Parents come to town! Sept 4th-11th

I don't think I'd ever gone so long with out seeing any of my family, parents or otherwise. So the chance to have them for a visit after five months away was exciting! The fact I'd have time off work for ten days was also something to look forward too since for that five months I hadn't had more than a three day weekend as time off. Of course the adventure started before my parents arrived, cleaning before house guests is always something that needs doing. Changing the bed sheets, make sure all my crap was put away, cleaning the bathroom, kitchen and all the floors! Woo

The day of the parents arrival I spent the morning getting a lovely massage, then walked to the dealership to get my rental car. I was hoping to get the first car that they had given me and even specified that I would need the bigger car of the two I'd had before since I'd have more people and bags. However when I got there, to my surprise I got a smaller and older car than I expected. I didn't have time to argue about the car since I needed to get to the airport, the car was a four door hatch back and as long as mom and dad hadn't brought the big luggage then we'd be fine. Taking the car I got myself some lunch and picked up my over night bag before getting on the motorway to head to Dublin.

It was on this drive that I noticed the car had a cobweb and leaf on the side view mirror, I had a sneaking suspicion that even though I'd reserved a car a month ago and had touch bases with the dealership a week prior they didn't have a car readily available and had to pull a car out of the back lot. Either way I had a car and it wasn't a bad little rig. It got me to Dublin no problem, found the airport and the short-term parking then made my way to the terminal to wait for the parents!

Dad kept me posted when they landed and getting their bags, it wasn't long before the came out the gait. I walked over towards them expecting them to see me along the way. However they didn't until I was right next to them! Probably due to the fact they were tired from traveling. Gave them both a hug before heading to the garage. We found the car no problem and got the bags loaded. Took a little shoving to get moms back in but otherwise everything fit no problem. Mom took the back seat and dad got in the front. We then attempted to set the Sat Nav as they call it, which is just the Garman. Unfortunately the hostel that we'd be staying at wasn't listed as an option from the Sat Nav, so we attempted to just use the google maps on one of our phones and ended up putting a close enough address into the Sat Nav. We were interrupted at one point by a man waiting for the parking spot, he wasn't in any hurry since he was busy eating a sandwich. After been told we'd only be another few minutes he then returned to his car that was parked in the middle of the isle and finished his lunch.

We made our way to Dublin city center and found it with little problems, luckily I had been to the Hostel once before and was just looking for something familiar. I was mainly in search for the river, if I could drive along the river I knew when to turn. At one point I stopped at a three way intersection but was pulled to far forward, because there was an ally way that was a little off center that you weren't supposed to block. I back the car up a little way out of the way and got a lovely greeting of “welcome back” from the motorcyclist that was in the right lane next to me. I laughed and said thanks! We made it all the way to the river and over the river which I didn't intend to do, since I needed to stay on the other side. So we took a very round about way going past Trinity College in order to go “around the block” to get back to the river. Even after getting back to the other side of the river it still took another four around the block trips to get the turns and the roads right before arriving at the hostel. The roads in city center are very confusing. Then are not in a grid form by any means with random curves, turns and “Ys” to send you in all the wrong ways. Anyway, we made it to the hostel, got checked in. I then left the bags with my parents while I took the car to the nearest parking garage and walked back. By the time I got back Dad was nearly passed out on one of the bunk beds! Haha We all decided it would be best since it was still a little early for dinner and to take a little nap before finding food. Probably less than two minutes later both parents were snoring away!

After waking from out nap we set out in search of food. I'd been to Dublin once before and new of only one restaurant. I remember the fish and chips that I'd had there really hit the spot, whatever batter they put on the fish was amazing! So we headed off for the River Bar! Got there no problem and quickly found our seats. Dad got the fish, Mom had a steak and I had a chicken sandwich. Dinner was lovely and fairly uneventful, except that Dad thought our two servers where twins so we all kept staring at them very obviously I'm sure. Mom got lost finding the bathroom and tried to marry me off to a bar tender. Just kidding, she merely made it known that I was single. After dinner we went back to the hostel for a quite night of rest in preparation for exploring the town the next day. One thing that was quickly noticed is that people in Dublin do not wait for the cross walk sign to say they can cross, we it became a game of judgment to tell if it was safe to follow the people into the street or to wait for the sign. Several times Dad and myself eagerly tried to follow but it never worked out well, barely getting a foot off the sidewalk before realizing it was a bad idea.

The next morning we all woke early, giving the parents time to shower before checking out the free breakfast from the hostel. This breakfast consisted of toast, cereal, coffee and juice. Which was no where close to enough to be me going very long. So lucky me planning ahead and had looked up a restaurant for breakfast days before. We went to Elephant and Castle, which I loved! Cute little cafe style place with random pictures or items on the walls. The servers were very nice and had good humor! I ordered myself a coffee with my breakfast and unfortunately our server was having issues with the coffee machine. He informed me that he'd be having someone else come by with my coffee soon since all he was able to make was dirty water! Ha While enjoying our breakfasts we decided on what we'd like to do for the day. 

