Dublin

Finally after months of living in Ireland, we all finally make it up to Dublin for the weekend. We had been to Dublin years ago on my last visit to Ireland, so we had done most of the sight-seeing stuff.

In fact, this picture of Dublin Castle we didn't even bother to stay around and go tour. Most of the weekend was spent shopping, running around to food places, and just generally figuring out how to survive in the recently christened 3rd most expensive city in the World - right after London and Tokyo. Personally I think Kinsale is more expensive than Dublin, since it's a tourist town - but I'm sure the tiny little thing ain't on anyone's radar.

Cashel Rock

Nothing says Ireland more than a big castle on the hill, and Cashel - the original seat of Kings and visited by Saint Patty himself - is all Irish.

It was cool to see the big castle, hear of its history (somewhat disturbing), etc - but I'm not sure I agree with Michelin Guide's 3 Star (it's highest rating). Just didn't seem to have the same gravitas as Riverdance or Guinness Brewery. OK that was culturally insensitive.

Probably the most interesting thing was that the main tenants for centuries were the bishops who ran the place. You always hear about the dominance of the Church in the Middle Ages, but they didn't actually take over the Kings' Castles after a certain period of time - most of them on the continent played it a lower low key.

Bamboo Tunnel

While we were passing through Birr on the way home, we stopped at Birr Castle.

This is actually Patrick in the middle of a bamboo grove - actually it was more like a tunnel of bamboo, really. About 40 feet long, the bamboo had grown on both sides of the path and met at the top.

Although this would actually be an interesting technique in a garden, my childhood experience of bamboo is that's it's more invasive than mint. I think my father tried for 4 years to get rid of some stuff - not sure what carcinogenic chemical he finally used to get rid of it.

Really old paint job

While visiting Cashel (oh, I forgot - the same Cashel as in Cashel Blue Cheese - but I digress again) . . .

We stopped to visit Cormac Chapel - quite old - something ridiculous like 1127 when it was first started. Here are pics of the frescoes from that period that are still there.

It's a pretty unique Romanesque Church - two towers, two doors, and a huge sarcophagus with some pretty symbolic carvings.

Birr Castle Gardens

While going around the Castle Gardens, we got some pretty cool shots of the gardens in bloom. Really shocked by the size of the Hellebore, and the Wisteria was absolutely amazing.

Birr

Heading back home the long way, we stopped in Birr for the night - pretty much right in the middle of the Irish Midlands.

This ain't no Dublin, but it was a cool little town. We stopped and had dinner, stayed in a nice B&B, and then did some touristy stuff the next morning.

Surprised this pic of the church in the middle of the night actually came out so well.

The Burren

Who said the Irish can't do shabby chic - they were doing a thousand years ago (as evidenced by this cross)

After seeing the Cliffs of Moher we headed back to the interior (because let's be honest, the other way would have landed us in New York City). we went through the Burren. It's basically a plateau that sits on top of Ireland. Not the most highly populated place - but I'm sure if you had enough time to spend there you'd come across all sort of native species found only here.

Back to the shabby chic cross - this was one of the small towns we stopped at along the way. All joking aside, this was a pretty cool structure. I think originally this cross and three other similar ones marked the boundaries of the parish or something like that.

The Cliffs of Moher

Famous little place these Cliffs of Moher.

Don't really get a sense of their true hugeness from this picture, but the Cliffs of Moher are on the central west side of the island; and they are really tall.

Realizing that people are stupid, they recently finished the area with walls, stairs, etc so people don't walk all the way to the end, have some dirt crumble, and then they fall 500 feet to an untimely death. The evil Wade thinks that that was Darwin was talking about, but seeing this place firsthand, I'm surprised they didn't erect something sooner.

The place was absolutely stunning though.

More planes, trains, and automobiles

So I meant ferry.

Now that we were done with the Dingle Peninsula, we headed north along the coast. But since we didn't want to back track all the back into the interior, we took the Killimer-Tarbet ferry across some sort of Bay that I have since forgotten - I think it cuts off about 2 hours of driving around to Limerick.

Ferry wasn't too bad, for someone who sometimes get s little boat woozy. The wind was a bit bluster - ha, imagine that for Ireland - so not a tons of people stayed more than a few minutes up top. But the ferry was very similar to ones we've taken to cross the Rhine, but a bit bigger.

Don't feed the birds

This is a picture of the Herring Gull that was patiently sitting on he wall of the cliff waiting for some food from us - yes, he (or she) is used to tourists.

We don't really get into feeding wild birds, but we did benefit from being able to walk up to about 3 feet and take lots of pictures - the camera is not on zoom at all.

Really need to work on listing all the animals we've seen this year.

This Old House

Around the coast of Dingle we ran into these pre-historic mounds, or beehive huts - the forerunner to all the Irish dry fit stonework that is used to make walls.

