contained a laptop, cameras, equipment, a change of clothes, 2 Packages of Oreos, and 2 Packages of Reese's Cups.  The cookies and candy were for the O'Connor's children and were in my carry-on to prevent any breakage. The resulting  bags were tiresome to carry across the expanse of two JFK terminals. Two more items were needed.  I bought 2 liters of Jack Daniels at the duty free shop. Luckily the walk to the gate was short.

While waiting to depart, we had a bite to eat at a sandwich shop in the terminal. Soon after eating we went through security and were soon on our way into the plane. The plane was a little late taking off but we were able to make up the time in the trade winds. At about 10:20 EST we were in flight.

The flight was about 7 hours plus a 5-hour time zone loss. We got good advice to sleep on the plane and stay awake on the first day. The flight served a meal in the first hour of flight and Kathie and I managed about 4 hours of sleep before landing.

Arriving in Shannon.    
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On approach to Shannon, I got a nice look at Western Ireland from the Air.  Beautiful green farmland and great seashore seemed to be in store. We landed a little before 9:00 AM GDT (Greenwich Daylight Time).

We checked in through customs where they checked our passports and we entered the luggage area.  Unfortunately for us our luggage never got off the flight. We were told that if found our luggage would be delivered to our hotel in Waterford. After filling out the paperwork for lost luggage we left the luggage area for the main terminal and met Liam and Maria who were waiting for us. In the terminal I took about $50 out of my pocket and exchanged them for about 35 Euros.

On the Road to Cashel.    
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The plan for the day was for the O'Connors to drive us to Waterford via Cashel and Cahir. The first task was to load into the O'Connor minivan. The luggage that we had left was no problem to load. The big problem for me was getting into the passenger side of the van. It took most of the day for me to stop trying to hop into the van from the right. Our plans did not include a rental car until Saturday, so I was taking every advantage to learn left side driving and Irish traffic rules from Liam.

Soon we were off on the open highway and my first observation was that Ireland had no shortage of Castles or Bed and Breakfasts.  Liam later told me that the B&B industry is very saturated and many are having problems staying in business. One surprise was to find palm trees outside of many homes and businesses. As cold as the Irish climate seems it is rarely severely cold. This allowed palm plants to survive. Soon we were out through Limerick and on our way to Cashel.

The Rock of Cashel or Lefties make Better Attackers            
Cashel Pictures
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The town of Cashel presented our first taste of a small Irish town. The small shops and pubs became the signature of all the towns we saw. Cashel was the home of the Rock of Cashel, a 12th Century Castle given up to the Church and used until the 19th century.

During the tour we learned about the basics of Castle construction. We learned about machicolation and stumble stairs. Stumble Stairs are spiral staircases made of stone in castles. They were purposefully spaced unevenly to keep attackers off balance. Additionally the ascending (attacking) staircase was usually a clockwise trip. This forced the sword fighters who were all trained to use their right hand to use their right hand for balance. Machicolation is slots built above the entrances to castles where hot water and oils could be poured to chase off attackers.

After the tour of the Rock of Cashel we stopped in the town and found a small coffee shop and had some coffee and scones.  Then we were off to Cahir for our second Castle tour.

Buying Gasoline    
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Along the way Liam stopped for gas when he found a good price. While everyone in the states was grimacing at prices approaching $3 we drove up to a price tag that read 1.08, which at first glance looks like a throw back to 20 years ago. As I learned in Physics "Watch your units". This was not dollars per gallon but euros per liter. So roughly if you multiply the cost by 4 to get to gallons and 1.25 to get to dollars the price of the gas was $5.40 a gallon.

Cahir Castle   
Cahir Pictures
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Although not as big, Cahir proved to be slightly more quaint and the Castle tour had more Castle to investigate. The castle is one of the best preserved Norman Castles in Ireland. The whole castle was full of stairs and rooms and walls to explore. The Suir River formed part of the castle moat and had a nice town park along its shore. The town had one main road that was exposed on the hill, making it quite picturesque.  After a thorough exploration and tour we found our way off to Waterford.