Elephant and Castle Cafe

We set out through the temple bar district of Dublin which was filled with pubs, random little shops and cafes. Then we came to Chirst's Church Cathedral an extremely large and beautiful old church that was founded in 1030. We walked around the grounds and poked our heads inside the main sanctuary of the church. We could have taken a tour but decided against it. Saying hello to the church cat on the way out we continued on to the destination I'd suggested the Mid Evil/ Dark Age of Ireland. On the map it had said something about extremely old stone walls that used to surround the area having ruins there, but instead we ended up in a museum about Dublin through the ages. Starting from the age of the vikings and moving forward through the ages. All the rooms were set of for there time period, with manikins(which actually freak me out a bit), examples of buildings or villages, little sign posts that talked and plenty more that were just there for the read. As interesting as some of the facts were museums like these loose my attention very quickly. By the last level of the place which talked about modern day research into the past of Dublin I think we all were over the experience and ready to leave which was easier said than done. The exhibit ended in the gift shop and cafe, we looked at a few things then tried to find the way out, which was very poorly marked. We ended up down stairs in a different section of the exhibit and had to climb the stairs back up and be directed to the doors out!! 

Christ's Church Dublin

Stain Glass in Christ's Church

Church cat!

The way out led us back across the street to the Church, we then headed off in search of the Leprechaun Museum, which was one of the main things I'd wanted to see while in Dublin. We found it easy enough after a ten to fifteen minute walk. We were told by the jolly and funny owner of the museum that then next tour through the museum would be starting in bout fifteen minutes. This passed quickly enough and we were brought into the main waiting area, which was filled with images and displays all about the leprechaun. The room was small enough and had a massive mirror at the far end. At first no signs of a door were to be seen. This reminded me of Willy Wonka! Didn't take long for Dad to spot the hidden door while Mom tried to sneak a picture of me with out being caught. We were joined by a family from Texas, a couple people from Germany and at least one other group from the states. Last but not least our guide that would lead the way through the land of the leprechaun arrived and started our journey. I don't want to give away all the secrets, because the museum really was allot of fun and I recommend anyone that goes to Dublin should give it a go! To start things off we had to be shrunk to the size of a leprechaun and find our way safely through a giants causeway and the giants house, over the rainbow to our pot of gold, through the forest and back out into the world of humans. Where you could get a picture in a leprechaun cut out or a story book! We made stops along the way in our journey and were told stories about the mystical history of Ireland, leprechauns and fairies as well. I remember most of what was told but at the same time I don't want to get it wrong or ruin the fun for you all when you go to the museum your self! At the very end of it wall was a gift shop, where both Mom and I got a little something. 

The giants house(Above-above) Leprechaun's pot of gold 

My leprechaun self!

Then we decided it would be best to first find food and get back to the car to start the drive back to Tullamore. We found a little cafe which had a deli style sandwich bar but also hot meals cafeteria style! Dad went for the Irish stew with mash potatoes and veg, while mom and I both go sandwiches with chips and a drink. Many of the restaurants in Dublin have servers that are either Polish or maybe Russian, so at times it was heard to hear or understand them. An issue that we experiences at the deli, while asking for the toppings I wanted on my sandwich Mom was doing the same with another server, who apparently she couldn't understand. Mom then turns to me to ask “What did she say?” I immediately responded with “I don't know I'm trying to talk to my person!!” Apparently the servers found that humorous and had a good chuckle.

After our meal we got back to the car and made out way to the motorway. The drive to Tullamore was smooth and fairly uneventful. We did have to go through one tole, I'm sure most people understand the concept of a tole. Its basically a row of at least six if not more gates across the motorway, go through any of them and pay a couple euro to continue through. Coming out the far side the six or so lanes have to merge into just two lanes. In Ireland there are no dashed lines or any system to guide the cars, its basically a free for all to get ahead of anyone that's going to slow and be in the lane you want. We made a mad dash to get ahead of a motor home on the left and another car on the right that also didn't want to be stuck behind the motor home. This would've been more entertaining if I'd been driving a car with a little more horse power! But its still entertaining and as dad said “This is insane!” haha

We had a nice evening in Tullamore, walked to parents into town for dinner. Met the housemates and a good nights rest before getting back on the road the next morning. Went to the one athletic store in town and got Mom some better walking shoes. We then got on the motorway and headed west to our next destination which was a quick stop in Lisdoonvarna for a Matchmaking Festival that was supposed to be for the whole month of September. Along the way we were passing through a small town called Clarinbridge was having a Market Day Festival, which we decided to check out. The had allot of animals, horses, donkeys, pigs, chickens and ducks. Plus farm fresh veg and many other booths that antiques, hand crafted items and lots of food booths. Cant forget the highlight of the day was the crowning of the Oyster Queen! Mom got a little mini cottage figure and I got some all nature home made soaps. We found a nice little cafe to have lunch at before getting back on the road. Up until this point the roads were a “normal” size and not a bother to drive on, but shortly after leaving Clarinbridge we turned onto a different road which seemed to shrink substantially! We were now on the winding, narrow narrow back roads of Ireland. It was at least an hour later before we came to Lisdoonvarna. Small town on a hill and plenty of cars parked along one side of the barely “two lane” road into a one lane road. We managed to find a large gravel parking lot that was for free. After parking we took a little walk around the town. I was under the impression that there would be allot going on and allot to see. However all the music and entertainment wouldn't be starting until late in the night since in Ireland you don't even go out until 10pm and we were there only at 4pm. We did see the matchmakers pub, which was pretty much empty and the few people there were there were old men. We ended up at a cafe where we had some coffee and a little snack. The only other thing I'd planned for the day was to go to the Atlantic View B&B that was near the Cliffs of Moher, however I wasn't sure how close the B&B was to any kind of restaurant for dinner. So we went to a small store and got food supplies for snacks and making sandwiches. We got to the B&B and checked in, the place was run by a husband and wife. The husband was the only one there at the time, he checked the books and found my listing but was very hesitant to go much farther with out checking with his wife. Shortly she arrived back and actually offered us the small apartment out behind the house rather than a room in the house but for the same price. The apartment was very nice, small kitchen, living room with a tv, bathroom and a room up stairs with two double beds. It was very nice to be able to sit and relax, make our own food and have our own space. 

