Galway

My post from last night didn't 'post' it's up now, but I am sorry for the delay.  Last night was a bit hectic.  We got back from the tour around 8pm.  We ate a late dinner in Temple Bar and went back to the apartment.  I found that the dry cycle didn't dry, so I had to start it again.  We also had to start packing and cleaning the apartment since we had to be checked out by 10am.

In the morning as I was cooking breakfast I found that the dry cycle last night still hadn't dried our clothes.  Argh!  I turned the machine on one more time and gave it
 a little kick for good measure.  We ended up having to leave with our still damp laundry packed in the laundry bag in our luggage.  First thing I did here was check out the clothes washer.  It's a much better machine.  We now have dry clothes.

Heuston Train Station in Dublin

Ceannt Train Station in Galway

 



The rain greeted our arrival with gusto.  Ceannt is a very small train station.  But Galway is pretty small town compared to Dublin, with only 72,000 residents compared to the 1.2 million who call Dublin home.

 

We are now in the Gealtecht, the Irish speaking region of Ireland.  While Irish is the official language of Ireland and is a compulsory course for all school kids only 1 in 3 Irish people understand the language to some degree.  Local TV shows and radio programs are in Irish but the majority of Galway City is populated by English speakers.  Listening to Irish on the TV, it reminds me of a less guttural version and shortened of German.  You can hear it's ties to Scandinavian languages.

 

The view from our patio.  The tide is out but the rain is in.

Jeff is waiting for a break in the weather to venture out and explore.

Our break came and we went out to explore the Salthill area of Galway.

 

What a cute post box.  Jeff rolled his eyes at me when I made him stop so I could take this photo.

Umm yeah...I don't know what it says either.  This is from a stone monument in a gas station parking lot. 

 

 The weather is suppose to improve later in the week but for now I think our rain jackets will be put to good use.  We're looking up day tours to Kylemore Abbey and to the Cliffs of Mohr and down the west coast.  I guess we'll see how much we can accomplish while we're here.

 

For now I am off to cook dinner and to free up this computer for William.  He's bored for the first time this whole trip. Guess that's what happens when it's dumping rain, you only have 12 channels, 9 of which are in a foreign language, and you're a sulky teenager.

 

Have a happy Saturday everyone.



We Go to Church

Someone out there saw fit to give us glorious weather today for our trip south to Cork.  As a way of saying thanks, we took ourselves to St. Coleman's church in Cobh. (Pronounced Cove)

But first we visited the lovely city of Cork, Ireland's 3rd most populated city.  We only had 90 minutes so we didn't get to wander around all that much.  We did visit the English Market and found a great sausage place to have lunch.

 

Cork sits on the River Lee

On the bridge looking toward the main tourist area.

The street lights were designed by a Spanish architect to look like sails.

I peeked down an alley and this church looked back at me.

The English Market.  Kind of like a small Pike Place

 Cork seemed to cater to a younger population.  Lot's of jewelry shops, maternity shops, and place that advertised services for weddings and romantic getaways.

From Cork it's a 20 minute drive to Blarney where we sat on the bus and waited to go somewhere else.  Just kidding.  Of course we went out and kissed the Blarney Stone.  The castle was amazing!  It's all open for you to explore and imagine what the rooms might have been like 400 years ago. Fortunately  I have a very active imagination so that was a lot of fun.  Unfortunately I have an active imagination which went into overdrive every time William climbed up on a window opening, or went in to explore a cave.   The stairs going up to the Blarney Stone are original and they are worn smooth, uneven and treacherously steep.  I can't imagine climbing them in bad weather when they would also be wet and even more slippery.

However, as I said earlier, the weather was on our side.  The sun was out, the wind was only blowing in short fits and for the first time all week I was actually warm.  To kiss the stone you have to lay down on your back, grab two iron poles behind your head, and lean out over the edge of the castle.  I was petrified.  William went first and I wasn't going to do it but I gave myself a quick kick in the ass and manned up.  What I didn't do is pay the 10 euro for the photo at the end of the trip.  We all kept our photo tickets they give you when you kiss the stone as proof that we braved the 70 foot drop. I am guessing at the height but it's pretty dang tall.

