Ireland Day 7...

Day 7.

We made our way from Dingle to Adare this afternoon. This was one of the destinations on the tour that I was most looking forward to.

Although it’s only for a single night, we are staying in what was a real manor house.

The evening was planned to take advantage of all of the manor's amenities. We had dinner at the manor in their restaurant. The food was excellent. The option existed to choose a 7 course tasting menu, but our whole table would have had to make that choice, and there were a few at the table that were less adventurous than others, so everyone decided to go ala carte. After a wonderful meal, we spent the evening in the pub located on the lower level. They had a guitar player who played some songs from the U.S. as well as some Irish tunes. We had a great time in sing-along mode. We enjoyed many beers and whiskeys before returning to our rooms for the night.

ND and Adare Manor House

Our traveling companions Sheila and Brian decided to take our driver David’s suggestions to practice some falconry while at the manor. They invited me along, and then gave me a treat by asking me to participate on their dime. Hell… when am I going to get that opportunity again...? I agreed to participate even though it means an early morning. 

Brian with the golden eagle

There were 8 or 9 birds, with the largest being a golden eagle. Brian was the only one who held the eagle, but the rest of us held all variety of birds, including an Asian owl. 

The handler with the asian owl

After holding the birds, two were selected for some flight. This involved the handler placing a piece of meat on the glove and letting the bird fly in and land on your hand to grab it. It is quite an interesting experience to have a hawk swoop in and land on your gloved hand. After many flights the birds were well fed and the falconers were ready to move on to our next adventure.

Brian catching a hawk

After the falconry we boarded the bus and headed toward Dublin. Adare was wonderful.  I’d love to stay at the manor house again.

-ND

Ireland Day 6...

Day 6.

The day began with a trip to Dingle Crystal. It was an interesting comparison to the crystal we saw being produced at Waterford Crystal just days before. The owner and primary crystal craftsman gave us a tour of his workshop. He demonstrated cutting a few pieces. While I admittedly am not a fan of cut crystal, I do love the craftsmanship involved.  

The Dingle Crystal Workshop

We spent the day touring around the ring of Kerry. There are some beautiful stops along the highway that simply must be conveyed visually.  The hills surrounding Dingle become mountains, and the road that takes you through them becomes more of a goat path. It is so narrow that it doesn’t even have a center stripe. 

Along the way we found a beach with a path from the mountainside and a car park. We decided to make a stop for some quick photos.  It was really a beautiful beach, and the stop turned into about an hour of milling around on the beach. I learned that writing in sand is harder than you would think. (I suspect that it helps if you have something better to write with than a plastic knife that washed up out of the ocean.)

We had lunch while at the visitor center for the Blasket Islands, and then headed back toward Dingle. We spent the afternoon visiting local shops and pubs. We found this local art gallery and decided to take a quick visit.

We found no Dillon's on display

Our evening ended pretty much like every other one… pubs, pints and people watching. Tom and I once again closed out the evening together. We met a really nice family who was visiting Dingle, and they directed us to a great “late” pub. In reality it was more of a dance club, but the people we met were nice, and everything else was closed. 

Dingle was a great experience, and I’m already looking forward to visiting again in the future. A special shout-out is necessary for my friend Colette for her recommendations on where to visit. I’m really sorry we only missed you by a few days.  

-ND

Ireland Day 5...

We moved from Cork to Dingle today. We were surprized this morning with a visit from Mairtin De Cogain. For those that dont know him, he is an Irish performer that lives in the states, and is originally from Cork. I have met him several times at Paddy Malones in Jefferson City at performances sponsoed by the pub. It was nice to see him, and he was generous enough to pose for a picture with M. and I.

Dan - Missy - Mairtin

Allen was feeling a little under the weather. Along the road we remembered a traditional remedy that  might provide some relief... what can we say... we aren't doctors.

 

Nothing like a little Jameson to cure what ails ya. 

As we arrived in Dingle we decided to take a quick stop at Inch Beach for a quick photo shoot. The weather wasn't perfect beach weather, but it was beautiful either way. 