Arriving in Waterford    
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Just outside of Waterford Liam pulled over at a castle tower that at one time was open for exploration. When we walked up to the gate there was a sign that announced that it was no longer open to the public. I was able to shoot a few pictures and then finish our trip into Waterford. At Waterford the Suir River is navigate-able by larger pleasure boats. The river front area is very nicely planned and the town is a lovely blend of traditional and modern architecture.

Liam and Maria dropped us off at the Marina hotel and left us to check-in. Check-in went smoothly and as we finished I asked the desk person if any luggage had been delivered from Aer Lingus. She said that our bags were in the room. Aer Lingus did us a favor since we didn't have to carry the bags across Ireland. If only I could have been sure of the outcome, I would have worried allot less.

Our hotel was on the river and our room looked out over the water. The room was small but clean. It had a TV and a double and a single bed with not too much extra space. All the rooms in Ireland had Irish / England 3 prong 220 volt outlets in the room. I made sure all my chargers and my PC transformer took 220 volts and had 2 plug adapters purchased at home. This worked with little problem. The only problem we had was a travel hair dryer that Kathie borrowed from Gail. It overheated very quickly when used.  Luckily all rooms in Ireland had a dryer hardwired into the electrical system and stored in a desk drawer.

The room in Waterford had no Internet access. The only access in the hotel was a coin-operated computer in the lobby that cost 1 Euro for 8 minutes of access.
Once we settled in we called the O'Connors and they came to pick us up to spend the evening at their house eating and getting caught up. We returned to the Hotel at around ten that evening with plans to tour the Waterford Crystal plant the next day.

Waterford Crystal      
Waterford Crystal Pictures
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On Tuesday I woke up at about 5:30 and decided to take the camera and tripod out to get morning pictures along the waterway outside the hotel. After that I returned to the hotel, dropped the camera off and thought I would try to catch breakfast. I took an exploratory walk through downtown Waterford. I was aware of a McDonalds in the middle of town so I headed in that direction to see what I could find. What I found, was that nothing was opened at that hour of the day.  Even the McDonalds and Burger King didn't open until 9 AM. In fact the standard hours of business in Ireland were 9 to 5. Liam told me about the day he was working on his sailboat and needed a purchase from the local hardware store.  When he got there the store was closed for lunch. In this respect it is quite a different world.

Looking from hotel	Looking toward hotel

I returned to the hotel and waited for Kathie to get up and we had breakfast at the hotel. After breakfast we walked to the O'Connor's which was a little over a mile away. They lived in a development where all the houses had the same architectural style and colors. It reminded me of a California neighborhood. Their house was a little smaller than most American houses but otherwise was much like any house in the states.

From the O'Connor's we left for the Waterford Crystal Factory.  The first part of the tour was a walk through their shop full of very expensive items. The real tour took us to see the mold makers, glass blowers, glass cutters, and etchers. I was surprised to find out that most of the workers were paid by the piece.

Reginald Tower      
Reginald Tower Pictures
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After the Waterford Crystal tour Liam gave us a drive through the streets of Waterford. He showed us where some of the walls and towers from the original stone fort still stand. We then proceeded to Reginald Tower which was a 13th century tower that was part of the Town of Waterford's defenses. The town's claim to fame is that they were the only fort to hold off Cromwell's advances.  Of course they made a deal with Cromwell days later. But they still claim to be the oldest continuously existing city in Ireland.

The tower had exhibits on every floor and a slide show on the top floor.  After the slide show our tour guide offered to get the key to let us out on the top outside level. What a great view of the city!

Waterford Experience      
Waterford Street Pictures
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After Reginald Tower we found a nice nouveau restaurant in town for lunch. I had a chicken Caesar salad. After lunch Liam departed to get ready for their trip to Glasgow the next day. Maria gave us a walking tour through Waterford and got us to the Waterford Experience where she let us tour the museum while she did some shopping.

