July update
Well, I have had a lot of trouble getting back in to this blog - thanks for being patient. I had started another one - Ireland Report - but am going back to this one - Arkansas Travelers - which my friend Gloria had originally set up.
I am going to start from scratch on news, so some of it will be old news for a few of you!
Gerry, Jane and Catherine drove us to Tulsa on Saturday, June 17. We had a nice trip - Catherine really wanted to get on the plane with us, so we left her in tears! The flight was uneventful and we met Mick and Jeannie at our motel and had a great time - swimming, talking, a little wine, and then dinner! Next morning, Lilli, Terri, Robbie and Mitch drove in and we all had a long breakfast - a great reunion. Then Mick, Jeannie, Dana and MFE spent the morning touring the beautiful new park in downtown Chicago - Millennium Park. It was raining but we still enjoyed it very much. I (MFE) stressed out about getting the plane on time, and thus got us there very early, as usual, and the plane was late!! Dana was patient.
We arrived in Ireland on June 19 - about 1 hour late and were met by Ciara (recruiter) and DS parents: Patricia and Kevin and Donie. They drove us back to Tralee (over 1 hr) and we met other parents for lunch: Riestard, Marie, Dominique and Gerard. After lunch Dana picked up the rental car - he was very tired, but managed to drive it to Gerard's house, where we met again. Riestard drove his car and Gerard drove our rent car, as Dana was really tired by then. Our temporary (2 month) house is called semi-detached - we'd call it a condo - which belongs to Riestard's sister Carina, a physiotherapist in Dublin. She only uses it occasionally so has graciously rented it to them for us for the summer. We took a 1 hour nap, ate dinner at home (grilled cheese, though we didn't figure out the stove very well that night!)then went to our local pub to get acquainted. We enjoyed it but were home by 9:00 for a good and much needed night's sleep!
Our village is Kilflynn, about 4 miles out of Tralee. It is very quaint - a small store and post office, 2 pubs side by side, a Catholic Church, and a Protestant Church which is now closed and is used as a community Centre. Across the main highway are a bunch of turbines (modern windmills) which have become our touchstone - landmark for turning and barometer for weather, as the appear and disappear many times daily depending on fog and clouds. We have actually had much nice weather - many days when shorts and T=shirts are comfortable. Most days there are some periods of cloudiness and some periods of sun. We have only had a couple of days of "set-in" clouds and real rain. We are told to expect warmer weather (in the 70's!) for summer, but to expect damp and chill as Fall comes. The days right now are very long -we have been amazed that it is bright sunlight until after 10:00.
We have been able to do lots of sight-seeing in these first few weeks. We take a walk out of Kilflynn most days, so have explored every direction. It is all beautiful - greens of many shades, pastel colored block houses with flowers, trees and ivy, mountains in the distance, and lots of cows and sheep.
We have been to several beaches in North Kerry - Castlegregory, Banna, Ballybunion, and Fenit. We spent a long time at Ballybunion, a beautiful wide beach surrounded by cliffs. We took the cliff walk, which was breathtaking. We saw dolphins jumping in the bay. I waded, but didn't swim, though actually I think it would have been warm enough to do so. Our other favorite was Fenit - a fishing port. It was very cloudy and foggy when we arrived - but we enjoy the ocean in that kind of weather too, so ate in our car looking out at the barely visible lighthouse. Then we went into the little beachside cafe and had tea - and when we came out it had cleared and was sunny and we could see for miles - all the way back to the Blennerville windmill! We then enjoyed the lighthouse view in the sun, and also were able to view and then walk up to the statue of St. Brendan.
Last Sunday (July 2) Patricia and Kevin took us on a car tour of the Ring of Kerry in South Kerry - they said we had done too much sight-seeing in the North and needed to be introduced to the South. We met them at their house in Glenbeigh, south of Kilgorlin. Their house is on a hill-side overlooking the bay - it is a really spectacular sight! Keven drove and they were both excellent tour guides having lived in the area all of their lives. The Ring of Kerry is full of beautiful sights - bays, beaches, mountains, mountain passes - the road is curvy and narrow, which bothers the Irish not at all! We ate lunch in Waterville and dinner in Killarney - a wonderful day.
Dana has done all the driving so far - I drove a little while we were car shopping. We have bought a 1999 Honda Civic - automatic transmission. The main problem with driving is not the left side, it is the narrowness of nearly all the roads - often barely room for 2 cars, sometimes not room!!
Our house has been great - several interesting conservation devices - a water heater just for the shower, which works great. A washer and dryer which take a very long time, but do a good job and are energy efficient - we have to dump the water out each time we finish a load in the dryer. Each electric outlet has it's own off/on switch - the trick is remembering to turn them on!
I have started work, and will write more about that later. They had a beautiful welcome dinner for us at the Cahernane Hotel in Killarney on June 30 - over 60 people, kids and adults attended. We had coverage from the 3 local papers and all ran great pictures, which I will put on here when we get our own Internet access. Right now we use the library (free) or Internet cafes, so don't get to get on a whole lot. I have a new laptop and printer/scanner, but we won't have web access until we get a permanent home. We are looking in Killarney, as that would be the most convenient geographically. Gotta go - more later. MFE
I am going to start from scratch on news, so some of it will be old news for a few of you!