Lisdoonvarna

The next morning we woke in time to enjoy the breakfast that was provided by the B&B. I got scrambled eggs and fruit with yogurt. It was perfect! After eating we got ourselves ready for the going to the Cliffs of Moher. Lucky for us we had perfect weather, sunny with a few clouds and a light breeze. The cliffs were only bout five minutes up the road, parked and paid for our passes, crossed the street and headed for the cliffs. The had souvenir shops built into the side of a hill on the way in, as well as their visitors center was built under the hillside. We first went into the visitors center and looked at all the displays about the cliffs, which included a 3D digital video that showed all the animals around the cliffs. The video was interesting but also kinda made you feel sick like you were on a roller coaster.

We then went out to the cliffs, the view was amazing! Quite spectacular! The first section of the path was paved and had steps leading up to a look out tower. You could pay to go up into the tower but we decided against that. The path continued to the edge of a farmers property where a dirt path continued, along the paved path there was a barrier but on the dirt there wasn't any barrier between you and a 400 foot drop. The bath as about five foot from the edge but you could go right up to the edge if you wanted. We even came to an area where there was a stone out cropping that many people including myself would sit on the edge and have their feet over the edge. I only got one foot over and that was plenty! Major adrenalin rush! My Dad however would only get about a foot from the edge and then lean over to look over the edge. Haha We also met another American there who was nice enough to take a family photo for us. Even though you could follow the path all along the farmers property we decided to stop there and head back to the visitors center. Dad and myself got some food to take back to the B&B for lunch. 

Later that afternoon we went and explored a little town that was near the B&B, town called Lahinch. There was a big golf club and a lovely walk way along the ocean that was paved but eventually went to sand. Apparently a good place for surfing, they had several places offering surfing lessons or board rentals. The town had allot of ice cream shops and seafood restaurants, a few pubs and not much else! After walking along the ocean, all the main roads and had a treat of ice cream before heading back to the B&B. Once it was actually dinner time Dad wanted to go back to Lahinch for some seafood. However he was at my mercy since I was the only one brave enough to take on driving and since I'd already driven plenty, poor Dad had to for go the yummy seafood for a sandwich. 

Lahinch

The next morning we had breakfast again at the at the B&B, checked out and made our way to find the Burn. A rock formation I guess you could say that covered some 150,000 acres if I remember correctly. We found the visitors center were we got a map and directions from the worker there. After a short visit to a very old church and grave yard that was right next door it was back to the car. We ended up on roads that literally only had room for one car, hoped and prayed that we didn't meet a car going the other direction. It wasn't far down the road that we came to a visitors/historical center for a what was called a “ring fort” the Caherconnell ring fort. Basically a medieval shelter normally made around the 13^th -15^th century. We talked around the fort and also watched a presentation showing what life at the time would've been like. It was crazy to think that our distant distant relatives could have lived in something similar. After having lunch at the ring fort we went a little farther down the road we stopped at another landmark called the Poulnabrone Dolmen, which is a big tomb made out of huge slabs of stone. 

After checking out the big landmarks we tried to find one of the trail heads to actually walk on the burn, the trails really aren't marked well and even with a map we drove around for at least thirty minutes to fail at finding what we were looking for. Instead we stopped at Blackhead which is a look out point on the coast road. Gave us a little taste of what the rest of the burn looks like but also gave a beautiful view of the ocean. Nearly fell on my face at one point, I was walking towards my Dad to see what he was looking at and didn't see the rock or crack in the rocks that was right in front of me. Just a little stumble, kinda silly to think I couldn't see one rock in the field of nothing but rock we were standing on. 

We got back in the car and headed along the coast road to get to Galway. Not far along the way we go stuck behind a massive group of bicyclers that were in a charity race. Only fun part about that is the support cars and people were passing out bracelets. Other wise we were stuck in bumper to bumper 5 kph traffic for over an hour. I'm all for charities, but in a country that doesn't have proper roads they should find somewhere else to bike! Anyway we finally got around the bikes when they were forced to pull over and let everyone pass. However by that point my leg was dead from the fact that the car was a manual transmission.

The rest of the drive to Galway was uneventful, thankfully! And we made it to our hotel The Galway Bay Hotel with out any issues. Got checked in, Dad totally scared and confused the poor girl at the front desk by saying that we had booked the presidential sweet. Even though I highly doubt they even have that kind of sweet. But we still got a good laugh out of it, plus after filling out the paper work the gal noticed that my email was Lord of the Rings related and said if they'd had a sweet available they would've upgraded us just because she liked my email! Haha That night we met up with two of my friends from Tullamore for dinner in the hotel bar, had a yummy steak and definitely over ate having desert. The evening couldn't have been better, good company and good conversation! However none of us lasted past 10pm. My friends had to drive home and we were exhausted from travel, never know how tiring that can be until you've spent the majority of several days in a car.