The Waterford Experience was an excellent historic look at Waterford. Unfortunately I was not feeling very well and had trouble concentrating on the exhibits. Kathie seemed to enjoy the tour. After we finished the tour we stepped outside just as the museum was closing.  Because the schedule got confused we lost track of Maria. After waiting for her at the museum for a while we started to walk back to the hotel. Along the way Liam found us and picked us up in his van, then we hooked up with Maria and headed for the hotel. 

Getting dropped of at the hotel my nausea turned into a full-fledged violent reaction.  Luckily I got out of the van just in time. The rest of the evening was spent nursing a few Sprites and resting. By the next day my stomach had settled and we were ready for our trip to Dublin.

On to Dublin    
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The next morning I was feeling much better. Kathie and I got up for breakfast and I ate light, toast and juice. We checked out of the Hotel and Liam and Maria picked us up for the trip to Dublin. The trip was very good. We got to see more of Ireland. The most impressive was the Wicklow Mountains. The tallest of the mounts was Sugarloaf.  I wonder were they got that name from?

We arrived in Dublin about 1:00 PM and the O'Connors drop us off at the Bewley's Hotel, our home for the next 4 days. The Bewley's was an old Mason's lodge converted to a hotel.  The lobby, restaurant and hall areas were a grade nicer than the Quality Inn in Waterford. Our room was slightly bigger and it had a CAT5 Internet connection and room safe.

I brought with me our VOIP unit and the smallest cheapest phone I could find at Best Buy.  I was interested to see if I could get VOIP to work in Ireland.  So one of the first things I did before unpacking was to plug it in. Sure enough I got dial tone and was able to call as if I was sitting in my living room. Later in the week we called Rachel and our friend Gail. This turned out to be a good alternative to paying for extended cell service. The only problem is finding Hotels with CAT5 Internet connections. The Bewley's was the only one we found on our trip.

The restaurant terrace at the Bewley's	The outside of the Bewley's

Ballsbridge to City Center      
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The Bewley's was in the Ballsbridge neighborhood about a mile from the city center of Dublin. Kathie and I decided to walk to St. Stephens Square, which was on the edge of the City Center. After one false start we found our way to St. Stephens Square which was a beautiful park with great gardens, ponds, gazebos and benches. Across the street from the park was the St. Stephens shopping mall. On the way to the park we crossed the Grand Canal and got the see some of the streets in the area.

On the walk back we found an Italian restaurant that sounded safe for testing out my stomach.  I had spaghetti that tasted great and worked to settle the stomach. We then returned to the hotel for the evening.

Trinity College      
The Streets of Dublin day 1 Pictures
Trinity College Website
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The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel and walked to the center city. Along the way we passed the United States Embassy. There was a queue outside the service window every morning we passed this area. Our first stop was at Trinity College. They have an exhibit of the book of Kells, which is a 9th century transcript of the four Gospels. All hand printed with unbelievable detail. The exhibit also had the book of Armagh and the book of Durrow. The tour ended in the Long Room. This is large 2 story high room with antique books in lines of bookshelves from ceiling to floor.  We got to see the workers who cleaned and restored these volumes. The center of the hall had an exhibit on Samuel Becket and a display with the oldest known Irish Harp.

Kilmainham Gaol  
Kilmainhan Gaol Pictures
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From the college we walked across the street to the statue of Molly Malone of song fame. This section of town had great shops and pubs throughout. We ran across an old church now converted to a tourist information center.  We did a little souvenir shopping and learned about the tour buses available to us. We chose the City Tour bus that for 15 Euro gave a guided ride to most of the major sites in Dublin for 24 hours. The buses were Red or Yellow double-decker tour buses. The color determined a slightly different route. Our first stop was Kilmainham Gaol. Of course we picked the wrong bus but with a 15-minute wait were able to transfer.

