Thoughts and Musings of a Tired Mind @ciquinn23 - Tumblr Blog

thought i’d post since it is very truthful!

Remember this, girl, you are half sea. No one ever asks the ocean to quiet her storm, so why do you keep apologizing for yours?

Pavana पवन (via unveiledtremblingliesaroseling)

wordsnquotes

I am so afraid of disappointing the people I love, I often forget that I am someone I love too. And I need kindness just as much as I believe the people I love do.

Nikita Gill (via wordsnquotes)

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I’m just tired; I just want the world to be quiet for a bit.

Matt Healy (via wordsnquotes)

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Everyone’s pain is different… I don’t like when people compare. I don’t like when people marginalize their feelings because they think they’re not allowed to have them. Someone will always have a tougher go than you. Does that mean you’re not allowed to feel hurt? To be sad?

S. Walden, LoveLines (via wordsnquotes)

wnq-writers

Most of the time I’m silent, but I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you to the few people in my life that look after me, care for me, never let me hurt for too long. Thank you for staying by me even when I make it seem like I don’t need you.

shadesofabrown (via wordsnquotes)

Well today was our last full day here in Ireland. I'm very sad about it. It's been amazing here. I definitely want to come back!! We started it off with a very large breakfast in Kilkenny and then headed to Carlow. Carlow is where Thomas (my great x3 (I think) grandfather ran a few pubs and his brother ran a cigar shop before moving to Dublin. As you can see from the photos the cigar shop is still there! Way cool. Unfortunately the hotel (where someone related to me was born by surprise) is now apartments and a parking garage. It got torn down about 15 years ago according to one of the shop owners on the street. But we did find the cigar shop. We moved on from Carlow, after a pause at the library (which is also the local museum and info center) to see if anyone was in to talk genealogy, but they're only in on Mondays and Tuesdays. We headed to Athy (ah-thigh) where my great x3 (I think) was born. Once again we were met with a closed heritage center. A helpful man on the street said that someone in O'Brien might be able to help us so we stopped in there. We talked with the owner and her father and then they called the local genealogy guy, Clem (I can't make this stuff up), to get him to come over. He went through a bunch of stuff with my mom and finally found out that Thomas's father, John, ran a pawn shop (or something similar) on 53 Dublin street. Unfortunately that is now a parking lot, but we ran into another genealogy fellow who told is very little that was specific to the McDonald's, but said he would be interested to know more of what we know and get the photos of the paintings of our ancestors that we have. It was a bit more of an adventure than mom had originally looked for, but we did make it to Dublin on time and dropped off the car. We paused for a pint at Against the Grain (http://www.galwaybaybrewery.com/againstthegrain/) which is right downstairs from tonight's AirBNB (https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/12007567?s=8&user_id=28584816&ref_device_id=bc11a70139591408) (it's a little loud because it's definitely on Dublin's funnest street...). After sorting and repacking we headed back to our favorite place (The Green Hen). Unfortunately they were FULL, but they sent us to Pichet (http://www.pichet.ie/) their sister restaurant around the corner. They said they were pretty full as well, but when I stated we were sent there by the Green Hen they made room for us. Dinner was delicious! Duck breast (for me), lamb (for dad) and halibut (for mom). I also had this amazing old fashioned (Phil, if you're reading this, you would love it): bulleit, perrique liqueur, peaty scotch, bitters, simple syrup. It was to die for. We headed home for the night. Mom and I stayed up late chatting and enjoying our last night. I'm sad it's over. They're off to the airport at 9a tomorrow for a 12:20p flight and I'm headed there around noon for a 4p flight. Slainte! Love!! Until next time. [Photos: Cigar Divan; What's left of the Royal Hotel; Map of Athy; Miniature of O'Briens; Athy; beer list at Against The Grain; Roast Duck Breast at Pichet; From our front door tonight (at 10:08pm)]

Today we explored quite a bit of Kilkenny. Most of what they call the “Medieval Mile” (http://visitkilkenny.ie/ireland_medieval_mile_in_kilkenny) here. I love the history here. It’s so interesting and different, yet similar to our own. I will say that the people here suffered. Between plagues, genocide, oppression, famine and lack of opportunity they certainly had some hard times.