The next day we took advantage of the fact our hotel was on the ocean, it was a lovely warm sunny morning. Only a few clouds in the sky! I explained many times to my parents that this isn't the norm for Ireland and that they are very lucky. After our stroll along the beach we went into town and checked out shop street. I mentioned shop street in my last post about Galway. The area is blocked off from cars and is lined with shops, restaurants and pubs. We went into a few of them to have a look and Mom was able to find somethings for people back home. The main place I wanted to go was the claddagh ring store, they actually make the rings and all the other jewelry in the store themselves. Very good quality stuff!

The last few days of my parents visit were spent relaxing in Tullamore. We met up with a couple of my other friends and had lunch, took them to see the local castle and otherwise just spent time together doing a whole lot of nothing. Which tends to be the best time, including when Mom made me a early birthday birthday cake. My housemates turned on some celtic music and gave me the best attempt at Irish dancing I've ever seen. Then they sang a more normal happy birthday for me and blew out my candles.

I think my parents enjoyed their time here in Ireland, I know I enjoyed having them and getting a chance to explore the area a little bit. Yay!!

Galway races- 8/3/14 & Hugh Lynches 8/16/14

I've been here for almost five months now and you could say I'm settled in. Just like living any where else you get into a routine with your days. Have to make sure to plan things to do or your days pass you by before you realize they have gone. Moving and starting a new life in a new place comes with many challenges no matter if you move to a new town, new state or like myself an entirely different country. Meeting people and meeting people that become more than just acquaintance can be very difficult. Also not having a vehicle makes even simple tasks like grocery shopping a challenge, let alone getting out of town on the weekends and being able to go out an explore. Unlike in the states or in mainland Europe buses and trains are unreliable and costly, in both time and money. A drive that takes 3hours would take up to 10hours by buss or train and requires many stops and transfers. Thankfully I have met good people that get me out of the house and around the country for little adventures when ever possible.



One weekend I planned a trip with a fellow coworker, Mary Francis. Our trip was to Galway for the local horse races. Every year in Galway they have a horse racing festival that lasts a week, we went on the last day of the festival on the "Family & Mad Hatter" day. Lucky for me Mary Francis had a car and knows Galway very well so there we had no issues getting there. The weather looked at first like it might rain us out and make for a slightly miserable day. However halfway to Galway the weather cleared and it was smooth sailing from there. We arrived at the track in good time and found parking with ease. 

After paying for a ticket, Mary Francis gave me a tour of the race track, the stadium and the pubs, the lunch tent, the betting booths, the track its self, and the warm up ring which is also the winners circle.

It wasn't long until the first race started, we went to the warm up ring and watched all the beautiful horses or ponies as I like to affectionately call them parade in a circle in front of us. After getting a good look at the horses and reading in our race pamphlet about the jockeys and trainers we made a slightly informed decision about which horse we'd like to place a bet on. My horse was number 12 Luddsednene, don't ask me how that name is pronounce because I wouldn't know! My choice was purely based on the fact the horse was pretty and had a shamrock on it's flank. This form of picking a horse didn't work well for me, poor number 12 went to the lead early but was unable to hold the lead in the end. The track was all turf and the horses made two laps around. There were no starting gates, they just attempted to all line up equally before launching! In this way many horses ended up getting stuck in the middle of the pack, never having a chance to break free.

My next few betting attempts didn't workout out any better, even though I ask for advise on which barns, trainers and jockeys were good. Which didn't seem to help much. My seconded betting endeavor was only based on the fact the pony was from the US, named Down Time. Sadly Down Time was beating by the Irish and I was out more money.

After a few races Mary Francis and I had our routine down, watching the horses walk around the ring before deciding what horse to bet on or if we wanted to bet before heading to the betting building, then over to the track to watch the race.

Half way through the day we went to the food building and had some sandwiches and tea. Getting a chance to sit down and relax, out of the wind and the sun was very nice break. Plus we got to watch the mad hatters in the “mad hats” they'd made for the competition that was listed as part of the festivities for the day. There were some that were really cute and creative while others you couldn't really tell what they were meant to be. Sadly we missed the judging and didn't see who actually won the competition.

We really couldn't have had a better day at the track, I ended up with a little bit of a sun burn which is not a common thing in Ireland. But with the wind it kept you cool enough you didn't really notice that you were getting that much sun. After the rain scare earlier that day and hearing of other days when people had come and gotten washed out I couldn't have been happier about the day!



I took a break from betting for a couple races since there were 8-9 races that day and I didn't have the money to continue betting poorly. But I still picked a horse to cheer for and of course the one time I didn't place a bet the very horse I likes won! I was so disappointed!! But on the last race of the day we both decided to make one last bet, this time the horse I picked was Pyromaniac. Picked only for his name! And lucky me, he won!! Pyromaniac also was a favorite so I was able to win back almost all my losses. Probably the best way to end the race day.

After the races we went out for a delicious dinner in one of the villages just outside Galway. But of course here in Ireland the night never ends with dinner, back into the city center of Galway for drinks out at the pubs. Which was great fun, the pubs and the streets were packed with people and every pub had live music playing. Much of which was American Classic Rock!! With how loud the pubs are I didn't bother trying to listen to the people talking around me, but enjoyed the amazing music!! Since I walk every where there isn't much of chance to listen to music unless I think of it when I'm in my room at home. So music at the pubs is actually one of my favorites.

