Day 6, Circling Dingle

We spent most of today in and out of the car on our tour of The Ring of Dingle. It's basically a loop with a lot of historic stops and beautiful vistas. It was a little rainy when we left, which our innkeeper called "a soft morning." We called it drizzle.

The first stop was an ancient fort that is basically falling into the sea.

Here's the mound part.

Here's the stone part. This is Eileen, right after she tried to stand up straight. Bad move.

When we got back on the road, we got to chase some sheep with the car. The roads are narrow and basically one lane in parts... as the people towards the front of the car liked to point out quite a bit.

Here is the bay of Dingle. The best surfing in all of Ireland! We also went to a little museum about the people who lived on one of the outlying islands up until 1953, when they were evacuated. It was a small Irish community that produced some wonderful storytellers before they were moved away. The museum was very well produced, but we couldn't figure out where the money came from to build it.

Here's a photo of the hills and the mist. Mind you, Jacob did go and rent a bike and ride it around. He was very safe and sound at the end, and it only took him two hours (it took us close to four.)

Here's the oratory, which is over 1,000 years old and still standing, and not leaking.

Here are our hosts!

Another size comparison. Here I am, standing straight up.

Here's Tim, crushed under the weight of his fat Irish head.

From there, we went to see one more old stone building, an ancient church.


Out in front of the church is an ancient stone with the Celtic ogham writing. This stone has a whole through the middle and in ancient times, people would put their thumbs in on either side and touch thumbs to seal deals. It was done in front of the church, so that God would be their witness. Apparently in modern times people stick their thumbs through to renew their wedding vows. Tim and I did give each other Irish thumbs up, as it were.

We went back to Dingle and the boys dropped Eileen and I off to shop. I did not buy these Lulu-print slippers, and am kicking myself over it. THEY EVEN HAVE STUBBY LITTLE UPTAILS LIKE HER! My friend Frank is watching the cats, and he reports that they are so desperate for love that Thory, who is not known for his kindness towards strangers, came straight out from under the bed and rubbed against his legs the last time he stopped by. Poor muffins!

While we were waiting for the boys, we saw a wedding party in full swing. They got married at the little church in town, and then went to various pubs and took pictures. It looked like a good time!

We had pub dinner again tonight and are now just relaxing. Tomorrow we're off to see the Cliffs of Morhe (which I am calling the Cliffs of Mordor) and then off to another town whose name I can't pronounce. What more could you want!

Day 5, FINALLY, we go shopping!

Cork proved to be just a stopping point on our way to Blarney Castle today. We were up early, and Eileen death marched us up to the top of the castle so that we could beat all of the morning tour groups. The castle is famous for the Blarney Stone, and for being pretty. The original builder was murdered by his brother, and then his son murdered the brother. Your usual Medieval politics. Most of the castle's floors have fallen in, but the walls are still standing, and there is one very narrow staircase up to the Blarney Stone, and one down. We got up to the top, and ALL FIVE US KISSED THE BLARNEY STONE. Including the noted germaphobes Don and Eileen. When in Ireland, I guess.

Afterwards, we wandered through the grounds, which have a lot of little interesting features and stories. The witches stone, the Druid circle, the faery garden. Tim especially enjoyed the witches kitchen.

From Blarney, we drove to Killarney, which is a cute little town. We had a subpar lunch and then some superior shopping! I got a couple of presents for a couple of people, and a new charm for my charm bracelet. Eileen got a really beautiful pendant with the ancient Celtic writing on it, with a symbol that came from Ardmore. Very cool. The boys mostly stood around and sulked, but it's their fault for getting out the car.

The longest drive of the day was from Killarney to Dingle. It's an incredible pretty drive along the water, and through the mountains. There's a lot of cute little farms, and the hillsides are green and dotted with sheep and cows. We're staying at a bed and breakfast here, and it's very quaint. We have a lot of doileys in our room, suffice to say. We had a really nice dinner at a pub and ordered sticky toffee pie for dinner, then tried to fight off Eileen's attempts to bogart our desserts (get yer own!) Dingle is a lot chillier because it's close to the water, and 90% of the TV channels broadcast in Gaelic (which they just call Irish here.) It sounds much different than I expected to, having seen it spelled out.

Tomorrow we are going to check out the little shops, and drive around the Ring of Dingle (which Jake and I are calling the Ring of Fire.) Jake is actually planning on renting a bike and biking around the ring. Don and Eileen are a little nervous, but I say let the poor kid go - he is probably sick of all of the family time and ready to have some one on one time with his true family - a bicycle seat and set of handlebars. We have one more night in our twee little hotel after tonight. Maybe we will have enough time to see Fungi, the dolphin who continually visits the Dingle harbor!

Tim and I with the castle in the background - it's the most photographed building in Ireland!

Inside the castle, looking towards the Blarney stone.

Eileen on the way back!

GERMS GERMS GERMS... and the gift of gab!

Tim is excited!

You can come out of your room when you've though about what you've done and are ready to be nice!

The area around the castle was very pretty, and very lush.

A shot from the trail. The foliage was so amazing and almost surreal. This tree reminded me of the tree at Tom Sawyers Island in Disneyland. But it's real and it's growing over a little cave that early people lived in.

Now Tim lives in the hole in the ground.

A size comparison. I was standing straight up and my head wasn't even touching the ceiling. Tim was just a leeeetle squished.

Shot of Dingle from our B&B

Day 4, Put a Cork in it!

This morning we had to check out of our beautiful B&B in Kilkenny. I cried a little tear. Seriously. Here's a picture from the grounds. Our room was the second story room in the first tower.


