Wind in the Willows

On Saturday, Claire, Barb and Darcey went into Henley while Bill stayed home and mowed the grass. This was Claire's first time driving the car without Bill being with her (YES!). They went to the Rowing Museum which is also the Wind in the Willows Museum (Kenneth Grahame lived near here and loved the riverbanks and wild creatures of the Thames Valley, which provided much of the inspiration for the book). We enjoyed revisiting a beloved childhood story and seeing exhibits about the history of rowing and boating on the Thames. Henley is gearing up for the annual Royal Regatta, which will take place next week.














Our next door neighbors, Rob and Margaret, invited us all to a barbecue at their house. We went there at six, and had such a good time it was almost 10:30 when we broke up. Rob is a South African transplant and they shared photos and stories about their travels in the African wilderness. Shortly after they were married (about ten years ago) they and Rob's two grown sons drove and camped from Cape Town up through Botswana and Namibia--completely on their own, without a guide. Margaret is an outstanding photographer and her pictures of the African landscape and wildlife were breathtaking. This was the first time we actually had the chance to socialize with the locals, and it made us feel very much at home in the neighborhood.

On Sunday, we drove to Turville for lunch at The Bull & Butcher (see our post for May 13). After eating, we did a hike with a steep climb to a windmill; fantastic views of the village and countryside. The town and church are the setting for one of Darcey's favorite TV shows (The Vicar of Dibley), so she was thrilled to see it "in person." We then drove home through the picturesque countryside and had dinner at home for the first time since out guests arrived.

Basildon Manor

Our guests didn't let jet lag get to them and they were ready to go. We decided to go to Basildon Manor just outside of Pangbourne (near Reading). We arrived after a nice half-hour drive through the countryside.

Basildon is a country estate, built in the late eighteenth century of Bath stone with a late Palladian facade. It has been added onto several times and has passed through several hands until being donated to the National Trust in the 1950's. The recent film, Pride and Prejudice, was filmed here.

While every bit as elegant as many of the other houses we've seen, this one has a more comfortable and homey feel due to the fact that it was a family home until fairly recently. The library is particularly appealing with its long bookshelves, red walls, and overstuffed sofas and armchairs. Lady Iliffe, who was responsible for the restoration, loved red and used many shades of it to beautiful effect in several of the rooms. There were not many visitors there today and we had some nice conversations with the very knowledgeable docents.

We had lunch at the Swan, which is a pub built in 1642. We sat outside on the deck overlooking the Thames. This group has decided that dessert of sticky toffee pudding is mandatory at each meal and must be rated as to quality against all others. Lunch today was the third test.

We drove home and relaxed for a while, then went to The White Hart for dinner (and sticky toffee pudding). A walk through Crockers End completed the day.

Visitors from South Carolina

On Thursday, Claire's sister and niece, Barb and Darcey, arrived in the UK for a ten day visit. We drove from Catslip to Heathrow in a bit under an hour (heavy traffic) to meet them. On the drive back, we only made wrong turns twice. Since the drive home took us past the turn for the Flower Pot, it seemed to be a great place to stop for lunch. We then stopped in Henley to introduce them to the town and do a bit of shopping. After finally going home to Catslip and getting them settled, we went to dinner at the Dog and Duck. Barb and Darcey hit the ground running and are looking forward to a full day tomorrow.

Cliveden

Here it is Tuesday and it's another big house and gardens, ho hum. Actually, there are many of these around and they're all interesting. Cliveden (CLIV den) is located in Taplow, between Marlow and Maidenhead, about half an hour's drive from Henley. The house was built by the Duke of Buckingham in 1668, added onto over the years, and rebuilt twice after large, devastating fires. The current incarnation of the house dates from the middle nineteenth century. The gardens have also been a work in progress over that time. It has been owned by a number of families (often given as a gift to a child as a wedding present), terminating with the Astor family from New York, who donated it to the National Trust. In the early 60's, Cliveden was the scene of many a liaison between John Profumo and Christine Keeler, causing a major scandal and the fall of a government. For a while the Astors still lived in the house, but it is now a luxury hotel which tourists can only visit on certain days.





