Our Travels Near and Far

We are winding down our trip in Bunratty because it is close to Shannon Airport. We left our cozy little cabin in the Wicklow Mountains this morning after getting the ice off of the windshield. It has been chilly but much colder obviously in the mountains. Our trip down to Bunratty was on back roads for part of the way through areas of horse country and stud farms but mostly on major highways. That is until we got to the road or should I say lane of the AirB&B. Man it was a really dangerous road with curves and rock walls with to place to move over to the side in some places. Thankfully it wasn't a long lane. On the way down, we stopped in Adare to see the charming thatch roof cottages that we so liked the last time we were there in 2002. Tired after the long ride we had dinner at a local pub and returned to our place before dark. Our hostess had come in to show us around and started a fire in the wood stove for us. Very nice private apartment with all amenities. We also

We left the seaside town of Tramore and headed inland up into the Wicklow mountains. We knew it would be colder up there but we didn't expect ice on the windshield both mornings. The cottage was really cozy and charming. When we arrived, the host, Ed, opened the gate. greeted us warmly and showed us into the cottage. We met Gay his wife before we left.  Once settled, we took a walk down the lane which was his road. Sheep, horses and a tractor were among the sights this day. Hollywood Inn was the nearest pub for dinner. The waitress told us that there have been many movies filmed here. The latest being Black 47.  They changed the name of the Inn to Flynn's for the movie. We'll have to watch for its release. Cute as the cottage is, it's a little chilly. The heat is supplied through a butane heater that looks like a wood stove and a ceramic heater near the bed. The kitchen had all we needed. The bed had electric blankets and we really were quite comfortable after it

This is a wonderful day for us. We've decided not to drive any distance and just stay put here for the day. It started out sunny but quickly turned to high winds and rain with high surf. Catching up with the blog, some email, texts, and reading. We intended on walking down to the seaside town this morning but quickly changed to driving on this blustery day. The WiFi here is a little slow and the restaurant's is quick so I was able to uplod pictures quickly to the blog. So nice! We stopped along the way to watch the surf and were surprised to find at least 2 dozen young adults in the ice cold North  Atlantic taking surfing lessons. It had to have been some kind of field trip as there was a bus sitting waiting for them. My hands froze just taking the pictures never mind being in that frigid water and the air temperature was 48 degrees Fahrenheit! Lazy relaxing day. Good thing we did laundry in the outdoor launderette yesterday while it was dry outside. It cleared up eno

This morning brought back the beautiful blue skies and a chill in the air. We took the car ferry (an inexpensive trip -8 euros round trip purchased yesterday)across the harbor to Cobh to make our way up to Midleton and the Jameison Distillery for a tour. We had toured the Dublin facility in 2002, but now this is the only one still in operation. A lot of explanations as to the process and a tasting comparison at the end between Jameisons, Johnny Walker Black and Jack Daniels. Not being a whiskey drinker, I still thought that Jameisons was the best. Tim concurred and we bottled our free drinks to take with us. We didn't drink and drive! Since we were so close to Mogeely we decided to drive through the town where some of my ancestors on my matetnal grandmother's side lived. They  were the Walshes from Bawnadown.. not sure but I think it was actually in Dungourney just up from Mogeely. A Walsh married a Leahy at some point and now the family homestead

Kinsale was not a long drive from our B&B so we were able to take our time and really relax here. We walked the town to see the St. Multose Church and the Desmond Castle. We really enjoyed the picturesque harbor while having scones and coffee. Interesting to see the many families with small children all bundled up loading their sail boats for a chilly day of sailing. We drove up the hill to Charles Fort which overlooks the outer Kinsale Harbor. This is a star shaped fort sitting on 8 acres of land and was built in 1680. Before this,  the space was occupied by James Fort and was the site of  a battle in 1601 called the Seige of Kinsale. According to the booklets, there was a network of fortified towers and signal stations built to ward off invasion. Kinsale is also where a German U- Boat sunk the Lusitania. The survivors were brought into Kinsale and some sent to Cobh to be cared for there as well. Being sailors, the bonus for the day was watching all th

Today we followed our plan of revisting Blarney Castle and Cobh. We were here in 2002 and kissed the Blarney Stone so there was no need to do that again. We're still full of blarney from the last time we were here. Blarney Castle compound has changed quite a bit since then. Now the path is paved instead of all gravel. There are gardens and walking trails and rock displays that were inaccessible then as well as more areas of the Castle itself. My memory of Cobh was also much different. Sixteen years has brought more stores, restaurants and people to this little seaside town on Fota Island. Our drive to Blarney took us through Cork City. A most uncomfortable ride. So we decided to find a better route to Cobh and back to our B&B. The ride to Cobh was a little longer than we expected on very secondary and narrow roads, but we were able to take a 5 minute ride on a car ferry from Cobh across the Cork Harbor back to  Monkstown and on Ringaski at the end of the  d