Not sure how warm these things would have been (of course, it was raining and cold when we were there), but they were meticulous.

OK, something survives out here

Continuing along the Dingle Ring (aka Irish country version of I-465), we come to (I think) the farthest western point of Ireland.

Again, not a lot of people living out here - even the touristy restaurants and pottery studios are smart enough to stay 20 km down the road in Dingle.

But you do get a sense of the raw beauty of the area from just a simple 5 foot tall rock outcropping - kind of makes the best of a Japanese flower arranger or landscape architect realize they ain't got nothing on Mama Nature.

Dingle Aquarium

Can't go through a town that has an aquarium without a short stop - so Dingle was no different.

From the outside it definitely wasn't looking like Shedd Aqaurium in Chicago, but it actually wasn't too bad. There were some tanks that were definitely overpopulated - but a nice huge tank, a petting tank, and tank you walked through definitely made up for the lack of size.

This also reminds us that one of these days we have to make it to Baltimore's aquarium, which I think is one of the biggest in the US. Hmmm, possible road trip.

Liane comes for a visit

Liane came for a visit this past week.

She spent a couple of days in Dublin, and then flew down to Cork. After a day in Kinsale we did this huge loop around the western Ireland for a couple of days (more on that later).

Not only did she bring cheese (lots of blue), she also brought confit (duck preserved in its own fat). She has this perfect way of getting rid of the excess fat, and crisping the skin in the oven. Patrick and Jamie REALLY like it - so much so that they are trying to find a source of the stuff in Ireland. Hopefully it's not too hard since it comes in a tin can and is easily shipped.

Around the coast of Dingle we ran into these pre-historic mounds - the forerunner to all the Irish dry fit stonework that is used to make walls.

Not sure how warm these things would have been, but they were meticulous.

This area is considered one of the earliest places in Ireland where people actually settled, but looking around at all the steep cliffs and freezing rain from the coast, I'm not sure if it wouldn't have been a better idea to move inland just a touch - like 500 feet.

Sea Kale

Another new vegetable - Sea Kale - now available at the local market. Kind of like spinach, but with a little more flavor and a built-in salting from the sea.

If you ever come across it for the first time - don't make the same mistake I did and add salt - oops. After the first bite, we kind of had this dry sucking sound come out of our mouths - but the second time around (with no salt) it was really nice.

Cheese, cheese, and more cheese

I love the hosting guests thing - especially when I get french cheese.

I'm not complaining - the Irish cheeses are really nice, but a little Pont l'Eveque or Mont D'Or is hard to compete with.

Guy and Lyndon brought this Pont l'Eveque along with a REALLY nasty Epoisse that blew threw the triple plastic wrapping of its container to just get everyone on that flight to Dublin all in a tissy.

Wow, it's still sitting in my refrigerator in a double Tupperware container, and we still handle the thing with care. I think when we leave, they are going to have to buy a new refrigerator - it's that bad.

Finally going out to sea

So the weather warms up enough to make us start thinking about taking a boat out and look for wildlife . . .

Fast forward a couple of hours and we end up not seeing too much wildlife. The porpoises were all sleeping, dolphins were no where to be found, and the whales were in another sea or something.

We were able to go around Old Head (now a famous golf course), and there were some amazing nesting birds and caves that ran right through to the other side of the peninsula.

Martine comes for a visit

After a couple of stints of our guests, Jamie had Martine visit for the weekend.

Jamie knew Martine from when she was on assignment in Basingstoke - now she's back in Geneva.

The funny thing is that I've heard about her for years from various people - Andrea and Tim Whittaker, Chris Cairney, etc, - so it was good to finally meet her and spend some time with her.

Yes, that's the three of them in life jackets for our boat tour in search of whales. That smile is not for the camera, but the uncomfortable realization that the crazy french woman we saw talking to herself just around the corner was actually coming along with us.

Guy and Lyndon visit

Guy and Lyndon of Strasbourg fame came to visit us for a couple of days.

They are our heroes as far as travel and vacations (all that we hope to be someday with 8 months vacation or something like that). That evil President Sarkozy has the gaul to drop it down to 7 months - ok, slight exaggeration. And they did not disappoint with flights from RyanAir for less than 20 euros a leg.

Great guests too as expected. They did the self-guided tour of Blarney Castle - my God, I don't think I could put up with another American tour bus if I tried. Ran up to Killarney - did a couple of new things up there. And had some great food.

Miss them already.

Irish Wolfhound

Isn't he cute? Sorry . . . Cute. As in the dog.

OK, I'm talking about both of them. That grin on Patrick's face is really no surprise since the little beasty under his armpit is his favorite breed of dog - otherwise known as an Irish Wolfhound. Yep, they're huge - gentle little things with any non-wolf as well.