The grounds consist of several hundred acres which contain several different gardens, some formal and sculptured, others more informal with ponds.

Blenheim Palace

On Friday, we woke up to a nice, partially sunny day. After a tasty "full English" breakfast and a walk around Woodstock, we went to see Blenheim Palace. (If you pronounce this other then "blennim", you are obviously an American tourist). After all that fresh air and natural beauty in the Lake District we longed to once again enjoy the delicate aroma of furniture wax and the dazzle of ormolu.

When John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough (and ancestor of Winston Churchill) led British troops to victory at the Battle of Blenheim against France's Louis XIV in 1704, Queen Anne gave him a large tract of land and 240,000 pounds to build his estate. Blenheim Palace is the result.

We started in the Churchill exhibit. Winston was born here when his mother went into premature labor while attending a party at Blenheim. The exhibit has all the requisite photos, medals, letters, etc, but is unique in its display of Churchill's paintings. They are quite good, and add yet another dimension to this complex, multi-talented historical figure.

We moved on to a guided tour of the house, which was pretty much as-expected--lots of French furniture and decorative objects, and impressive portraiture. Two things unique to Blenheim--the beautiful large tapestries, and the fact that the current Duke (11th) still lives here. His private apartments are open for touring (when he is away) for an extra 4 pounds; we skipped it.

The final experience was a multi-media presentation in which we were guided through 300 years of palace history by a ghostly housemaid (lady's maid to the first Lady Marlborough); kind of fun and clever in spots, but a little on the hokey side.

We walked around the formal gardens a bit but soon realized that, lovely as they are, they pale in comparison to the magnificent countryside of the Lake District. We'd had enough of huge country homes (and overpriced gift shops); a drive of less than an hour (through small towns and countryside, no motorways) brought us back "home" to Catslip.

Castlerigg and Buttermere, then Woodstock

The weather on Thursday was just like Wednesday, nice but threatening. We first drove a short distance to the Castlerigg Stone Circle. Seventy percent of Britain's stone circles are in Cumbria and this is one of the best. It's not as massive as Stonehenge nor as expansive as Avebury but is an excellent example of this ancient practice. It is located along a remote single track road on a windswept hilltop.





We then drove to the village of Buttermere on a road over the hills and through the Newlands Valley--this route offers the same kind of jaw-dropping, oh-my-god vistas you get driving coastal Highway One. The road is curvy and narrow (often single track) and makes the Pacific Coast Highway seem like a walk in the park (the guide book describes it as "challenging").






We parked at the Fish Hotel (one of two in town, there's nothing else here). There is a four mile "stroll" around the lake on a relatively flat trail, but our aches and pains from yesterday prevented us from experiencing the entire thing, so a short walk had to satisfy us. There are waterfalls and streams emptying into the lake through verdant, steep hillsides. It's hard to envision a more beautiful setting.

We then exited the Lake District through the Honister Pass on a road like the one we took to get here and it was every bit as beautiful. It is hard to describe just how picturesque and beautiful this area is, and we kept wishing we had the photographic equipment and skill to do it justice. If you visit England and have a couple of days free, the Lake District is a "must see" destination.



Back down the A591 and M6 for four hours and we arrived in the small town of Woodstock near Oxford. It is an eighteenth century town and is quite lovely; it is a tourist destination because of Blenheim Palace but it has been kept free of tacky shops, probably because it is such an expensive area in which to live and buy property. We stayed at the Townhouse B&B (right in the middle of the main town area, which consists of two streets, and a short walk from the palace) after having an excellent dinner at the Kings Arms. While our host, Ed, prepared breakfast for us the next morning in the kitchen/breakfast room, we had one of the most interesting conversations we've had since we got here with him, in terms of getting a feel for what it's like to live and work in Great Britain.