Kilmainham Gaol is a 19th century jail with a long history that included some early reform in the thoughts on crime and punishment. It also was the scene of  the execution for participants in the 1916 Easter Uprising. The history of which is very interesting. The short version being that somewhat unpopular IRA members took over much of the City of Dublin and centered their uprising at the General Post Office. After a bloody and destructive battle the English took back the city and arrested a few hundred participants.  In the next days, the leaders were executed by firing squad a few per day. The one woman leader up for execution was given a stay hours before her time. The last leader executed was recovering from severe wounds in Dublin Castle. He was deemed healthy enough for execution and driven to the gaol. Here he was too weak to be taken across the yard where the others had been shot. He was tied to a chair because he could not stand and then shot.

The outcry from this man's treatment was so loud that all the executions stopped.  Eighteen months later all arrested for the uprising were pardoned. All those executed although not popular at first had become martyrs for Irish freedom. The woman who had been given the stay was then free and later won a seat in Parliament. In 1922 the Republic of Ireland was formed when the English handed over the keys to Dublin Castle.

After touring the Gaol we got back on the tour bus and got our first look at the Liffey River, O'Connell Street and the General Post Office.  We chose to leave this part of the tour until later. We did exit back in the Trinity College Area and walked from there back to the hotel. That night we had dinner at the Bewley's and got ready for another day in Dublin.

Dublin Castle and the Chester Beatty Library    
Dublin Castle Pictures
Chester Beatty Library
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On Friday we got up and had breakfast.  At Kathie's request we found the bus route that would take us to the City Center and attempted to use public transportation to get into town. Unfortunately I did not have exact change so we got off the bus and walked once again. Being far sighted was a problem in a land where 5 Euro was the smallest paper money and I wasn't familiar enough with the coins to know what denomination I was using without reading the coin.  The values were only on one side of the coins also. Being far sighted sent me for my reading glasses every time I had to pay for something.

Soon we found ourselves at Dublin Castle. Dublin Castle is the seat of Irish Government and also has the Chester Beatty Library. We started at the Library, which had a great exhibit on sacred scripture from most of the world's major religions.  The books on display were from as far back as the 7th century and from around the world.

Next we took the castle tour, which showed us many of the room used by royalty including the thrown room, the grand ballroom and the main drawing room. The ballroom is used for the Prime minister's swearing in ceremonies.

The last part of the tour took us down underneath the Castle where an arsenal tower from the original castle was discovered in the late 20th century.  The excavation exposed some of the original moat and gate structures.
 
Christ Church    
Christ Church Pictures
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After Dublin Castle we caught the tour bus to the Christ Church of the Holy Trinity. The Christ Church is an operating Church from the 11th Century. The church and the grounds were great from the outside.  The inside was interesting, especially the crypts in the basement.

I the afternoon Kathie ran across a convenience store that offered Dublin bus tickets. As it turned out we could buy a ticket for 5 Eruos that was an all day pass on the system. We bought 2 tickets each, One for that day and one for the next day. We hopped a bus back the hotel to rest for dinner.

With the new found freedom of an all day bus pass we returned to the city to find a place to eat. Unfortunately we hit the town on Theater night and any restaurant of interest was packed. So after thoroughly beating the streets to find a place we returned to the Bewley's and had dinner there.

Driving in Ireland or Lefties Make Better Shifters  
Dublin Streets on Day 3
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The plan for Saturday was to tour the O'Connell street area then take a bus to the Budget Rental Car location to pick up our rental car.  The O'Connell street area is north of the Liffey River and has it's own set of attractions. The Liffey River has quite a few shops and pubs along the streets that line it.  It also has footbridges that cross it along these streets. The center of attraction in the area seemed to be the Boulevard in front of the General Post Office.  We saw protesters and vendors in the area. It also contained statues and the tallest (394 feet) freestanding poll in the world.  Erected in 2002, this stainless steel spire symbolizes modern Ireland.
Using the bus system was not hard. Finding the Budget Rental Office was somewhat harder.  But we found it. Soon I was learning to drive on the left of the road in downtown Dublin. Kathie got a few new gray hairs. I was also relearning how to drive a stick shift. We ended up working our way through the City Center of Dublin and on to the Bewley's. This trip took longer than expected.

