Braden's friend Jordan, who just happened to be in Galway and contacted Braden, joined us for our day of touring. The weather was chilly but bright and breezy - perfect for touring. 

Making good use of the built in GPS in the car, we headed to Ennis on our way to Kilkee. The journey was pleasant and quick. We didn't see much of Kilkee itself, which looks like a wonderful summer destination, but headed to the parking lot for the cliffs. To our delight there was lots of available parking. Don't tell anyone about this wonderful place.

It's a bit of a walk before you are in sight of the sea but the crashing waves let us know we were exactly where we'd planned to be. While the three sets of younger legs headed up the hill with my missive to "go as far as you want and catch me on the way back", they headed higher. I found a large bench with a view of the sea and the crashing waves and had a lovely chat with a gentleman who was resting on his daily walk. He'd lived in the US but came back 10 years ago having had enough of bright lights and big city. Trading that for big sky and endlessly changing seascapes it seemed like the right decision. 

My conversation bench at Kilkee - can't see the crashing waves from where I took this but they are there below

I did walk part way up the cliffs and my shoes wanted to be in a picture so here you go.

Even my feet enjoyed the view at Kilkee Cliffs

It's good to see things from all points of view

The three from Stittsville in Kilkee

Then it was on to the Cliffs of Moher. The drive along the coast on the Wild Atlantic Way provided a couple of stops to see the view and marvel at the surfers in the waves below. One could say "the road is long, with many a winding turn" but then who could distinguish this road from any other in Ireland? Following the obvious signage to the Cliffs brought us in touch with hundreds of cars and thousands of tourists. That was quite the contrast to Kilkee. However, the cliffs are a impressive as ever. The walk up to O'Brien's tower is no easier than my other three visits. My three young companions climbed the tower for an even better view, while I made sure the pavement under my feet was kept in place.

O'Brien's tower at the Cliffs of Moher

Again they set off for a wander to the top and once again I found a bench. Why not? Someone has to use it. I had actually done a good bit of walking. They captured some fabulous photos - having a couple of great photographers. Jordan took a super one of Olivia and Braden at the height of their hike. 

Once back together we made individual "donations" to the local economy in the gift shop. 

From there with assistance from the co-pilots we wended our way behind a car pulling a horse trailer at, well lets just say a cursing-worthy slow pace, before we managed to get around. If I release the dash cam footage you will hear my descriptive language. But don't tell anyone. 

This being a tourist area, we also met a few large coaches head on and in each case I showed them Canadian hospitality by pulling way to the left (as far as I could) and let them pass. Absolutely every other Irish citizen gives you a little "finger wave from the steering wheel" when you show this courtesy. The coach drivers were unified in their surly grimaces and all fingers stayed glued to the wheel. Possibly it's just too terrifying to have a single digit off the wheel when driving one of these beasts. It seemed more like a case of "I'm Goliath and you are merely David and your slingshot is gone". Ta-da.

Our final destination for the day was the Dunguaire Castle at Kinvarra. Moments before rounding the bend that brought it into view, we passed the Merriman Hotel. What a magnificent building with a thatched roof. Traffic did not permit photos but I'm sure you are now so keen that you will call upon Google to show you what I mean. Never mind - here you go. Click the link.
https://www.merrimanhotel.com. 

Dunguaire Castle just before sunset

Then the castle, in all its glory, stood proud and INTACT before us.  It is vaguely reminiscent of Eilean Donan Castle in Scotland.

Finally a castle to explore. Hah! It closes the doors at 4:30. It was by now, 5:30. The yard is small but we checked out the crannies. The nooks were closed too. Photographer Jordan captured us on the steps to the front door that was not as welcoming as we'd found at every Irish home to date. Closed and locked and no cup of tea with the obligatory side of biscuits just waiting for us. Darn.

The owners must have been away

There was an interesting ruin of a house across the road so we pushed aside the ivy and explored the inner rooms. The kitchen was obvious, with part of what must have been a slightly more modern(?) stove, leaning against a wall, underneath a ledge with a pile of ashes in the original hearth. Very odd. 

