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Published: July 22nd 2008
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Ireland 4
One of the spectacular views we witnessed while driving around the Ring of Kerry! Well, one thing that we learned about Ireland is that internet connections are few and far between! So now we have a lot to catch up everyone on, especially if we hope to encourage a cult following of our blog by the end of the trip!
Now we are settled in Norway (We arrived late last night) and have spent the day exploring Oslo, getting sun-burned (Even Norway is warmer than Ireland!) and enjoying David’s relatives wonderful hospitality. But David and I had such an amazing last few days in Ireland, we had to do one last entry on the remainder of our trip.
So to review: From Cork to Kenmare (With Kinsale inbetween), From Kenmare we drove around the Ring of Kerry (To be described later) to Portmagee, From Portmagee to Dingle, From Dingle to Dublin (Drogheda) with a day trip in Ardfert (Also to be described later). And this all took place in the course of four days! It was a whirlwind of thick and confusing country Irish accecents, gorgeous and awe inspiring scenery, fish and chips enough to last a life time, and lots of puffins (again to be described later!).
As you can imagine, David
Ireland 14
Another picturesque moment courtesy of the Ring of Kerry! and I spent a good amount of time driving. Not only did this give David an opportunity to refine his left-side driving skills, but we also had a great deal of time to practice our marital communication. One day while driving, David suggested that we discuss the things that we find most annoying about the other person…. Well, that conversation didn’t last long! However, we also tried to be productive and created a “Best of….” List for Ireland to help us communicate all the things we have come to love about Ireland.
So here we go….
Top three favorite Irish dishes
:
1. Irish Traditional Breakfast (read: meat, meat, and more meat….): The breakfast includes three different types of pig: link sausage, bacon/ham, blood sausage (made with blood) and white sausage (made without blood). And interestingly enough, although we saw thousands of cows and sheep along the Irish country side, we never did see any pigs!
2. Beef and Guinness stew. As if the Irish didn’t already drink enough Guinness, they developed foods that incorporated their much loved beer, so that all parts of the dining experience could be complete with a Guinness.
3. French Fries. The Irish
Ireland 1
The antlers of the infamous Kinsale moose. One of many bizarre items we found in the smallest and strangest town museum that we visited. do potatoes in all forms extraordinarily well!
We also LOVED Irish brown bread. All though this is not technically a dish (when we were really broke it became a dish for us!). It was served at breakfast and made the perfect picnic bread to eat with butter and cheese.
Top three cities in Ireland
:
1. Cork: This was a very interesting metropolitan city with a little bit of country twang. It was built on land almost fully surrounded by water. It had gorgeous cathedrals, actual vegetarian restaurants, and it’s where we saw the movie Hancock (not the most cultural experience, but fun none the less)
2. Kenmare: This was the home of our all time favorite bed and breakfast, Forgefield House run by a sweet British lady and her husband. This bed and breakfast was an oasis of comfort after several nights in crazy youth hostels. Not only were the sheets clean (not the case for everywhere we have slept…) but our hosts were absolutely wonderful in meeting all our comfort needs. We left feeling rejuvenated and refreshed. Kenmare itself was a calm little town with daily farmers markets, unique shops, and beautiful country side.
3. Ardfert (I
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Happy Polanders braving the cold Irish ocean. plan on writing more about this town in another entry). This is the tiny little town on the west coast of County Kerry where my Grandma (Catherine Corwin) has relatives. David and I made it our mission to seek out my family there. Despite the fact that we only had one non-familial contact and a few names to drop, we ended up finding the homestead located five miles away from the tiny town center. Although it was small, I instantly fell in love with the town. It was unpretentious, but beautiful with a cathedral built in the 11th century, a castle, a few cute and cheery pubs. We followed the clues until we arrived at the homestead (on Lerrig Lough- pronounced: lock), but unfortunately no one was home. We did meet a neighbor woman who after hearing us speak, asked if we were from England. We don’t think they see too many tourists, let alone Americans in that part. We were kind of the town oddity. Now that we have internet access, I hope to write more on this experience later!
Top 3 Amazing Irish Experiences:
1. Skellig Michael: David and I suited up in intense raingear and boarded
Ireland 3
Nice day for the beach! Despite clouds and rain, David and I relaxed on the sandy Irish beach, picnicked and read our books. a small fishing boat in order to travel 8 miles out into the Atlantic Ocean to visit a world heritage site called Skellig Michael. The experience was crazy. We left land on a rainy and blustery morning and braved the choppy and wild ocean only to land in the most beautiful and well preserved archeological site we had ever seen. The island (skellig) is home to a monastery built between the 6th and 12th centuries by very determined monks who wanted to get as far away from civilization as possible. Well, the island is about as remote as it gets for Ireland. They built an amazing monastery from three different types of stone that they had brought with them from the mainland. The monastery is at the top of a steep and rocky island, far above sea level and with no natural soil. The monks hard work and perseverance has definitely paid off because the site is perfectly preserved and the architecture is still impressive when you remember that they did it all with their bare hands and most likely in the rain! The island was also covered with puffins. I had never really seen puffins before, but now I
Ireland 5
Chelsea making sure not one drip of ocean water or rain would soak her while on the rough boat ride from Portmagee to Skellig Michael. feel like I am a self-proclaimed puffin expert after seeing thousands up close and personal on the Island! The puffins were very friendly, almost a little too friendly at times….
2. Ring of Kerry: This was the scenic route that we took around the peninsulas of southwest Ireland. The views from the drive were unbelievable. Along the way, we even found Ireland’s only beach bar. Although it was about 55 degrees and cloudy, the beach was filled with locals playing in the sand and kids swimming in the ocean. David and I picnicked on the beach and had the strange honor of witnessing several middle-aged Polish tourists strip down to their swim suits and run into freezing cold water. It was hilarious to watch…. We were impressed though! The beach was beautiful and it was fun to just sit and read our books with our feet in the sand.
3. Newgrange: The Neolithic tomb we visited that pre-dated Stonehenge and the Pyramids. The second tomb we visited we were allowed to enter and follow a narrow passage to a small room deep in the tomb. It was a crazy experience to know that we were deep into a structure that
Ireland 6
We are ready to sail... the lady to the left of David got very sea-sick during the journey. David wished he had chosen a different spot... was built over 5,000 years ago; before iron, bronze and technology as we know it!
We loved Ireland. Both David and I felt like we could call the country home! It was a great place to start our trip. Not only was it an easy adjustment (i.e. The English language!!), but it was friendly, fun, and full of cheerful people and good food. We were sad to leave, but excited because it meant that we have more travels to look forward too!
I am sure most people have stopped reading this blog by now. Sorry it is so long! But for the dedicated few left, when we return home, ask us about our newly acquired tips for sleeping in cars! The Rainbow Hostel that we had a reservation for didn’t quite meet my standards (which have been pretty flexible) for cleanliness and safety, so the Toyota Corolla was our lodging one night. Don’t know if I would do it again, but it was a moment of desperation!
Well, David says he wants to blog about Norway tomorrow, so I better end this entry now. Miss you all!
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Edmonds dad
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Oleary
Wow, that was quite a bit of detective work. You should both open up a private detective agency. Based on the door heigth at the oleary homestead, I think you both are beginning to piece together the puzzle. Yes Chelsea, you are part hobbit! In all seriousness, it looks like you are really living this experience. You will always remember this. We thank you for sharing your adventure with us. Well, we are getting ready to head out today. Your blogs are making us anctious to get started and begin to experience the adventure also. We love you Dad