The Guinness Store House      
Guinness Store House Pictures
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After parking the car at the Bewley's we headed back to O'Connell Street to catch a connecting bus to the Guinness Storehouse. We had problems finding the bus stop for the connecting bus route going in the correct direction.  We ended up taking the bus in the wrong direction and looping back to get to the storehouse.  
Between the rental car adventure and the bus adventure we got to Guinness a little late, but we entered the tour and went straight for the Gravity Bar. This is a bar at the top of the warehouse and where the free samples are given out.  The bar had a great 360 degrees view of the Dublin. After drinking our sample we went down the 7 stories of museum. The content varied from advertising history to manufacturing and shipping. The first floor had the obligatory gift shop, where we bought most of our souvenirs.

After our tour we caught the bus to the City Center and had dinner at the Bewley's Restaurant. We weren't sure if this was related to our Hotel but it served a nice meal. We then found our way to the Bewley's Hotel and started to get ready for the next day of checkout and travel.

Dublin to Blarney    
Blarney Pictures
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On Sunday we got up had breakfast at the hotel, packed the car and checked out of the Bewley's. Getting out of Dublin proved to pretty easy.  The signs were well placed and the round-abouts were easy to negotiate. The hardest part of driving on the left was judging where I was on the road. Sitting on the right instead on the left significantly changes your perspective. The car I rented was a Renault that was smaller than my Neon. The roads are a little narrow, but not trusting my position on the road made the roads feel even narrower.

The next location we chose to visit was the Cork area. The trip took us back through Waterford and down along the Southern shore of Ireland. About an hour out of Cork is a small seaside town called Dungarvan. I had two bicycle related items on the "Must Do in Ireland" list. The first was to ride in Ireland. The second was to visit a little museum in Dungarvan. I never got to ride so the Dungarvan Museum became a very important site for me to see.

We stopped in Dungarvan and found a beautiful seaside town with a small town square, nice shops and restaurants and a museum that was closed on Sundays. So we walked around town then continued on our trip. On the way out of town was a scenic rest stop where I pulled out the camera and had a field day.

The hotel chose was in Blarney just outside of Cork.  We chose the Blarney Castle Hotel based on the ratings on the web and a reasonable price.  We were a bit weary of the location fearing that it might be a bit of tourist trap. We were very pleasantly surprised to find a beautiful little hotel with about 15 rooms.  The room we were given was on the top floor. It was more elegant and roomy than any place we had stayed.  The hotel was across the street form a large green square in a quaint little village.  On the first floor were an authentic Irish Pub and a nice dining room.  We had dinner at a local cafe that was very pleasant.
   
Back to Dungarvan    
Dungarvan Pictures
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On Monday morning we had free breakfast in the Hotel. The crepes I ordered were delicious. I talked Kathie into returning to Dungarvan. We drove back and took a beeline to the Museum. The Museum had two small rooms of exhibits. There in the first room as we entered was the Holy Grail of bicycle artifacts. It was the earliest known (1869) trophy given out for a bicycle race. My quest was complete.  On the return trip we again stopped at the scenic overlook. The day was more overcast than the day before, but I still enjoyed the shoot.

Blarney Castle    
Blarney Castle Pictures
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We returned from Dungarvan to Blarney to take the Blarney Castle tour. After 4 other castle tours we weren't sure what to expect but we thought since we were so close, and the Blarney Stone was the most famous tourist spot in Ireland, it was worth the time. It was well worth the time.  The castle was well preserved and nicely documented with signs. The interior had no wooden floors, as was the case with many of the castles. This allowed a great view of the castle interior from all floors.

The Blarney stone is on the top floor of the castle. A photographer covered the best camera angle with a digital camera. He had a wireless link back to a booth on the ground. It obviously  was a racket. Kathie wasn't interested in kissing the stone and I didn't want to ask Kathie to be pushy enough to get my picture kissing the stone, so we skipped the kiss.