Looking at the castle from the path through the grounds

You use this rope to help you climb the stairs up the tower

 

Looking down the stairs

The view is the reward for reaching the top.

In addition to the castle and the stone, Blarney has beautiful gardens.  Including a Poison Garden wherein every plant within it is poisonous in some way.  Again I felt blessed with such a beautiful spring day to see some of the flowers that were in bloom.  We took so many pictures that I can't possible load them all onto this blog post.  If we have a boring day in Galway next week maybe I'll put up more Blarney pictures.

The last stop on our tour was Clobh, the last port of call for the Titanic before she sank 3 days later.  There is a great museum with a guided tour dedicated to the Titanic.  We opted out of this, and instead wondered the town and waterfront.  In the summer months, cruise ships sail into port here and off load 30 tour buses worth of passengers.  Yikes!  Glad we missed that.

Jeff took a million pictures.  Seriously.  I began to wonder if he would ever leave.  I just grabbed a couple of them.  He has a picture of each station of the cross, that nave, and pulpit.  Every last detail inside. He kind of geeked out like I did yesterday with the Book of Kells.

We came at the right time of day to catch the sun through the windows

The mosaic floor was beautiful

Lovely little waterfront park

The cathedral dominates every view of the town.

William vs. cannon.

The drive back to Dublin took a little over 3 hours.  Tour buses are the way to go.  We sat back and napped most of the way.  Tonight we have to pack up and get ready to say goodbye to our Dublin home.  It's been good to us and I'll miss it.  I won't miss the washer/dryer though...infernal machine.  I hope the one in Galway is easier and quicker to use.  If not we'll be a stinky group heading home.

Good night everyone.

We Go To Jail

Best place to go for a mini history lesson.

The small white-ish squares are the remainders of the
gallows that used to 'grace' the front entrance of the prison.

Weather was a bit dicey today but the rain held off long enough for us to venture out to The Kilmainham Goal.  This historic prison was open from 1787 to 1924 and was the final home to many of the men who fought for Irish independence.  The prison held men women and children in deplorable conditions but during the famine many people committed crimes just to be sent to the prison where they would be fed.

Inside of one of the original cells



Stairs to the basement where the kitchen, laundry
and solitary confinement cells were located.

William trying out a cell for size

 

Names of the last prisoners executed in Kilmainham

The rock breaking yard where the 1916 rebellion leaders were executed.

I am so glad we went.  It covered all my favorite subjects, architecture, history, and sociology.

Jeff is wearing out with all the walking.  We've been taking the bus the past two days to reach the farther points of Dublin.  But there is still a great deal of walking involved in getting anywhere.  We stopped at a pharmacy on the way home to buy some cream for muscle cramps. He's in taking a nap now.  I hope the cream helps him.  He's such a good sport.  Even though his legs hurt he still wanted to get off the homeward bus early so we could walk through Temple Bar and over Ha'Penny Bridge.

Weather is still very breezy near the river.

 

 

James Joyce is  such a dapper ol' chap.

Well, William is making grumbling noises about being hungry so I guess I better quit typing and start cooking dinner.  Tonight is chicken and steak pies and salad.  We found white and black puddings but didn't have the nerve to buy them for tomorrow's breakfast, so I guess it'll be cereal and toast.

P.S.  Hi Kelly, how are my kitties?  We miss you guys.

Guinness is Good for...someone.

Guess where we were today?

We got a very late start today. All of us slept in until 11 am.  Even starting so late I feel like we did a lot.  Yesterday we picked up some sausage rolls to cook for breakfast this morning.  This meant I had to figure out how to use the oven.  Setting the temperature, not a problem.  Figuring out what the other knob did...well I took a guess and was rewarded with the oven turning on and 15 minutes later I had the necessary bribes to get the boys out of their beds.