Anyway, after a light breakfast we headed to Kilkenny Castle (http://www.kilkennycastle.ie/) (I will say - that while this AirBNB is kinda crap it is fantastically located). The castle has had something on its site since medieval times, but the castle (at least parts of it) that stands now was started in the 1100s. They did an amazing job restoring it. They have a lot of before photos about halfway through the self guided tour so you can see what the public works people started with (little more than a shell) and what they have now (an amazingly restored building).

While we were in the portrait gallery within the castle the power turned off and back on again. We thought nothing of it until we made our way out to the stores nearby. The whole section of town we were in had lost power. I asked the clerk and it is not a common thing. No one really knew what was going on and a lot of stores shut down temporarily until the power was restored. It was definitely strange. We didn’t need power to make our way to the Rothe House (http://rothehouse.com/) so that’s what we did. By the time we got there most of the power had been restored.

The house is interesting. The historical society that now owns the place is still in the process of putting it back the way it was when the Rothe’s occupied the house. In the meantime they are using it to display some of their collection from that time as well as things that they’ve found at the site. It’s definitely interesting. The gardens out back are pretty enough now, but will be beautiful once they truly start blooming. The Rothe House has an interesting set up since its really 3 separate houses that were all connected and progressively built from front to back as the family grew (11, maybe 12 children plus the Mr. and Mrs.).

After finding some lunch we went to the Smithwicks Experience (http://www.smithwicksexperience.com/) it’s pronounced in the English fashion just so you know, Smith-icks. Our guide Patrick was very informative. This tour has definitely been crafted, but it was really interesting. The history of the family is sad, but neat as well. Smithwicks brewery had another man’s name over it for 150 years because Catholics couldn’t own or run a business. We also got to try the sweet wort (the water that has barley steeped in it that becomes beer (preyeast)) which I’ve done before with home brew, but this is the first time a professional brewery has provided that part of the experience. Needless to say the tour was very comprehensive, interactive and interesting. To top it off we got to try a three of the Smithwicks brews (we liked the original the best, but that’s beside the point).

After leaving the brewery we headed to the end of the Medieval Mile which is St. Canice’s Cathedral and Round Tower (http://www.stcanicescathedral.ie/). The tower predates the cathedral (9th century as opposed to 13th century (although it is believed to be a place of worship since the 6th century)). We climbed up the tower first. Man, that was a little nerve wracking, 6 flights of ladder steps to wooden platforms as the building progressively gets smaller… yeah no thanks. But the view was worth negotiating the 6 people coming down while I was going up all those stairs. We could see out to the mountains (they weren’t super visible because of the rain, but oh well).

After making our way down (through 10 other tourists (most of them French)). We went into the cathedral. It has been beautifully restored. The stained glass is stunning. It is a little odd because there are a lot of graves inside the church. I know this is common, but it’s still strange to think about coming in for worship and kneeling on your great great great grandfather or something.

Anyway - we wandered back home again and then out to find some dinner (which ended up being steak, and was delicious). Now off to bed with me. We have to be up early tomorrow to head to Carlow and Dublin. Love!!

[Photos: Kilkenny Castle; The Fam in front of Kilkenny Castle; the Kilkenny Castle sitting room; me standing under a great deer skull and antlers at the Rothe House; the tapestry restoration happening at the Rothe House; inside the Smithwicks Experience; the Fam outside of Smithwicks; St. Canice’s Cathedral; the Fam on top of the Round Tower at St. Canice’s; inside St. Canice’s]

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This morning started off a little slow… everything to do with the late night and nothing to do with the drinking actually. We said goodbye to Eileen and walked down to the Cobh Heritage Centre (http://www.cobhheritage.com/).

