IRELAND, Part 2: The West and Southwest, Guest Post by Tom and Susan Weisner

Ireland. Irish musicians play in bars and restaurants everywhere!

In September, our friends Tom and Susan Weisner took a driving trip in Scotland and Ireland. They have graciously agreed to share a few of their photos and thoughts about the trip. Here is their report of the second half of their ten days on the road in Ireland.

The Cliffs of Moher in County Clare on the southwest coast of Ireland are beautiful, but incredibly windy and cold. They were a long day’s drive from Galway, where we were staying.

Susan and Tom at the Cliffs of Moher on the Southwest Coast of Ireland

Another beautiful day's drive was to Roundstone, Ireland, a small village along the Connemara District coastal drive outside of Galway. 

Shop in Roundstone, Ireland, with Irish music, crafts, blankets and wool weaving.

It was a good place for crafts and gift shopping--like this place for example.

Beer, books, eggs, marble, wool, for sale!

The Ring of Kerry is a beautiful all-day drive around the southwest coast, departing from the town of Killarney, which is about 2.5 hours drive from Galway. Charlie Chaplin had a place in a small town along the way that he visited all his life. Who knew?!

With Charlie Chaplin statue

Killarney lakes and castle in County Kerry are part of a  Killarney National Park (the first national park in Ireland) and make a beautiful day's outing, with walks to ruins of Abbeys and the lake itself.

Killarney

Did we mention the importance of Irish writers to be found in restaurants, bars, hotels? In a lovely Irish restaurant at our last stop, the town of Kilkenny, southwest of Dublin, we saw this poster.

Some Famous Irish Writers

Here are some of the beautiful Irish throws, blankets, scarves and Irish music CDs that we brought back home in the extra suitcase we had to buy!

Beautiful Irish textiles

Many thanks to Tom and Susan for sharing the highlights of their Scotland/Ireland trip!

BURREN NATIONAL PARK, IRELAND: Guest Post by Marianne Wallace

Ireland:  Burren Roadside Holy Well, along Galway Bay Road

My friend and fellow children's book writer/illustrator Marianne Wallace and her husband Gary, a botanist, went to Ireland recently, visiting Dublin and hiking in Burren National Park in County Clare. Here are some of her reports from their trip.  Marianne's most recent book is River Life: A Journey from Headwaters to the Sea (Butler Books, 2013). You can find out more about Marianne and all her books at her website.

Our room at Cappabhaile House,  Ballyvaughan, County Clare

April 28
Arrived in the Burren to the wonderful smell of peat fires and the taste of fresh seafood (salmon for Gary, crab for me). Intermittent rain should be gone by tomorrow so we're hoping for some good hiking weather. Our B and B never disappoints. The rooms here are always nicer than ours at home and the white duvet cover is beautifully embroidered. Each afternoon, we enjoy fresh tea and chocolate covered orange biscuits (cookies) in our room at the table next to the view. (And all for 30 euro/day LESS than the cell of a room in Dublin.)

"Early purple orchid"

April 30
Spent the day with a botanist friend here who took us hunting for early flowers. The winter was brutal and although today was sunny with little wind, the mornings and nights are still in the high 30s so spring is late in coming. We managed to find some blue gentians and the ubiquitous "early purple orchid" which is the first of many orchid species to flower each year.

Mustard relative growing in a gryke or crack

May 3
In the few hours between the morning blowing rain and the afternoon blowing rain, we got out to the Atlantic coastline and saw these flowers in the grykes (cracks) and protected areas of the Burren's limestone pavement. Now we're cozy and warm, sipping tea, enjoying the view from our room. Nice.

Mullaghmor Mountain

May 4
We postponed our hike up one of the hill/mountains in the Burren due to the strong - and very cold - wind. En route, we had stopped at Cassidy's Pub (the Cassidy family has operated a pub here since the 1830s) and took our drinks outside to eat our lunch at their picnic tables while enjoying the stunning view of a valley and the Burren hills beyond. After nearly freezing to death, we opted instead for a pot of hot tea at the nearby Perfumery's cafe.

Burren Perfumery, Moss Man in Bathtub

A circle of trees protected us enough from the wind to allow for a walk through their herb garden. The Burren Perfumery has a touch of faerie in their sensibility, I think, and everything is sweet and charming. A topiary man bathes in a rusty claw foot bathtub, a shelf along a stone wall supports a pot of flowers and I take a seat on a sunken circular stone bench.

May 5
There are miles and miles (or kilometers and kilometers) of walking trails around the Burren. Today we took a 4.5 km trail up and back one of the hill-mountains called Mullaghmor [moo-lock-more] in Burren National Park. On the trail markers, we followed the green circle. From the top, next to the cairn, we could see at least 20 miles.

