Westport, Ireland

On our way to Westport we stopped in the village of Cong. It's claim to fame is that the movie The Quiet Man, with John Wayne, was filmed here in the 1950's. Apparently I am the only American who was unaware of this fact as the gushing woman, who mowed me over to take a photo, seemed to feel.

Cong is really very pretty and we got these photos of the old abbey and surrounding grounds.

We also looked at some local real estate--just in case...

Actually, this is Ashford Castle.

Westport itself is one of two planned communities in Ireland. Again, there must have been too much Irish Whiskey flowing at the Planning meeting when they were discussing roads! In this town they have resorted to a system of one-way roads that are not terribly functional with an octagonal roundabout in the middle of town.  Very pretty flowers though! Ireland has a "Tidy Towns" contest which encourages communities to beautify themselves. We've been told there's tremendous peer pressure and lots of houses get new paint jobs as a result.

Croagh Patrick (literally translates to Patrick's Stack) is a mountain where St. Patrick went to fast for 40 days while seeking enlightenment on how to convert the Irish. Today many climb the mountain to the small chapel at the top--a sturdy group of French hikers with sticks marched upward while we were at the statue, part way up, enjoying the astounding views of the surrounding countryside.

They were going to the part that's in the clouds. We did not!

From here we visited the Famine Ship memorial and went to a small cultural center in Louisburgh which had displays about the famine which devastated Ireland in the mid 1800's. According to the material over a million people died of starvation and, a million more emigrated between about 1845 and 1853 when the entire potato crop was decimated by a potato blight. What we didn't realize was that for about 90% of the population the potato was their only food. All of the other food they produced was sold to pay their rents. Also, during the famine more than enough food was produced in Ireland to feed the population, but it was exported. It sounded like government ineptitude and mismanagement was wide-spread. Along with the usual greed and corruption.

Famine ship Memorial. The ghosts floating around represent those that died on-board or shortly after arriving at their destination.

On a cheerier note, we also learned all about Grace O'Malley. She was a 16th century pirate Princess from these parts who outlived two chieftain husbands and met with Elizabeth 1st of England! 

Then we went to lunch at Carrowmore beach!

What would a blog of mine be without a car comment or two! Here's our two-way traffic, 80kph speed limit, road for today!

And, here's an example of the down-to-earth road signs that they have here in Ireland. No expensive barriers, just a reminder of what will happen if you don't pay attention!

Galway, Ireland

I forgot to mention The Burren, which was on our way to Galway. When we were getting Fritz's hair cut in Waterford, the barber asked where we were going. We mentioned County Mayo and he said that we shouldn't bother as there's nothing much there, except for sheep and rocks. Francie said that one of the reason's we were going was because she had family from there. He replied, well that's OK then, but whatever you do, don't go near The Burren, as that has only rocks, no sheep! Here are the the photos of The Burren, and bless his little soul---he was right! Actually, it is a 10 mile square limestone plateau.

In the 1650's a Cromwellian surveyor said it was "a savage land, yielding neither water enough to drown a man, nor a tree to hang him, nor soil enough to bury him."

Galway is another Kettle of Fish entirely. It is the largest place that we have visited and reportedly has 16,000 students at various colleges and universities. It is very lively and busy as we found out when we tried to find a pub for dinner on a Saturday night. We ended up here at the Dail Bar

They receive our award for the best Banoffie pie so far. We believe that this dessert is as much a part of the local diet as are potatoes. At least it is in our local diet as we have been taste-testing this Irish staple across our travels. The Dail's entry has a graham cracker/toffee crust that was delightfully moist, the bananas and custard deliciously smooth and creamy, and the cream and toffee and raspberry sauces were delightfully complementary! We are becoming such gastronomes!

When we came out from dinner it was as if the starting bell had sounded! The streets were packed and you could hardly move. The main part of downtown is all pedestrian, which is a good thing as you would never have moved in a car. 

We walked back to the car along the canals which wend through the center of town.

Crossing in front of the Cathedral on a crosswalk we were almost mown down by a car zipping around the corner. It was then we picked up our favorite new phrase from the Irish guy also in the crossing. He said "it's a Fooken Stupid place for a stop light!" Drivers coming around the corner don't realize that they have to stop--because the stop light is around the corner and they are looking to the right for traffic. Here's the corner and we agree it is a Fooken Stupid place for a light. 

We have added this phrase to our other favorite Irish word--eijit! So we now have "FSE" to add to ABR's! The appropriate use is "look at those FSE's putting on their newly purchased plastic rain ponchos in the middle of the doorway--so that no one can get in or out!"  

I guess it is true that travels expands the mind (and the vocabulary)!

As we were in Galway on Sunday we went to Mass at the stunning Cathedral.

The priest was the quintessential Irish priest with a wonderful brogue and a beautiful singing voice. He could barely see over the lectern and, in his green robes, put us in the mind of leprechauns. After Mass we met a delightful old couple on the steps. He was a retired professor of math at the University, and she was formerly from (our favorite) Yorkshire, but had married an Irishman (she said with a twinkle in her eye) and here she was!

On to Eyre Square where we sat in the sun with the locals and ate our picnic from Marks & Spencer's food floor. There was a very talented young man playing the guitar and he must have been using our combined favorite playlists as a guide. He started off with the Beatles and finished up with the Fields of Athenry---to which we now know most of the words and can sing along, even with a mouthful of sausage sandwich!