The Centre and the Cathedral were the two places, that if we didn’t have more time to spend here, to see. Let me say the Cobh Heritage Centre is really great. It definitely has a lot to offer and gives you a lot of information. The town started off as a port town named Cove. When Queen Elizabeth visited she renamed it Queenstown and after the 1916 rebellion they took back the Gaelic version of Cove and called the town Cobh.

The a lot of people left from Cobh over the years some by choice and some not so much. This is where the convicts of Ireland were shipped out to America or Australia. This is also where indentured servants caught (or were captured and put on) ships to the New World. It was the last site of Ireland for many emigrants. It was the last port of call for the Titanic (where 7 people got off and 123 people got on) and in the front lines of the rescue effort for the Lucitania. They definitely have some interesting and tragic maritime history.

We had a quick snack at the heritage centre and then we were off up the hill to St. Colman’s Cathedral (http://www.cobhcathedralparish.ie/ (there’s a virtual tour in this link you should totally check it out)). Man is this place awe inspiring. It took 50 years to build. There are a total of 49 bells in the Carillon. It’s over 300ft tall. And it’s beautiful. The architecture and stained glass work is amazing. It is an absolutely stunning center piece to a relatively small town with lots of history.

We headed out of the church and back to town proper (after a quick stop to see Jack’s son’s art (http://jackhickey.ie/index.html)). We grabbed a quick bite at The Titanic Bar and were off again. This time headed to Kilkenny.

On the way we decided to stop at the Rock of Cashel (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_of_Cashel). It was quite an impressive sight. Unfortunately we got there 15 minutes after the last admittance, but we got to see it from the outside. It seems as though they are working to restore it as parts of the compound were covered with scaffolding. It will have to be added to the list of things to see on the next trip (along with Kinsale (everyone in Cobh was upset we didn’t go there), and where ever else Dawn asks me if were doing that we aren’t 😃).

After some misadventure with the GPS (let’s just say addresses are weird here…) we finally ended up at our Kilkenny AirBNB (https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/7093137?s=8&user_id=28584816&ref_device_id=bc11a70139591408). Let’s just say the photos in the listing were taken when someone actually cared for this place. It’s not a dump (and it certainly has the best wifi I’ve had over here), but it’s not in the best shape. There’s lots of paper about as well as dead light bulbs or bulbs that were never replaced, some cracks and holes that need repair and a lack of attention to detail that the other places have had. Our host didn’t meet us here, she did not respond to the message about our arrival that my mom sent this morning, and we had to call her to be told that the key was under the mat. So far I’m not impressed.

We wandered around Kilkenny, after unpacking, in search of dinner. This town definitely rolls up its doors at 6pm. It’s similar to Dublin in that way, but unlike Dublin there aren’t still a million people out and about going to dinner or the pubs. It is a bit weird feeling. We finally settled on Matt the Millers (http://www.mattthemillers.com/) mostly because we were in search of salads and good music and Matt’s fit the bill. It is probably the most stereotypically American place we’ve been to without actually being American. Think sort of like Apple Bee’s with live regional music? It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t fantastic either. The music was, once again, the highlight (2 men - one singing and on guitar, the other changing between the button accordion and tin whistle). That’s about it for our adventures today. Now to sleep before the wander tomorrow. Love!!

[Photos: The Roaring Donkey - where we went for great local, trad music; pictures from the Cobh Heritage Centre; My parents outside St. Colman’s Cathedral in Cobh; inside St. Colman’s Cathedral; Mural of Jack Doyle (a local hero) painted by the Jack wemetlastnight’s son; Titanic Bar in Cobh (best seafood chowder thus far); The Rock of Cashel; St. Mary’s Cathedral in Kilkenny; Matt the Millers - where we had dinner]

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We left Killarney and headed back west this morning. We decided before going into Cork proper we would go visit Blarney Castle (http://www.blarneycastle.ie/).