Here's the lovely bathroom

We headed out towards Ardmore to visit where Grandpa Smythe was born. We had lunch in a little town along the way, and met up with Francis, Father Dick's younger sister. She showed us around the town and we did a little shopping (unfortunately, no buying) and had lunch. Francis is a retired teacher, and she had a lot of good info about the history of Ireland and the area where we were visiting. She also helped us navigate our way over to Ardo.

First we visited a little church yard, which featured another round tower. Now we've seen two!



This statue, inside the ruins of the church, is written on with the old Celtic language, which predated Christian times.

From there it was off to Grandpa Smythe's house. It's been turned into a rental cottage, and unfortunately was being rented this week, so we weren't able to get inside. Instead, we peered in the window and took pictures in the backyard. It certainly has a beautiful view, but is a bit off of the beaten path, in terms of vacationing.

Here is Eileen, letting herself into the yard.

I was telling everyone, it's interesting to me because my great-great-grandparents lived in cities which I have often visited. Even though Tim and I's great-great-grandparents and great-grandparents were roughly the same age, this is such a world away from La Crosse or Rochester. It's such a different experience, and such an interesting history to learn.

We're staying tonight in Cork, which is on our way to Dingle (hahahaha... DINGLE) tomorrow. Tim and I had a date night tonight, and walked around town a little, and then had Indian food for dinner. Our room here is also super cute, and also had a giant bathtub. It's a nice way to relax at night. Most of the shopping nearby was sort of chain store, so I didn't get any souveniers, but we did see a very pretty church along our walk.



We couldn't go inside, but apparently St. Fin de Barre is on a site that has been occupied for a church for over 1,000 years.

And is has a gargoyle shaped like a howler monkey.

We also saw Don's side business. It was right next to the Forde pub, and the Forde funeral home.

Oh, and I did stop in at Penney's and try on this sequin vest and jacket.

Tomorrow, we kiss the Blarney stone. At least, those of us who aren't afraid of germies!

Day 3, AKA, the countryside is beautiful!

I am writing this from our out of this world beautiful hotel room in Kilkenny. We are staying at a B&B in what was some old manor house. Tim and I's room is in one of the turrets, and has big windows that overlook the gardens, and a gigantic bathtub - even bigger than my mom's. I had a bubble bath before dinner and am quite the happy camper.

We had kind of a rough morning this morning - I woke up at 4am last night with the pukes, and from the violence of it, and the fact that I wasn't very tipsy when we went to bed at 12, and I certainly wasn't drunk at 4, I am leaning more towards food poisoning. But basically, I was slow on my feet and it took us awhile to get out of Dublin. We also ended up taking sort of the long way to Glendalough, because Harriet the British Garmon took us through some pretty narrow countryside roads. Up and down the only mountain nearby! The countryside was really gorgeous. I joked that it looked like something out of Lord of the Rings.

Glendalough is located near two lakes, and was a medieval monastery. It was occupied for over a century, and some of the buildings remain. The cathedral on site is what I consider tiny, but for many years was the largest cathedral in all of Ireland. It was a really beautiful place - all sorts of ancient headstones and old buildings. We also walked down to the two lakes and did a little nature hike.

We left there around 3, and got to Kilkenny around 5. Unfortunately, it didn't give us a lot of time to see the city, but the castle is visible from our bedrooms. Jake went for a run (sicko) and he said the grounds are really pretty. We had a really nice dinner tonight, and will be on the road tomorrow to see where Grandpa Smith was born all those many years ago. From here on out, it's a lot of traveling and staying in different little towns. The driving seems to be going okay - Don is accident free, but today I tried to sleep when possible, since I hardly slept at night, and so that I wouldn't have to see the moment when my life was in danger. Tim is responsible for running the Garmon, and Eileen double checks the map constantly. It's all directions, all the time!

The entry gates

Most of the headstones were from the 1800s, and there were a surprising number of people who lived into their 80s and 90s!

The window you see is actually the door to the tower.

Tim and I down by the second lake.

The beautiful countryside

Dublin, Day 2.

Today we got a lot more accomplished, despite sleeping in quite a bit.

We started off by going to Trinity College and seeing the book of Kells. Their Long Room is filled with old manuscripts, and smelled like love to me. Oh, old decaying paper. Let's hang out! From there, we walked to Dublin Castle and took their tour. It's not as old or historic as Edinburgh, but we did get to see some of the old walls of the city. Afterwards, we started walking towards the Guinness Factory, but were picked up by a man with a horse drawn carriage, who clearly knew a tourist mark when he saw one.

The factory was really well put together, and full of delicious booze drinks. By the time we got to the rooftop pub the skies had cleared, so we had gorgeous views of all of Dublin. Afterwards it was back to the Temple Bar area for dinner and our musical pub crawl. They took us through three pubs, and at the last one I got up and sang "I'll Tell Me Ma" because they were looking for people to sing, and no one else had volunteered. I disgraced Tommy Makem's memory with my terrible pitch, but dammit, I participated! We went to one more pub afterwards to talk to the natives, and then staggered home. Tomorrow we are off to Killkenny!

Breakfast this morning. Jake went back and changed so they wouldn't look quite as dumb.

Trinity College

Dublin castle. That courtyard was once the site of a pool of water, from which Dublin got its name.

Main dining room at Dublin castle. The mirrors were so the viceroy could spy on his guests.

Tim fits in so well in Europe.

Our pony ride.

DELICIOUS.

It's time for free booze!

From the Gravity Bar

Me, singing like a dope on our pub crawl.