LONDON

LONDON
February 19, 20

We arrive at the convent of the Sisters of Nazareth in Hammersmith, London at about 11:00 AM. We are greeted by Sister Catherine, a friend of Ann’s and former principal at the Nazareth House in San Diego. The sisters had emailed Ann and extended an invitation to stay with them. Since Ann’s primary purpose in visiting London was to see the sisters, this worked out well. Sister gave us a bit of a tour of the 150 year old buildings, chapel and gorgeous grounds. She escorts us to our room which is bright and spacious. Apparently when the Bishop visits he stays in this room. We are invited to tea and I decline, the wimp that I am, I was tired. I slept for about 3 hours and awoke with Ann by my side. I let her sleep another hour and then we took off ….bus right outside the convent door to the tube to Trafalgar Square. London is alive…people going in all directions…pedestrian streets, statues, sculptures, ____esque buildings from the ___ period, fountains. It was getting near sunset so we went to the National Gallery… a beautiful museum. We’re in a hurry. We bypass Titians, Goyas, Canalettos on our way to the exhibit, “Manet to Picasso”, where we see, believe it or not, Manets, Picassos as well as Seurats, Monets, Cézannes, Gauguins, Degas, Van Goghs. Ann is truly moved. She would later say that she enjoyed this museum more than the Louvre. As we exit the National Gallery, Big Ben is chiming and Ann’s jaw drops when she looks up and sees it. We begin wondering why we didn’t schedule more time for London. We have drinks and dinner at The Old Shades where the people we met could not have been nicer. Back to convent by 9:00 PM (which was OK by us since we were still recovering from the bus trip) at which time the doors are customarily locked.

We went to Mass with the nuns the next two mornings in the chapel and received ashes on Ash Wednesday. Ann reunited with a soul mate of hers, Sister Rose, who told me that I took her away from them. I told her that Ann had boyfriends before me…Ann gives me the eye. We also spent time with Sister Gabriel who had a perpetual smile/laugh on her face. If you looked hard enough, you could see her halo.

On our second day in London, after an elegant, yet hearty breakfast in a dining parlor overlooking the gardens, we take the tube back into “town”. On the way, we sit across from a stately looking 50ish couple. Ann, with something to dispose of, remarks to them that there are no waste receptacles in the tube. The man, who has a droopy right eye, replies, “It’s been that way since the 70s…the IRA…terrorism was much worse then…American funded…” His wife turned to him immediately and snarled his name to stop.

We took one of those open-aired, double-decked tour buses around London with a boat ride down the Thames. See all the well-known sights. We went to Harrods, as Ann wanted to tour the Harrods food floor she had seen on so many travel logs. We were both impressed. I was also impressed by the Rock Guitar exhibit there with Rolling Stones prints done by Ronnie Wood (a minimum of 1000 pounds each…like he needs the money.) Note the picture of the doggie section with any type of outfit you could imagine....kind of looks like a children's dept.

At 6:00 PM we met an old friend of ours, Sandy, who currently lives here but has bought a condo in Turkey where she is going to retire. I’m intrigued by Turkey (Ann’s apprehensive), so I have lots of questions. I want to go to Istanbul before I leave Europe.

We share warm, touching goodbyes with the nuns on Ash Wednesday before leaving for Paris. A priest gives us a safe journey blessing and we feel blessed on many levels.




When you get off the tube you hear over loud speakers, "Mind the gap", there is aout a foot spacibg between the train and the platform at some stops.




This spire was the inspiration for the modern wedding cake. A baker was making a wedding cake for his daughter and modelled it after this spire which was in the neighborhood.














We’re off to the train station for our Eurostar trip to Paris.

THE JOURNEY TO LONDON

THE JOURNEY TO LONDON
February 18

Yours Is not to wonder why
Ours is just to do or die

We left Galway, by bus, at 11:30 AM and arrived in Dublin about 3:20 PM. We checked some luggage and walked around the O’Connell Street area. Had a beer at The Old Oval, a classic Irish pub. We spoke with a short, fast talking Irishman and, after we mentioned the journey to be, he said, “Why?” We had dinner at O’Shea’s where I had a hamburger with ham and egg on top. We checked in at the bus station at 7:00 PM for our 8:30 departure. Considering the circumstances, we thought we got the best seats possible…last row middle for me (leg room) …second last row for Ann.

Left at 8:35 PM. The bus gets on the ferry and are asked to vacate it and enjoy the ferry lounge, which wasn't bad, restaurant, movies, etc. Here we hang out until 12:45 AM at which time we reload onto the bus and shortly arrive at Holyhead, Wales. Soon we’re going through customs where 3 people are singled out: Ann, me and a young black woman (who sardonically smiled when told to step aside.) At about 1:15 AM, the bus leaves the customs stop and heads south. We search for our sleep comfort zone but never find it. Every 2 hours or so, the bus stops, light come on and we hear the mellifluous sounds of our driver: “Birmingham, ladies and gentlemen…Leeds, ladies and gentlemen….rest stop, ladies and gentlemen…” Speaking of mellifluous sounds, there were two teenage French girls sitting gin front of Ann who either had triple doses of espresso or a single dose of methamphetamine.