The most remarkable part of the castle was the grounds. There were acres of immaculately kept gardens and landscaping.  Kathie and I took a walk on the path around the grounds that took us through forest, and glen, with lovely brooks and interesting rock formations, natural and man-made. After the tour we took a walk through to the Blarney Woolens Store. This is a great shopping and restaurant complex. We spent an hour just looking through the store.

Kinsale    
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For dinner Kathie and I decided to drive to Kinsale and find a place to eat there. The drive to Kinsale took us through Cork. Cork is a rather industrial looking shipping town. The Lee River and bay area in the center of cork had a large ship that looked as if it was being built or refurbished. The Traffic on Monday afternoon was very heavy and getting through town took awhile. The later the day went the colder the air got and heavier the mist got. We also missed a turn-off to get the major road into Kinsale.  The road we took was very narrow with stonewalls close to the sides of the road. The weather was getting worse and to top it off a bus was tailgating me.

After about 8 kilometers we finally reached a T in the road. The cross road was slightly wider. We took a right. Luckily the bus took a left. After traveling a bit further Kathie suggested we just return to the hotel. I was just ready to turn around when we saw the sign for Kinsale only a few kilometers away.

I have no pictures of Kinsale although it is a picturesque fishing town. The weather was so bad that I didn't want to subject the camera to it. We parked the car on a street up the hill from the town center. We picked the spot because it was available. It turns out the parking was across from Max's. Max's was a somewhat famous restaurant and wine bar in Kinsale. We stopped in to get change for parking and also found a table for dinner even thought we hadn't made reservations.

We had a great meal although I skipped the wine and we both skipped desert. I did not know what the trip back had in store. It turns out the getting back was much easier than getting their. The major highways were better marked getting to Cork and heavy traffic was gone when we reached town.

Off to Ennis      
Ennis Street Pictures
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The next morning we took advantage of the hotel breakfast, packed the car and headed to Ennis. This trip took us back through Limerick and past Shannon Airport. The Ennis West County Hotel was our next and last hotel for the trip. This was the least desirable of the accommodation for the trip. It wasn't at all as clean as the others; the plumbing was noisy and leaked on our last night.  It did have wireless Internet access but only in the lobby. The restaurant in the hotel was much closer to cafeteria food than a nice restaurant.  The hotel must have been a major tourist stop as well as a stop for those staying over from Shannon airport.

Ennis on the other hand was a nice little town with good shops and restaurants. We walked into town and checked it out soon after arriving in early afternoon. We ate at the restaurant in the hotel. This was where we discovered the quality of the food. The next morning we had a small breakfast at the hotel and started off to the Cliffs of Moher.

The Cliffs of Moher      
Cliffs of Moher Pictures
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The next morning we started out for the Cliffs of Moher. Our trip took us trough Ennistimon. There a left turn was required and when I made the left I found myself grille to grille with a bus that was taking 3/4 of the road.  I came to a quick stop then did my best to maneuver out of the way of the bus. The bus made the turn and I pulled back onto the road, but I found the edge of a curb or small wall with the left side rear undercarriage of the rental car.  I stopped to check the damage, which was real, but not bad so we pushed on.

Ireland in April seemed to have alternating warm and cold weather. It was never so cold that my light jacket didn't make me comfortable. Kathie thought that a few of the colder days were beyond comfort. When we got to the Cliffs of Moher it was the first time I was wishing I had a pair of gloves. The Cliffs of Moher are on the west coast of Ireland right next the North Atlantic. I told Kathie that this is where the cold was coming from.

The Cliffs of Moher and O'Brien s Tower were spectacular sights.  The walk from the parking lot to the viewing location was a quarter mile walk with the wind in our faces. The view from the beginning had my tripod out and camera clicking. The walkway along the cliffs edge was about a quarter of a mile and at the end was a fence with a no trespassing sign. Many tourists were climbing over the fence to get a view from on top of the cliffs.  Kathie and I opted out of the fence climb and returned to the car. O'Brien's Tower is a 19th century tourist attraction. The brochures say that you can see the Aran Islands and Galway bay from the top of the tower. The tower is going through renovations and was closed for the year.