Not sure how the front of an old stove is helpful

The last room we visited had a magnificent view of the castle so all photographers in our group - all of us - captured an image of the castle through that window. No need to clean the glass, it wasn't there.

And from across the road in a ruined house

you can never have enough pictures of castles

Back on the road to Galway, I enjoyed a few moments of blazing sun, either directly in my eyes or reflected off a poorly-placed (in my opinion) window or shiny large object. After all it was time for the sun to go down on Galway Bay. We didn't have a view of the Bay when it finally sank beneath the horizon, and neither was the sky red. I know that for a fact because it's raining this morning. It's supposed to stop soon.

In the evening I "enjoyed" watching the dash cam images upload to Dropbox - for hours, and hours, and .. well you get the point that it was slow. They are all uploaded now so I can clear the memory so the cam doesn't record over what we've got and can start fresh. 

While I was mesmerized by a computer that was too slow to use, and retired to my (very comfy) bedchamber, the young travellers went clubbing with Jordan and his friends who live here. I have no idea when they returned but their coats and boots attest to the fact they got safely home. They are now making "wake up" noises, so we shall ease into the day and set out for parts as yet unknown. 

The Rock of Dunamase

A conversation on Wednesday night with Jim about sights/sites not to miss, brought up the topic of the Rock of Dunamase as a place to check out. Then on Thursday Mairead said that she had recently been there with the kids and it was great. All right. Added to the agenda.

After a very late night we slept late before packing up our goods and chattels so departure in the drizzling rain was at noon. We off-loaded some food and drinks we were not going to consume, into the happy arms of John O'Neill who lives at Minmore for the time being. Smiles all around.

Without the benefit of GPS, we used maps - just imagine - to preview the journey and it worked well. We knew the Rock was near Stradbally (look it up) and as we hurtled down the highway, sharp-eyed Olivia spotted the site. Apply brakes. Make a U-turn. Find a likely turnoff and voila there we were. There were a few other tourists but we pretty much had the Rock of 'Dunamazing' to ourselves. There can't be many angles we didn't use for taking photos. It was quite overcast and I have yet to review the pictures I took, but it was wonderful. For Braden, it has been the highlight so far. Well, it was a castle at one time!!

At the base of the hill is a small church so we went in to have a peek. Several ladies were arranging decorations for a Harvest Thanksgiving service. And it's Thanksgiving weekend at home. Perfect. We chatted with them a while and heard the harrowing tale of a boat trip to the Aran Islands. Hmmm - will the weather be suitable for us to make the trip? We'll see on the weekend.

The drive to Galway was quick and uneventful until we hit town. Holy traffic jam Batman. Toronto would be surprised to know it has an Irish rival. And of course, having somewhat misunderstood the directions, we didn't immediately get to our Airbnb. A phone call to our host put things straight and eventually (insert a lot of waiting and swearing here) we did arrive.

The host came in and showed us how to turn on the heat but for my liking, it's just fine without. The cottage at Shillelagh was very nice but I found it rather toasty for slumber. This is an observation, not a complaint.

After getting directions to the nearest grocery store, Lidl, we shopped for provisions for the next few days. Ingredients at hand, Olivia made us a tasty supper - and we dined at nine. I was about ready to gnaw on the cutlery.

Our laundry is done, some items are in the dryer and others are hanging to dry.

Braden discovered that a friend from home is also in Galway and he's staying at a hostel. He'll join us tomorrow for our trip via Ennis to the Cliffs of Kilkee, Cliffs of Moher, Doolin and hopefully the Aran Islands - likely Inis Mor. We expect to have spectacular views if the predicted sunshine actually happens.

Now I will attempt to download the little movies from our dash cam which will provide incontrovertible evidence that the roads really are as narrow as we've said they were. Of course there are also lovely motorways, but the winding "R" roads are more fun - and more stressful on corners as you never know if there's a car approaching from the opposite direction.

