Days 5 and 6

The last couple of days have been very calm as I have focused on just enjoying some peace and quiet and time to myself.  I've gone out some and today enjoyed just people watching for a bit as I know our time here in Ennis is drawing to a close.  I really like this little city and the small shops and pubs everywhere.  One thing Ireland is not known for is its food, but to be honest I am yet to have a bad meal here.  Everything has been very fresh.  Even the baked goods are so fresh and not nearly as sweet as we are used to in the states. But since I have cut so far back on the sweets at home, I tend to prefer them like this!  Everything has been delicious and I'm going to miss those pastries!

The people here are great.  They are very extroverted in general.  I love being in the heart of Ennis because it seems the vast majority of people out and about during the day are locals!  I've seen for myself how kind they are as they worked to help an elderly gentleman who wasn't moving around to well sit down and get some food in one of the restaurants.  They are still full of manners that seem long forgotten in the states.  Just a very kind and helpful group of people over here. And their wit is some of which I have never seen before!

Peter and I have had a great time here in Ennis.  Sure our room hasn't been the best.  We've grown accustomed to a bed that is far smaller than anything we've ever slept in before.  My days of relaxation and quiet have often been interrupted by overly helpful maid service and a group of men doing construction right outside my window. I've been serenaded to Irish songs and heard a few attempts at American slang out of them. But again, I guess I am just seeing the culture up close and personally.

It has been fun to hear about some of the different customs and traditions over here. The Irish seem very proud of their heritage.  I am still fascinated by how these people can party.  The pubs around here, even on weeknights don't start playing music until after 9:30 and it seems people drag themselves back to their rooms around 2-3 in the morning.  We've also heard stories about weddings that just put ours to shame.  They sound like they are typically 2-3 day events. As one of Peter's coworkers explained. Her wedding started at 2PM and then a 5 or 6 course dinner around 5PM.  Then a band plays until midnight, then a DJ starts up with dancing until around 4 AM. Then you would bring out more food to feed your guests and it would end with breakfast around 7 in the morning, when everyone would go rest for a few hours before starting the the second day of wedding celebration around 2 in the afternoon. This day of partying ends at a bit more civilized time, I think she mentioned between midnight to 2 in the morning!

It has been great fun meeting all of Peter's Irish coworkers and it gives me a little idea of why he loves working over here so much!  They are all very kind and have been more than willing to put themselves out to help us with getting around and sightseeing this week! As Peter wraps up his work week and we pack our bags in preparation of moving to the East coast of Ireland for the remainder of our trip, there is something sweet and special I will miss about this city!  But I am sure, I will be back again someday!

Oh hey, do you want to hear a joke we were told?  Okay, here it is:

An Englishman, a Scott, and an Irishman walked into a pub.
Each ordered a pint of beer.  Then a fly came and landed in each one's beer.
The Englishman, turning slightly green, pushed his beer away and asked for another.
The Scott took the fly out, shrugged, and drank his beer.
The Irishman pinched the fly between his fingers and yelled
"SPIT IT OUT, SPIT IT OUT!!!!"

Ireland Day 4

This was another fun day in Ireland. I continue to stand amazed at how gorgeous the weather has been for.  When you plan a trip to Ireland you prepare for rain and we haven't had a drop of it besides our first morning here!  Dare I say, it has actually been hot and we've been relying on opening our window to cool off the room in the evening!

I'm definitely still not on the right schedule. I've been staying up way too late and sleeping in really late. After entertaining myself during the day, I caught a bus to meet up with Peter and his coworkers for our Traditional Irish night at Bunratty Castle. 

The history of this castle is kind of cool.  This is actually the 4th castle to stand at Bunratty.  The first was built in the 1200's and after seeing many battles with other castles being built and falling, this one was built in the 1400's and has been fortunate to still be standing today! 

Unfortunately I wasn't able to get to tour the castle because they do a medieval banquet there twice a night so they shut the tours down pretty early in the afternoon. But I was able to get a picture of her!  Then it was on to our dinner night!  

The dinner night was about a 3 hour dinner of traditional Irish foods and a show!  We were served Irish Cream, Brown Bread, Salad, Irish Lamb Stew and Potatoes, and Apple Pie with fresh cream for dessert with tea!  

The entertainment was a combination of story telling, jokes, songs, and Irish dancing!  It was fun! 

Ireland Day 3

Today was my first day on my own in the city.  Peter got up bright and early to head out to work and I slept in until the glorious hour of 9:30. Guess maybe I do still have some lingering jetlag.  After a  bit of a slow start that included some baked goodies I picked up yesterday and some fresh tea I really started to feel like I am fitting in around here! 

Eventually I decided I should probably vacate the room for a bit.  Pretty close to our hotel was the Old Ennis Friary Grounds. Apparently this friary was built in the 12th century and there were some pretty cool carvings that were added in the 15th century. 

