Easter Vacation

The next few posts cover the Easter period, when Hal and Nancy visited and I took a week off. As we prepared these postings, we left off two pictures we all loved, so here there are.
1. A horse on the Antrim coast - we stopped right by his fence, and he was very interested - we think he wanted an apple.
2. Sheep in the gorse - we all love these views - there were several!

Hal and Nancy's visit

Ballybunion












Valentia Island




















Ballycarberry Castle,Cahersiveen




Hal and Nancy arrived at Shannon on Thursday morning, March 29. They were game to stay awake for most of the day, so we took the scenic route back to Tralee through Foynes, Listowel, Kilflynn, Ardfert, and Fenit. We ate lunch at a great pub in Foynes and walked out into a brief hail storm. This was the last moisture we saw during their trip! We then drove through Tarbert and Listowel to Kilflynn and showed them our first home. We drove the back way to Ardfert and the old cathedral, then drove to Fenit, the sailing harbor and one of our favorite spots. They enjoyed that, too, and the weather was spectacular - chilly but bright sun. (By the way this weather continued for 10 days, and is still going now as I write on April 15). Then we finally brought them home and had a relaxing evening.

Friday morning we all set off for therapy in Glenbeigh. They were able to visit the school, meet Pat and Cathal Griffin, and see the beautiful scenery of Glenbeigh. We then drove to our regular lunch spot, which we love and are happy to share with all comers! It looks out over the bay to the Dingle peninsula and there are never-ending changes depending on clouds, mist, sun, snow, etc. It was nice enough this day to eat at the picnic table - if you wore your jacket! For most of the winter we have eaten in the car, so we're glad to have Spring! We then drove to Cahersiveen and they dropped MFE off for 2 hours of therapy, while Dana took H&N to visit the beach and the castle (pictures below). At the end of therapy, we all piled in and took a short ferry ride to one of our favorite places, Valentia Island. We all enjoyed this trip a lot, as we ventured further in (and up) than we had gone before and had some spectacular scenery. The only thing they missed are the wild flowers - whoever comes in summer will enjoy that! We took the long way around through Port Magee to Cahersiveen, bought fresh salmon at the dock, and headed home. (The salmon was a feast by Dana on Saturday night).

Saturday, MFE did therapy in Listowel. H&N and Dana came for the end, so they could meet the 2 wonderful adult clients - then we all set off for Ballybunion. We took the cliff walk, which was beautiful as usual, and even more spectacular because of the bright sun. We ate homemade scones in the parking lot of the Ballybunion Golf Club - just for fun. It is true "links", which I learned that day means golf course on the ocean and dunes! Hal declined having his picture made with the Bill Clinton statue, a major loss on his part!

Palm Sunday we went to the Church of Ireland in Tralee and H&N enjoyed visiting with a few people at tea after the service. (We were able to walk to and from church both Sundays!). Our big adventure that day was a shopping trip to Woody's DIY (Do-It-Yourself - sort of a Lowe's) and Tesco, our supermarket. We got them hooked on Jaffa Cakes, our favorite cookie, and they bought some to take home! Then we had an evening of rest in preparation for Dingle and then the trip north.

Hal and Nancy's visit

In Murphy's Pub, Dingle






Conner Pass and Dingle































Inch Beach













Grogan Pub - Glissan







Armagh B&B











On Monday, we drove out the Dingle Peninsula - Dana and I had toured part of it, but not the Conner Pass - and this is another part of Ireland and H&N did not visit on their first trip - so off we went. The Conner Pass is high, with narrow roads - Dana drove well. There are spectacular views - the weather was sunny, but a little hazy for views from those heights. We then walked around Dingle, had lunch at Murphy's Pub. A fun side event- one of my clients from Tralee was having lunch at the pub; he came over to meet N&H, and was very polite. At the end of our chat, he spontaneously demostrated his latest speech therapy exercise for them! After lunch we shopped quite a bit, and then drove around the end of the peninsula to Slea Head. This was a very picturesque drive and we're glad we took it. We have now found out that on Easter Sunday evening, there was a rock slide and the Slea Head road is closed. We cannot exactly pinpoint the location, but know one of these pictures is very close to where it occurred. The road is now closed and they are busily preparing traffic diversions so that they don't lose out on tourists this summer! We briefly visited the Blasket Islands Center - well have to go another time for the ferry ride to the island. We drove back by Inch beach which is a big, sandy beach which nearly touches the Iveragh Peninsula, on which we drive every Friday. There are signs and paragraphs in tourist brochures about no cars on beaches, but, as you see......




We left Tuesday morning and drove north. We branched east at Limerick and were in new territory. We lucked into a great old pub for lunch - Grogan of Glissane. This is billed as "Goldsmith Country" - Oliver Goldsmith, famous author - we'd like to explore that more, but for this trip we pushed on to Armagh. Luckily, Hal had the forethought to suggest calling the tourist center, which we did 10 minutes before they closed - they were wonderful and immediately got us a great B&B, right on our way in to Armagh City. This was a beautiful B&B and we really enjoyed our host and hostess. We had a nice dinner at a downtown hotel, and as always a great breakfast - we did not starve on this trip!

