Our final European trip is in the books and we loved
Ireland! The weather was pretty chilly, but probably a good reminder of what
the Upper Midwest will be like in the coming days/weeks :) We rented a car and
drove ourselves around the whole island, which is a great way to see all the
spots that were on our list. While much of our time this summer has been spent
in larger cities, our favorite Irish spots were the smaller and more charming
ones.
We flew into Shannon airport on the western side of the
island and our first stop was the Cliffs of Moher, stretching a few miles along
the coast and providing a pretty dramatic view of the Atlantic. We managed to
get there right as the afternoon’s rain was moving inland, so we were treated
to a mix of the misty, hazy countryside behind us and the clear, crisp ocean in
front of us. With the waves crashing below us and just a handful of other
tourists around, it made for an excellent sunset. We spent the night in Ennis,
which was a small town, and got our first experience with the Irish craic at dinner. It’s pronounced like ‘crack’
and means something like convivial conversation, and the guy next to us had had
a lifetime of practice.
The next morning, we headed down south and stopped by
Blarney Castle. I was wavering a bit about whether or not we really needed to
see this one, fearing it would just be a cheesy tourist trap. Turns out the
castle is set on some beautiful grounds and there’s also an old manor house and
some walking paths along the river, so it was a perfect spot to enjoy a sunny
morning and all the fall colors. For Midwesterners who spent most of the fall in
big cities or the desert, it was really nice to see all the trees turning –
while Ireland does have 40 shades of green in its landscape, there are several
areas that make you feel like you could be in central Wisconsin. Speaking of
Wisconsin, our next stop involved alcohol – we toured the Jameson distillery in
Midleton and got to sample some of their delicious product. They’ve been making
it since 1780 or something, so they’re getting pretty good at it. Finished off
the day at our lovely B&B in Kinsale, which is on the south coast. As
opposed to staying in nearby Cork, which is a much bigger city, we chose a
quiet village and were very pleased with it.
We took advantage of some dry weather the next day for a
long walk along the coast out to Charles Fort, built by the British in the 1600’s
following an attempt by the Irish and Spanish to team up and take the English
down a peg or two. That afternoon, we headed further down the coast to see the
Lusitania museum, which was unfortunately closed. The upside of touring Ireland
in November is you get the place to yourself…the downside is that a lot of
those places are closed. The next day we headed back north to explore the
Dingle peninsula, mainly because it sounds funny. It also has some pretty epic
scenery, and thankfully the weather was cooperating again. The sheep and cows
definitely outnumbered the humans, but it didn’t seem like they were truly
appreciating the beauty around them.
Next stop was Galway, which is more ‘city’ than ‘village’ on
the western coast, but had a lively pub and restaurant scene in the
pedestrian-friendly city center. The following day, we were longing to see some
more sheep, so we hit the road and headed up to the Connemara National Park area
and also visited Kylemore Abbey. Like Blarney Castle, I was pleasantly
surprised by our tour of Kylemore’s castle-turned-abbey and the beautiful
grounds. It was built by a wealthy businessman-politician in the late 1800’s
for his beloved wife and the estate was a model of many ‘modern’ innovations.
After his wife’s tragic death, the property ended up in the hands of the Duke
and Duchess of Manchester in 1909 (a bit like Downton Abbey as she was a
wealthy American married to an old British title), who then lost it through
gambling debts. It was purchased by Benedictine nuns in 1920 after they were
forced to flee WWI in Belgium. I love this history!
From Galway, we left the good weather behind and headed
further north. Attempted to see the 6000 year old Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery,
which is one of the oldest in Europe, but it was closed for the season. Nearby,
we decided to brave the driving rain to hike 1.2 km up Knocknarea, a 1000-ft limestone
hill supposedly topped with Queen Maeve’s tomb. I couldn’t confirm that for
you, though, because I quit about 100 feet from the top when the wind and rain
and cold just became more than I could tolerate. Coco was shrieking like a
banshee the ENTIRE way as Eric carried her, his hearing may never fully
recover. After the Trail of Tears, we continued our rainy drive up to Derry, in
Northern Ireland. Interesting history here, too, as it was established in the
early 1600’s via a ‘plantation’ of Protestant English/Scottish into the
Catholic Ulster area, who then felt it would be wise to keep the natives out by
building a walled city (which was never breached in the following centuries). On
the more recent pages of the history books, Derry had seen a revival of
troubled times, but it seems like Bloody Sunday is in the rearview mirror and Derrians
today are ready for peace.
We were well over 1000 km into our Irish road-trip at this
point, so driving on the ‘wrong’ side of the narrow roads was pretty natural by
now. Thanks to the Dramamine, Coco was tolerating Eric’s rally car driving
style better than I was. North coast stops included the cliff-edge ruins of Dunluce
Castle, the surprisingly small Giant’s Causeway, and the precarious rope bridge
to Carrick-a-Rede island. It was a little sad to leave the wild Irish
countryside behind us, especially now that the deluge had ended, but Belfast
was next on our agenda. Again, we stayed at a small B&B, which was very
quaint and helped us start our days with the usual aggressive breakfast
including fried potato bread, Irish soda bread, baked beans, fried eggs, sausages
and bacon. Despite dangerously high cholesterol levels, we managed to enjoy
walking around the city and feeling the energy. We got some historical and
political insights via Paddy Campbell’s Famous Black Cab tour, and checked out
the Titanic museum, which had some top-notch visuals and a scavenger hunt to
keep Coco engaged.
Continuing down the east coast from Belfast, we stopped off
at Newgrange, a 5000-year-old passage tomb known for its Winter Solstice
Illumination. Since we were several weeks early, our guide re-created the experience
with a flashlight, and it was kinda cool…but it also just felt like you were
inside a tiny cave in a big mound with a flashlight. Hopefully the fairies and
spirits that inhabit the cave weren’t offended by my nonchalance – sorry, not
sorry! Onward to Dublin, where we did some shopping and explored the Temple Bar
district along the River Liffey. The following day we spent time at Trinity
College and saw the Book of Kells in their library, went to Christ Church
cathedral, enjoyed food truck lunch, wandered around Dublin Castle, and shopped
a bit more. As we headed back to Spain for the final time, it was pretty
strange to realize that it really was coming to an end.
Back in Granada, and the apartment is all packed up, Colette
is ready for her final day of school here, and Eric and I are trudging through
all the details that go along with moving away. Granted, moving away from
Granada is a lot less work than moving away from Minnesota was, and we’re a
little more experienced this time around, so I think we’ve got everything under
control. We’re so excited to see friends and family in the coming weeks and try
to get caught up on everything we’ve missed over the past 6 months. While it’s
been tough to be away, the time we’ve had here as a family has been amazingly
precious and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
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