After a long night out in Galway it was back to the village for a bit of sleep. Once morning came Mary Francis and myself got up in time to have lunch back in Galway. The cafe was very very small but the food was amazingly good and hit the spot after our long night. Then it was time for a little road trip, getting to see the Galway bay and shopping center for the first time was a great way to spend the day. The city center was very quaint and picturesque with cobble stone roads that were only for pedestrians. Along with crowds of shoppers there were plenty of street performers, playing music, doing magic tricks, one man made amazing paintings only using cans of spray paint and a lady dressed as a mermaid that would freeze in place for long periods of time! After walking the streets we got back into the car and drove along the coast on a road called the Wild Atlantic Way, we crossed over into Connemara Ireland and passed through a little town called Spittle(spelled different but pronounced spittle). After going a little ways and getting ourselves some ice cream we found a lovely beach and just kicked back soaking up the sun while it was still out and not hiding behind clouds! Probably one of the best weekends I've had to date!

Corner Cafe where we had breakfast

shop street

mermaid lady

Spray paint artist

The weekend after the Galway races one of the local pubs in Tullamore was putting on a music festival starting on a Thursday and going all weekend until Sunday. They had rubber duck races in the canal and zorbing, which is those big air filled balls that you get inside and walk or run in. I think you can have them on the ground or in water. I was taking my weekend easy and didn't actually see either of those activities. But on Saturday night Mary Francis, Paddy Mack and myself (aka Fanny May) went to the festival around 9pm. They had the stage set up outside, the street in front of the pub was totally covered by a big tent, which had multicolored umbrellas hanging from it! Very cool affect! There were out door bars and about 3 indoor ones, including one up stairs that was in a room filled with bean bag chairs! There were tons of people around and the atmosphere was great! The first band we heard was an Irish band I'd heard before in one of the other pubs. They are very good and I really like their music. The second band that played the rest of the night was an all out rock and roll band. They played cover after cover of classic rock songs plus a few others and they sounded just like the bands they were covering. Once again between the music, the base which you could feel shaking the ground five yards back and the people around us, I honestly paid very little attention to any conversation. I was way to busy seeing along to songs I loved and never got to hear. Plus the people watching is always interesting. The guys will occasionally dress themselves in more the a tshirt and jeans when going out, but most don't. The women however, 6inch heals, dresses that don't really fit and probably had to be pulled on by a friend and leave nothing to the imagination. Plus gobs of make up and big hair! Then there is me....a nice basic top, jeans, converse and my jacket. The women in Ireland look for any excuse to get dressed up, there is no casual going out to the pub or club. No of course there are women that dress with more style and class but when people watching you always notice the ones that are trying to be noticed!

We stayed at the festival until the band quit playing and then went inside for another drink. But then it was time to wonder home before the rain got any worse!

Music festivals are quite the deal around here, there was also one out on the grounds of the local castle and I've heard of several others around the country. Having these out door events that people camp at and party at all night long seems to be pretty popular. Then again so is having live music at the pubs regularly. At home I only remember one or two bars that would regularly have live music, the rest would have a DJ maybe but not always. So the live music is a fun change!

South Coast- Sherkin Island and Cape Clear

 I don't know if anyone reading this has ever written a blog, but it is definitely only for certain type of person. If it wasn't for Ireland I'd never blog and once I'm home again I'll say farewell to blogging!

My adventure started last Friday, the 11th of July. I managed to get off work early but not as early as I had planned so I was definitely feeling the pressure. I had to speed walk my happy(ish) ass over to the car dealership to get my rental car then back to the house to grab my bags before hitting the road. The car dealers went smoothly, except for the fact the computer program they have to set you up with a car apparently isn't very user friendly. It wasn't the fastest process and the salesman sent me out the door without even completing the process. The car I got this time was a smaller compact car, it was a Seat Mii. It is the same make as my first rental car but just a different model. Four door, hatch back and an automatic this time.

 

After getting the car loaded and the destination set in the navigation, which was a newer and very confusing model of Seat/Garmin systems I stopped at a store real fast to get some snacks for the road. I got some Pringles, I'll tell you right now they only have 3 flavors in Ireland. Not just in Pringles but in all potato chips/crisps. Those three flavors at original, salt&vinegar and cheese&onion. After getting my original Pringles I got myself on the road. The first leg of the journey was on small country roads that are just marginally large enough for two cars, taking you through small villages and towns. In these towns cars park on the sides of the roads which are already small, making it nearly a one way street that is still technically a two way so you have to take turns and keep an eye out for on coming cars. At one point in the middle of one of these small towns a Pacing Horse (Breed of horse and form of horse racing) came pacing down the road heading the other direction, had the little racing buggy with driver and all! It was so random it was kind of funny but I also felt bad for the horse, not exactly easy on their legs to run on pavement like that. Was about an hour then I was on the motor way, nice and wide open with the ability to get some speed and actually make up for lost time. The time of arrival on the Garmin showed me just barely making it to Baltimore, the coastal town where I was to meet up with a group to ride across the water to Sherkin. It was about a 3 1/2hr journey  from point A to B.