The Blarney grounds are beautiful. I’m pretty sure we could have stayed there all day and not gotten bored. We only got to see a small fraction of what was offered, but it was pretty neat. We explored the grounds a little (including the notorious poison garden) and then headed into the castle which essentially meant into line to kiss the Blarney Stone (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blarney_Stone). We ran into a family that had gone on the Ring of Kerry Tour with us there which was pretty neat. Dad and I both kissed the stone when we got up there. Mom blew it a kiss, but she’s kissed it before back when she visited in high school so that should still count, right?

We wandered the grounds a little more after that. We saw the fern garden and a waterfall and the Blarney House. It was built in the 1700s by a family that bought the castle, but didn’t really like living in it. Evidently it was mostly destroyed by a fire at some point. It seems as though they’re doing renovations on it now as it was not open to the public.

We had a quick lunch in town and then headed to Cork proper. Let me tell you parking was a pain there, but the city was pretty neat. We stopped in a few churches. There are a lot of churches and cathedrals all over Ireland. They are definitely a very spiritual people. They are not as religious anymore, but definitely spiritual. We stopped at the Cathedral of Saint Mary and Anne (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_St_Mary_and_St_Anne) for a minute and then moved down the hill to St. Anne Church and Shandon Bell Tower (http://www.shandonbells.ie/). The stained glass inside was very beautiful.

After that we wandered even further down the hill to the Cork Butter Museum (http://www.corkbutter.museum/). It was kind of neat. It had a lot about how butter was and is made, but it also explained the history of butter in Ireland. Cork Butter was shipped through out the world, but it had to go through the Cork Butter Exchange first to be authenticated. There was also an exhibit on bog butter. They keep finding barrels of butter burried in the bogs. They’re not sure if it was a ritual or if they burried the butter in the Bog for storage.

We headed down the hill to the Lee River and across it to find the Crawford Art Gallery (http://www.crawfordartgallery.ie/) It was an interesting gallery with a lot of Irish art in it. My favorite section was the Harry Clarke area (http://www.harryclarke.net/).

After visiting the gallery we had to find the O'Conaill Chocolate Shop (https://m.facebook.com/pages/OConaills-Hot-Chocolate/184300661598942). That place certainly lived up to its reputation. The hot chocolate was to die for.

Then we headed to the English Market (http://www.englishmarket.ie/). That place has a lot of history which is sort of placed around, but it’s mostly a working market area. We bought croissants for breakfast the next day.

We sat down outside the market to figure out our next step (go to the library to download a cork walking tour, go to the Cork Gaol or head to our AirBNB). We settled on the BnB, but stopped into Rising Sons Brewery (https://m.facebook.com/RisingSONSbrewery/) for a pint along the way.

Then we were off to Cobh (pronounced Cove) (which is the one of the largest natural harbors in the world, second only to Sydney) to meet our lovely host Eileen (https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/5215793?s=8&user_id=28584816&ref_device_id=bc11a70139591408). She told us a lot about the area, but that’s for tomorrow when we explore the town.

After a lovely dinner of lamb shank (mom and I) and sea bass (dad) we walked back to our place to relax before heading out for the night. We happened to be fortunate in our day of arrival - the local pub, the Roaring Donkey (http://www.theroaringdonkey.com/) has a music session on Wednesday nights. Brian, Eileen’s husband, drove us up to the pub after a stop at the overlook (it was really beautiful - more photos later).

The pub was already crowded when we got there. I made friends with Elizabeth, an American girl visiting her uncle with her brother, Alex, and Jack, a local man. Jack said that they French had taken over the back room (where the music is played), but that they were tourists so they would likely leave at half past 11 (he was very right).

We finally made our way into the room with the music after meeting Jimmy, a lovely baritone with one lung, and Jerry, a ballad singer and composer. The neat thing about this place is that none of these people are paid to be here. They come and sing and play whatever they like on Wednesdays because they want to not because they have to. It was a very awesome experience.

After some good company, great music, lots of beer and laughter we headed home. We got in at about 1:30a so that’s why this blog is so late. Love!!

