October 31- November 8
The Republic of Ireland and a taste of London
Jerry Seinfeld: When you are traveling on an airplane everything is in little amounts. We’ve got a small problem, there’s gonna be a slight delay, we got small peanuts, we’re gonna be a little late, we’re experiencing some turbulence.
This Week’s Travel Tip(s):1) This is a repeat but I can’t stress it enough…buy a Rick Steves’ guidebook.
2) Don’t put your credit card in the ATM machine or it will get eaten (Dad and I both know that now)
3) Check what time the parking garage closes so your car doesn’t get locked in…
4) London in less than about three days is impossible. I got an overwhelming taste on Saturday.
5) A National Primary Highway in Ireland is equal to a sub-par two lane state route. Every now and then you get a four lane highway but those are rare.
6) In Cork, Ireland…Stay at The Garnisch House. “Best breakfast in town”
7) To all the Danny Sullivan’s who say “Just go to Galway, skip Dublin”, they’re right. Everybody has to go to Dublin because it’s Dublin, but the true beauty is in the west coast.
8) And I’m sure many more will be scattered below….
American Song of the Week:
Johnny Cash and the ever famous
“Folsom Prison Blues”. It was great hearing this with an Irish accent.
The Cliffs of Moher are southwest of Galway and Dingle is west of Kilarney.
Every trip I go on I think about who from home would appreciate this. Ireland stuck out because It is a dear place to many people. This trip made me think of ancestors and my heritage, all my family close and distant, the wonderful people who gave so many great tips on what to do in Ireland, but most of all my Grandpa Holmes, Pappa, who passed away in May 2007. This was a place he always dreamed of visiting but never made it. He was very fond of his heritage and really appreciated his Irish roots. I felt very privileged just to be able to make it there.
-This is a very long one so if you feel like skipping around here is the order: Dublin, Cork, the Dingle Peninsula, Cliffs of Moher, Galway, Connamara,
It’s Friday afternoon in Luxembourg City and I’m doing some last minute things. I went to the ATM to get a little money and inserted my Credit Card instead of debit card. This results in the ATM eating your credit card; not a good way to start a 9 day trip.
So after a five test mid-term week I headed out on Halloween to Dublin, Ireland. A couple other friends who were in Dublin for the night and I went to the notoriously Tourist Temple Bar area and did a little Halloween celebrating in The Temple Bar. I was surprised at how much the holiday was being celebrated by everyone.
Tom and I with Spongebob, and Spongebob's beer
Dad was due into Dublin early Saturday morning so I got a good night’s sleep and met Dad at the Blooms Hotel in Dublin. Don’t stay there. This is when we found out Dad also put his credit card in the ATM so we together are down to our debit cards and a basic student credit card with a very small limit. This made us a little nervous for our week ahead.
We then decided to do the Hop on-Hop off bus tours which are a good way to get around a city but are, in my opinion, not the best way to see the insights of a city. These busses provide audio commentary between sites and allow you to get off and check out a site. The busses arrive in about 15 minute increments which you can get back on and carry on with your tour. Our first stop was the Guinness Storehouse. You don’t actually see the Brewery but yet a redesigned brewery which shows you every stop in the process through unique video commentary and some good effects. It’s still a great place to visit which I would recommend. You also receive a Guinness at the end as part of the tour and go to the top floor where there is a 360 degree view over Dublin. Dublin is not the flashiest city but it is still a great view.
At the Guinness Storehouse
We got back on the bus and headed around town and saw the beautiful city park in Dublin. It is the largest urban park in Europe. At this point Dad was dozing off from the lack of sleep so we decided on lunch and a then a quick nap. We had lunch at the original Brazen Head Pub. Columbus has a few knock off Brazen Head’s so this was cool to eat at the original.
At this point Dad had to take a nap, very understandably, so I headed to Trinity College in Dublin. It is a beautiful school with a few historic points.
The River Laffey in Dublin
The shopping area of Dublin was filled with stores that already cover America (Foot Locker, Tommy Hilfiger, J. Crew, H&M, Ralph Lauren, and many more).
Saturday night we went to the small harbor town of Howth. This is just north of Dublin on the train and has beautiful scenery along a mixture of good and great restaurants.