I bought post cards yesterday so first order of business was getting them into the mail.  Luckily for us the General Post Office is just few blocks away.  The General Post office is where Patrick Pearse read the Proclamation of Irish Independence in 1916.  It was also the rebel headquarters, and the sight of a bloody 5 day siege. The building is grand, I'll need to get a picture from across the road to capture all of it..  Here are the ones I did take though, you can see the bullet holes in the columns.


Front window of General Post Office

Bullet holes for the siege in 1916

Lobby of the GPO

Beautiful original wood postal box.

Because of all the walking we did yesterday, we thought it would be a good idea to take the bus to the Guinness Storehouse.  They are double decker just like in England, so you get a really great view while they careen around town.  I am of the opinion that you have to be crazy to drive around here.  People pay no attention to crosswalk signals and the drivers barely pay attention to the traffic lights.  All the street signs are on the buildings and most of them you can barely read, even when you are right on top of them.  There is no way someone unfamiliar with Dublin would be able to navigate with any ease.

On the bus we passed Christ Church Cathedral, where we saw that they were filming a movie.  No star sightings though.  Oh well.

The Guinness Storehouse is very underwhelming on the outside.  It's tucked into a neighborhood with the main entrance accessed by a small alley like road.  Like everything we've found in Dublin, it doesn't put on airs. It presents it's self to the world as it is, a nearly 250 year old brewery who sits comfortably with it's neighbors and welcomes you with a smile.

During the tour I think Jeff took a picture of everything in the building.  He was entranced by all the old tools and machines.  He even recorded the video on how the barrels were made. He may not like beer but he likes the process of making it.  I am only uploading a few of the photos to give you a taste of what we saw.  Haha, get it?  A taste of the brewery.  I crack myself up.

After the tour you go to a tasting room and are given a small glass of Guinness.  We drank ours...barely.  We just aren't beer people.  Jeff did better then I did, I could barely choke down the second half of my glass.

 

 

We washed away the bitter brew with some Irish stew on the 5th floor.  William found some odd Elderflower soda that he had to try.

 

He enjoys odd drinks, yesterday he found a soda called Lilt which is Pineapple and Grapefruit.  On the way home this evening he bought banana milk.  I am glad his stomach is stronger than mine.   I guess this is why he isn't that adventurous with food, you can only gamble with half your meal.   He's wisely chosen the half that won't leave him starving if he makes a bad selection.

 

From the bar at the top of the Storehouse you have a panoramic view of Dublin.  I wish the weather was better so we could see a bit further. I also wish I could figure out why I can't put captions on any of the photos from our camera.  Photos from our phones I can caption but nothing else.  Stupid Google software.

Looking NW at the Wellington Obelisk  and Phoenix Park

 Looking North, I can't remember what church that is in the distance.

 Looking NE, the spire is the Millennium Spire, but I've heard people call it The Stiffy on The Liffey.

 Looking East toward Trinity College.

Guinness storage silos to the south.  I think these ones hold barley.

 

After we left, we caught a horse drawn buggy and went to the Kilmainham Goal, but unfortunately we missed the last tour of the day.  I think since the weather is suppose to turn nasty tomorrow we'll  

 try again.  It's on my must do list and it's a good inside activity.

 

On the home front, I think I just heard the washer/drier shut off.  I hope it worked this time.  The first time I ran it today, I don't know what it did.  Maybe just the spin cycle because the clothes were dry, cold and well aired.  I tried it again before we left for dinner and this time made sure water was actually being used.  When we got home an hour later it was still running.  And it's been running for the two hours since then.  The knobs like the ones on the stove are written in some kind of secret code that I will decipher, so help me Buddha.  But it will have to wait for later.  It's past midnight and I have to get some sleep.

 

Good night everyone.