[Photos: Blarney Castle, Poison Garden, Dad and I on top of Blarney Castle, mom and dad on Blarney grounds, Blarney House, Cathedral of Saint Mary and Anne, Stained glass in Saint Anne Church, Cork Butter Museum, Harry Clarke Piece, Statue that commemorates all the emigrants (there is one matching at Ellis Island)]

Well today's adventure was definitely of the special variety. We got on another bus and headed to the Gap of Dunloe (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gap_of_Dunloe). We started off at Kate Kearney's Cottage (http://www.katekearneyscottage.com/) which is a place where a woman who was 102 years old died in childbirth. They didn't tell us much about it otherwise. After some short instruction I got up on a very reluctant horse and my parents waited around for their horse and trap cart to get set up. I headed out before them, but they soon passed me. I was riding by myself which was a bit odd, but fine. And then about 2 miles in my pony decided it wanted to go back home. I tried to get it back around a few times, but it either would just stand still and not budge or fight back around to facing home. I eventually just gave up and let it go home. I wasn't going to argue with it for another 5 miles. The gentleman that got me on the horse tried to get me to go back out again, but another said I wouldn't make the boats so they put me in a car with a very nice man and drove me out to meet a trap cart with only 2 people in it. He dropped me at the top of the final pass of the gap so I got some nice photos and then hopped aboard with an Australian couple and proceeded to get 20 questions from the driver about myself because I was "fresh meat" which was fine. He told us about Black valley which only gets sun from 9a-11a (or something ridiculous) in winter time and a man who was sort of like Nostradamus and predicted the future from a book, but the book was stolen or lost when he died. He was very kind. And Jesse, the horse, was very slow unless he made her speed up, which she didn't like to do. I finally made it to Lord Brandon's Cottage - only about 30 minutes after my parents so that was good. It was definitely a good day to be outside - warm and mostly sunny. After a bite to eat we walked down to the docks where we were catching a boat to Ross Castle. We took a boat through the upper, middle and lower lakes. It was a little damp, a little cold, a lot long and a lot uncomfortable, but it was definitely a nice way to see the park and be "one with nature" as people kept saying. We met a few people from New Zealand and New York on the boat with us. The one guy from New York was obsessed with fishing and kept asking our captain the best places to fish, but he was nice. After getting to Ross Castle we had about 3 seconds to take photos and explore and then our bus driver herded us on the bus to sit. And wait. For 40 minutes. For the rest of the people to show up. I was a bit annoyed. Overall I'm not sure I would do the Gap of Dunloe again through a booking agency at least. The only thing the agency provided was a bus to and from the beginning (which wasn't close to town) and end (which was close to town) and the boat ride ticket. We paid for everything else and didn't really get a guide even. We went home and took naps/showers/relaxed. Had a dinner of sandwiches and then went our in search of some Trad music. We ended up at O'Connors. There were lots of people crammed into a small space. The music started around 9:30. It was good, but inconsistent (anyone surprised?). We actually ran into the family from New York in the bar as well as a few others who had done the Gap today. O'Connors was evidently the place to be. After a couple of Guinness we headed home. Now if to bed. We're headed to Cork in the morning. Love!! [Photos: Pony; Me on the pony; Gap of Dunloe; Jesse the trap pony; Lord Brandon's Cottage; me finally arriving at Lord Brandon's Cottage; mom on the boat in the upper lake; pass from the upper lake to the lower lake; Ross Castle]