Dan selfie with M. in the background.

Had dinner at Lord Bakers. A fine restaurant in Dingle. M. noticed the disclaimer on the side of my beer bottle. I thought I'd share it with you.

I love these people.

We spent the evening at a traditional music night, and then returned to the hotel. We were tired and had been headed to bed until we realized that there was a wedding reception at the hotel. Simply put... we crashed the wedding and made some new friends.

Dingle day 2 is looking like great fun. Keep reading and I'll keep writing.

- ND

Day 4...

Another day in Cork. Today we visited the English Market. What a cool place. The winding hallways have vendors lining the route, and they have everything you could ever want. We had a picnic planned for the afternoon, so we did some shopping to provision ourselves before driving to Fort Charles. M. and I got some wonderful prepared sandwiches and a variety of breads, cheeses and crackers.

M. at the English Market.

The rains came as we started our tour at Fort Charles, so we decided to finish the tour and head to town for a quick picnic in a park. As it turned out we found a great public square to eat and people-watch. It was perfect, and by lunch the sky had cleared.

After our picnic we drove back to Cork, and had a quick rest before meeting for dinner. M stayed in for the evening while some of the group headed out to a wonderful restaurant for dinner.

 

Elbow Lane in Cork

As has become custom, we hit a few pubs to close the evening. We hit The Castle for the second night, and again enjoyed the wonderful service and atmosphere provided by Mary and her husband.

 In the snug at The Castle

Tom and I decided to walk back to the hotel. The night was beautiful, and Tom seems to always be looking for a good picture. We did manage to get some photos, but even better we got a great story out of it.

Tom's near perfect sense of direction may have been slightly addled by some whiskey earlier in the evening. I don't say that because mine was any better, but simply because that is where our adventure started. I think I'll save the story for a post of its own because it will take some telling to get it right.

That's all for now. Keep reading and I'll keep writing.

-ND

Day 3...

We traveled from Kilkenny to Cork today. Having not been in the southern part of Ireland, I didn't know what to expect of the landscape. I'm finding it in contrast with the terrain I remember in the north. The southern part of Ireland is filled with rolling hills and farm fields. There are occasionally grazing herds of cow and sheep, but mostly farming. The harvest seems primarily to be grains. Wheat and corn typically. We traveled the longer road that routed us along the sea, and the views were incredible.

This is a shot from Charles Fort in Kinsale

In the afternoon we took a tour of the Old Jameson Distillery. I enjoyed the tour, and now have a better understanding of the distilling process. It is nice to know that a significant portion of the white oak that Jameson uses to age its whiskey is harvested in Missouri. Any time we get a shout out for the home state it's a good thing. The free samples at the end of the tour were appreciated.

The water wheel used in the Jameson grist mill.

In the evening we had dinner at a nice local restaurant. I had my first fish of the trip, and because I had neglected it for so long, I had a medley of fish options all on one plate. There was salmon, monk fish and cod all in different preparations. I enjoyed my fish with a salad and potato leek soup. All were wonderful.

As has become custom, we ended the evening with a tour of the local pubs. There are many, and we visited a few. We enjoyed some time in the snug at The Castle pub. 

More adventures are planned for day 4. Keep reading and I'll keep writing.

- ND

Day 2...

The morning weather must have known that we would have outdoor activities planned. The near perfect cloudless sky soon became gray and the rains came. This wasn't the misty rain I'm used to here, but a driving rain that wet us to our cores.

We were not deterred from our visit to the Rock of Cashel, and spent some time soaking in the ruins and the Irish rain.

 

Stone carvings at the Rock of Cashel

Ruins of the church at the Rock of Cashel.

After the Rock of Cashel we moved on to Waterford to have lunch and a tour of the Waterford Crystal manufacturing plant. The tour was very cool. We were able to walk through the plant as the craftsmen were making product, and saw all of the steps of production. I love watching things being made so it was a really exciting opportunity to see craftsmen at work.

Glass blowing and forming.