Oh guess I could give a little background on the who the group really is! At the time I was on the road I actually had no clue who was in the group or how many people would be going to Sherkin Island. How I got it into my head to go to Sherkin was by going online to discover Ireland.ie, found a listing by a conservation group called Sea Shepard. They had organized a trip to Sherkin Island, Cape Clear (pronounced Clair) and a day of whale watching. So I'd signed up to join in on the adventure! 

The drive on the motor way was easy and peaceful. passing through the open country side since nothing but green hills with the happiest live stock in the world and farm houses to go along with them. There were several over passes from one side of the road across to the other side of the motorway. At one point I was about to pass under one of these when I realized there was a large herd of dairy cows making there way over the motorway! It looked so funny, never something I'd see at home. But I have seen it since and I'll probably see it again while I'm here in Ireland. It was probably about this that I had a major panic attack realizing I had forgotten my brand new rain coat I bought just for the trip along with my other jacket, all I had with me were hoodies, but of course by this time it was waaaay to late to turn back. Wasn't long before I came to Cork City, I was already in the county of Cork and as far as I'm aware Cork City is one or the biggest cities in the south of Ireland. I'd started in county Offaly and passed through the county of Limerick before coming to Cork. This was where I first ran into any issues traveling. The navigation system must not have been fully up to date, it keep telling me to go through round-a-bouts that didn't even exists. And the names of the motor way I was supposed to follow didn't match any of the ones on the signs of painted on the pavement. They did have several large multiple lane round-a-bouts that I got the pleasure of driving through four times because I was trying to figure out where exactly the nave was telling me to go. One other thing with the nave that didn't help matters was the fact I couldn't hear it! The voice of the navigator was at a whisper so I could here little bits and pieces but not enough. And even once I had a chance to mess with the settings no where was there anything that had volume control other than mute or unmute! Anyway I finally made enough circles around the merry go round of round-a-bouts to find the correct road. Shortly there after the road gradually got smaller, from the two lanes both directions of the motor way to one lane in each direction that were still a good size for a while, then on to the country roads barely large enough for two cars. And definitely small enough that a tractor would keep you from getting very far!

At this point I didn't think the roads could get any smaller! But oh was I wrong! This being my second time

driving I was feeling comfortable with the road sizes that was until the Garmin had me take a right turn off on to  a dirt road, literally and I mean literally only big enough for one car! If I had met another car going the other way one of us would've either had to tunnel into the bushes on the side of the road which have hidden stone walls in them or back up until we could get out of the way. Luckily I didn't mean any other cars. This road seemed to go on forever, past several farm houses twisting and turning through the country side. In passing one farm house I met a couple dogs, one boarder collie and one black shepard. The both were fans of chasing cars and trying to bite tires. If I slowed down at all they'd get in front of the, honking the horn only seemed to encouraging their pursuit while I tried to keep the car on the road but yet not run over anyone's paws. I increased my speed but still the dogs kept up with me for at least 5-8min which on this road seemed like an hours' time! Finally after thirty minutes on the dirt one car road I was back on the pavement with room for two cars.

Side note for a little car talk! By this time I had very much decided I didn't like the european version of an automatic transmission. It would shift up into fifth gear rather quickly but with the many twists, turns and hills of the country roads I needed to be in a lower gear more often than not. Strangely this car wouldn't down shift unless you came to a crawl or a full stop. Then when shifting up again it nearly gave you whiplash it changed gears so hard! It did have a manual tip-tronic mode but I wasn't about to go there. The other thing I noticed was that the car didn't have a "park" gear option, just drive, manual, neutral and reverse. In order to put the car in "park" you had to put it in neutral and pull the parking/E-brake. Also if you're ever in any european country, don't get a petrol/unleaded gas car. Go for the diesel cars, they are much more fuel efficient.  Oh and FYI don't say "shift" in regards to cars in Ireland, here in it means snogging or making out, getting it on!!! I learned that one the hard way! ugh..... 

Anyway after nearly having a heart attack because of the dogs and the fear of meeting a car going the opposite direction on the seriously only one way road and finding my way to the pavement it was still another good 30-40mins of twisting and turning Irish country roads before I came to Baltimore, the small coastal town from which I'd launch my adventure! Thankfully I had the phone number of the Organizer of the trip and gave her a call as soon as I was to the pier. I was the last person to arrive (thanks Garmin!) but thankfully they were waiting just to see if I'd make it. After being pointed in the direction of the free parking and collecting my bags from the car, I was brought to the boat that would bring me to Sherkin! I met a couple of the follow adventurers and was helped about the boat which was called a rib, for God only knows what reason?! It was literally less than ten minutes to get Sherkin, thankfully! Couldn't take another long journey at that point. 

This is a rib- not as tasty as some! But gets the job done! :)

Got checked in at the hotel and went up to stairs to check out my room and freshen up before dinner! 

 

My lovely bed that was as hard as a rock.

Good sided room all to me-self!

The bathroom, that tub nearly killed me! 

 

The view I was lucky enough to have!