Dingle to Galway

More driving adventures today! Left Dingle and traveled over Connor pass towards Tralee. This is an absolutely gorgeous drive and, apart from a small section where traffic for both directions share the same one lane of roadway, a pretty good two-lane road--with a center line. There was also room for some errant sheep.

We are timing everything just right, by luck, and we were able to drive right on the Shannon ferry.

Coming off the ferry we ended up on  a road with an "L" designation. "M" stands for motorway and I believe that "L" stands for lane (which is being really generous). This tiny little road was so narrow that the mirrors were scraping the hedges on both sides. It also had grass growing down the middle and we kept scaring the farmer's cats and chickens off the "road".

The lesson to be learned here is--Do not set your GPS for shortest route unless you are OK driving through fields! Oh, and while we were going about 10mph on this road, the speed limit was 80 kilometers per hour! Are they crazy? 

We have noticed the difference between Irish speed limits and US ones. In the US the speed limit might be 55mph and people tend to do about 65mph. Here in Ireland we have had speed limits that were 100kph and we were doing 54kph and felt nearly airborne. We wonder how much Guiness was consumed on the day they decided the appropriate speed limit for a one lane, two direction winding road, with no shoulder and no lane markings--they decided on 100kph!

We arrived at The Cliffs of Moher just as the sky got ominously dark.

So we scurried up to the top of the hill and grabbed a couple of photos and then Francie and I high-tailed it to the visitors center just as it starting spitting with rain. The guys wanted to go up to the tower, so they arrived at the visitors center 10 minutes later soaked through.

At least they didn't follow the guys in the restroom and strip out and run their wet shorts through the Dyson hand dryer. Just as we had decided to give up and move on the rain stopped just long enough for us to see the other sites. We were treated to some thunder and lightening as we went back to the car. 

From there we traveled mostly along the coast, through some quaint small towns, to Galway. We did have some incredible down-pours where the visibility was so bad we seriously considered stopping at the next pub until the rain quit. And don't you know it, in the land of pubs, there's never one handy when you need one!

Once again we had a challenge finding our B & B because nowhere in Ireland has a street address! I strongly suggest that if you are traveling by car you get the owner of the B & B to give you directions from exactly where you are coming from--and get them in the most excruciating detail you can! Many of the landmarks they use are not in a GPS, and you can't use intersections, yellow houses, service stations and neighborhood or housing development names either. B & B owners are you listening! It's like giving directions to downtown Seattle by saying--just past the big mountain on your right, watch for the plane company on your left, then, after Beacon Hill take a left and it's there!

Dingle Peninsula, Ireland

We thought that we were in for foul weather as the windshield wipers were on high during our drive from Kenmare to Dingle. However, just as we rounded the bend into town the sun came out and we have had glorious weather for our few days here on the Dingle Peninsula. When asked about the good weather, people here respond like we do in Seattle. "Is it always like this here?". "Oh yes, absolutely!" This part of Ireland receives subsidies to promote the use of The Irish language and culture, and as a result all of the signs are in Irish (usually only Irish).

To give the guys a break from driving we took a guided tour of the Dingle Peninsula. Our guide, Tim Collins, picked us up at our B & B and we set off in his van with about 8 others. First stop was to see the sandstone slabs with the pre-Roman Ogham writing on them. They have only been deciphered for the past 30 or so years and the local collection was gathered from fields in about the 1850's and put in the entrance of Lord Ventry's manor house. He owned the entire peninsula.

Traveling around Slea Head traffic typically goes clockwise, but the road is technically two-way and you can see what happens, and why we were glad we were being driven. 

The scenery is all that you expect of Ireland: fields in 20 shades of green, stone walls, crystal clear turquoise and green water, fluffy and shorn sheep, plump black and white cows, crumbling old stone barns and, smartly painted pubs with overflowing flower baskets and churches--simple and grand. On the day we did our tour add to that list: blue skies with puffy white clouds, slivers of sandy beaches, fishing boats bobbing gently, tall hedges of wild fuchsia and fields of heather, and us with our mouths open taking it all in.

On Interstate One!

We saw late stone age ring forts, circa 500 bc, and beehive huts, and we went to the Gallarus Oratory. It was built about 1300 years ago and is the oldest remaining early Christian church.

Back in Dingle we went shopping in the quaint town and these derelicts drank beer as we picnicked on the stone wall surrounding the marina.

I had my black currant juice box so that my halo wouldn't slip. We have had some delicious pub food including: fish and chips, Shepard's pie, more types of fresh fish than we can remember and we are getting used to the Irish practice of potatoes with everything--and we mean everything! We have had fries with lasagne, boiled potatoes with beef over mashed potatoes, and potatoes as a side to chicken with stuffing and rice. Just tonight I had fish pie with a whipped potato topping---and fries! 

Here's Dingle town!

Here's the countryside as seen from our harbor tour:

This is Fungie, the resident dolphin who arrived 30 years ago.

Oh, and just in case you think it's all fun and games, here's Francie and me doing laundry. Nice to know we have college degrees and illustrious careers so that we can end up scrubbing in a tub!