We had a nice lunch at The Reg in Waterford before heading back toward Kilkenny for our evening pub crawl. We had a lovely day, and I'm looking forward to heading to Cork tomorrow.

Thanks for reading.

-ND

Day 1 Part 2...

After a rest at the Hotel, we spent the evening in Kilkenny searching for a pint and some entertainment. We went to The Field, which is known as the keeper of the worlds largest hurley. Legend has it that the hurley was once owned by Finn MacCool. I'll leave it to the reader to decide.

M. relaxing outside The Field   

Fin MacCool's hurley (hanging from the ceiling).

We had dinner at the hotel, and enjoyed a few beverages at the hotel bar. Day one was wonderful.

Keep reading, and I'll keep posting. Much more to see and do.

-ND

Day 1 Part 1...

We had a great time on day 1. Most of the day was in Kilkenny or in transit, with the activities centered on pubs and music. Now that we have a home base for two days, we will be doing some sightseeing and of course, visiting some more pubs.

We stopped at the Irish National Stud and Gardens which was interesting and beautiful. We admired the horses and gardens, and had a coffee. After the evening in Dublin, the coffee hit the spot.

Our day began with a stop at Morrissey's. Quite an established pub, and filled with character, and characters. We stood on the sidewalk and enjoyed a quick pint before moving down the road to Kilkenny.

I'll update more as I can today. Keep reading and I'll keep posting.

-ND

Tour Pre-Party Was A Success...

We are now officially assembled as a group. Today, the last of our group arrived in Dublin. We picked them up at the airport on the way toward Kilkenny. Everyone else arrived at least a day early, and while to tour wasn't officially started, we certainly got things going.

Our Sunday evening was spent in a mini pub crawl in the vicinity of Temple Bar. Although the weather was disagreeable, M. spent a moment posing for a picture outside our first stop. (Pay no attention to the photo-bomber. It is just our guide who clearly isn't shy.)

We met some fine fellows at the Foggy Dew. Ironically, two fine Irishman named Allen and Dan spent some time with us after the Irish Football match.

Dan-Allen-Dan-Allen...

After the Foggy Dew we took a short walk to the Stags Head. A fine public house, but slightly crowded when we arrived. We had a bite to eat, and a few pints.

Before dinner we made one final stop at the Bankers Bar. The highlight of the visit was Allen belting out an Irish song. It's too much of a story to type now, but Allen rose to the occasion when challenged to sing Irish songs in an Irish bar. They didn't know who they were  challenging.

This was the best shot I got of the pub. It was late enough in the evening that I no longer was shooting scenery, more portrait stuff.

Finally, at the recommendation of Allen, we stopped in for a late dinner at a fine Italian restaurant. It was as good as described. In keeping with the consumption of beers in harmony with their surroundings, I finished the night with something different.

This morning we started touring, and I have a bunch more to post but need a quick nap before dinner. We had a nice lunch in Kilkenny today, and another music session. Perhaps I'll have an update later.

Keep reading, and I'll keep posting.  Slainte!

Dublin...

The second worst part of the adventure is over. We survived the travel from home to Dublin without incident. The flight on Aer Lingus was wonderful. There were only a few travel delays, and they made little difference due to our arrival time. Most importantly, our baggage was taking a revolving tour of the carousal as the Irish gentleman from customs stamped our visas. (How anyone is that chipper at 5:15am in the morning will always be a mystery to me) So basically we traveled completely unscathed.

Our first stop is the Trinity hotel. We are hours away from a check-in, but sitting in the lobby gives me time to write a quick post and post up a few more pics. The staff at the front desk provided M. and I with a card for a complementary breakfast. I'm sure a little food help me get some rest, but until I have a room I'm not sure I want anything to eat. I will probably pass out immediatly after eating, and me sleeping in the lobby will surely knock one star off the Trinity Hotel's rating.

 The Trinity Hotel Lobby

While we haven't officially done anythig yet, I can't help but be excited for the adventures of the next few weeks. We are going to do and see so much. To be doing everything in the company of friends just heightens an already incredible experience.

That's all for now. Keep reading and I'll keep posting.