Gerry, Jane and Catherine drove us to Tulsa on Saturday, June 17. We had a nice trip - Catherine really wanted to get on the plane with us, so we left her in tears! The flight was uneventful and we met Mick and Jeannie at our motel and had a great time - swimming, talking, a little wine, and then dinner! Next morning, Lilli, Terri, Robbie and Mitch drove in and we all had a long breakfast - a great reunion. Then Mick, Jeannie, Dana and MFE spent the morning touring the beautiful new park in downtown Chicago - Millennium Park. It was raining but we still enjoyed it very much. I (MFE) stressed out about getting the plane on time, and thus got us there very early, as usual, and the plane was late!! Dana was patient.
We arrived in Ireland on June 19 - about 1 hour late and were met by Ciara (recruiter) and DS parents: Patricia and Kevin and Donie. They drove us back to Tralee (over 1 hr) and we met other parents for lunch: Riestard, Marie, Dominique and Gerard. After lunch Dana picked up the rental car - he was very tired, but managed to drive it to Gerard's house, where we met again. Riestard drove his car and Gerard drove our rent car, as Dana was really tired by then. Our temporary (2 month) house is called semi-detached - we'd call it a condo - which belongs to Riestard's sister Carina, a physiotherapist in Dublin. She only uses it occasionally so has graciously rented it to them for us for the summer. We took a 1 hour nap, ate dinner at home (grilled cheese, though we didn't figure out the stove very well that night!)then went to our local pub to get acquainted. We enjoyed it but were home by 9:00 for a good and much needed night's sleep!
Our village is Kilflynn, about 4 miles out of Tralee. It is very quaint - a small store and post office, 2 pubs side by side, a Catholic Church, and a Protestant Church which is now closed and is used as a community Centre. Across the main highway are a bunch of turbines (modern windmills) which have become our touchstone - landmark for turning and barometer for weather, as the appear and disappear many times daily depending on fog and clouds. We have actually had much nice weather - many days when shorts and T=shirts are comfortable. Most days there are some periods of cloudiness and some periods of sun. We have only had a couple of days of "set-in" clouds and real rain. We are told to expect warmer weather (in the 70's!) for summer, but to expect damp and chill as Fall comes. The days right now are very long -we have been amazed that it is bright sunlight until after 10:00.
We have been able to do lots of sight-seeing in these first few weeks. We take a walk out of Kilflynn most days, so have explored every direction. It is all beautiful - greens of many shades, pastel colored block houses with flowers, trees and ivy, mountains in the distance, and lots of cows and sheep.
We have been to several beaches in North Kerry - Castlegregory, Banna, Ballybunion, and Fenit. We spent a long time at Ballybunion, a beautiful wide beach surrounded by cliffs. We took the cliff walk, which was breathtaking. We saw dolphins jumping in the bay. I waded, but didn't swim, though actually I think it would have been warm enough to do so. Our other favorite was Fenit - a fishing port. It was very cloudy and foggy when we arrived - but we enjoy the ocean in that kind of weather too, so ate in our car looking out at the barely visible lighthouse. Then we went into the little beachside cafe and had tea - and when we came out it had cleared and was sunny and we could see for miles - all the way back to the Blennerville windmill! We then enjoyed the lighthouse view in the sun, and also were able to view and then walk up to the statue of St. Brendan.
Last Sunday (July 2) Patricia and Kevin took us on a car tour of the Ring of Kerry in South Kerry - they said we had done too much sight-seeing in the North and needed to be introduced to the South. We met them at their house in Glenbeigh, south of Kilgorlin. Their house is on a hill-side overlooking the bay - it is a really spectacular sight! Keven drove and they were both excellent tour guides having lived in the area all of their lives. The Ring of Kerry is full of beautiful sights - bays, beaches, mountains, mountain passes - the road is curvy and narrow, which bothers the Irish not at all! We ate lunch in Waterville and dinner in Killarney - a wonderful day.
Dana has done all the driving so far - I drove a little while we were car shopping. We have bought a 1999 Honda Civic - automatic transmission. The main problem with driving is not the left side, it is the narrowness of nearly all the roads - often barely room for 2 cars, sometimes not room!!
Our house has been great - several interesting conservation devices - a water heater just for the shower, which works great. A washer and dryer which take a very long time, but do a good job and are energy efficient - we have to dump the water out each time we finish a load in the dryer. Each electric outlet has it's own off/on switch - the trick is remembering to turn them on!
I have started work, and will write more about that later. They had a beautiful welcome dinner for us at the Cahernane Hotel in Killarney on June 30 - over 60 people, kids and adults attended. We had coverage from the 3 local papers and all ran great pictures, which I will put on here when we get our own Internet access. Right now we use the library (free) or Internet cafes, so don't get to get on a whole lot. I have a new laptop and printer/scanner, but we won't have web access until we get a permanent home. We are looking in Killarney, as that would be the most convenient geographically. Gotta go - more later. MFE
posted by Arkansas Travelers at
11:30 AM
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