So after dinner on Saturday night we head out to the real Irish pubs of Dublin. We found an alley and thought this is the best way to find a local place. We wound up at Stags Head with probably the best Irish Band we heard all week and met our first true Irish friends. We were introduced to the great Irish songs of Seven Drunken nights, old Tim Flannery, and Whiskey in a Jar. Listen to these songs and look up the lyrics, you’ll get a kick out of them.
Our favorite pub in Dublin, The Stags Head
Sunday morning we went to the ever popular St. Patrick’s Cathedral hoping to attend a traditional Roman Catholic Mass in dominantly Catholic Ireland. Well….due to the turmoil of Ireland over the years, the government in rule determined if the large churches would be Protestant or Catholic. Well St. Patrick’s and Christ Church are now Anglo-Episcopalian which came as a surprise to us. Dad and I then headed to Immaculate Conception right on the River Laffey. It was ironic because this church was blue and white inside just like the Rams of the wonderful Immaculate Conception Parish in Columbus, OH.
We went and got our rental car, barely made it in time before they closed, and headed into the Irish countryside, driving on the left side of the road. This is quite the experience. After about 25 minutes we needed a mental pit stop to realize that we actually made it out of the city.
We went into the small town of Kilkenny with the famous Kilkenny Castle and park. This is a great small town that is home of the Smithwick’s (pronounced Smittick’s) and Kilkenny beer breweries. At the top of the hill in town was yet another beautiful church. This was the beginning of our habit to stop and check out the cathedrals in each town. Ireland sure knows how to build beautiful churches.
We walked around town, had a great dinner and then went to retrieve our car. Well, on a Sunday night in Europe things close early. Our parking garage locked up at 7PM with us standing outside at 7:30 looking in. We went to the pub at the bottom of the hill and asked if we could use a phone. One of the three men in there said he had a cell phone, looked at the number we needed to call, and realized it was his neighbor John Ryan who needed to let us out. What a great Irish name and only in a great small town does this happen. We still however had to pay the 25 euro fee, thought maybe this guy could get us off the hook.
We got on the National Primary Highway, basically a step below a two lane state route, drove through Waterford which is a huge glass producer, and headed to Cork. My mom’s side of the family, The Kegley’s, we believe are from Cork. Even though I didn’t get to meet any distant relatives it was still neat to see where they came from. Upon arriving into Cork we stopped at a chain hotel, Jurys Inn, and somehow got the manager to recommend us a Bed & Breakfast. The Garnish House was his recommendation because as he said, “I guarantee you it has the best breakfast in town.” Well he was right, the breakfast was amazing. Monday morning while eating breakfast we found the lady we thought was the owner. We asked if she did own it and in a witty answer she responded with, “I guess so, but mainly the bank owns it.”
Dad and I with Johanna at the Garnish House
We left Cork, crossed the river on the ferry, and went to Cobh. This is the small town where the Titanic last touched land, where the majority of Irish Emigrants left from, and of course the location of another Roman Catholic Church as the locals say.
Main St. in Cobh
St. Colman's Cathedral
We left Cobh, back over the ferry and into Cork again to see the University College Cork, When traveling in the U.S. our family typically stops and checks out the college we are driving by. Just a little thing we have always done so UCC just continued this tradition.
On the way out of Cork we grabbed lunch at the famous ‘chip shop’, Jackie Lennox’s. You were right Jim, great fish ‘n chips and it a great bang for your buck.
In front of Jackie Lennox's
Not far from Cork was the small harbor town of Kinsale which was home of the Charles Fort. This was used throughout history against the Spanish for the Irish to defend themselves. It’s amazing to think that people lived here year round and for years upon years. But as we learned throughout the trip, Irish people are very proud of their culture & heritage and not so fond of others trying to invade this.
Monday night we made the drive directly to Dingle and the Dingle Peninsula. Most of this was made in the dark but along the way we stopped, in the middle of nowhere, and saw the most beautiful starry sky you could imagine. There were so many stars together an entire section of the sky was lit up. We made it into Dingle, checked into a small hotel right in town, grabbed a quick meal and pint, and it was bed time. Dingle is popularly known as a great place for Irish music but with it being outside of tourist season the night was quite quiet. As Dad said earlier in the trip, “I think we’ll be fine taking it easy on this trip, you’ve been burning the candle at both ends for 2 months now.” Don’t know where this saying came from but it’s a good one. By the time I got out of bed it was Tuesday afternoon in Dingle and we headed out to the Dingle Peninsula.