Visiting the Muckross Farm

Having been to Killarney a couple of times already - we wanted to try something different - so we stopped at Muckross House's Traditional Farm. It was almost like Conner Prairie does Irish countryside with animals.

Since Patrick has wanted to raise animals for some time (and he's even more serious now) - it was cool to see all the pigs, cows, sheep, and goats. Highlights included the amazing bread they made in the fireplace, the goat tied up a la Jurassic Park who would eat anything, and these little piglets - cute.

Considering this way of life was still common in some parts of Ireland up until the 1950's, it shows just how far things have changed.

Guy and Lyndon Visiting

Here's Guy - love him - drinking a little Guinness - who says the french can't be like one of the Irish.

I have to go on record and say that Guy and Lyndon were probably the easiest house guests we had - and that says something since most of our other guests were stupid simple to show around town.

Had a great time, and we didn't have to go to Blarney Castle again.

Where's the Plant

A colleague of mine sent me this photo a while back, and I'm only now starting to get it on the blog. In case you're wondering where Kinsale is in relation to the Lilly facility - here's you answer.

The red arrow is where the plant is, and the little docks are right next to our apartment.

Good picture on how far things are from everything - and how close everything is to the water.

Lush

Found a cool new store that Andrea already does and my mother should love. It's called Lush - think Estee Lauder gone granola. The moisturizers actually expire b/c there aren't any preservative crap in them. Au naturel.

Granted the pathetically bad dollar is not helping matters much, but the per diem is kicking in and making things more attractive.

The pic is of some moisturizer, face mask (that needs to be refrigerated), and some bath stuff. They also have some amazing soaps and these REALLY cool shampoo bars that are amazing.

The plan is to visit one of the three stores in Chicago once we're back - so we'll actually have some buying power.

Another New Car

Hello new car.

It's kind of like a car lover's dream over here.

Unlike France where we had the lovely 5-year old diesel Brady Bunch station wagon for almost 18 months, we actually get a new car every 30 days.

The first car wasn't bad, but they have gotten progressively better each month as we smooze the women at the rental counter - I have no pride.

Best car so far is think Volvo Diesel - feel free to email Patrick for details on torque, inertial dampers, andwind drag coefficient - to me it was a Diesel Volvo.

Deasy's Restaurant

Found a cool new place to have Sunday lunch (photo from the table's window) - again, Ireland is not hurrting for views.

The place is called Deasy's and it's about 45 minutes from our apartment down the coast next door to Clonakilty.

Lovely little french woman doing a new set menu. I had sprouting broccoli (the next new vegetable for farmer's markets, if it hasn't happened already) with lentils and tomatoes for a starter. And then I had a red onion and Tallegio cheese tart with a grape and walnut relish. Lovely.

Patrick was still out of town in the US, so it was just Jamie and I. It's definitely a Patrick restaurant since they had squid, shark steak, and fresh monkfish.

One slight dig though - service was horrific. Like worse than Paris, France with a pissed off waiter. I think we were there 3 hours, which I normally don't complain about, but that's really long when you've already given up on having the coffee, digestif, and chocolates.

OK, I'm a snob.

Mizen Head

Welcome to Mizen Head - the most southwesternly point of Ireland. Like, you go there to see the old lighthouse, which couldn't be out further from the mainland.

Truly beautiful place even in a typical Irish downpour.

I'd have to say that some decisions made by committee are simply not good ones. Not sure how people didn't stop and think that building a cast iron lighthouse (the original lighthouse for Mizen Head) out on the open salty winds of Ireland was really a good idea.

That lighthouse is gone and all that remains is a concrete slab - lighthouse v2 is still kind of out there, but not Maine/Lobster lighthouse - more like bad 1940's track home with blinding light.

But again, you can't mess with the view.

Gephyrophobia

Yes, this bridge spans a 300 foot drop onto the icy rocks and waves below - so my question is this . . . do you think I was dumb enough to cross this rusted thing?

The answer is "of course!" - although Jamie wasn't really thrilled with the idea.

Actually, it was really a beautiful view once you resigned yourself to the fact that the creaky thing could go at any minute. By the way this "bridge" was on the walk to Mizen Head (sp?) point - the most southwestern point on Ireland and home to a lighthouse.

Wind Surfing

A crappy picture, but a good illustration of what's going on in Ireland.

Driving down the country roads to a place for lunch, we came across these people paragliding on the incoming tide.

They also had a very wet Golden Retriever with them that was shockingly better behaved than Bowdoin too.

The most civilized gas station in the World

Ah chivalry, otherwise known as Full Service Gas Stations, is not dead.

Imagine my surprise when I stopped by Ballinspittle (small town next to Kinsale) for a fillup - only to find a guy ready to pump my gas. I think he worked for the station.

Doesn't matter. Last time someone pumped by own gas was NEVER.