Lake Derwentwater

The forecast was for rain and there was heavy rain overnight, but the day looked promising. Before we left on this trip, we saw the forecast and were dubious but our neighbor in Catslip, Lou, told us to "just bundle up and get on with it!" That exemplifies the British attitude! Lake Derwentwater is a small lake with Keswick at it's northern end. It is ringed with hills and hiking trails.

After putting on our rain coats and hats, we got tickets for the launch that circles the lake (the trip only takes fifty minutes). There are a number of stops at rickety docks, but several were closed due to low water. We went as far as Hawse End to hike up the ridge to Cat Bells (1480 ft.). This is a 1-1/2 mile, 2 hour hike which gains 600 feet in altitude. The guide book made it sound easier than it is; Claire's hip did quite well, Bill's knees were another story. Going up was easy (except for the part where you had to scramble up the rocks); getting back down was tougher.

The view from on top was fantastic, well worth the climb; we were able to see the entire lake and green hills and valleys for quite a distance. The sky changed constantly (black clouds alternating with blue patches and fluffy white clouds, some bright sun, sometimes everything at once) and the varying light produced some dramatic effects on the landscape. The trail back down took us through hillsides of solid bracken, interrupted only by the occasional foxglove poking through. At the bottom we walked back to the dock through the woods, along the lake.


When we finally got back to Keswick, it was 3 PM and we'd not had lunch. Fortunately, the Dog and Gun wasn't crowded and we had a very good lunch; its reputation is well-deserved. A pint of Old Peculier really hit the spot. Quite a few of the patrons had well-behaved dogs with them at their tables (that wouldn't fly in the US). Last week in the Red Lion, I asked some of the dog owners about a European Union effort to ban dogs in eating establishments and they said, "never in England!". The Brits love their dogs, walking (rambling) and beer--not necessarily in that order.

After a little shopping, we returned to our B&B. Dinner was a simple gyros-style sandwich (a doner from a Turkish deli). We went to bed with sore legs and feet, and aching muscles.

Lake District

The Lake District is in Cumbria in northwest England, not far from the border between England and Scotland. It has the reputation of being the most beautiful area of the country (quite justified as we discovered) so we embarked on a five hour drive on the M6 and A591. Once off the M6, the journey was absolutely beautiful, driving through a valley adjacent to lakes and green hills. The A591 is curvy but a good road, marred only by tour buses. This region is well supplied with stone. There are stone walls everywhere dividing the fields and most of the houses are of the local stone. Sheep are everywhere and we soon found that we had to be constantly watching where we stepped. Soon after leaving the M6, we stopped into a custom furniture maker's facility and watched them hand crafting some very beautiful furniture.

Our destination was Keswick (pronounced Kessick) which means "cheese market". Graphite mines were discovered near here and the modern pencil was invented in Keswick. Artists will recognize the Derwent brand name (the lake is Derwent Water); they produce fine quality colored pencils, water color pencils and pastels. We stayed in a Victorian B&B named the Ellergill Guest House where Robin and Claire (and dog Tess) are delightful hosts. We asked our hostess for a recommendation for dinner and she pointed us to the Dog and Goon; it took some conversation to get past her accent and realize it is the Dog and Gun.

Before dinner, we walked around town. Keswick is quite small and, although it is oriented towards tourists, it lacks the junky-feeling souvenir stores of many tourist areas. This region is oriented towards serious hikers and the stores reflect this. It has the feel of a ski village in the Sierras; people walking around in their hiking clothes looking quite rugged. More casual tourists (non-hikers, or those who prefer to see the scenery through a bus window) visit the southern part of the district; this northern part isn't for them. Town was crowded, but not overly so. It'll get worse as the season progresses. Most of the buildings are of stone and were built in the Victorian period. This area became popular after train service became ubiquitous and access from London became easier.