I may also manage to get some pictures organized before collapsing into bed. We will be up early tomorrow to be sure we see everything on the agenda. The forecast, if it has not changed, seems pretty good.

Off to a (not so great) start

A little miscommunication can lead to misunderstandings. Some of those are serious. Some are funny in retrospect. Lucky for us it was the latter.

We were, as usual, a bit late getting underway for a busy day but what the heck. Olivia and I were by the car and Braden asked if I was ready to lock up and get going. Of course I was. I thought he had the key in his hand. He thought I'd already put it in my purse. So what? So he closed the door, locking it securely. The key was even more secure inside, on the kitchen counter. We were outside.

Just about the same time, our host/landlord came up to say hello. What do you say after you say "hello"? You say, we're locked out. John said it was no problem he'd just go and get the spare key. After bringing the wrong key first, he returned with the right one, but couldn't open the door.

This door has a Yale lock with a little "button" on the inside to insure that it stays either open or locked. I'm not sure how we managed to leave that button in the locked position, but we did.

Picture this - a cottage with one entrance. Keys are useless because of this lock. The only way in seemed to be to break a window to gain access. Before doing that, John decided to check the bedroom windows and fortunately mine was unlocked and could be opened from outside. Olivia was the only one small enough to get through and unlock the door from the inside. It was no small feat to get through a small opening, onto a windowsill, then lower herself to the floor which was approximately 5 feet below. She is 5 feet tall. I'll have to get a copy of the photographic evidence of the contortions.

The rest of the day went pretty smoothly aside from a couple of wrong turns. The GPS voice was a bit late a couple of times, advising me when to turn. So, we ended up seeing streets we should never have even known about. These streets, mostly 2-way, are about wide enough for 1 1/2 cars. Along one side, you could usually find a row of parked cars. There was nothing to do but pretend I was threading a needle with a vehicle I've come to despise. It has too many darn fancy useless features.

The feature that has come to terrify me, is its insistence on determining when to put on the high beams. The low beams are not aligned, the left one illuminates about 40 feet ahead and the right one about 20 feet. Driving at night on the narrow twisting roads has become scary. There often seems to be no reason for the high beams to dim to a point where it's hard to see where we're going. It does dim the lights perfectly when a car is approaching head on. It is tardy, however, in returning to high beams. Sometimes it just doesn't do it. Sometimes it goes from high to low just to annoy me. Arrggh.

Tomorrow before leaving, we will have to search for a possible adjustment to the alignment. Fingers crossed that we can find the right button or knob. Otherwise our adventures will be limited to the daylight hours.

Oh yes, and we saw Kilkenny Castle, the Rock of Cashel and a bit of downtown Waterford. I have not checked the pedometer but if I didn't get in more than my 10K steps I'm going to assume it's out of order. At "the Rock" those steps were steeply uphill, followed of course by steeply down. I'm expecting great looking calf muscles by the weekend.

After dinner in Waterford, we drove back to our base. We visited the Byrnes at the Rocktavern and caught up on their news, and of course sampled Ann's wonderful apple pie. Then we managed not to get lost, returning to Egan's where we joined Jim for a pint.

Safely back in the cottage now, it's very late so we've decided not to put ourselves through the misery of rising to an alarm, but we'll get a leisurely start on the drive to Galway. Fatigue is creeping up fast so I'll call it a day now.

Wifi is still too slow for pictures. We're hoping for something much faster in Galway.

More tours after a late start

We managed a 12 hour sleep and a lazy start to the day today but still covered a lot of territory and some touring.

Starting off at 11 am, after a couple of shots of caffeine with our breakfast, we headed first to Clonegal and view of the River Derry near the historic stone bridge. Walked up the long lane to Huntington Castle whose tea room and tours are no longer operating as the tourist season is over. We took pictures through the very decorative gate.