These are the original carvings that were on a giant tomb 

I literally had this entire graveyard and old building to myself.  It was a bit creepy wandering around, especially with the addition of several crows who were up on the tops of it crowing at me the whole time.  Oh well, the building was cool though. 

This is the giant tomb, the original carvings were taken off and put in cases but they put they put copies of the carvings back on it 

I thought this gravestone I found was pretty cool. It loaded upside down, but it reads
"All you good people who now stand by
As you are now, so once was I

I am now, so shall you be,

Remember death and pray for me"

After wandering the streets for a bit more and doing some window shopping, I went one of the numerous bakeries where the baker helped me pick out a few treats to bring back!  Everything is so tasty here!  Fresh creams, fresh jellies, soft and yummy doughs and the pastries are relatively inexpensive!  These are my kind of people! 

I came back to the room, where I guess jet lag was still taking a hold of me and I quickly found myself back asleep.  Shortly after I woke up, Peter was back from work where they released him a bit early! We had dinner plans with one of his coworkers tonight.  Again, it was nice to get to go out with a local because they know where all the good food is!

This was a pretty fancy restaurant and our food was plated beautifully!  I would have taken some pictures but we were chatting with Peter's coworker and I didn't want to seem weird ;)

I ordered a sirloin steak with beer battered onion rings and gratin potatoes with red wine sauce.  It was seriously so yummy and had the best onion rings I have ever tasted!  Peter ordered the herb crusted, fried hake fish filet with crab that he also enjoyed. We also ordered a super yummy dessert that had crushed meringues in strawberry cream with sliced strawberries!  I could eat more of that!  It was fun to meet and chat with one of Peter's coworkers over here. She also has 3 children who are the same ages as 3 of our children so between work topics with Peter and kid topics with me, we had plenty to chat about!

Definitely a bit more of a laid back day but that's what I enjoy doing on vacation! I've almost finished one of my books but still have several more to read if time allows. Looking forward to tomorrow!

Ireland: Day 2

Are you ready for some serious picture overload?  Today was one of our busier sightseeing days.  Peter's boss was kind enough to volunteer to take us out and see some of the country and coast of western Ireland.  I never dreamed he would take us to all the places he was able to take us today!  So I am very grateful for that!  

We didn't sleep great last night and our clocks were quite a mess.  We tried to tough it out as long as we could last night but found ourselves fast asleep around 9:30.  Unfortunately we also found ourselves wide awake around 3 in the morning!  I think the local pubs must have just shut down around this time and so the surrounding neighborhoods to our hotel were a little bit loud!  Around 5:00, we were able to doze off back to sleep until about 8:30.  

Peter's boss was coming from Dublin and got a bit of a late start, so we had some time to go out and walk the neighboring streets again.  We tried to find some pastries at the bake shops that seem to be on every corner, but were surprised to see that hardly any shops were open and this was around 11 AM. Apparently a city that parties late on Saturday night, tends to sleep in on Sunday morning.  After getting some fresh, flaky croissants, REAL jelly filled donuts, and a lemon poppyseed bread and carrot cake muffin for later, we headed back to our room to get ready to go!  I know I am going to love these bakeries in the coming days!

Around noon, we were off to see the countryside!  It was so amazing to get a private tour with a local!  Definitely a wonderful experience and he really took the time to tell us about the area and some of the history.  We were also blessed with absolutely incredible weather. Like, I can't imagine it being much better than this!  Ireland is known to rain at least some each day, but not today!  We had beautiful, clear skies! 

 Our first stop on our journey today, was The Burren. The Burren consists of hills and hills and landscape made out of limestone.  It's a pretty cool phenomenon.  

Within the burren, there is a tomb called Paulnabrone portal tomb.  Back in the 80's, one of the capstones broke and collapsed. As they were excavating it, they found human remains of over 30 people including children at this site.  They believe the tomb was used between 3800 and 3600 B.C.  Pretty cool!

The Burren seemed to just go on and on for a very long time. It was really cool and the landscape was just really pretty!  Ireland definitely lives up to its green reputation!

 We eventually hit the coast and took a few minutes to check out Ballyvaughan.  Another really pretty site that we never would have made it to.

We continued on our coastal drive for a bit.  Brian explained to us that there are usually dolphins out in the water that you can see jumping and playing. We didn't see any today, but still pretty cool!

And then we made it to one of the places I couldn't wait to see!  The Cliffs of Moher.  Sure, they are Ireland's #1 tourist destination, but they deserve and earn that title and should not be missed!  These photos don't even do their majesty justice!  It was truly so beautiful up there.

It was so clear, we could even see the Aran Islands from up there!  Someplace else I would love to visit someday!