Keswick has a pencil museum! And it's quite interesting; presenting the history of the pencil and the processes used in mass producing this essential tool. Of course, there's the obligatory shop where Claire couldn't resist a small starter set of water color pencils.








We tried the Dog and Gun for dinner, but it was very crowded and they had no wait list; you had to run and grab an empty table. So we went to a less popular pub for an OK dinner.

A Few Slow Days + Real Estate

We've spent the last three days at home, relaxing and doing yard work. On Tuesday morning, we leave for three days in the Lake District. Our next blog entry will describe our experiences.

REAL ESTATE

The British real estate market has experienced a rapid run up of prices in recent years, similar to the US, but even more so. The UK, Ireland and Spain have had particularly rapid increases in house prices. The bubble is bursting here, just like at home. Since the price escalation was faster than in the US, the bust is even worse; the prediction is that prices will fall 30% in the next eight to ten months and will take years to recover. They also have the same sub-prime mortgage problem as the US. Also, a lot of Spain's price increase was fueled by British citizens buying second homes in the vacation areas. Now, with the Spanish market also falling, many of the British buyers are getting the double whammy, falling values of both their second home investment and their primary home. This is a serious problem that the government seems powerless to solve. Housing values vary over the country and are especially high in the areas just outside London (that's where we are).

There are three main types of homes in the UK. There is the detached house which is like our single family house. Terraced housing is what they call row houses and is quite common in cities. The most common style of building outside central cities is the semi-detached, which is what we call duplex.

This area has the underground structure of chalk with flint embedded. The chalk is soft so settling of shallow foundation houses is common. The flint is often used in walls and fences; the house walls are usually cinder block with a stone, brick or flint facing, or a combination--many of the combinations are very artistic and interesting. Most of the houses in this area are quite nice, but many of them are also very old and maintenance costs are high.

Also, a lot of the houses are located off the main roads on single track lanes, making access a challenge.

Waddesdon

Today was another beautiful day, sunny and cool. We consulted our National Trust Handbook of wonderful places to visit and decided on Waddesdon Manor, just outside of Aylesbury and an hour's drive away through the beautiful English countryside and picturesque villages. (We should be used to this by now, but it's still something of a white-knuckle driving experience over narrow roads!)

Waddesdon Manor was built by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild in 1874 as a country house, used mostly on weekends, to entertain his guests and display his collection of 18th century French decorative arts. The furniture, Savonnerie carpets and Sevres porcelain rank in importance with those in museum collections. Portraits by Gainsborough (including the famous "Pink Boy") and Reynolds share the walls with works by 17th century Dutch and Flemish masters. There are over thirty rooms to see, both public and private, each one unique and full of wonderful treasures. While at times it seemed kind of like eating a big meal in which every course was dessert, overall we appreciated seeing so many beautiful things collected under one roof.

The grounds include lovely Victorian gardens, fountains, statuary, topiary, a rose garden, and a rococo-style aviary with a colorful collection of exotic birds. Truly a sumptuous and satisfying feast for the senses, inside and out.



After returning home to Catslip, we went to the Red Lion pub for dinner.

Petanque

I finally got to play Petanque today. I found a set of balls in the garage and that discovery prompted me to research the situation here in the UK. If you are not interested in petanque, then stop reading here.

I looked it up in Google and communicated with a club in Marlow, about 20 miles away (I only got lost once). There are several clubs in the Marlow area and I chose the closest to me. They play on a court they’ve used for about 20 years. A pub owns the land but these people built the facility and when they play, they buy lunch from the pub. Most of the time they play sanctioned events so you need to be licensed, but on Thursday they have an open session, to which I went. They play at 11 PM, play four games (timed for ½ hour max), then break for lunch (and a pint), then play two more games. A guy determines the teams according to some arcane formula, different partners each game. Everyone chips in two quid and there are prizes at the end for the various winners (I was not one of these). The skill level is similar to what I am used to but I was a bit rusty.

