The Cliffs of Moher

Sunday, we were off to the Cliffs of Moher.  This is Ireland's most visited natural attraction.  The Cliffs of Moher rise to 214 m at the highest point and range for 8 km over the Atlantic Ocean.  The cliffs are a protected area and are home to Iteland's largest mainland seabird nesting colony.  Birds such as the puffin, guillemots, razorbills, fulmars, kittiwakes, peregrin falcons, coughs are seen here.  Once again the rain came down so we weren't able to enjoy wondering about.

The O'Btoen's Tower was used as a viewing point for tourists who came to the Cliffs of Moher and still are today.

The Cliffs of Moher has been a place people had gotten engaged or renewed their vows.  Today we had 1 Birthday and 2 Anniversary toasts (with champagne ), made up on the cliffs for people from or group.  We also were witness to a marriage proposal of a you g couple from Las Vegas.

This evening, our last night, we are staying in Limerick.  We had our farewell dinner and said our goodbyes to the new friends we met.  It was a great 14 days of awesome sights, a lot of information, and many good laughs along the way.  Thanks Elaine, Marj, Margaret F, Donna, Murray, Margaret M and Theresa for the fun time.

Tomorrow morning we will be making our way back home.

Ring of Kerry

Saturday began with a horse and buggy ride around the beautiful city of Killarney.  By all reports the cart drivers were excellent giving everyone on the cart a few laughs.

Next was the Ring of Kerry.  We traveled through rolling green fields and vibrant little towns; along side steep cliffs and long craggy seascapes; emeral green forests and open bog land.  Truly a sight to behold.  We took in a dog herding demonstration, with very well trained dogs moving the sheep.  We continued on seeing beautiful scenery along our way back to Killarney.

We had hoped for sunshine but got rain instead, oh well we made the best of it and saw the beauty instead.  The Irish have told us they haven't had summer for 4 years, I feel sorry for them but only because of the lack of sun.  What a magnificent part of Ireland we were able to see.

The Blarney Castle

Friday morning we were off to visit the Blarney Castle and Gardens.  We travel most of the time in the rain and it didn't stop all day.  This place would have been so much more enjoyable if the sun would have shone.  However, we ended up with a steady rain while we checked out the castle.  The castle was a 10 min. Walk from the entrance along the banks of the River Martin.  The world famous Blarney Stone is at the top of the castle, where you wind your way up the 100 steps on a narrow steep spiral staircase.  At the top, the view was spectacular even with the wind blowing and the rain.  I believe Murray was the only one that kissed the Blarney Stone and after that he was filled with mystical and magical thoughts.  May he always have the luck of the Irish wherever he goes.

We finished off with some shopping and then got on the bus and headed for Killarney.  The drive to Killarney was lush and beautiful.  This is where we will be spending the next 2 nights.

St. Patrick's Cathedral, The Book of Kells & The Traditional Irish Evening

Thursday morning was our city bus tour.  Good thing as occasionally an Irish mist pasted over us.  We had a very good guide, Theres, who pointed out many interesting sites along the way.  We made a stop at St. Patrick's Cathdral, the largest church in Ireland.  This church acts as a memorial to Irish war dead.  St. Patrick's is closely associated with the writer Jonathan Swift, who was a dean in the church and was also buried here alongside his longtime partner, Stella.  St. Patrick's is the national cathedral of the church of Ireland.

Another stop was at Phoenix Park, which is a huge green park, 704 hectares.  It's a great place to spend some time walking, sitting, looking out to the mountains, playing a sport and watching the wildlife (deer) grazing or the horses on the polo fields.  This is where Bon Jovi played for 16,000 people and where the pope delivered mass.  This would have been something to see.

Our last stop on the tour was at Trinity College Library.  This library is one of the world's great research libraries, holding the largest collections of manuscripts and printed books in Ireland.  We then saw the Book of Kells which is a handwritten manuscript of the four gospels, dating from the year 800.  The Book of Kells is one of Ireland's jewels, with elaborate scripting and colourful illumination.  A very magnificent book.

Once our tour was over we had free time to wonder and do as we pleased.  We spent the afternoon in Temple Bar Square, shopping and enjoying an afternoon Guinness.

Marj and Margaret skipped the bus tour and adventured almost into Northern Iteland on the trail of Marj's father's father who immigrated to Canada in 1878.  A lot of Irish records were destroyed in the 1020's so this search was more challenging.  They quickly found out almost no matter how often you asked, Irish time means, the taxis or bus will be along in 10 min.  Tydavnet, the tiny beautiful hamlet,  2 blocks long, kinda like Silverton, had 1 closed store, 1 huge Cathic Church and 1 definitely open Irish Pub where they shared a half pint with the locals.  Marj put the rest of her Guinness in her water bottle to enjoy on the long bus trip back to Dublin.  They had a long but very self-rewarding day.  They will have to return and stay a few days inorder to get to the homestead and visit with the locals. They returned just in time to hop on the bus for the Irish evening.