Today was a special day. Today was the first day that I slept for 8 hours the night previous since arriving in Ireland. It was also the day we did the Ring of Kerry tour (http://www.oconnorautotours.ie/tour_ring_of_kerry_daytour.html)! Previous to the tour is mostly breakfast, getting a little lost, then found, putting my contacts in the incorrect eyes (I'm special...) and then fixing it. Anywho, we got on a semi full bus with our driver John O'Neill, who worked hard to make the whole trip entertaining. The rules were stated repeatedly, but the main ones were no food or hot drink and if you weren't back at the bus by the specified times you'd be left behind (he kept saying he left some one the day before, but as we went on I began to doubt that (it was more to keep everyone courteous to each other I think)). I've linked the Ring of Kerry Tour Map here: https://goo.gl/maps/yg1uqo9Js3A2 Our first stop was the Bog Village (http://www.kerrybogvillage.ie/index.htm), but first we had to drive through Killorglin where every year for 3 days in August they capture a wild goat and crown him king of the town (http://puckfair.ie/). Evidently they feed him cabbages and other yummy foods and at 6p everyday he gets a small bucket of Guinness. At the end of three days he gets marked to show that he's been king before and is released back into the wild. It's a little crazy, but kind of cool and evidently has a 400 year old history. To be honest the Bog village was kind of lame, but I did get to see Irish wolf hounds and bog ponies. They did have the ruins of Bridget O'Shea's home. This was an example of what we had been seeing all over the place. Homes that people abandoned or evicted from during the potato famine. We also learned that at that time people were taxed for the size of their windows which is why a lot of the poorer houses have smaller and fewer windows. I will say that the Red Fox Pub, next to the Bog village, had the best Irish coffee that we've had thus far. Also you get a discount on it if you tell them you went to the village...just saying. As a side note there are actually Tidy Town competitions... I thoughtthat was just a joke in Hot Fuzz. One of the town's on the Ring of Kerry is competing. I will say it looked very tidy. There is also a Kerry Dark Sky Reserve (http://kerrydarksky.com/) which I would love to visit, but I don't think we have time to, plus it doesn't get dark until like 10:30 here. Oh well - next trip. So our next big stop after the Bog village was the sheep dog trials (http://www.caitins.com/index.php/sheep-dog-trials/). There we met Brendan Ferris who told us about the thirteen types of sheep listed below. I took some notes, but I can't spell so good luck finding these guys if you're really interested😉. Sheep: Well shear - because it sheds and you don't have to shear it. Rouge de la rest - from France Border Lester Shetland Suffolk - most popular Friesland Herdwick - Swedish - grey Soay - brown horns Viking Dorset - new Zealand Hampshire - Easter/spring land Kerry heal Jacob sheep Black mountain Walsh The Galway sheep Brendan also told us about fisherman sweaters: each family had their own pattern - could order your sweater from a family of the pattern that you liked the most and then arrive in the post months later. Now we have the Aran sweater company so we don't need to do that anymore. Next he spoke to us about the dogs. Each dog follows it's own set of signals for words and whistles. He takes 3-4 dogs out to collect sheep to change out if they get tired. It takes 16 months to train a dog for competition. Cost of dog: Puppy - 150 euro Trained dog, but not competitive - 800-1,200 euro Trained for competition (IF you can get the person to sell them) - 7,000-10,000 I took some video of the actual demonstration. It was very cool. The dogs definitely live for it. We continued around the Ring of Kerry and saw a lot of different things. The one place I wish we could have stopped was where there were some Ogham (pronounced olm) stones (http://www.megalithicireland.com/Ogham%20Stones%20Page%201.htm). The ancient history of this place is really interesting to mean. Even more so than the 1916 rebellion. Evidently there are over 40,000 birds nesting on the smaller Skellig island (seen in Star Wars). It looks white compared to the larger... We stopped at the Scarriff Inn (http://scarriffinn.com/) for lunch (the lamb stew was delicious). They boast "Ireland's best known view (fog permitting)". And man did it permit. The view was fantastic! Our final stop was Ladies View (http://www.killarneynationalpark.ie/Ladies%20View/Ladies%20View.htm) which is an overlook made famous by Queen Victoria. It was very pretty. We went on our way after the tour. After a quick stop at home we headed to Lord Kenmare's Restaurant (http://www.murphysofkillarney.com/kenmares.html). Dinner was great all around. We then wandered the shops. I finally found some yarn to take home!!! And mom bought the Quinn and McDonald fisherman's patterned scarfs. I'm going to buy the pattern online to see if I can knit it myself. We wandered some more. Listened to some really great trad music on the street and then headed home. Now it's time for sleep. Gap of Dunloe tomorrow. Love!! [Photos: Statue of King Puck; Bridget O'Shea's cottage in the famine village; Family with the best Irish coffee thus far; lots of different types of sheep (14 breeds total - some not pictured); Ballinskelligs Bay; Ogham Stones; Shuttle loom; mom and I on the overlook at Scarriff Inn; Ladies View; road in Killarney]