We had eighteen people there and played in teams of three. There was not a single duplication of first names. It was relaxed and a lot of fun, no pressure to win, just camaraderie; and they all were very nice people and made me feel very welcome.

The court is similar to ours but with less loose stuff on top. They can play five games at once. There is a small clubhouse, about 12 x 15 where they store stuff (including a LOT of extra balls) and they have lights for night play. They also have scoreboards they stick at the end of each game (a good idea we might want to try).

Altogether, I had a great time and they invited me back. Unfortunately, with our schedule (and theirs), I’ll only be able to play once more.

Avebury

The weather continues to be wonderful. Whet happened to rainy England?

On Tuesday we drove to Avebury, which took about 1-1/2 hours. Unfortunately, the route we took went through Reading, so we had heavy traffic and a very drab view. Once we got out into the countryside, things improved greatly.

In the Avebury parking lot we were offered the opportunity to join the National Trust (which acquires and maintains many historically significant stately homes, gardens and areas of natural beauty so they can remain open to the public); we had decided earlier not to join because we thought it was a bit pricey. Cost of a one-year membership is 77 pounds per couple (that's around $150); however the Trust is offering a "special" to Americans for $77 since the dollar is so weak, so we decided to go for it.















The Salisbury plain was the home to a neolithic culture which build a number of impressive monuments. One of these is Stonehenge, which we saw the last time we visited the UK, so we skipped it this time for Avebury. Avebury is older and larger than Stonehenge, but Stonehenge gets all the publicity because of its famous profile. Also, Stonehenge has been loved to death by visitors, so it is now roped off and you can no longer approach it very closely. Avebury is situated over a very large area and you can walk among and touch the stones. Sheep are grazing among the stones so you have to watch where you walk.

Avebury is one of 900 stone circles in Britain and is the best preserved, as well as the largest in area. It was built over 6000 years ago and it was in use for around 200 years. It is not only a stone circle, but also has an "avenue" of large stones. It is impressive what a neolithic culture was able to accomplish.







Avebury is also a charming, small (very small) village with lovely old cottages (many with thatched roofs) and pretty gardens. The church, St. James Cathedral, was started in 1088 by Saxons and was added onto by the Normans and others a number of times.


















Avebury Manor was first built in the late eleventh century and is remarkably well preserved today. It has walls three feet thick. The earth in this area is primarily chalk, so stability is a problem. Also the foundation for the walls was not made very deep. This area experienced a series of earthquakes in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, so nothing in this house is square. They just plastered it over and left it! The interior is quite striking, with dark, heavily scarred wide plank floors, beautiful detail in the moldings and ceiling decorations, and a unique, intricately carved chalk mantlepiece.

The gardens are primarily sculptured hedges and bushes; there are some flowers (one rose garden is particularly charming), but not on the scale that we observed in Ireland.










We drove home on a different route to avoid Reading and to see some smaller towns; some of these "small" towns were surprisingly extensive, but the drive was enjoyable.

Glorious Weekend Weather

We're still relaxing at home and getting some yard work done. The weather has been sunny and cool, absolutely beautiful!

On Saturday, we needed to do some shopping in Henley, so we had lunch just outside town at the Flower Pot pub. This was our second time there and we enjoyed it very much. We followed lunch with a walk of about 100 yards to the banks of the Thames which, after the recent rains, is overflowing it's banks.

















On Sunday, we visited Nuffield Place. This is the home of William Morris, Lord Nuffield, who was the founder of several automobile manufacturing companies, including Morris Motors (Morris Mini and Minor) and Morris Garages (MG). The house was built in 1914 and purchased by Morris in 1933.
We have seen quite a few estates and gardens in our travels, but this was definitely the most personal and therefore the most affecting. The couple did not have any children so the house and its contents passed intact directly to Nuffield College, to be preserved for posterity. Virtually everything in it is original, from furnishings (1930's vintage), tableware and linens; to artwork, family photographs (some featuring royalty) & personal items (which include everything from Lady Nuffield's sewing box to the couple's coronation robes for the crowning of George VI). In most of the estates we have visited the gardens were the most impressive; here it was the house. While not nearly as large and grand as some, it was certainly the most evocative of its times and lifestyle. So much more fun to get your English history like this than opening a boring textbook!

