Waterford

Saturday was warm and sunny; the sunniest day we've had since arriving in Ireland. We said goodbye to Croughmore and drove to Waterford, about an hour-and-a-half away. Waterford is located on the coast on a harbor formed by the River Suir. The site has been inhabited since the stone age and has been a town since the Vikings settled here; then it was occupied by the Normans and finally the British. We stopped in at the Museum of Treasures along the riverfront. This is an extensive exhibit of the history of the settlement of Waterford. It was rather disappointing and probably best suited for school groups.

Waterford is famous for crystal so we next went to the crystal factory. It was founded in 1783 and has been world famous since. We had a tour of the factory and got to see the process of creating these beautiful pieces. The tour ended up in the store and we successfully resisted temptation--while we appreciate the beauty of the pieces and the skill required to produce them, we have to admit that crystal really is not our style.









Then we drove to our B&B in Butlerstown, the Coach House. This is part of an old estate which has fallen into complete disrepair and ruin; the owner has restored the coach house as a B&B. The setting is green and pastoral, complete with cows next door.









We drove about one-half hour to Dunmore East on the coast for a fish dinner.

Cahir and Surrounding Area

On Friday, we decided to stay in the Mitchelstown area; our landlady gave us some hints on places to see. But first some comments on the road system. Besides motorways, which are like our freeways, there is a national road system (designated as Nxxx); the nation primary roads are usually pretty good while the secondary national roads can be anything from good to single track. The regional roads (designated Rxxx) can be anything from good like the national roads to single track; but they do tend to be narrow, each lane not much wider than a truck. Then there are local roads (designated Lxxx); these are a challenge.

We’ve fallen in love with the town names; like Skibbereen, Clonakilty and Ardfinnan. So I’ll describe today’s travels in some detail to illustrate the roads and towns along the way.

We drove from our house, Croughmore, east on R665 through Ballyporeen (Bally means town) to Clogheen where we turned north on R668 and went through Ballylooby and Killcommon to Cahir (pronounced ‘care’) in County Tipperary. Cahir is a large town with several interesting sites to visit. We went to the Swiss Cottage (it has nothing to do with anything Swiss) which was designed by John Nash (famous for designing buildings in London in the ‘Regency’ style) and built in 1810 as a ‘play house’ by the Butler family; this means it was a small place they used in the daytime in the summer to entertain and pretend they were roughing it (ala Marie Antoinette at La Petit Trianon).

It is a thatched cottage with four rooms which fell into disrepair between 1980 and 1985 and has been fully restored. The family dictated that the house be designed organically to mimic nature (nothing symmetrical, lots of curves, few straight lines/angles, nothing, not even the style of the windows, repeated in any one room). The result is charming if a bit disconcerting and the finishes and fabrics are very Laura Ashley-esque.

We than walked 2 KM on a lovely wooded path along the Suir River into Cahir for a pub lunch (castle fatigue has set in so we skipped the castle). By the time we left, the sunshine had turned into ‘soft weather’ but we stayed dry because the path was mostly under a canopy of trees.

On the drive back, we turned south at Clogheen on R668 looking for ‘The Vee’. This took us through a national park (Killballyboy Woods) into the Knockmealdown Mountains where the forests on both sides of the road were heavily laced with purple rhododendrons. At the top of the grade we came to a severe switchback (like Highway One on the Jenner Grade) where we had a spectacular view of the River Suir valley and the Galty Mountains beyond. The day was getting late and the clouds threatening, so we retraced our route and returned to Croughmore; a very satisfying day.

Kinsale

Kinsale is a harbor immediately south of Cork City. The site has been inhabited continuously for thousands of years and provided an important port for the Vikings and the Normans. It is the closest port in Ireland to Europe, so it has always held a strategic military value. At one time it was the main port for Ireland, but in the past 200 years it has diminished in value because of the shallow waters and the commercial traffic has moved to Cobh. It now serves fishing and recreational sailing interests.

On Thursday, we drove to Kinsale, first stopping off at Charles Fort. The clear skies clouded up as we approached the coast and it started to drizzle by the time we arrived. The fort was constructed in 1681 to protect the valuable harbor, but it was vulnerable to attack from the land side since it was visible from surrounding hilltops. After the Battle of the Boyne, the war between James II and William III came to Cork and Kinsale in 1690 and the troops of the Duke of Marlborough took the fort from the Jacobites.