We started today with at 6:30am because our room was so bright (2 skylights, 2 windows and no coverings), but Chris made us a lovely breakfast. He spent a lot of time arranging the fruit so I figured I ought to showcase it. They only purchased the church in 2008 and it was pretty much a bare bones structure. Not even an interior wall. It is a very elegant mix of modern and rustic. They also had to follow a lot of guidelines in restoring it because it is a protected building (see historic landmark in US) (some more info about Bookeen Hall: http://www.openhousegalway.com/index.php/event/details/galway-county-building-visit-bookeen-hall/). They really did a fantastic job. I'd go back in a second (just gotta wear my sleep mask next time). In our room (and evidently their room) they have a giant 1800s armoire. Orla found them in town and they were perfect for the church, except that they're huge! Fortunately she was able to get the delivery guys to get them upstairs and in place, but she says that they're permanent fixtures in the house now. If they ever sell it the armoires are staying. We headed south to Bunratty Castle (http://www.shannonheritage.com/BunrattyCastleAndFolkPark/). It was definitely a little touristy, but it was very neat. There are a lot of buildings there outside of the castle. Some that got picked up and moved from their original location and others that are replicas built first on the property. My only complaint was the yellow plaid plastic/oil cloth table cloth that was in every house. They tried really hard to be authentic (even in the stores they put present day beers in the pub along side the historic display, the same with the lace and fabric shop etc), but they couldn't use just regular fabric table clothes or something more from the 1800 period than yellow plaid oil cloth? Oh well. Sadly most of the animals weren't around, but we saw lots of chickens, ravens and goats, a few ducks 2 miniature horses and 2 donkeys. We also got to meet the lovely silly Pat who loves his job and enjoys making people smile. He's the blacksmith at Bunratty. He immediately took us outside the smithy upon our arrival there and had us up in old farm machinery taking photos. He's an adamant Hillary fan. He also has a 300 year old horse shoe that is pretty amazing. The castle itself is very large and ornate. The stairs are all spiral and very small though so if you ran into someone on your way up or down you'd have to back down/up to an alcove along the way to let the other pass (which happened often). But the views from upstairs on the parapets were beautiful. After escaping the castle we went to the Original Durty Nelly's (http://www.durtynellys.ie/)! Which for the Toggle folk is kind of interesting, but the rest of you not so much. I will say that the seafood chowder was to die for. When we sat down there was some weird football/soccer/rugby game on tv, and after 15 minutes of every possible internet search I could think of I found it: Gaelic Football. Yeah - we didn't really know either. It still sounds like a cross between soccer, football and rugby (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaelic_football). According to Wikipedia it is "one of the few remaining strictly amateur sports in the world..." and it is the most popular sport in Ireland. Who knew? (The Irish did...) After leaving Bunratty we tried to do some point of interest sign exploring, but it didn't seem to work out the was we wanted it to. Oh well we will try again next time. We arrived in Killarney at about 6:20 (after I fell asleep in the car again (this seems to be a trend)). Our host Liz was very nice. Her son was cute too, but out of control and trying to get into everything (he's 3). This is the first house weve stayed in that was built for the purpose of being a BnB as opposed to a normal house first then shifted. Its a little odd, but it seems to work and is very nice inside (https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/7630715?s=8&user_id=28584816&ref_device_id=bc11a70139591408). Instead of going out dad and I went into town and got groceries so mom could start some laundry. So we had frozen pizza for dinner. It wasn't too bad as far as frozen pizzas go. Now I'm off to bed (early tonight!!!) because we're doing the Ring of Kerry tomorrow! Love!! [Photos: Chris's fruit art; sign for Quin town exit (we didn't go); mom and I with our Irish coffee; dad and Pat the blacksmith with the plow; me in the wisteria tree (it smelled amazing); Durty Nelly's; one if the four towers of Bunratty; the sign guide for points of interest signs]

Ireland - Day 5

As you can see from my fitbit, today was not exactly a sit around kind of day, but more on that later.