For dinner, we went to the Five Horseshoes pub in Maidens Grove which entailed driving some more single track roads. Some of the best pubs are in the middle of nowhere. Dinner was good and the rural setting was very peaceful; the great weather allowed us to sit outside with a view of fields, sky, sheep and cows as far as we could see. The light lasts until nearly 10 at this latitude so the views last right through dessert and coffee and all the way home.

Joyce Grove

Today, Friday, we pretty much stayed at home. We finished up the lawn work and them took a walk to the Joyce Grove. This is a large manor house that was once owned by the Fleming family, which made it's fortune in Scottish banking. A recent member of the family was Ian Fleming, the author of the James Bond novels. While the family still owns a lot of property in the area, this particular property has been donated to the Sue Ryder Foundation, which uses it as a nursing home. The grounds are beautiful and serene; a wonderful site for rest and relaxation.

Settling in Again

When we got back from Turkey, the grass had grown quite high and a full day was needed to care for the property. After returning from Ireland yesterday, the same thing has happened again. The alternating rain and sun is working it's havoc on us. But first, we needed to go to the gym and work out. And was that ever tough after our long layoff. Then it was back home for yard work. A beautiful day for doing the work. We even had visitors.

Tomorrow we'll be sore but the gardening must be finished.

"Home" to Henley

Wednesday morning brought us another glorious, sunny day. We reluctantly left Honeysuckle Cottage and drove to Henley, about a four hour drive. The Devon countryside has to be some of the best scenery anywhere. We really enjoyed our travels but it's nice to get back home and do some relaxing (even if the grass has grown exponentially while we were gone).

Unfortunately, all the eating we did in Turkey and Ireland has caught up to us, so it's to the gym tomorrow.

More Devon

We awoke to bright and sunny weather with just a few clouds; a glorious day. We wanted to visit some of the interesting sites in South Devon but the old “closed on Tuesdays” curse was upon us (this being Tuesday).

After much discussion and perusing of the National Trust brochure, we settled on Overbeck’s, the home of an eccentric Victorian scientist, which also has a beautiful tropical garden and ocean views—and open on Tuesdays. Perfect! We drove into Kingsbridge then through Marlborough, hoping to bypass Salcombe. A wrong turn took us on single lane roads into Salcombe. Since we were there anyway, we decided to walk around a bit.

Salcombe is a delightful little port town with a small harbor and many shops, very Carmel-like and decidedly “up market”. After a bit of exploration (including the oldest sweet shop in Devon where we purchased some clotted cream fudge and shortbread), we got directions to Overbeck’s and moved on.

The road to Overbeck’s has to be the worst experience of this trip; it was very narrow and steep, with unbelievably sharp curves and long stretches without a pullout. If you meet someone, it’s a long way to back up. After reaching our destination, we found that all the parking spaces were taken, many people had parked on the road (or, should we say, more like IN the road) and there was no place to wait, so we just left.

By the time we were out of there, we were exhausted from the tenseness of the drive, so we decided to have lunch close to home. We went to Stokenham to the Tradesman’s Arms, a quaint and cozy pub, where we had a very good lunch (and a pint). During lunch we overheard a conversation between the bartender and a local fellow sitting at the bar, talking about the Yanks and Germans and their general inability to navigate the local roads. We get it! Gives one a little more compassion for the novices on Highway One that we north coast locals like to bitch and moan about……

A short walk after lunch took us to the local church (still in use) which was built in the late fourteenth century (a previous church was built there two hundred years earlier); this was a surprise find and we had a great visit to an interesting site. Across the road from the church is the Church House Inn, where we made a reservation for dinner; we had a gourmet style meal in a pub setting, quite good. As high as the meal prices are in England, they seem cheap after being in Ireland.