Burren pavement, Fanore

We were very proud of ourselves, summiting one of the hill-mountains in Burren National Park. Then were immediately humbled when a mom (wearing a short-sleeved blouse while I had on four layers of warm clothing) and her 3-year-old son arrived on top as well. These Irish are hearty folk!

Dolmen tomb in farmer's field, Big Dipper Road

Later we finally stopped on this very narrow road (like Ireland has any country roads actually big enough for two cars to pass...Ha!) and took a photo of the rock tomb that we'd passed before in someone's field. We figured it was about 4 ft. high with an 8 foot-long rock slab on top. It's about 25 feet from the road and you can only see it from a distance so you have to guess when you're adjacent to it and stop along the road and climb a hedge to take the picture. The Burren is "littered" with tombs, ring forts and other ancient remains.

Atop Mullaghmor (moo-lock-more). Rock cairn behind Gary. Lake in distance above my head.

New Quay, County Clare

May 8
This sign was at a Irish waterside pub where there was no barricade between the car park (parking lot) and a 10 foot drop off into the bay.
Imagine how important it is to be reminded of this after you've had a couple pints of Guinness and you put your parked car into "drive" before "reverse."
 
Marianne's report on their time in Dublin was posted on July 19, 2013.

DUBLIN, IRELAND: Guest Post by Marianne Wallace

Dublin, Ireland.  Farrington's Pub in Temple Bar area

My friend and fellow children's book writer/illustrator Marianne Wallace and her husband Gary, a botanist, went to Ireland recently, visiting Dublin and hiking in Burren National Park in County Clare. Here are some of her reports from their trip. Marianne's most recent book is River Life: A Journey from Headwaters to the Sea (Butler Books, 2013).  You can find out more about Marianne and all her books at her website.

April 25
We arrived in Dublin this morning and had our first pints (well...my Murphys was a half pint) with a leek and potato soup lunch today at Tonner's Pub a few blocks from Trinity College in Dublin City Centre. Our B&B room is the size of a postage stamp with a shared bathroom for six rooms on the floor. But the salon areas are nice (that's where I'm sitting now) and it's only a 15 minute walk to Trinity College. It's now twilight at 9 PM - days are longer this far north. Was raining at the airport but dry the rest of the day and sunny in the afternoon. Mid 40s to mid 50s so not too bad.

April 26
Woke up to amazing blue skies. Thought the air would be appropriately warm but it stayed mostly in the high 40s, low 50s, windy with scattered clouds. A great day for walking, though.

Science Gallery Cafe

As Gary worked in the Trinity College herbarium, I enjoyed a morning cup of tea and a book at the Science Gallery Cafe, my favorite little spot in Dublin. I'm not a plastic chair/white Formica table kind of person but this place has a wall of windows for people-watching and is used by Trinity students and instructors so I feel smarter just sitting there. And although I usually just get the tea, the pastries and sandwiches are terrific (as is most food in Ireland).

Then I walked about six miles window shopping, going to a pub lunch with Gary, getting theater tickets (for tomorrow), searching out three fabric stores, hunting for an art supply store (in an alley next to a auto repair shop - took me awhile to find that one) and looking for a tiny bottle of perfume to cover the sweaty smell of all that walking in case I ever get warm enough in this weather to actually sweat.

Flower seller, Grafton Street

Walking to dinner (another mile at least), Gary and I passed this roadside flower seller (actually, they are in the middle of the road but the only vehicles that show up are for deliveries before the shops open). I remember them from last year. Always lots of beautiful flower bunches. Lastly, we stopped to see the Sphere in Sphere outside the Trinity College library.

(April 29 - May 8 at the Burren. See post for next week.)
 

Dublin. Ha'penny Bridge over the River Liffey

May 9
Our last full day in Ireland began with a bus ride into Dublin City Centre from our hotel near the airport with the world's friendliest bus drivers. These Dublin Bus guys can drive the bus through crazy traffic, hand out bus passes and answer your questions all at the same time. They are always courteous and even joke with you on occasion. I love 'em.

In the City Centre, you often see these lined-up blue bikes. You apparently buy a membership that allows you to unlock and pick up a bike from one assembly location then ride it to another bike assembly spot and leave it there.

And finally, our last pub stop and last pint (and a half pint for me). We watched the afternoon rain pour down from the warmth of the pub with mixed feelings. It's been a great trip but we're ready to leave this year's cold, rainy, windy Irish spring for the warmth and sun of home. SoCal, see you tomorrow.