We started our day with a lovely breakfast at Sarah’s house and then drove to our next AirBNB stop with Chris and Orla ( https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1141237?s=8&user_id=28584816&ref_device_id=bc11a70139591408). It is just as beautiful and neat as it looks with the added bonus of having a calm, sweet greyhound named Mouse and a silly, excitable 11-year old boxer named Monkey. This morning we pretty much dropped our bags and ran down to the Cliffs of Moher, but they are very nice interesting people.

Without looking into it too deeply mom and I decided (before arriving in Ireland) we wanted to sign up for the Cliffs of Moher 360 tour with Doolin2Aran Ferries ( http://www.doolin2aranferries.com/trips-and-cruises/cliff-walk-cruise/). It sounds really awesome on the website - go to the Cliffs of Moher visitor center, take a 2.5 hour walk along the Cliffs with a guide and then take a boat ride under the cliffs. Awesome, right? So the 2.5 hour “walk” is actually a 3 hour 8k difficult hike ( https://www.cliffsofmoher.ie/wp-content/uploads/coastal_walk/Cliffs%20of%20Moher%20Coastal.PDF) with a guide, who was great, that does this daily so he got ahead of us often.

To say my feet hurt at the end is an understatement, heck they still hurt a little now. That being said it was a super awesome tour. Tony our guide was super knowledgeable about the flora, fauna and history of the area. when he slowed down enough to tell us things they were always interesting.

As a side note that trail is decidedly not a trail for beginners. It had a lot of ups and downs as well as loose areas and areas of washout (including a bridge). But it was a beautiful day, after the initial rain at noon, so there were tons of people on the trail.

After walking from the visitors centre (which truth be told we didn’t check out for very long because it was soooo beautiful out) to Doolin Pier we all (and by all I mean: mom, dad and I (there was a younger married couple on the hike with us, but they skipped the boat portion because the wife wasn’t feeling so hot (they also were wearing keds for the hike (ouch)))) got on a ferry that would take us right up to the cliffs.

It was really quite awesome! Definitely my favorite part of the day. I felt a little bad because the water was so rough that like 6 people got physically sick (not just queasy and nauseated), but we all did fine.

When we got back to the car we decided to check out the best seafood restaurant in the area (according to Tony) Cullinan’s ( http://www.cullinansdoolin.com/index.cfm/food/). We were fortunately able to walk right in and get a seat. It was definitely a snooty restaurant with all the extra cutlery that most people don’t know how to use properly, but the food was amazing. Bonus - the chef passed his cooked carrots recipe off to my mom when asked. We ended the day with a bang for sure.

The drive home was beautiful. We took part of the north spur if the Wild Atlantic Way (http://www.wildatlanticway.com/home/). I’ve forgotten to mention that the sun goes down at like 9:30-10 here so we’ve been getting lots of daylight hours which has been great!

The area around the Cliffs of Moher is mostly rock country. It is a little bizarre looking at times because the mountains have grass to a point and then they’re just rock to the top (evidently wild goats live up there (thanks Tony)).

I probably have was more to say about today’s experience, but for now, bed. Love!!

[Photos: Today’s FitBit record; George (dad) at Doolin Pier before the storm; me in front of the Cliffs; Marty (mom) and George in front of the Cliffs; me with Tony our trail guide; the end of the trail with our group - Doolin is in sight!; Cliffs from the boat; Cullinan’s; tonight’s digs; Mouse and Monkey on the couch]

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