From there, we were off to Bunclody for a tour of my Irish 'home' with a brief visit to salute Moss Cottage. The gardens are spectacular. I've only seem them in the winter and despite a few blooms at that time of year, there's lot of colour now.

From there it was up and down the narrow road to Mount Leinster. The fog/clouds shrouded the peak so a drive up to the Nine Stones near the top was not possible. The view even from where we parked was pretty spectacular.

The day had started out pretty grey but when we got underway the sun came out and aside from a bit of cloud here and there it was lovely and mild.

Heading for Enniscorthy I think there was great rejoicing that we were at last on a nice wide road where you could safely drive at the speed limit of 100 kph. Of course we took a diversion on a road where 15 kph was sometimes pushing one's luck. I had to show O & B my favourite thatched house and then farther along the road we came to Ferns. The castle, or what remains of it, beckoned, mostly to Braden. Unfortunately we were two weeks too late for the tour but wandered around. One tower remains intact and that's where we would have visited. It held a secret that we found out about only later.

Leaving Ferns for Enniscorthy we were once again on a highway and it wasn't long before we'd joined the traffic in that town. To say that the streets are narrow, winding and hilly is an understatement and we had brief unscheduled and rather 'hairy' city tour before finally parking in the lot at Dunne's department store. We'd passed that lot on the way into town.

Then again we would have missed the historic plaques on the sidewalk, the right turn that was almost a U turn, and getting stopped behind a car disgorging wedding guests heading to the Cathedral.

Once the car was safely stowed, we walked to Enniscorthy Castle and enjoyed that self-guided tour. Braden was in his element. His knowledge of history is quite impressive. From the roof we could see Vinegar Hill but we didn't opt to go there and climb to the old windmill.

While on that castle roof the guide was chatting and told us about Ferns castle. When I said we'd been he asked about the view from the tower. Then we realized what we had missed by being here out of season. Apparently the view is amazing. I thought that tower only offered a tour of a couple of rooms. Sigh! Maybe one day I'll be here in tourist season.

We got to Coolross about 5 and stopped first to see Bob's tree which has beautiful red leaves at the moment. Then we were greeted by Jim and his excellent sheep dog, Floss. Later we climbed one of the pastures to watch Floss move the large herd of sheep around. The view from that land was wonderful but it was getting dark. We barely made it back to the car, parked to the side of the road, before it was really dark. Floss took her place on the floor by the front passenger seat and was perfectly quiet.

When we got back to the house, Floss's pup showed a strong preference for Olivia as she provided the most attention. The pup's energy seemed boundless until he finally curled up in the corner for a nap.

We headed to Egan's pub where we all enjoyed a Guinness. Well, Braden enjoyed it twice as much if one goes on quantity. Having decided to call it an early night we dropped Jim back at Coolross and drove back to Minmore. Actually we passed the entrance but about a kilometre down the road found a place to turn and it was easily found on the return.

So much for an early night. It's after midnight and we plan an early morning. That remains to be seen. The wifi is very slow and it's a bit laborious to upload photos so you'll just have to wait for another day. I didn't take many pictures but my travel buddies kept the cameras on their smartphones clicking pretty much all day long.

We used the dash cam but have no idea whether it successfully recorded. Maybe tomorrow. We could be assuming it's functioning and maybe it's not, but there's no way I'll find out tonight.

Slan

A few photos from October 2 while visiting Mary and Oliver

We had a busy day after a relatively sleepless night on the plane but as you've already read, it didn't slow us down much.

Here are some photos

Oliver, Braden and Olivia at the Black Castle, overlooking Wicklow coast

Wicklow coastline near Wicklow town

Olivia near the Black Castle

Entrance to Wicklow Harbour

Sammy the Seal waiting for his dinner in Wicklow Harbour

The Loft at Minmore Mews - our current home

The "smoking room" outside our cottage

A great start to the trip

The flights could not have gone better and we even arrived half an hour early in Dublin. It was overcast with a little bit of drizzle but we quickly collected our bags, picked up the rental car and set out for Swords Castle.