Between 1690 and 1921, the fort was a British garrison and training facility. In 1923, during Ireland’s civil war, the Republicans burned the fort to keep it from being used by the Free State troops; since then it has been unused and has fallen into disrepair. The tour through the fort was very interesting and the exhibits informative. A lot of effort has been spent to educate the public on how the troops lived and what their family life (if you can call it that) was like. The fort is on a promontory that juts into the harbor; while this was good for defense, the wet and windy conditions must have made life in unheated barracks miserable.

The town of Kinsale is charming, full of shops, restaurants and pubs; it is reminiscent of Sausalito (like Cobh and Dingle) but nicer. A lot of the towns in Ireland have gone the tourist serving route. Most of the streets are two-way and a large number of them are one lane (or two lanes with parking blocking one). These narrow lanes come together at odd angles and are lined with small shops along with the tourists walking all over the place so driving in Kinsale is quite an experience.

We had lunch at the Fishy Fishy café; in spite of the awful name, the meal was excellent. The waiter commented on the fine weather saying that it was “a typical Irish summer day”. After strolling around the town and stopping at an Internet café to check email, we drove back to Mitchelstown. In the evening we watched the movie Michael Collins with Liam Neeson which covered the 1916 rising through the civil war.

Cobh

Cobh (pronounced Cove) is the seaport for Cork. On Wednesday morning we drove there. On the way we stopped off at the Fota House, Arboretum and Wild Animal Park. Since zebras and giraffes aren’t Irish (and we have two places to see such sights at home), we decided to pass on the animal park. Also on the house as it seemed rather ordinary and we’ve already seen a lot of old mansions. But the arboretum was fabulous; one of the best we’ve ever seen. The many gardens were laid out beautifully and the variety of plants was bountiful. The rhododendrons were in bloom and all the colors were very intense. The roses were not yet in evidence so coming back in a month would probably be spectacular. It seems that the damp climate and cool temperatures close to the sea work wonders with these plants.

Cobh has always been one of Ireland’s primary ports. Anyone whose ancestors left Ireland during the famine or later (that’s Bill’s family) probably left from Cobh. It was also the last port of call for the Titanic and the Lusitania.

We stopped in to see The Queenstown Story which is also The Heritage Center. For a while, Cobh was called Queenstown (for Victoria) but was changed back after the Irish Free State got formed. The exhibits of the port, shipping history, and the story of emigration were fantastic; one everybody should see.

After a very good lunch at the Waters Edge Hotel, we went to St. Coleman’s Cathedral. This is a Victorian, Gothic style church with the usual high, vaulted roof, towering spires, and beautiful windows and altars.

Dingle

On Tuesday, we decided to drive to the Dingle Peninsula. When we got up, it was raining slightly and threatening even more so we were concerned about taking a long drive. But then we figured if the Irish can live their entire lives doing everything in “soft weather,” then so can we. So off we went.

The drive to the town of Dingle, the westernmost town in Europe, took over two-and-a-half hours; the drive time was lengthened by lots of slow moving trucks. We were determined to avoid the tourist havens of Killarnney and Tralee. Dingle is a quaint, old Irish town that tourism has turned into something similar to Sausalito. However, Dingle is much nicer (and smaller) and still has a lot of charm. We visited St. Mary’s Church, which has six stained glass windows that were specifically designed for the site by Harry Clarke; these are the most beautiful and unusual windows we’ve seen, they are absolutely breathtaking.

The accents in Dingle are even more difficult than those in Cork. It seems the further you get from Dublin, the stranger the accents get. Our purpose for being here was to drive the peninsula, so after walking around town for a bit we left for the drive. As it turned out, the rain never came on strong and we actually saw some sun before the end of the day.

The road around the peninsula tip is reminiscent of driving Highway One to Gualala, but worse. If you don’t like Highway One, then skip this road. The road is narrow and often one lane—at one point, we had to ford a stream! The sheer rock wall to one side is the real deal, not a CalTrans fake. Other similarities: lots of wild iris (but yellow), rolling green fields (but sectioned by low rock walls) IMG_1040, sheep (but more scattered out everywhere rather than clumped in one place), broad expanses of water (but Bay of Dingle rather than Pacific Ocean).