 After getting myself settled into my room I made my way downstairs to get myself some dinner! Ended up ordering the spinach and cheese pasta with garlic bread and some hot tea. They have a bunch of picnic benches out on the grass in front of the hotel, so I made my way outside to enjoy the view of the bay and the boats while I had my dinner. It wasn't long until I was joined by fellow Sea Shepard Guests, two of whom were visiting from Holland! Thought that was pretty neat, never been to Holland or met anyone from there before. Had plenty of good dinner conversation even though most of it I didn't actually participate in, I just sat back and took it all in. At much of the conversation was about diet, never even crossed my mind that most of the people that were involved in the conservation group would be vegetarian or vegan. But that took up most of the conversation for the night and since I'm neither and have mixed feelings on the subject I felt it better to keep my mouth closed. Obviously it's your own personal choice what you do and don't eat, but I almost have an easier time grasping the concept if someone is a vegetarian simply because they don't like the taste or texture of specific meats rather than for political reasons. Animals and animal products have been part of human life, ceremony and survival as far back as we can look. Yes, there are more "humane" ways to go about getting animal products than many of the modern companies use. But what exactly are you going to do with a pig, a cow or a sheep if you don't eat it at some point?! The world would be over run with animals if we didn't eat them. Either way, I know I'll never be a vegetarian and more power to the people than are for giving up something so delicious!  

Two things that were said at dinner really stuck with me, nothing earth shattering or controversial! But in talking about foods, some terms caught my ear.One was diet milk....what?! At home we'd simply say 1%, 2% or skim milk. I guess diet milk means the same but it just sounded so strange to my foreign ear! The other was just how one of the ladies pronounced hummus as hoo-mas. Ireland for such a small country has a very wide range of accents, then many people in Ireland have come from the UK or another country in Europe, so there is even more training of the ear that must happen. I find it quite entertaining! Doesn't help EVERYONE talks a mile a min, probably the hardest thing to get used too.

After quite sometime it started getting to cold for me to sit outside, seeing as how the one thing the hotel was lacking was a massive fire pit outside, so I went inside with the rest of the group. Got myself warmed up and watched as the sun set and the clouds rolled in over the bay. Made the city lights of Baltimore look like stars trying to shine through a cloudy night sky! It wasn't long until the long journey of the day caught up with me and went to my room. I took myself a nice short shower, even though the water pressure was lovely the water temperature didn't stay warm for longer than the time it took to get fully soaped up! After a cold rinse I went to get out of the tub, as I mentioned before I nearly died at this stage. The floor of the tub wasn't at floor level and the sides of the tub were an excessive amount taller than the standard tub. Add a slippery wet surface and your just asking for trouble! I managed a couple of awkward slips, slides and acrobatic maneuvers to keep my face from meeting the floor but managed to stay upright!  After getting ready for bed I made the mistake of turning on the the T.V. and found a movie to watch. Which of course I had to finish so I didn't get to sleep until 1am!! The movie was Up In The Air, made in 2009 and has George Clooney in it. Worth watching! 

Benches outside with the mist setting in!

The next morning we had to be at breakfast by I think it was 9-930am so that we could meet the boat that would be taking us to Cape Clear (clair) for a nice hike around the Island!

Breakfast dining room! Felt so spoiled. 

Breakfast was served with hot coffee, orange juice and cereal. Then a server would come out and take your order for a hot breakfast if you wanted one. I had a cup of coffee, multiple cups of orange juice, a bowl of cereal and a hot breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast. The scrambled eggs came out in  a dome shaped glob. Looked a little worrisome, but the texture and taste was normal. Hit the spot!

After breakfast we then went down to the dock we'd arrived at yesterday and loaded back on to the rib to be taken around to Cape Clear that was just south of Sherkin. The day was over cast but fairly warm, thankfully! Due to the fact I'd totally forgotten the rain coat I'd bought just for the trip along with my Columbia Jacket I was down to wearing my underarmor and Dicks Hamburgers hoody! Thankfully they kept me plenty warm throughout the day.

This is the Beacon aka a fancy light house ish thing.
on the main land by Balitmore. Also called Lots Wife
since it looks almost like a pillar of salt.

Part of the coast line of Sherkin, the rock formations are
ever changing with all the rough water wearing away at them.

I was able to see many old stone remains, either houses or walls
along the shore lines of Sherkin.

  The ride to Cape Clear wasn't a very long ride, followed the shore line of Sherkin and passed between the to islands until we came to the southern most end of Cape Clear and the pier. The pier consisted of a sloped cement slab cover in slime! Every kind of algae you could image covered the closest parts of the pier making it so we had to bring the boat quite far forward and climb out and up about a foot onto the pier. Once on solid ground the sights of the ocean and this lovely little island started to take us in! 

The Pier with all the lovely algae at the very end.

Looking along the coastline of Cape Clear.

A little harbor seal coming in for a closer look at us!

He was so cute! There were actually two but one disappeared rather quickly. 

After spotting the harbor seal and spending a good ten minutes watching and waiting to see just how close they would come, which was closer than I'd expected. We then started the up hill trek into the heart of the little island.

All the little houses were so quaint!

Truely a one way road!

If you don't watch for cars you will lose a toe or a whole foot!

There were lots of cows on the island, a few horses but don't remember seeing many sheep.

This was my favorite house on the island.

For being an island you could walk across in a day there were plenty of  ruins.

 

And the mist/fog sets in!

Little village where the one shop and three restaurants are. 

The harbor where we were picked up and taken back to Sherkin at the end of the day.