Devon

Monday morning brought mixed overcast with some sun, but warm. The day produced occasional drizzles; we aren’t far from the Atlantic Ocean so the marine influence causes mixed weather. The area is known as South Hams and has a definite character of its own. Driving out of Stamcombe Manor was easier than getting in because it was daylight, so the narrow roads weren’t quite as scary. However, high rock walls and/or dense twelve-foot hedges on both sides of a narrow passage makes one aware than even a small mistake means a trip to the body shop. The protocol for handling the case of meeting someone driving the opposite way works quite well; you make careful note of each pullout as you pass them and the person closest to one backs up; all very polite and civilized. Everyone waves when you wait for them to go through.

We went into Kingsbridge for a little shopping, then drove through Chillington and Stokenham (these villages make Gualala seem big) to Torcross on the coast where we had an excellent lunch of fish and chips at the Start Bay Inn. The beach is beautiful but it consists of very coarse sand and large pebbles; good for walking but not lying about. Then we drove up the coast about six miles to Dartmouth. The road was at best narrow and at worst single track-- we’ll never complain about Highway One again! The scenery was fabulous—rolling green hills and ocean vistas, alternating with charming small villages.

Dartmouth is on a harbor formed where the Dart River meets the Atlantic. The town is very nice but is a tourist-oriented shopping site. We drove back to Stancombe Manor after doing a bit of shopping for food and had dinner in.

Thoughts on Ireland

The Irish are very friendly, helpful and polite. In Dublin, being a large city and everyone is rushed, this can get strained, but in the other towns and in the countryside, everything is very friendly. They make everyone feel welcome. Unlike the English, the Irish are very demonstrative; they let their hair down easily. And they definitely have the “gift of gab” (otherwise known as blarney).

Ireland has historically had a “pub culture” but this is sadly vanishing. The harsh driving-after-drinking laws plus the escalating costs of a night out have caused many pubs to close. Those that remain just don’t get the volume of business they used to. A way of life is disappearing, especially in the rural areas.

The Irish are very proud of their alcoholic beverages. They think Irish whiskey is vastly superior to scotch and bourbon. Cider, which is fermented and carbonated is popular. The national ale, Smithwicks (pronounced smitix), is quite good. While Murphys stout is also popular, Guinness is king. Beer is served just slightly chilled. Rather than the beer just gushing out of a tap like in the US, an Irish draught takes several pulls of the tap. It takes two minutes to serve a Guinness. The glass is first filled to within about an inch of the top and it’s cloudy so it takes a couple of minutes to clear and the head to form; it is then topped off. Pulling pints is an art and cannot be rushed; if it’s not done correctly, find another pub.

Ireland is green—many intense shades of it. The wet climate is the primary cause; don’t come to Ireland for sun. The countryside is beautiful with green fields separated by rock walls and various ruins of churches and castles (not to mention sheep, cows and horses) dotting the landscape. The absence of large stands of trees is notable. At one time Ireland was heavily forested, but most of this was cut down to provide farmland and fuel, especially during the famine years. There is currently a reforestation initiative but it will take a long time before any success is obvious.

The island is small; you’re never more than 75 miles from the ocean. Dublin and Cork are only 145 miles apart. However, if no motorway is available, driving even short distances can take awhile; but that’s a good thing. Ireland is half the size of New York state and the population is smaller than many of our big cities. The television stations and the major radio stations are national, as are most newspapers. The police force (Garda) is also national. This makes sense on such a small island.

Driving is an experience. Not just because it’s on the left; many of the rural toads are quite narrow. Even in cities and towns many streets are a challenge; and often people park such that travel lanes are blocked. When two way access is impossible, people just take turns with no hassle. The person let through usually gives a friendly wave. Just try that in a large US city; the wave will probably be with one finger! Although most drivers are courteous and polite, they do tend to dangerously tailgate when they want you to either drive faster or get out of their way; I’m surprised there aren’t more serious accidents.