The scenery is breathtaking. And there are a lot of places to stop and view ruins of stone houses, old forts and churches plus the natural beauty of ocean and hills, plus flora and fauna. The film Far and Away (Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman) was filmed here; the scene where Cruise was fighting his brothers on the hill over the ocean can be seen. We also saw a “famine cottage” which is the remains of a cottage used by a family during the potato famine period, and some old stone churches.

On the way off the peninsula, we were held up by a ewe with her two lambs who were taking a stroll down the middle of the road. In Inch, we stopped and walked on one of the nicest and widest beaches we've ever seen; it occupies the head of Dingle Bay.

It was a long day, but an enjoyable one.

Cork City

On Monday, we drove into Cork City, which took less than an hour. Cork has a population of about 180,000 (second only to Dublin in size) and the business/shopping district is very walkable, so we parked and hoofed it everywhere. Patrick Street is the center of the shopping district and has many pleasant stores, restaurants and pubs. The English Market is a large building, rather hidden away right in the middle of everything, with numerous stalls offering all kinds of fresh food. We had lunch in the market; it took them so long to get the food to us that they didn’t charge us and apologized profusely. The meal was quite good.




























We then walked to the Finn Barre Cathedral. This is a huge, stone, gothic Anglican church built in the 1860’s, but there have been churches of one sort or another on the site since St. Finn Barre lived there in 606 AD.

People in Dublin complain that they can’t understand those who live in Cork. We discussed this with a tour guide in the cathedral and he told us that Cork residents tend to talk very fast and in a higher tone of voice; when he leads tours he has to intentionally slow down. We’ve overheard a number of conversations in the street and it’s very difficult to understand; it’s taking us a while to get tuned into this.

Relaxing at Croughmore

On Sunday, we slept in and decided to take a day of rest. We went into Mitchelstown to explore it, but that didn’t take very long since nearly everything was closed. So we returned home, read the paper and continued planning the next week.

Cashel and Mitchelstown

On Saturday, we had a nice breakfast at Legends. The owners, Graziella & Liam, are selling the place and moving to her home city in Brazil, where she will return to her teaching job and they will look for another inn to purchase. They should be successful as they’ve done a good job in Cashel.

Since our hotel was located adjacent to the parking lot for the attractions, we walked toward the Rock. We tried to go to the Bru Baru Center, but it was closed. This center provides all the information and exhibits you’d ever need on this area. Brian Baru once conquered everything in sight, became high king of Ireland, and was the progenitor of the O’Brien clan.

The Rock of Cashel is a big hill with rocky outcroppings on the top. It is quite windy up there and commands an excellent view of the entire region. It is said that Patrick converted the local king to Christianity on this site and it has been a monastery since the sixth century. In the eleventh century. a chapel was built for Cormac McCarthy, in the twelfth the cathedral was erected, the thirteenth found defensive towers added, and the choral was built in the fourteenth. In the seventeenth century, Cromwell’s troops burned the place and it fell into disuse. The choral has been completely restored; the remainder of the site is being maintained as is (in ruins) and will not be restored.

There are a number of other churches and abbeys in the area, so we walked to Hoar Abbey which is a short distance away.

We had a very nice lunch and then took a walk around the town. The town of Cashel, in County Tipperary, is quite small and compact, but very nice. However, it is very tourist oriented.

We then took an hour’s drive to Mitchelstown in County Cork. On the way we stopped off at the Mitchelstown Cave. There are a lot of these limestone caves in Ireland, but only a few are open to the public. The tour took us several hundred meters underground (the temperature is a constant 59 degrees). The cave was discovered 150 years ago but has only been a viable tourist destination since the seventies when electricity was introduced inside the cave. Now they even hold concerts in there. There are numerous examples of stalactites and stalagmites and other strange looking formations.

We have rented a cottage for a week about six miles outside Mitchelstown. Definitely a rural setting; we even have cows in the lot next door. The cottage is named Croughmore and has been in the family of Liam and Ann Moher since 1864, although it has been remodeled and the roof re-thatched.

We went shopping at the Tesco in Mitchelstown, came back home to eat and spent the evening studying up on Cork and Kerry.

Kilkenney then Cashel

On Friday morning, we started the day with a visit to Kilkenney castle. The construction of the castle was started in the twelfth century as a fortress for the Norman general Strongbow. It soon passed into the hands of the powerful Butler family who continually added on and strengthened it. Unlike a lot of other castles in Ireland, this one was a residence of the owners continually until 1935. It underwent a number of interior refurbishments, ending up as a Victorian home. After 1935, it fell into ruin due to disuse until the Butlers, who had moved to the US, donated it to the Irish state in the 1960s. It has been under restoration since.