We arrived in London at 8:45 AM, about 21 hours after leaving Galway. The English countryside was dark with nary a soul in sight. The trip was brutal. Explanations are not in order…how could we begin to explain… we both look at each other and wonder. At Victoria Station we purchase our Oyster Pass for the Tube and don’t look back.

Ann's Art Shop

Gerard's Deli he has always wanted

the last poster we saw in Dublin

GOODBYE TO IRELAND...

Due to my inexpeience with this blog site, the blog got a little mixed up chronologically and I can't seem to figure out how to change the posting order . Dates of when we were at a particular city/town are posted under the heading.







As we travelled across the country we often ran into names on store fronts or streets...yours may be here.




Stainglass of Saint William from the beautiful Dingle basilica


















Walkers of Dingle, a questionable establishment

Peter's Pub in Dublin

Lord O'Brien of Bunratty Castle

Keoghs Cafe in Dublin

The Madeline fishingboat in Kinsale

Geary Biscuit Poster in Cashel

Restaurant Kenny in Galway

Anne Egan's crest in Bunratty




Sr. Columba's stainglass from

the basilica in Dingle











Denny Street in Tralee

The Adams Pub in Dingle

Tara's new restaurant in Galway

Goodbye Ireland hello London......

BUNRATTY CASTLE

BUNRATTY CASTLE
February 9, 10

Between Dingle and Galway we wanted to find a two night spot that had a pool for lap swimming and something to offer us as far as enrichment….Bunratty it was.



This town (a couple hotels, 3 restaurants and a couple pubs) is near Shannon Airport. For this reason many people flying in and out of Shannon often make this either their first night or their last because of the draw of Bunratty Castle.

This castle is touted as one of the “best kept” castles in Ireland. Adjoining the castle is an Irish town, reenacted. The outcome of this effort is charming. It was indeed an actual estate, complete with extensive gardens, walled vegetable gardens, its own church and relocated authentic village huts, from the blacksmith to the printer. As we toured the village homes we realized how difficult it would be for an asthmatic to live in this era…peat, without the modern flue, leaves a heavy cloud. Gerard was even having problems. At the end of the village was the inviting bakery and pub and you could just imagine people coming together there and stopping in for tea for two.





The black sheep.....




Note the size of the turtle shells...lots of oysters, clams and scallops too















Composting grinder.





Back at the hotel things were a little easier. The pool was 20 meters long and inviting. We had internet in our room, even if we did have to “purchase” a card to activate the already present internet in the hotel…something which we have come to realize is the norm over here.
A couple nights here and we are looking forward to our upcoming stay in Galway…

LITTLE NEWPORT

KINSALE
A postcard perfect Irish seaside town
February 1,2,3,4,5

After breaking some rules at Joy’s B & B (changing our breakfast order and not vacating the room until 10:25 AM – we are rebels), we board a bus to Kinsale through Cork City. As you may have gathered, we don’t have a car. We intended on getting a car from Sligo through our return to Dublin around February 20 – about 3 ½ weeks. The car rental was $1000.00, insurance was $1200.00. We decided to put the $2200.00 to better use – Guinness and hot whiskey, Ann’s adopted drink. Besides, Ann’s enjoying the bus rides (ann-hmmmm), honest….well, she does enjoy the side trips through the little towns that the buses take as opposed to the more direct train routes.

We arrive in Cork around noon and we have a two hour layover. The city is alive and, like everywhere else, in apparent renovation…more cranes, more housing developments. The city center area is like Grafton Street in Dublin – shops, restaurants, pedestrians and most notably, music stores. Within a 100 square yard area, we must have seen five of them. A well-dressed, ruddy faced middle-aged man with a bulbous nose approached us, asked with a smile where we’re from…his face then changed to sad-like, “do you have some money? I’m broke.” We continue walking,…I hear behind me, “Where ya from?”

We stopped in at The Old Oak, a restaurant/club which has different music venues within…rock in one place, dance in another…all at night, of course. The place at lunch time is crowded…decent prices and good food. We arrive in Kinsale where the bus drops us off at the harbor in front of our hotel on a sunny, even warm, afternoon. Ann breaks out her sunglasses. Gerard is sweating, but keep in mind, he is a walking piece of luggage. He’s wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt, collared shirt, sweater, sports jacket and raincoat with a liner….. just about every pocket has something in it.