Doolin    
Doolin Pictures
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From the cliffs, we proceeded north to Doolin. Doolin is a small village that had some small shops and O'Connor's Pub.  It is also the docking point for the Ferry that takes people out to the Aran Islands. Once again, the town and shoreline kept the camera clicking.

Monk's      
Galway Bay Pictures
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We left Doolin to find the Aillwee Cave somewhere around Ballyvaughan on Galway Bay. We were unable to figure out where the cave was but found Monk's restaurant right on the water. We had a great lunch. Kathie had a great seafood chowder and brown bread. She said it was the best seafood chowder she ever had. After lunch we finished the loop back into Ennis.

We decided to look in Ennis for a restaurant for dinner. We ended up at a pub whose name we have already forgotten. The food was good but not exciting, but the atmosphere was that of an authentic Irish Pub.

Bunratty Castle    
Bunratty Castle Pictures
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On Thursday morning we stopped into Ennis to have breakfast. We found a little cafe that served breakfast.  Afterward we stopped in town to run few errands and buy some candy as gifts for back home. We then went to Bunratty Castle, the last of the castles for our tour.

Bunratty castle was a restored castle so the floors and many of the rooms were in tact. Actually rooms could be lived in and some had heaters. The restoration took place in the 1950's and many of the furnishings had a 60's feel to them. The seats in the dinning room had naga-hide coverings and the upholstery cried out of 60's materials.

The tour of the Castle was only a small part of the tour.  The grounds around the castle were made into a village and farm grounds museum.  There were examples of huts and houses and shops from the last 200 years of Irish History. There was a small village town with shops and houses. There were old farmhouses, a transplanted church, a mill and an estate mansion. This was all very Disney like in its layout, but very authentic.

Bunratty Castle had the closest inter-twining with my family history.  In the 17th century Bunratty castle was besieged with Sir William Penn inside. It is believed that his son William Penn was there as an infant. Of course this William Penn was the founder of Pennsylvania. William Penn's son Thomas later sold a plot of land in central Pennsylvania to Johan Heinrich Brumbach in the 18th Century. That was the first Brumbaugh to come to America.

That night we went to The Poets Corner for dinner. It was a great pub restaurant in downtown Ennis. We had a great meal then returned to the hotel.

Going Home      
Condi's stops in Shannon
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On Friday morning we got up, packed, checked out of the hotel, and had breakfast at a small bakery in town. After breakfast we headed to the car and ran into street performers. These performers were playing, Mandolin, Guitar, and Violin. They were playing a standard jazz melody that reminded me of Stephan Grappelli. I didn't have allot of time but listened to part of a song and threw a Euro in the collection basket. We also ran into the Friday Farmer's Market on the streets near where we parked the car.

Back to the car we took off for Shannon with a stop at the gas station. We returned the car and explained the accident to them. I was told that the rental car office gets about 20 accidents a day from mostly American drivers. Luckily I was well insured.

In the airport we checked in then went to get a snack at a restaurant, then moved into the first waiting lounge for international flights. There we turned in our tax-free slips and quickly moved through customs and onto the gate. Much to my surprise there was a US presidential plane at the gate next to our plane. Several other Americans and I guessed that it was some member to the Bush administration.  After getting home and searching on the web I discovered that it was Condoleeza Rice on a refueling stop on her return trip from Iraq.
We soon loaded on the plane and spent the next 7 hours in flight watching in flight TV, reading and watching out the window as we flew over Iceland/ Greenland and Canada.

We got to JFK with 2 hours to get to the connecting flight. We had to get our luggage through customs and then check it in at the American Airlines terminal. In JFK I was worried about getting this done on time. We managed to do all this with over an hour to spare. The flight back to Regan was not eventful and Gail was there to pick us up soon after we retrieved our luggage. We were home!