We then went to the Rothe House, which was the home of a wealthy merchant. The home has been restored and is an example of how homes were constructed several hundred years ago.
















After that, we visited the St. Canice Cathedral. It has been an active Anglican church for over eight hundred years.















Then it was time to drive to Cashel. This took about an hour and we encountered a short rain storm in the middle; the weather was sunny and beautiful by the time we arrived at Legends Guest House. We have a view the Rock of Cashel and the Church from our room.

Avoca then Kilkenney

Thursday was our last day in County Wicklow and our first day of rain since arriving in Ireland. We left Ballyknocken House and drove south through the Vale of Avoca. Upon arriving in the town of Avoca, we did a quick self-guided tour through the weaving facility and then went to the Avoca Handweavers outlet store. Of course our good intentions to purchase nothing went awry.

We then went to Fitzgerald's Pub for a pint and lunch. The BBC series "Ballykissangel" used Avoca and Fitzgerald's as the center of their story and many of the scenes were shot on site. As much as we loved the show (and we do highly recommend it), we were a little disappointed in our visit; possibly our expectations were too high.



We drove for about two hours to the town of Killkenney, in the county of the same name. By then the weather had cleared and it was a nice drive. We stayed at the Butler Court. For dinner, we went to Kyteler's Pub which is located in a fourteenth century building, former home of Mrs. Kyteler. The story is that the lady and the local bishop had a falling out and he accused her of being a witch; some say she still haunts the pub. After a great meal of Irish lamb stew with mash and brown bread & butter (the bread and butter in Ireland are the best!), topped off with Sticky Toffee Pudding, we were entertained by some live traditional Irish music.

Glendalough and Avondale

On Wednesday, having done the north yesterday, we went west on about a half-hour drive to Glendalough. This is a medieval monastery founded in the sixth century by St. Kevin, who was a disciple of St. Patrick. Kevin founder a monastic order which was dedicated to solitude and prayer; a number of other monastery founders got their start here. The stone buildings were erected in the tenth through the twelfth centuries. In addition to the stone church and cathedral and the graveyard, the property includes two beautiful lakes in a wooded setting just a short walk away.



















We had lunch at the Wicklow Heather in Larach and then visited a woolen mill outlet, where we successfully avoided any purchases.

After that we drove south of Rathdrum to the Avondale House and Forest, which is a country home where Charles Stewart Parnell was born and raised. The house was built in 1779 and currently has a tour through the mostly restored interior. The outside is rather plain and unremarkable. This property was the first site for the attempted reforestation of Ireland and is considered to be the home of the Ireland Forestry efforts. The grounds contain a number of very attractive trails to walk. After returning to our hotel, we went to dinner for an Italian meal at Bates in Rathdrum.

Powerscourt and Killruddery

Here we are on Tuesday and County Wicklow. Wicklow is called "The Gardens of Ireland" because of all the beautiful gardens located here; and we will visit a few of them. This county also has some very rugged mountains where the survivors and escapees of several of the risings hid out for years after; the government finally built a military road into the area but that didn't deter the people hiding out.

After breakfast, we had a sunny day and we drove north to Powerscourt. This is an 18th century house and gardens. The gardens are formal and have served as an elegant backdrop in a number of period movies like "Barry Lyndon" and "The Count of Monte Cristo." In addition to the elaborate formal gardens, there is an extensive Japanese garden built over a former bog, and a pet cemetery which is the final resting place of the family's various dogs, ponies and even a cow or two. This place is very commercialized with an extensive array of shops; it's a stop on almost every tour bus route.

















After lunch we went to Killruddery, which is another house and garden complex but smaller and less formal than Powerscourt. The building family came to England with William the Conqueror and the land was given to the family by Elizabeth I. The house has been a work in progress ever since and the gardens were first built in the 17th century. There are gardens both formal and wooded; and some are simply a network of high hedges. You can just envision young ladies strolling among the hedges with their parasols while the young men try to steal kisses. In fact, the grounds have been used in the movies "Far and Away," " My Left Foot," and one about the life of Jane Austin.




