Irish Easter

I had a long four day weekend over Easter, so Elizabeth and I decided to make a trip up to Ireland.  We flew out Thursday night and went straight to bed when we got there as we had booked an early tour for Friday morning.  The next morning, we headed to the train station for our train / bus tour around the island.  It was about a two hour train ride to our first stop, Bunratty castle.  Here they had setup a little medieval village around an old authentic castle.  Apparently the castle was falling apart until a wealthy British family bought the castle and restored it.  They also brought their collection of authentic furniture and tapestries, so it was quite interesting to see furniture that was hundreds of years old, but still in excellent condition.  After the tour of the castle, we walked around the little village for a while.  Unfortunately it was Good Friday, so many of the little shops were closed, but it was still a lovely place to walk around. 

According to the original tour description, our next stop was an authentic Irish pub.  Unfortunately, there are two days in Ireland where they don't drink, and Good Friday is one of them (Christmas Day being the other).  So, anyplace that serves alcohol has to close.  Instead of the pub, we stopped at a little hotel restaurant for a good, but unexciting meal.  Then, it was off to the main attraction, the Cliffs of Moehr.  Here you can stand near the edge of a nearly 1000 ft drop off into the Atlantic Ocean.  This area is the inspiration for the Cliffs of Insanity in The Princess Bride, if you have seen that.  (If not, I highly recommend it)  The view was simply awe-inspiring...I can't describe it and pictures don't do it justice.  It's just something everyone should see for themselves.  After that, we were back on a bus to another area, The Burren, where the ground was an endless sea of rock.  It's really hard to describe, you really just have to see the pictures.  We then drove to Galway, where we were supposed to have an hour or so to explore the city, but apparently the tour ran late.  So, we just hopped back on a train to Dublin.  I was thrilled by the things we saw on the tour, but it was about 10 hours of traveling and 4 hours of seeing things...just too much travel for one day. 

On day two we rented a car and drove down to Youghal to visit the Irish family that Elizabeth lived with when she worked in Ireland just after high school.  The drive itself was quite an experience as, like the British, they drive on the left side of the road and the right (not correct, right) side of the car.  It took me a little while to get used to shifting with my left hand and it took a lot of concentration to avoid turning into oncoming traffic, but once we got out of Dublin and onto the highway it was fairly easy.  Unfortunately, the last hour of the drive was no longer highway, it was windy mountain roads that were two way, but barely wide enough for one car. Plus, sheep and goats were wandering the streets, so I had to be on the lookout for them as well. It was still a fun as we drove through beautiful countryside and cute little towns. 

We arrived in Youghal in the early afternoon, and Elizabeth took me on a little tour of the town to show me where she worked and ate while she was living there.  After that, we went to the family's house for dinner and drinks.  Elizabeth has always spoken very fondly of her "Irish

Family" and after meeting them I completely understand why.  I have never met a group of people that had the ability to make me feel like a family member when I barely knew them.  The parents, two daughters, and another family friend joined us for dinner and wine, and we just chatted the night away.  That evening, one of the daughters was kind enough to put us up for the evening, and even cook us a traditional Irish Breakfast in the morning, except for the blood sausage...I just couldn't bring myself to eat that. 

The next morning we stopped back by their house to chat a little more.  They all kept saying how despite it being 12 years since Elizabeth lived there, it was like she never left.  They picked up right where they left off.  We said our goodbyes and headed back to Dublin.  This time we took a different route and went through Waterford, where the famous crystal is (was) made. Unfortunately, this famous Irish landmark has fallen to the bad economy and declared bankruptcy.  You can still take a tour of the facility, but it's more of a museum now.  Plus, it was Easter Sunday, so it was not open anyway. 

When we got back to Dublin we took a walk through the city checking out some of the sights.  We really just wandered for a few hours, stopping in a pub for a pint of Guinness...it's always a great beer, but it really does taste better in Ireland.  We did a little souvineer shopping and then headed back to the hotel.  The next day we took the hop-on-hop-off bus tour of the city, which gave us a nice overview of the main attractions, including St. Patrick's Cathedral and of course the Guinness Brewery.  We took the brewery tour, but I have to admit I was disappointed.  They no longer show you where they actually brew the beer, they just have a bunch of TV's telling you about it.  It was an impressive building, but a little anti-climatic for me.  The highlight of the tour is that you get to go to a bar on the top floor of the building and have a pint of fresh Guinness (or Sprite in Elizabeth's case) while enjoying a beautiful view of the city.  I'm not sure if it showed up in the picture, but the head on the beer has a perfect shamrock shape in it.  I thought that was a great touch.

Overall, I would say that Dublin was a little unimpressive, but the Irish countryside and friendly people certainly did not.  Our visit with Elizabeth's "Irish Family" was just fantastic and made the journey up there well worth it.