Whiskey and the rock

After homemade scones and jam (and another full Irish) breakfast, we headed out to Midleton to the Jameson Whiskey Distillery for the tour. I've never been a whiskey/scotch drinker, although George has so I figured it would be interesting, plus a good opportunity to pick up some nice Irish whiskey. We were on a very small tour of about 14 people, and at the end they asked for 8 volunteers to be Irish Whiskey Tasters. So, I figured what the heck? When in Ireland.... I also volunteered Aunt Marg for the experience.

 

The eight of us got three shots of whisky -- a Jameson, a scotch, and JD from the States. To my total surprise, I actually liked the Jameson...which we had learned through the tour was triple-distilled. The Scotch was OK...but I wasn't as fond of the smokey, peaty taste, and the JD was undrinkable for me. After the tasting, we got a full shot of Jameson, which I drank, although I realized that I have to put water in it to drink it (I know...George is absolutely cringing right now). So, I walked out of the distillery with a nice certificate saying that I was an official Irish whiskey taster, and a slight wobble in my walk.

 

Mom had to drive the car to the next stop, which was the Rock of Cashel, while I sobered up. We weren't sure what to expect, but knew it was a must-see site. When we came round the bend in the road, it was absolutely stunning to see the old stone church on top of the rock overlooking the vista below. It's hard to describe the kind of impact it had, but all of us exclaimed when we saw it. When we got to the rock, we were just in time for a tour with Mary from Tipperary. This was hands-down the best tour guide we encountered on the trip (and we had some good ones). She was full of facts, figures, tales...it was unbelievable and completely engrossing. Luckily, we hit the rock at the right time, as the next week a good portion of it is going to be under scaffolding for a huge preservation project.

 

After Cashel, we headed back to Cahir to stay overnight in an inn with the friendliest host! We decided to go for Italian fare that night...you can only eat so much pub food...and were introduced to Hawaiian pizza with sweet corn! Strange indeed, but it tasted pretty good. Cahir also had a nice castle, but we skipped that one to head off to Waterford the next day.

 

To be honest, Waterford was the only disappointment we had on the trip. They no longer have a tour, so it's just a big building with lots of nice crystal on display, and a big shop where you can buy glasses, etc. As none of us were in the market for crystal, it was a waste.

 

We had some lunch and headed on to Kildare where we arrived in time for supper after grabbing the cleanest B&B we stayed in, with the sternest host we had. She did, however, recommend The Silken Thomas for supper. It was our best meal of the trip with what Mom and Margaret described as the best roast beef they'd ever had. I remember it as a place with a fantastic Pinot Noir from New Zealand, and yet another fast-talking Irish waiter -- friendly but hard to understand.

 

We called to say Happy Birthday to Duncan, and then went back to the B&B to collapse for the night.

 

More Ireland...the Ring of Kerry

I'm actually in England now, and back with access to a computer. I have officially become one of those people that finds it incredibly difficult to be disconnected from the Internet for this long. Next time I leave home, I'm swiping Faith's IPod Touch so that I can have WiFi access where ever I go. Sad but true.

 

Now, back to our story....

 

On Sunday we headed down to the Ring of Kerry, which we had heard was terrifying to drive on, but discovered after driving in The Burrens that it wasn't so bad. Other than a few spots where the yellow lines on the side of the road (almost all roads in Ireland have white lines in the middle, and yellow lines down either side) were actually painted on the grass as the road was so narrow, it was pretty good by comparison. I had a few heartstopping moments driving through Kilarney National Park, where just a few sticks strung together with wire seemed to be the only thing keeping us from plummeting off the side of a mountain, it was actually a great Sunday drive. Oh, and the guy coming towards us driving on the wrong side of the road (i.e. the right side for North America), gave me a little start.

 

Apparently the Ring of Kerry is best enjoyed counter-clockwise, so we took the advice of the guidebooks and headed out through Magillicuddy's Reeks (the mountains). It was one beautiful vista after another. For lunch we stopped at a village called Waterville that was, surprise, right on the water and we all had fish and chips. I'm not a big fisheater, but my rule is that if you're going to eat fish, it has to be next to the water where it was caught. And, it was delicious.

 

After lunch, we headed back around the ring for more breathtaking vistas...good grief! It was almost boring after awhile, it was so beautiful. The most interesting part was seeing all these little sheep/climbing paths on the sides of the hills, and wondering how you could possibly farm on the side of a mountain. We also stopped to take pictures of what looked to be an old village that was just left to ruins. (For some reason I love old broken-down stuff, and Ireland definitely has lots of ruins dotting the countryside.)

 

Once we got into Kilarney National Park, our big stop was Torc Falls. After walking about 200 metres back into the forest, we came upon the "most photographed falls" in Ireland. (And, yes, when I get home, I'll upload all the pictures.) The funniest thing, however, was the guy in the parking lot stuffing some of the local plants into his minivan to take home with him! Apparently National Park means local garden centre to some.