We ended the day with dinner at our hotel. We met a very nice German mother and adult son who travel together a lot; in fact they've lived in and traveled to an amazing number of places. Our conversations with them at this dinner and subsequent breakfasts were very interesting and enlightening.

Dublin then County Wicklow

Monday morning brought us a beautiful scene. The Boyne valley was filled with fog and when the sun rose, it was visible in a gap between the fog and clouds as a bright red. As the fog burned off, we had about an hour of wispy tendrils that was almost magical, especially as we could see Newgrange through it. The drive to Dublin was in bright sunlight and the countryside was beautiful, but encountering the tour buses on narrow roads was a bit unnerving. As we approached Dublin, the sky became overcast.

Our hostess at Rossnaree said that "nobody in Dublin is Irish". It sometimes seems that way; lots of foreigners, either tourists or immigrant workers.

We started our last day in Dublin with a short walk and Bill met Molly Malone (who was not alive, alive-o). We then tried a tour of the city on the hop-on/off bus which was disappointing; either the commentary was recorded or less than inspired.








We got off the bus at the Guinness Storehouse which is what they call the site of the original brewery. While the Guinness corporation has been sold off to a worldwide conglomerate, the family still holds this original site, which at one time was the largest brewery in the world. It is a large facility that still makes stout to the original recipe. Arthur Guinness founded it 250 years ago and they have been making a high quality brew ever since. It is only 2.4% alcohol (even less that the 3.2% junk we used to drink in college), which shows you can have a quality drink without getting a buzz on. He obtained the land on a 9000 year lease at 45 pounds a year--this is for around 100 acres! The tour was excellent, showing the history of beer-making and the process currently used. At the top of the facility (shaped like a huge pint glass) in the Gravity Bar, you get a free pint and an excellent view of all of Dublin. We had a decent lunch and then played tourist and overbought in the shop.

Then it was back on the bus for a short ride to the Killmainham Gaol. Over 200 years old, it was built during the French Revolution because officials expected (rightfully so) that the unrest would reach Ireland. It was intended to be a model prison, encompassing all the latest ideas for humane incarceration. It almost immediately became overcrowded and the good intentions vanished. A number of the cells have a name over the door indicating a famous person who resided there. These include Theobald Wolfe Tone, Charles Stewart Parnell, Michael Collins and Eamon De Valera (who went on to serve several terms as Prime Minister and President). The facility closed in 1923 upon the release of the last prisoner, De Valera. It was also the site of the execution of the members of the 1916 Easter Monday rising. Several movies have been filmed here, including Michael Collins and In The Name Of The Father (Daniel Day Lewis).












From here, we took the bus back into central Dublin, retrieved our car and attempted the drive south. Driving in Dublin is not for the faint of heart and we don't recommend it. It was during rush hour and our GPS didn't understand the meaning of one-way streets.

We got off the main highway at Ashford in County Wicklow and made our way to our hotel outside Glenealy, the Ballyknocken House and Cookery School. It's a very nice B&B with large comfortable beds. Our hostess, Catherine, is a lively, personable young woman who also gives cooking classes on the site. We had dinner in a pub in Ashford.

Dublin

Today we drove into Dublin, expecting a horrendous experience with traffic. Fortunately, there was no problem; except maybe the cost of parking ($33 for the day).

We started at Trinity College with a tour conducted by a delightful young art student. The college is around five hundred years old, but most of the building are less than half that age. It's a beautiful campus as far as the older structures are concerned, but the newer buildings are downright ugly. She left us at the college library where we were on our own. First we saw the exhibit on the Book of Kells. While there were only two pages of the actual book on display, there were a number of other books and a wonderful educational exhibit on the history and process involved. This book was created in the ninth century by monks on the island of Iona and transported to Kells for safety. It was stolen and eventually it ended up in the Trinity library and they refuse to return it. This exhibit is a must see when you visit Dublin. The work and artistic craftsmanship that went into it is remarkable.

The library itself, called The Long Room, is claimed to be the largest single room library in the world. It contains over 200,000 volumes, mostly in Latin; and they are shelved according to size. Therefore, it is very little used by students and researchers. It is still an impressive looking library.

We then took a walk down Grafton Street, which is a pedestrian only avenue of several block. It is home to a large number of upscale shops (including Marks and Spencer; gotta stay out of that place) and is teeming with humanity; a people watcher's paradise. We had lunch at a pub and were shocked at the price; $55 for an ordinary lunch. Ireland is even more outrageously expensive that the UK. It'll be great when and if the dollar comes back.