Hal and Nancy's visit

St. Patrick's CoI
St. Patrick's RC











Belfast






















Queen's University
Botanic Gardens












On Wednesday morning we briefly toured Armagh (after visiting the very helpful tourist info who made us reservations in Antrim for that evening). Armagh is the oldest town in Ireland and is the only town in Europe with 2 cathedrals dedicated to the same saint - St. Patrick, who did some of his very early missionary work there. We visited (and you see pictures of) both the Church of Ireland St' Patrick's (which has the high ground) and the Roman Catholic St. Patrick's (which has the soaring spires!).

We then drove to Belfast and parked in a shopping center on the outskirts and took a cab in. We took a tour bus around the city, which we really enjoyed and was the right choice for such a brief visit. We received a great overview of the city. You'll see the wall murals - paintings on buildings which have been painted on for years. Especially note our favorite of George W. sucking oil from Iraq. There are ones dating from "the Troubles" and other political statements. Our tour guide pointed out areas relating to the Troubles - there was a Catholic area and a Protestant area with a "wall of peace" built in between (sort of an oxymoron, and he felt it should be torn down soon.). There was also a police station with a large concrete abutment built out from the front - to provide a buffer against car bombs. We saw a school with bullet holes in it and the Hotel Europa which was targeted during the Troubles at least 37 times, but was never put out of business permanently. More surprising to us, we learned about the devastation of Belfast during WWII bombing - very severe, almost the entire city centre destroyed. We also saw the offices and shipyard where the Titanic was planned and built - and just missed a major Titanic exhibit, which started later in the week. After the tour we went to the historic City Hall, with the giant overhead dome window in the rotunda, then walked to the Queen's University, which we enjoyed (passing on the way a Burger King and KFC! - it's everywhere). At this University is a beautiful botanic garden which we enjoyed.

Next we headed to our B&B in Antrim.

Hal and Nancy's visit

The Antrim Coast


















































On Wednesday afternoon, after touring Belfast, we drove to Antrim, arriving via a great back way laid out for us by a taxi driver in Belfast. Our B&B was again lovely with very welcoming hosts. We had a good dinner at Viscount O' Neill's. Thursday morning we took a short spin by the loch (lake). An interesting thing we learned - the Northern Ireland accent sounds very Scottish to us - they, of course, have very close ties. We had some trouble understanding a few people, and had to listen closely! We then headed off to the Antrim coast, which we were told was second only to Kerry, and maybe first on a clear day. We certainly had clear days all the way, and it is beautiful, but I'm partial to Kerry! We stopped several times for beautiful views along the way (see pictures) - note that we now have 2 1/2 photographers along - Dana the pro, Hal the excellent amateur, and MFE with new digital camera to record "record shots!. We had constantly been told about the Giant's Causeway along the coast - a myth about a giant who laid stepping stones from Scotland to Ireland. We did tour it, and we all agreed that the pictures we have are more spectacular than we found the actual site! It was nice, but nothing compared to other sites along the way!

After that, we headed south, with a major stop at Bushmill's Distillery. Dana is now a certified Bushmill's taster, having volunteered from our tour group. Note also the church - the name of the village is Bushmill's! I (MFE) drove the rest of the way - he was capable, but I had volunteered to do so if we went to Bushmill's!. The challenging part was through (London)Derry - many, many roundabouts and lots of traffic. Glad I had good navigators! We learned that the name of this town was traditionally Derry, and the English added the London, so it is sort of a political statement as to what you call it! We made it to Donegal, but had to have dinner before checking in to our B&B, as it was Maunday Thursday and she was attending Mass. This was a nice B&B, but we weren't there very long! Friday morning we walked along the river bank in Donegal City and looked around the town a bit. There's much more of County Donegal to see - next trip! We have here a picture of the Presbyterian Church - we saw a lot of them in Northern Ireland, but this is the first one I'd seen in the Republic - though there are a few scattered around! We couldn't get a picture of the sign - as Dana shot the pic, the minister drove in and reported that the sign blew down last week -oh well!

We headed south and the last stop was the Beleek Factory. This was a jog east, back into Northern Ireland (just barely), so H&N could spend their last pounds with no problem! No tours because of Good Friday, but still interesting and great stuff! Then straight home to Tralee.

Hal and Nancy's visit

The dinner at our house and a pub on a street in Tralee.








We returned to Tralee on Friday evening, via the Killimer/Tarbert ferry. This was Good Friday, and we were lucky to get to the SuperValue in Listowel just before it closed - everything closes on Good Friday from 3-5 (Mass) and then again early in the evening for the rest of the day. (Interestingly enough, Easter Saturday is a big shopping day with everything open, then everything is closed again on Easter Sunday - even the big supermarket in the mall). Anyway, we were glad to get home. On Saturday, Hal, Nancy and MFE went to the Kerry Museum in Tralee and then had lunch on the sidewalk (Picture) - still gorgeous weather. Dana stayed home slaving away at preparations for the feast we had that evening when Dominique and Gerard came over. We had a great evening and were glad they and H&N got to meet. In the pictures you can see both the good company, and the best shots yet you've seen of our house. These pictures are courtesy of Hal.

Sunday we attended services at the Church of Ireland in Tralee and took it easy in preparation for taking H&N to Shannon on Monday morning for their return flight. It was a great visit!