We spent most of our time just walking around pretty aimlessly, had many huddles around a map to try and figure out where we were and where we were trying to get too. Turned out that when we were brought to the island we were dropped off at a different pier than we had originally thought and so we'd been totally turned around. Even after that several members of the group still felt the need to huddle up and discuss the best route to take. Myself and my two walking buddies just continued walking not really caring where we went. Just taking in the sights of the houses, fields, the old stone walls that surrounded everything on the island. We attempted to try and find a path down to the coast line but found a dead end instead. After walking for a couple hours we came to the history museum of the island. Tiny little building, the vast majority of the items in there were about the boats and ocean. They had quite a few mannequins in the museum, which creep me out so I didn't spend allot of time before going back outside.
After the museum we started walking to the center of the island where the harbor and the few shops of the island are. It was time for lunch and one of the restaurants which was also a tiny general store was waiting for us. When we arrived there was a long table set up for us all. I had their seafood chowder, which was amazingly good! After doing a little shopping the local craft shop after lunch we were picked back up by the rib and taken back to Sherkin.
Once we were back I was so exhausted that I went straight to my room, took a shower and a nice long nap. Woke up from my nap in time for dinner of a spicy chicken salad and apple pie, which I ate while watching a showing of Blackfish. Blackfish is a documentary about killer whales that are kept in captivity at seaworld, as well as a couple other theme parks. I'd seen this documentary once before but it was interesting to watch again. If you haven't seen it I believe it's on youtube.
After dinner and the showing of the film (or as the Irish say, the fil-um) my two walking buddies and I went to explore Sherkin Island. We followed the few street signs they had to a small beaches on the island, then on the way back to the hotel we stopped by one of the other piers and the old monastery ruins that were right near by! Got back to the hotel and played two games of Irish pool which took longer than any game should. It wasn't until about 1am that I got to bed, good thing I got a nap.

Sunset in the bay

This cow jump through the bush it was munching on and scared us to death!

The first beach we came to on our walk.

The second beach we came to on our walk, didn't walk out to the water because it was windy and cold.

The monastery ruins

Monastery ruins from a  different angle.

Looking out at Baltimore from the pier on Sherkin.

 

 

The next morning I woke up even earlier than the day before, packed all my bags and went down stairs. I checked out of my room then went into the breakfast room for another breakfast of cereal, eggs and toast, coffee and orange juice! After everyone had finished breakfast and checked out we all went down to the dock where we were met by out whale watching guide and his lovely boat.

The whale watching boat was a catamaran. 

After we all loaded everyone and all the bags onto the boat, we were all given life vests and a brief on safety as well as what animals we were on the look out for. We also got a warning that all the whales in the area were here from feeding and that they cover a vast area so seeing them can be hit or miss. With other whale watching tours in more tropical areas the whales are coming together into a smaller space for breeding so are much easier to see.
As we made our way out of the bay past the beacon just ahead of the boat we spotted some Harbor Porpoises off in the distance. We had to turn off the engine on the boat since the whales are so shy we weren't able to get any closer. The small glimpses we had where just of the dorsal fins as they breached the water on the horizon.
After a few minutes the whales had vanished and we were off in the search for them. The day was amazing, even with the extremely low chance of seeing any more whales the weather and the water couldn't have been any better!!

While we zig zagging across the waters at a peaceful speed always having an eye on the water for whales in the distance, we also got to enjoy a mass amount of sea birds. Which included the Manx Shearwater, a little black and white bird that flies skimming just above the waters surface for food below...

Manx Shearwater 

Another kind of bird that we saw allot of was the Black Guillemot bird, black bird with white on it's wings and bright red feet. Our guide said he calls them clock work bird cause their little feet never slow down and they never seem to have a landing plan they just crash into the water.

Black Guillemot 

The last bird we saw was the Gannet, very large white birds that dive like rockets into the water to catch fish! Towards the end of the first half of the boat ride we came upon a whole group of them and watched them feeding. They are crazy cool birds I really enjoyed them! Even saw some of their young ones that still learning.

Gannet

While Enjoying the water and the sun I also managed to snap a few cool shots of the coast line and the crazy rock faces!

Small cave hiding there

The tower in this last image is apparently the oldest religious sight in Ireland called Dun an Oir Fort or fort of gold. Not sure why it was called fort of gold, thinking that some pirates left gold there?! Not sure.

After spending several hours on the water we stopped at Cape Clear and the same little harbor we'd been at the day before. I know we'd all noticed it before but I don't think I remember to mention it, but the Cape is where all the cars come to die. Every car we saw was dented in multiple places and had one or both bumpers being held up by rope or some even had duct tape keeping parts in place. They didn't sound any better when the engines were running, many were missing mufflers and sounded like they were about to die.
After sitting for 45min, having a snack and watching all the people and cars we were back on the boat to head back to the main land of Baltimore.

 

On the way back to the main land we passed by seal island or rock where all the seals spend their time in the sun!

A smaller rock by seal island was loaded and while using binoculars I could see some fuzzy baby seals. 

Not only are there seals on the rocks but all the little black spots on the water are their heads. When we got closer they wanted to keep a good eye on us! 

You can barely see the little guy but on the far left point of the rock there is a seal hanging out! It was so much fun watching these cute critters in their real environment!

Another look at the beacon as we came back into the bay! 

Cute little sail boats in the bay! It wasn't long until we were back in the harbor and off loading from the boat, loading back into our cars for the long drives back to our homes!! It was an awesome weekend I'll never forget and a thoroughly enjoyed myself!