Then we were off to Lahinch!  Apparently there is an amazing golf course here and this is someplace the locals really like to weekend at.  It was a very busy place but we decided to stop at a restaurant Brian recommended for some fish and chips!  We watched some of the surfers.  Honestly, surfing is something I would NEVER expect to see in Ireland but apparently these waters here are very good for it they even host world surfing events here.   He also told us how we are visiting at the very beginning of tourist season and that within the next couple weeks the roads will just be packed.  We saw a ton of tour buses already so I can only imagine how crazy the country gets over the summer.  I think we really lucked out with this amazing weather and hitting the area before it gets crazy busy! 

Then it was back to the hotel to rest up and get ready for Peter's first workday tomorrow.  I guess that is the whole reason why we are here.  We decided to indulge in some of that yummy lemon poppyseed bread and some tea tonight!  What a genuinely perfect day!  

Ireland Day 1

The first day of any trip seems to be a bit of a blur, and this day is no different. It is actually kind of 2 days put into 1!  So there's where the confusion and disorientation sets in! 

We left home around 5:30 AM to sneak out of the house before the kids woke up.  Our flight didn't leave until 10:30 so we had a lot of time stuck sitting and waiting at the airport before we could even leave.  A 4 hour (on time!) flight to Chicago and a quick enough layover to be able to grab a quick bite of dinner and then we were boarding the longer leg of the trip.  This one ended up being a bit delayed because the entertainment screens wouldn't boot up. It's always a pain when the flight is delayed AFTER boarding and taxing because you can't move around. Fortunately they got it fixed on their own as they had threatened to go back to the gate if they couldn't get them up and running.  Then we were on our way for the 7ish hour flight to Shannon Ireland!  

Upon arrival, it didn't really take long to understand why people love the Irish!  Our first experience with an Irishman was at immigration and we could quickly see the kindness, and wit awaiting us in this country.  He exchanged a few accountant comments and jokes with Peter and we were on our way! The taxi desk was no different, with several older gentleman standing around chatting.  They told us to enjoy some Brown Bread for them in Ennis. Our taxi cab driver was a very kind man who offered some travel tips and chatted with us on the 20 minute drive to our hotel.  He seemed very curious about where we were from and mentioned that he knew of some very long lost relatives of his that traveled along the Oregon trail.  He also seemed to know a bit about the weather and that the northwest part of the states is a bit similar to Ireland weather. Although Ireland is even greener than we have it in Oregon!  

We made our way to our hotel where they were waiting for us.  Peter's business was kind enough to check us out a room the night before so that we could get cleaned up and rest today, since we arrived a bit after 7 in the morning.  Mind you, it was after midnight at home at this point and we had been up for quite awhile!  And yet, the day was just beginning in Ennis!  After taking a shower and unpacking, we decided to go check out the city a bit and find some food. We also knew a nap was on the agenda for the day.  

We went for a quick little walk around 10 in the morning, and the small city was very much alive and bustling.  I think Ennis is kind of perfect because while there are some tourists, the streets were mostly filled with locals going about their day and shopping.  I quickly learned that the locals walk at a very brisk pace.  I blame that on the wind and rain they are accustomed to!  We ate a panini and a strawberry tart for breakfast and watched people bustle around the Saturday Farmers Market on the city streets.  Thw Town Square for Ennis is adorable!  Filled with tiny cobblestone streets and surrounded by hundreds of little shops. From clothing, to candy, to bakeries and meat shops.  There is a little bit of everything!  

We made a quick stop at the grocery store for some basics before returning to our room. I think we were both deliriously tired by this point.  We didn't want to overdue it on the slumber but we had to force ourselves to wake up around the 4 hour mark!  I also got some highly recommended pills called "Jetfighter" that you take to help you stay awake on those jetlagged days.  After our nap, we popped a few of those.  They work REALLY well and don't give you that jittery caffeinated feeling. So I highly recommend them for International travel.  I found ours on Amazon.



After a little bit of wake up time, we decided some fresh air was needed!  Since we have a full day of sightseeing ahead of us tomorrow, I needed to kind of get my bearings of the city because Peter will be working on Monday. So we tried to do some walking and help me figure out where I was and where things were.  Oh boy!

The old buildings were really fun to look at.  They had several churches here that were bustling with Saturday Mass.  It is cool to see these old churches still alive and well! This one is near by and I've been trying to figure out when and why the bell goes off. It goes off quite often!  I know it does every hour on the hour, but around 3:00 today, it went off for 15 minutes straight! I think it might have been for a wedding because we saw the wedding party across the street from it a bit later.

This old building is the city library.  Again, it is just fascinating to see the history and age of these old buildings everywhere that are still active and very much used!

After our little walk we decided to find a pub and grab some fish and chips and watch some hurling. What better way to start off a trip to Ireland, right?  Now to try and stay awake just a few more hours before turning in for a much needed night of rest!  Lots more fun to be shared tomorrow!