It has been interesting following politics. Ireland is a true parliamentary democracy with a lively discourse between political parties. Until it joined the European Union, Ireland was a backwater in many ways and its economy was poor. Since then, they have become “The Celtic Tiger”. They have developed a high tech culture and their economy is soaring. The education level is high and they are the cream of Europe. But this has come at a cost and that is cost; prices are up on everything and Ireland is generally expensive. Demand is high for social services (like national health) but paying the price for these services makes taxes (and cost of living) high.

The European Union proposed a constitution that had to be approved by popular vote in ALL member countries. This constitution ran to 400 pages and was so complicated that it had a lot of opposition and was voted down by France and Netherlands. So the powers-that-want-to-be got together in Lisbon and created a smaller document that is not a “constitution” but a “treaty”. And it doesn’t have to be voted on by popular referendum; government approval is enough (this is being pushed by France). Ireland is the ONLY country that has put it to the public in a plebiscite and this vote will take place in a few weeks. This has created a fierce public debate between the supporters of the treaty and those opposed. While we have trouble understanding the whole thing, it seems to come down to deciding how much power to give to a powerful, centralized government. The Irish are fiercely protective of their independence and self-determination in the face of much larger and more powerful countries like France and Germany.

The food is generally mediocre to good; Irish food has come a long way since the unification of Europe. Traditional pub food is OK and there are gourmet restaurants all over. However, they haven’t learned how to make a sandwich; if you order a ham sandwich, you get ham on bread, period. EVERYTHING is ala carte, sometimes even salad dressing and mustard! Also, you seem to get chips (French fries) with just about everything; can you imagine lasagna and chips? Overall, we’d say that you don’t come to Ireland for the food.

The biggest problem is the value of the Euro. Ireland would be expensive even with the Dollar at parity with the Euro. With the Euro currently at $1.60, the costs are brutal. If you plan on travel to Ireland, be prepared for sticker shock. At one time, Americans were the backbone of Irish tourism. Since 9-11 and the dollar dropping, American tourists have all but vanished, decimating the tourist industry. They now depend on Germans
for this business.

We think it would be interesting to live in Ireland for an extended period; not in Dublin but in another city like Cork or a town like Kilkenney. However, to do so would require either the Euro to drop significantly against the Dollar or for our earnings to be in Euros. So I guess it’ll be a while before we do this.

Goodbye Ireland, Hello Devon

We got up on Sunday morning to a bright and sunny day, the best we’ve seen since arriving in Ireland. So nice that we decided to spend some time sitting in the beautiful garden at the Coach House and having another coffee/tea. Being “touristed-out”, we thought that relaxation and a nice drive to the ferry would be the best course to take. The drive through the countryside took us to a small ferry at East Passage across the Suir River and then on to the ferry terminal at Rossalare (we only got lost twice).



After an uneventful two-hour crossing, we embarked on a five-hour drive on mostly motorways to Devon. On the way, we pulled into a service area for a bite to eat. The restaurant was a Burger King! And the concept of “fast food” has escaped them; it took a half hour to get our burgers.

The past couple of days have been sunny and clear, something of a rarity in Ireland according to our B&B host. We have noticed quite a few painful-looking sunburns among the fair-skinned folks we’ve encountered today.

The drive to Devon took us on the A40, A48, M4, M79, M5 and A38 motorways. Then it was local roads, each one getting narrower until be were on a single track, the narrowest we’ve driven so far, so narrow that our car filled the entire road. Fortunately we did not encounter any cars coming the other way. We took a main A road to Kingsbridge, then A279 through West Charleton and East Charleton to Frogmore and unnamed roads through Sherford to Stancombe where we arrived at our Honeysuckle Cottage at Stancombe Manor. The Manor is a set of old stone cottages that have been refurbished into nice modern vacation homes. Since it was after 11:00 PM when we arrived, we went right to bed. We’ll explore tomorrow.