Back in NY

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Ireland Map

Map of Our August 2011 Ireland Trip



The Numbers Game for Our Ireland Trip

616.....miles driven
13.....pubs
9.....times we ate chips (aka french fries)
8.....castles explored
8.....different Irish beers tried
7.....nights spent in Ireland
5.....nights spent in a different town
3.....times it rained
1.....bad scratch on the side of the car
1.....camera casualty
0.....speeding tickets

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Kinsale, Cashel, and KilKenny

KINSALE: a small, fishing village on the southern coast





We ate at Fishy Fishy Cafe for dinner. The fish on the menu were all caught that morning in the nearby bay. It was so local that the handful of fishermen that provided fish to the restaurant had their pictures on the wall (see above) and their name on the menu next to their catch




These were the biggest oysters I've ever seen...and the freshest!




"Maurice Fitz's Pan Fried Hake" on sauteed courgettes, sun-dried tomatoes and basil, crispy prosciutto and rocket oil.



Murphy's Irish Stout is a local dry stout brewed in County Cork



CASHEL: a town in South Tipperary which houses the historic site, the Rock of Cashel.



The Rock of Cashel


The oldest and tallest of the buildings is the Round Tower dating back to 1100.











KILKENNY: a town that loves their beer and their sports



Smithwick's Brewery (pronounced "Smith-ick's") was an important stop on our route. The brewery is situated on the site of a Franciscan abbey where monks brewed ale since the 14th century.



Beautiful KilKenny Castle with the reflection in the water.



The grounds had amazing gardens and fountains





The sport of hurling is the national game of Ireland. It is VERY popular in KilKenny, as they often dominate the championship. It appears hurling in Kilkenny is like baseball in NY (at least if you're a Yankees fan)...



Bangers and Mash



Deep fried brie - one of my new favorite dishes

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Kiss the Blarney Stone

Though it wasn't a planned destination, Jay and I decided to stop by the famous Blarney Castle since we were in the area. This medieval castle, located in Blarney, Ireland dates back to 1446.







This room served as a dining room that hosted huge parties back in the day.





Climbing the stairs to the top was very narrow.





View from the top of the castle.



Waiting in line to kiss the Blarney stone, also known as the Stone of Eloquence. It was built into the top of the castle and according to legend kissing it endows you with "the Gift of the Gab"- great eloquence and flattery.




The act of kissing the stone is not casually achieved: you must climb many steps that are both extremely steep and narrow to get to the top, then hang upside-down on the outer perimeter of the castle wall in order to reach it.

Prior to the installation of safeguards, the kiss was performed with real risk to life and limb, as participants were grasped by the ankles and dangled over a ledge. Luckily now one can grab onto iron rungs while an old man holds onto your legs - much safer. See video below.









A view of the Blarney Stone from below



Surrounding the castle were extensive gardens, pathways, and natural rock formations given fanciful names such as Witch's Cave and Wishing Steps.


Sunday, September 11, 2011

The Ring of Kerry

After spending the better part of the prior day driving, we decided to relax and take a bus tour around the Ring of Kerry. Touted as the most visited attraction in all of Ireland, this 110 mile, 7 hour excursion took us through breathtaking scenery, quaint towns, and of course, sheep!





Jay, along with many others, started off his morning with an Irish coffee.




The Macguillycuddy Reeks are the mountains seen in the background.




Many of the roads were narrow and twisty around the mountains. Yet another reason why we opted to let someone else do the driving!




We drove through the Dingle peninsula, seen here in the far backdrop, the day prior on our drive down from Galway.




On our comfy bus. Some of the seats had a table attached, as you can see over my right shoulder. We did not have such a seat.


More sheep!





Why did the sheep cross the road?




Speaking of sheep: We stopped to watch a local shepherd give a demonstration on herding. He trains his own Border Collie dogs to do some amazing things. Click play above to watch some of the action.



The Black Valley in the Ring of Kerry is a remote location that did not receive electricity and telephone service until 1978!




A cute little beach town on the Ring of Kerry




This amazing outlook along the Ring is called Ladies View, a name that stems from Queen Victoria's visit in 1861.



Torc Waterfall. Our bus tour was running a bit behind so we were instructed to make the half mile trek to see the waterfall in a brisk pace, lest we get left behind; after six hours of driving our guide was cranky enough to do just that. Thankfully we all made it back in time.




The Muckross House, built in 1843, has 65 rooms! It was sold to Arthur Guinness of Guinness beer in 1899.



Ross Castle




Kenmare, another cute little town

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Ireland's West Coast

Our journey continued down the entire West coast to the Dingle Peninsula. We explored lots of castles, saw numerous sheep, and of course enjoyed many pubs!


The views were unbelievable! Here we are posing at the edge of The Burren, a 150 square mile region of rocky expanse.




We happened upon this castle during our drive and decided to pull over and explore.








Exploring another dilapidated castle.







A local we met on a Dublin bus gave us a great time saving tip for this leg of our journey. His advice: stop in this little town of Killimer and hop on the Shannon car ferry - cutting across the peninsulas this way will save you over an hour drive!




On our way to Dingle while enjoying the beautiful countryside










Sheep everywhere!





Driving around the Dingle Peninsula



One of our first stops in Dingle was to a very local pub for a bite and a pint. Dingle is known for having a much more traditional Irish feel as well as a much higher concentration of Gaelic speaking residents than the rest of Ireland.



Live Irish music was played in many of the pubs. You would have thought these guys were the Beatles the way the crowd was into it!


Up Next: The Ring of Kerry!