This is everything you picture in the Irish countryside. We saw sheep in the hillside, Irish men in their rubber boots repairing their fences, stone walls up and down the hill sides, cliff edges leading to the water, and most of the time not another soul in sight.
We left Dingle after grabbing a new Irish CD of ‘The Dubliners’ and headed to the small town of Doolin via the Bunratty Castle and Durty Nelly’s Pub.
The Bunratty Castle is supposedly similar to Colonial Williamsburg except it has a traditional Irish town built inside it. The castle was closed so we missed out on this exciting adventure but still made it into Durty Nelly’s and had some Guinness, Smithwick’s, and our first taste in Ireland of Oysters on the half shell. They were excellent. Durty Nelly’s claims to be the oldest Pub in Ireland. Don’t know if this is true or not but it was a good pub.
With dark roads and a scary drive ahead, we decided to make our way on this Tuesday night to the little town of Doolin by the Cliffs of Moher. We somehow made it into Doolin safely, checked in quickly to a very vacant hotel in a very vacant town. November is definitely not tourist time in Ireland. Doolin has a traditional Irish pub, McGann’s, that is popular amongst travelers and locals that is well known for its great Irish music. Here we met locals and travelers from the U.S., listened to great music, talked politics just like everywhere else we had been and experienced a traditional Irish Lament for the first time. This is when one person steps forward and sings a beautiful hymn that is usually in honor of the history and tough times of Ireland. This was a popular part of the Gaelic tradition. The old man singing was as Irish as could be.
Listen to this, even though you can't see anything you get the effect from the audio.
Wednesday was Cliffs of Moher day. Although it was a foggy day the Cliffs of Moher were still the Cliffs of Moher. It was great but I can’t imagine what it would have been like had it been clear out. We still got the full effect especially when a worker told us that 5 or 6 people have already died this year falling off of the Cliffs; some accidental and some suicide.
As George Costanza would say, "the sea was angry that day my friend."
Wednesday night we made it into the great college/industrial town of Galway. This is a town with of course a beautiful church, many pubs, great Irish shopping, many pubs, easy access to the Connamara and Cliffs of Moher regions, and many great pubs. We heard many times before this trip that Galway should be anyone’s home base for Ireland and travel from there. This is very true. Galway is a town that you can spend many nights in and easily travel to many beautiful sites. Our first night in Galway, Wednesday, we went to Monroe’s Pub, saw more election results, watched a great soccer match of Manchester United vs. Celtic, and listened to yet more Irish music. Manchester United is a traditionally dominant team from England and Celtic is a typical underdog from Scotland. All of these fans were rooting for Celtic. The Irish people seem to have a bond with Scotland and are not very fond of the British.
For all the young ladies, and gentlemen who want to know a good gift for a young lady, the harbor part of Galway is the Claddagh region. Ring a bell? These are the popular rings worn by females, and in Ireland males, that show one’s relationship status when they are in the single or dating stage. If the point on the heart of the ring is pointing towards one’s own heart then their heart is taken. If the point of the heart is pointing away from oneself it shows that their heart is open, or available.
When looking for a hotel in Galway we wanted something close to town. Thanks to the recommendation of Mrs. Nicole Thompson we went with the Jurys Inn. These are safe hotels, Holiday Inn like, that are good if you are unsure. However I would still recommend a B&B whenever possible: physically or financially. I was very spoiled this week. I’m used to staying in a 10 person dorm room with one hallway shower while on this trip. Thanks Dad.
Thursday we drove out into the Connamara region. Here we found the last piece of what makes a complete trip to Ireland: sheep running free in the roads.
Notice the color markings in its back. This is done because in open areas like the Connamara region there are no fences anywhere so the sheep are sprayed different colors to show what owner they belong to. The Connamara is not what you picture as Ireland. It is very brown and extremely rocky but still a beautiful region (the towns of Clifden and Roundstone if you are staying out there).