Then it was off to the National Museum of History and Archeology. The exhibits there covered Ireland from Paoleolithic times through the medieval period. Definitely a worthwhile experience.

By this time, we were pretty tired, so we drove back to Rossnaree, a pub dinner, and bed.

County Meath

We spent the entire day Saturday exploring County Meath which is north of Dublin.

I had mentioned that our B&B overlooks the River Boyne. You might have heard of the Battle of the Boyne. This was where William III of England (and of Orange) defeated James II in 1690, who tried to keep the Catholic religion in England. This also started the heavy oppression of the Irish Catholics.

We had breakfast at the B&B with a nice young couple from Toronto. Since we can see Newgrange and Knowth from our bedroom, we decided to start there.

This is a complex of burial mounds that date back past 3000 B.C. They are known as passage tombs because they consist of a huge pile of rock and dirt with a small tunnel (or passage) into the interior where the burial of cremated human remains were deposited. These mounds are huge which the pictures don't reflect.

Knowth contains the largest of the mounds. It has not been excavated and restored completely, so entrance into the passage is limited.

Newgrange has smaller mounds, but is in better condition, so we could enter all the way into the central chamber. It also has cut-away sections so we can see the construction methods.

With both sites, the tunnels are very small and constricted; I was just able to squeeze through. The people who built these were quite sophisticated in engineering, architecture and art. The stones surrounding the mounds and the tunnel walls have carvings which took a lot of imagination and talent. The engineering required to build these tombs out of huge rocks is amazing. And their method of packing in rock, dirt and gravel to keep water out is remarkable; in 5000 years of Irish rain no water has ever seeped in.



These people were also accomplished astronomers. The large mound at Knowth has two tunnels, one east and one west, which illuminate at the solar equinoxes. The Newgrange passage is aligned such that at the winter solstice, the rays of the sun when it first rises illuminates the tunnel all the way into the central chamber. We had a demonstration of this. The New Age folks like to gather here on December 21.




We then drove to Slane for a very nice lunch at The Poet's Rest (or George's Patisserie). Then it was on to Trim. This is a town on the Boyne where a castle was built by the Norman lord Walter De Lacy in the late twelfth century. It started out small and underwent a number of revisions until it was a three story high impregnable fort. The movie Braveheart was filmed here.

The only down side to the drive to Trim was my TomTom GPS. It does not do Ireland well; many of the well know Points of Interest are not recognized and several times it had me going around in circles. GRRRR!.







We finished the day with a very nice dinner at The Waterside in Termonfeckin. We were celebrating our 42nd anniversary so we wanted something special. Tomorrow it's off to explore Dublin.

Ferry to Ireland

We left Wales Colvyn Bay this morning and drove to Holyhead to meet the ferry. Driving down A55, we observed just how aggressive and dangerous the drivers are here. If they want to pass, they come right up on your bumper and are not hesitant about cutting you off if you don't get out of their way fast enough. I'm surprised the accident rate isn't higher.

The Welsh language is interesting. You take some LL, add DD and FF, insert a few Y and W, then use some random letters and you get a completely unpronounceable word that is meaningful to thousands of people! the accent in Wales is also quite different than any we've heard so far. It takes a while to get the ear tuned in to it.








Once on the ferry, we are introduced to our fourth currency of this trip, the Euro (after the US dollar, the UK pound and the Turkish New Lira). The British have a five pound note as their smallest bill and use coins for 1 and 2 pounds. Every time you use paper currency, you get coins in change. After a while, your pocket is weighed down with a LOT of coins. Once I counted over $40 worth in my pocket! The Euro (worth about $1.60) is the same way, so I expect the same result. There is also the danger of treating it all as "pocket change" like we in the US often do. The money over here in coin is worth a lot more.

Coming off the ferry, we went through the tunnel under the Port of Dublin, 6 Euro, then up the M1 toward Belfast. We got off the M1 (after another 2.8 Euro toll) at the Newgrange exit and traveled a very narrow, windy Irish country road, which made me quite nervous. But we arrived safely at our B&B hotel at Rosnaree. This is a lovely old manor estate house which is listed in Hidden Ireland. Our room looks out at Newgrange and the Boyne River.