 

It took us about 8 hours to drive the whole ring but it was well worth it.

 

We ended up outside Macroom that night at a B&B in the middle of nowhere...somewhat of a mistake because we had to head back into the local village for supper. Supper was great...but finding a B&B on an unfamiliar road in the middle of the night, driving on the wrong side of the road was not. After we had to turn around the second time, I was just glad we didn't leave the luggage and could go on to the next town if needed. Luckily we found it and tucked ourselves in for the night, after a well-deserved glass of wine.

Ireland ... day 1 and 2

We made it to the emerald isle. After our flight was delayed in TO for 2 hours (due to a customs inspection!), we finally got underway and flew across the Atlantic overnight. Our final destination was Shannon Airport (near Limerick), where we picked up our rental car and headed out to the Cliffs of Mohr.

Mom drove first, while I was in the driver's seat navigating and gripping the door handle as we got used to driving on the other side of the road. Once we got up nearer to the Cliffs, the roads got narrower and narrower, so I was gripping the door harder and harder, and Mom was dropping the "f" bomb more and more. The scenery was breathtaking, including the most beautiful and rugged golf course I've ever seen...overlooking the ocean, with rocks, hills, and blustery weather.

The Cliffs of Mohr, once we arrived, were truly breathtaking. The weather was gray, blustery, and rainy, which seem totally fitting when looking at these Cliffs that had been worn out of the rock over millions of years.

After the Cliffs, we drove along the coast for aways, and into The Burrens. The Burrens are limestone formations that cover the landscape. This is when the driving got truly terrifying. Picture the narrowest road you've driven on in Canada, then cut it by at least a third, then put rock walls on both sides, and cover them with large bushes that creep out towards the roadway. Then, try to drive one way with a car coming towards you at 100 km per hour, around curving, hilly roads.

Luckily we could laugh about it was we took a set of hairpin turns down a hillside into the heart of the Burrens. And, when we got to our Clappabaigh(?) B&B outside of Ballyvaughan, the first thing we asked was where we could find a drink. Of course, after being up for over 24 hours, we were cheap drunks that were sleeping in bed by 9:00.

I, of course, was up the next morning at 7:15 to take pictures of the rolling limestone hills surrounding the B&B to catch the morning light. It was just me and the cows.

After a huge breakfast, we headed out of The Burrens on even narrower roads and back towards Limerick to Adare. Adare is a very quaint town with thatched roof cottages, a 1230 RC Church, and a set of gorgeous ruins. We took the tour for Castle Adare, a partially restored castle ruin from about the 1100s. The tour guide had a Masters in Medieval history, so the tour was completely engaging. (And, yes, pictures to follow.)

Tonight we're staying in Killarney at the KingFisher Lodge and enjoyed walking around the city centre after supper. Tomorrow, it's off to more death-defying driving around the Ring of Kerry.

More to come...when I  can get hold of a computer again.

Working off some energy

Rope climbers
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

We had two extra kids last night (their parents went to U2). So, in an effort to make bedtime easier, I took them to the park to run, climb, jump, and generally exhaust them.

This is a shot of the boys climbing the rope wall...they are little monkeys.

The imps

The imps
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

We got together with two of my three brothers on Tuesday night and tried, yet again, to get a picture of all four cousins. We had three cameras going, and three adults making insane noises and funny faces to get all the kids to look up at the same time. Success was elusive, but this was the best of my lot.

I shudder to think how we're going to do this once we throw the next cousin in the mix (expected at the end of November).

Grade 3

Grade 3
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

This was Faith's easiest first day of school ever. She made the token protest about the end to her summer, but she was happy about her grade 3 teacher, happy that her best school friend was in her class, and generally very laid back about the whole experience.

The original plan was for George to drop her off in the parking lot at school so she could take off, and he could hand over Blake to our sitter. But, our sitter had to be at the other side of the school by the grade 3 door, so George, Faith, and Blake trotted through the playground together. Faith was not really happy about this..."What if you're the only parent? I'll be embarrassed." Uh-oh. Soon, she'll be walking 15 steps ahead to pretend she doesn't know us.

She informed me after school that her teacher "likes FUN", and that she was very happy with her first day.

Whew! That was easy. Now here's hoping the trend continues for the other 200 odd days.

Last days of summer

Last days of summer
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

After spending part of our long weekend at the my parents, we spent the rest of it at home puttering about and generally being pretty lazy. I had great intentions of getting a whole list of to dos done. But, the weather was nice, we didn't need to be anywhere, we had lots of books to read, and some very comfy outdoor furniture to sit on. Throw in a bottle of wine or two, and it was pretty much the perfect end to the summer.

(Faith is reading a book from the Chronicles of Narnia...when did she get so big?)