Connamara Region, from Galway to Clifden
Thursday night Dad and I met up with our German friends whom we met the day before and bounced around a couple pubs before ending up at The Quays. Here they had a late night band that played some good covers. We were allowed to do this because we made sure we heard plenty of Irish music throughout the week. Writing this makes me miss the Irish Pub music already. Our friends form Stuttgart, Germany spoke excellent English and were very interested to learn a little about the U.S and Dad learned a little about the great region of Luxembourg/Germany. On the way home Dad had his first Kebab, a European necessity for fast food, and we hit the hay. Got up Friday morning, did some shopping and headed to the Shannon Airport outside Limerick about 90 minutes from Galway. Dad flew back to the U.S. and I headed to London.
Ireland is a must see beautiful place that has the nicest people you will ever meet. I heard this before coming to Ireland and it is completely true, even if they take your peanut butter at the airport.
I’ll keep London very brief because everything I saw and took pictures of you have all seen and heard of before (Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge, Big Ben, etc.). Here is my spiel on London: it’s a must do. The sites are limitless, the theatres go on forever, the parks are beautiful, the sporting teams are some of the best in the world, the markets with shopping, pubs, and restaurants are everywhere and all can entertain for hours. However England is still on the pounds which is dominating the dollar right now so I would give it a little time before adventuring to London. It’s a must do though and you need at least 3 days.
This semester I spent two hours a day commuting to and from school. On the weekends we had train rides with lengths of 2 hours, 8 hours, 10 hours, and even a couple days at 12 hours. You got to read about all of these except for our trip to Berlin. Berlin was the weekend before mid-terms so sorry I never got around to doing that one. It’s a shame though because Berlin was probably my favorite city and favorite weekend here. In the past 100 days I went to Oktoberfest, saw Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest, toured Mozart and Beethoven’s homes, went skiing in the Swiss Alps, celebrated Miami’s 40th anniversary in Lux, saw the Berlin Wall, the Cliffs of Moher, Big Ben, Auschwitz, the beauty of Barcelona, and the Eiffel Tower. I have no complaints, it’s been a great semester, but the United States of America is still the greatest country in the world!
Friday morning we went to Versailles, on the edge of Paris. This is where King Louis XIV made his home. This estate is just unbelievable. The artwork inside is some of the best, even if most of it is of him. Louis was pretty fond of himself and the artwork shows. His palace goes on forever and the gardens outside did as well .
Friday night we headed to The Louvre. The Louvre is where Napoleon lived during his reign. It is now a world renowned art gallery that holds the original Mona Lisa. It has some other world famous sculptures but my art knowledge is very bad so I recognized them but I couldn’t tell you their names. We were in The Louvre for 3 hours and did not even make it halfway through the place. Most people would recognize The Louvre however from the movie ‘DaVinci’s Code’. Some scenes of this movie with Tom Hanks were shot here. To show how small a world it is I actually ran into a girl in the museum who graduated a year behind me at Watterson. She was studying in Rome through St. Mary’s College and her R.A. actually has a brother that is in the program in Luxembourg with me. It’s a small world.
After the museum we made our way up the first half of Champs-Elysees. This is the famous shopping street in Paris. Part of it is temporary souvenir shops, homemade products, and food while the other half is Louis Vuitton like stores. We only walked by the temporary venders, grabbed crepes and waffles for dinner and headed home.
Emily and I decided to go down the carnival slide with the kids!
After the arc we headed to a seven story shopping mall that was the most hectic shopping mall I have ever seen. This mall/store was interesting because it was like a massive Macy’s in which everything was one store but it had all the brands you could think of just like a shopping mall. We did pass the Paris Opera House on the way so that was pretty neat.
About once an hour for a couple minutes the tower would blink of regular colored lights. Definitely one of the coolest things I have seen. Check out the video below. I turned my camera long ways to record it, but I still have not figure out who to correct it once its on the computer. Sorry...
On a dreary Sunday morning we got up and first went to Sacre Coeur Basilica. This is the popular Roman Catholic Basilica in Paris dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is located at the point of Montmarte, the highest point in the city. After being harassed by guys selling Eiffel Tower key chains and knock off Prada purses it was time to head to the Cathedral de Notre Dame.
We made it just in time for 11:30 A.M. mass. Most of the mass was in French but it was still an incredible experience.