Wales

We left Nettlebed this morning in a pouring rain. This was a bit disconcerting as we were in a new car and had a shaky idea of where we were going. Fortunately, the GPS system worked out really well. By the time we got to Oxford, the rain eased up and in a short while, stopped entirely. The weather was cool and overcast, perfect driving weather. The route was almost entirely on motorways (freeways), taking the M40 and M6. Even the A55 was a freeway type road.

We stopped for lunch about 30 miles short of our destination of Colvyn Bay. Returning to the A55 was not straightforward, so we had a nice drive through some Welsh countryside.

Finding Conwy Castle was not a problem. You drive into town and look up. There it is! It's huge. The castle itself is at one edge of the walled city. While it has been neglected over the centuries, it is surprisingly intact, and very impressive.

In the thirteenth century, Llewellyn was fighting with Edward I of England for control of Wales. Edward built a series of these castles right on the coast. They were so impregnable that they could be staffed with as few as thirty men-at-arms, as long as they could be re-provisioned by sea. If attacked, these men could hold out while sending a ship to Edward, who would come charging in with his minions, kicking butt and taking names. Eventually Wales fell to Edward. After a time, these castles became obsolete and were abandoned; many deteriorating until being restored in the twentieth century.


We then went to our hotel, the Bryn Holcombe. It's a very nice B&B a few blocks from the harbor shore. We walked down along the promenade for dinner and had a very pleasant evening. Conwy and Colwyn Bay have a lot to offer and to see. Unfortunately, we didn't allot enough time here; another day would have been great.

All Set to Leave Again - Money

It's our last day in Nettlebed for a while. In the morning we leave on our Ireland journey. Our plans are to drive to Colvyn Bay in Wales, tour Conwy Castle, and spend the night in a B&B. On Friday we take the ferry from Holyhead to Dublin. We'll be reporting on these events.

We decided to lease a car for this part of the trip as the one we got with the house is older and we're more comfortable with the reliability of a newer car. We arranged to lease a Nissan Micra, chosen primarily on the basis of price. The car we were promised was not available, so they upgraded us at no extra cost, to a brand new Totota (with a GPS, unfortunately UK only and not Ireland). The model is an Avensis which is not sold in the US. It's quite comfortable and well equipped and is an automatic, so no shifting with my left hand.

MONEY

Working with unfamiliar currency is interesting. We recently read a study where people were asked to guess how much of some commodity they could buy with a fixed amount of some currency. They always underestimated the purchasing power of unfamiliar currency (even a US one dollar coin).

We found that in Turkey (the New Lira was worth about $0.75) things seemed cheap while in the UK (the pound is worth $1.96 today) everything seems expensive. But this is deceiving. When we look at an item on a menu and it is only 11 pounds, at first it seems cheap until we calculate the true cost based on the exchange rate. Quite often, we've paid more than we normally would have for something because we acted too quickly.

You have to pay close attention when in a foreign country.

There also different customs in the UK. They are not as quick to discount as in the US. Newspapers are expensive (the Times is 70p weekdays, 2 pounds on Sunday). They not only don't discount the face price for home delivery like US papers do, they charge for delivery.

Taxes are also very high, thus the high price of beer and other luxuries (beer a luxury? I think it's a necessity). Sales tax or VAT is usually included in prices, but not always, so you need to be careful as it is often 17.5%. Because of the tax, cars are also expensive. A Honda Accord is over $30,000. Turkey was even worse, as cars have a tax of 100%, and alcohol is taxed at 400%.

Recovery and Preparation

After two weeks in Turkey, the laundry situation got out of hand so Monday was the day to handle it. We not only needed to recover from Turkey but we have to get ready to go to Ireland in a few days. Also, we did some shopping in Henley and had a mediocre lunch at the Argyll Pub.













On Tuesday, we finally hit the gym (after a two week layoff). OUCH! To reward ourselves, we drove to Turville, along the road where we were told the Bluebells would be carpeting the fields. Unfortunately, we seem to be too late and the color explosion is over. In looking for Turville, we only got lost once. Unfortunately, when doing a turnaround, the plastic rear bumper fell off the car. We got it into the back seat sticking out the window. We sure got some strange looks. Later that afternoon, we went to a local garage and the owner simply popped it back into place.

In Turville, we had a nice lunch at the Bull and Butcher. The road to get there is a 'single track', meaning one lane. It was a beautiful drive but a bit nerve wracking. After lunch we took a walk through Turville, a charming village with a lovely little church.