The GPS was a bit balky and somewhat tardy in letting us know about turns, but eventually we got to Swords Castle only to find it isn't open on Mon or Tues. So off we went to Malahide castle and grounds - after only a bit of a run around. We started with some necessary coffee and tea in the cafe and wanted to take a tour of the castle and grounds.

The tour group was assembled and about to start but the narrative was given in German which is not so helpful for us. The next tour, in English, would have been at noon but that was too late. We managed to hang around the edge of the tour group and follow them so we did see a bit of the castle and took some pictures before deciding to head south. All the while, fatigue was setting in rapidly. It would take something special to keep us awake. And we got it.

By this time Braden had worked out how to change the GPS, that was part of the rental car, from some Scandinavian language, to English. We were heading for Ashford which I knew we'd find once we got on the M50. Getting there was half the fun. Once on the highway, I'm not sure where the GPS was trying to send us, but as I knew the route, we just ignored the instructions. Eventually Braden was able to stop it and we arrived in Ashford around 1.

To say we got a warm welcome is to understate the situation. We had a marvellous time with Mary and Oliver. Of course Mary had made us a delicious chicken dinner and we managed to eat about a quarter of what she would have had us consume. The main course was followed by a number of desserts. Olivia and I had managed to split the main course and dessert, to Mary's chagrin.

Having done a little research on Wicklow town which was nearby, it was on the list of places we wanted to go. Oliver drove and gave a great guiding commentary as we saw the town, the Black Castle (which it seems our ancient O'Byrne clan ancestors invaded) and much to Olivia's delight, was saw Sammy the Seal. The fishmonger from across the street came out with some fish for Sammy and he competed with the seagulls for the treats. Sammy almost always won.

Then on to Rossanna farm, loaded down with goodies from Mary, where Eugene gave us a tour of his little museum/collection and let us get a close look at some of his cows, young calves and the relatively friendly bull. A brief jaunt in a land rover showed Olivia and Braden the Wesley Tree - a giant chestnut which has a 47 foot circumference.

By this point we'd all taken lots of pictures but fatigue has caught up to us and those haven't even been reviewed, let alone sorted and a few chosen to illustrate our amazing introduction to Ireland.

It was off to Minmore Mews where we have now moved into The Loft. Sleep is fast catching up to me and I think my travel companions have already been visited by the sandman. Photos will appear tomorrow.  For now, good night.

Time to go again

Hello faithful followers

Tomorrow the next Irish adventure begins. Today the final packing, re-packing, tidying, taking care of last minute stuff, will keep me busy. I've repacked the suitcase about 11 times, in an effort to pack enough of the right items but not too many. Hah! The airline limits the weight of your checked bag to 50 pounds. My ability to lift weights means it will have to be substantially lighter.

Forecast looks pretty good and the current plan is relying on an on time arrival in Dublin at 0825 on Tuesday, Oct 2. Air Canada, are you listening? No flight delays if you please - especially on our first connecting flight out of Ottawa. This time we are flying from Montreal to Dublin, and will have to navigate the Trudeau airport in Dorval in about 90 minutes.

Olivia, Braden and I, at last check, each have a row of three seats to ourselves. That is not likely to be the case by takeoff but we can cross our fingers. A little extra space might help the efforts to actually sleep. My snoring might make sleep a challenge for those nearby. Too bad.

So with accommodations taken care of, rental car reserved and passports and Euros at hand, we're ready for Eire. Mary Harte has been advised of our tentative arrival in Ashford, so she can begin her cooking blitz. Nobody leaves Mary's home hungry no matter how you protest or at what time you get there. 

Hopefully I will have wifi access and enough time each day, to make another post. There are probably going to be days when I fall into bed having tried to keep up with the young folks, and the post will just have to wait.

Feel free to comment and if you have suggestions for what we should see, aside from the list of places we've determined are 'musts' then by all means let me know.

Slan,

Ann (or you can call me Aine)