It feels so good to be here. They even fly the American flag at the harbor and proudly refer to their town as “Little Newport”…lots of connections here to Rhode Island.
It is a good-sized harbor with a marina filled with sailless masts, a few powerboats and the Kinsale Yacht Club(hi Commodore Hank)….green hills in the background. There’s a little bit of Port Washington, Sausalito and New England here.

The hotel is Actons…very nice. We have been graciously upgraded to a room with a bay window overlooking the harbor. The place even has a leisure center – gym, pool, sauna, steam…the pool being the original attraction when Ann made the reservations months ago.

We drop our luggage and take a walk through the village. Small shops, colorful storefronts, winding, cobblestone streets with no construction in sight….nice! The “tidiest” town in Ireland we are told by the locals.

On the day we arrived in Ireland, January 11, a storm with gale winds hit Ireland, forcing us to remain in our plane for 30 minutes until they could open the doors. A fishing trawler from Kinsale went down during this storm and five men were drowned – three bodies were found….two are still missing. They’re still looking for the missing bodies on February 2.

Kinsale is noted for its restaurants…one is world-class, Fishy-Fishy, although it probably could use a different name. They only serve lunch and there’s always a wait. We have a great lunch there one afternoon after a 40 minute wait– mussels, chowder, fish casserole/stew.

One day we took a walking tour of the city. The tour is owned by Don Herlihy. I went to grammar school with a Don Herlihy. His father, Ed Herlihy was Jerry Lewis’ announcer in “King of Comedy.” Anyway, the walking tour was fantastic. The gist was that there was, in 1601, The Battle of Kinsale. The English won, the Irish lost, and the Spanish, allies of the Irish, stood by while the Irish were slaughtered. Supposedly, the battle had an effect on the current division of Ireland. The tour also touched on Sir Francis Drake (a privateer), Sir Walter Raleigh (imported the potato) Robinson Crusoe (based on a true character and true events except Friday), QE1, Spanish Armada, et. al.

One night, we were confronted by a drunk on the street. He mentioned, without prompting, Yeats and Lissadell to us as if he knew we had been there. He didn’t like the Gore-Booth sisters. He hated the English, claimed to be in the IRA, asked if we knew Gerry Adams and then said, “Hitler was a great man.” It was a conversation stopper. “He believed in what he was doing.” I broke away from his grasp of my arm as Ann walked away.

One day, bright and sunny, we stopped at “The Pretty Lace” , a knick-knack store operated by Deidre, a beautiful woman, about 70, angular face, long red hair with a voice indicating money and stature in her past. She was single but was previously married to a man who either was lost at sea or went to sea and never returned. They were both sailors and yacht owners. We asked where we should go between here and Galway. She said, “Dingle is lovely”. That’s all we had to hear.

Saturday we noticed a bride having her wedding pictures out on the harbor in front of our room. That night on the elevator, we ran into 2 brothers, Michael and Padraig. After a short conversation, they invited us to their brother Liam’s wedding reception which was happening at that moment. We declined…they were dressed up and we were not.

On the following night at 11:30 pm, Super Bowl Sunday, the hotel clerk set us up in front of a 42” plasma tv and turned on the game….he even made us sandwiches. At 1:00 am, Liam, the recent groom, comes down with his bride and joins us. They’ve been in their hotel room all day (“our honeymoon”). He’s drunk, she’s quiet. Liam describes himself as a red neck….keeps calling Prince “an embarrassment” during the half-time show. When they got up to leave, his wife kissed me on the lips. He asked, “May I kiss your wife?” He had no chance.

On our last day here, we took a four mile round trip walk around the harbor to Charles Fort. We walked through two quaint villages, Scilly and Summercove. The views were fantastic. When we saw the opening to the Atlantic Ocean, it was easy to envision the invading ships entering the harbor: The British to occupy, the Spanish to rule, the French and Dutch in search of riches. The fort itself is spectacular, strategically constructed in the 18th century by the British and never invaded. Our guide is very knowledgeable. On the way back, we stopped at the Bulman, a quintessential pub-restaurant. Two ladies are at the window having tea and scones, the guys are at the bar with a Guinness.

On our trip we seem to be hugging the water, be it rivers or the sea. This stay in Kinsale has been ideal. The hotel has been great: Perfect location, large room, high ceilings, long deep tub, and, as usual, a nice electric teapot in the room, and of course there was the 15Meter pool, great gym, attentive and friendly staff, unending view of the harbor , that plasma TV to watch the super bowl, lots of lounging areas, practically next door to Fishy Fishy, and the picturesque and challenging walks. This charming town is dripping with history, rocking pubs and we are way too comfortable….

We have to force ourselves to leave and get back on the road. Dingle awaits us and we are eager. We have opted for the Dingle Peninsula over the Ring of Kerry, having heard it was more unspoiled. We hit the internet and select a hotel set in the middle of town and we’re ready to leave tomorrow morning.