We were entertained in the evening at the Traditional Irish Evening.  The meal was delicious, the music, dancing and singing was exceptional and much

Arriving in Ireland

Wednesday morning we were on our way to Holyhead where we boarded the ferry to Dublin.  The drive from Cheshire in northern Wales was along the seaside.  Quite pretty however it happened to be a rainy day.  We stopped at Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch which just happens to be the place with the longest name in the world.  I couldn't even begin to pronounce it.  Go ahead and take a guess to how you think it should be pronounced.

The ferry ride took about 2 hours to cross the Irish Sea with the sea being somewhat rough at times.  We just got good at using our sea legs and the ride was over.

Our next highlight was a visit and tour to the Guinness Storehouse.  Here we learned the history and making of a world famous beer.  The four natural ingredients that combine to form Guinness are barley (grown in Ireland), hops, yeast and water.  Guinness has grown to be a global iconic drink.  The pint sample at the end of the tour was very smooth and the view of Dublin from the 7th floor was quite interesting as well.  Margaret M will have her Irish experience to help anyone looking for a Guinness.

This was a great first day in Ireland.

Dove Cottage

Tuesday we drove through the Scottish countryside.  We traveled through the emerald green landscapes of the Lake District where the meadows had sheep and dairy cattle grazing.  The rock fences added character to the landscape.  The forests, fells( hills) and becks (streams) were very picturesque.  We visited Dove Cottage in the village of Grasmere to see where the poet William Wordsworth lived for several years.  What a beautiful area.  We also went past the farmyard where Beatrix Potter lived.  A long day on the bus but the scenery was very worth it.  Somewhere you would enjoy  making a return visit to and spend more time to explore the area.

We arrived in Chesshire, Wales,a small village. Just in time for our evening meal.

Edinburgh Castle

Monday morning we were on the bus with our local guide, Bill, to see this beautiful, breathtaking city.  There are 2 towns in Edinburgh, the medieval Old Town and the Georgian New Town.  Edinburgh has been declared a World Heritage Site and rightfully so.  Traveling through the streets it was clear what part of the city you were in.

We drove by the Palace of Holyroodhouse-the official residence in Scotland of Her Majesty.  We couldn't tour the palace because Prince Charles and Camellia were to visit on Tuesday..  The palace is across from the very new Scottish Parliament buildings which to some are called a "granite monstrosity".  The building is very unique...but does it fit in this part of Edinburgh?

We carried on up the Salisbury Crags-Holyrood Park for a fabulous misty view of Edinburgh.  This morning was no different with a wee Scottish mist and a wee light fog over the sea.

From there we got on the Royal Mile which took us up to Edinburgh Castle.  Just as we got there we were able to see the changing of the guards.  We continued on up to the top.  Inside the castle, we saw the State Apartments of Mary Queen of Scots, her bedroom and the birthing room where she gave birth to James VI of Scotland, later becoming James I of England.  Then we viewed the Scottish Crown Jewels in the Crown Chambers.  Not as impressive as Her Majesty's, but still very beautiful.

At noon we gathered to watch the 21 Gun Salute in honour of Prince Phillip's birthday today. How lucky we were to be here to take this in.  It was very cold and we were a wee bit frozen so we stopped for tea and a scone to celebrate Prince Phillip's birthday.  

Just outside the castle Margaret M, Theresa, Donna and I took in a 50 min. Scotch Whisky Experence.  This was a journey through a replica distillery which houses 3500 individual bottles.  We tasted one of the single malt whiskies from the 4 areas:  Lowlands, Highlands, Speyside & Islay.  I thought the one I tried from the Lowlands was rather smooth.  Margaret was very glad to have been able to take in this experience.

From there we were downhill all the way carrying on along the Royal me which stretches from Edinburgh Castle to the Palace of Holyroodhouse.  Walking along it we shopped and admired the interesting old structures, with turrets, gables and the towering chimneys.  Murray came back to the hotel with the heaviest shopping bag of all...way to outdo the ladies.

We met up with Marj andMargaret at the hotel and they shared their ancestor search with us.  They went off on their own (with a car and driver) in search of Marj's great grandmother's Scottish family Homes.  Thanks to the diligent preparation of Cornelius (tour director), and persistence of Jim (driver) the search was a great success.  They were even invited in for tea.  Marj noted the 8 curling rocks putside the door which alas lacked handles.  So happy they were able to get to see the original homestead.

Train ride to Edinburgh, Scotland

Sunday we left our beautiful hotel in London and boarded the train for Scotland at 9:00 am.  We traveled through the English countryside which was quite flat seeing many fields of yellow canola fields.  I wasn't expecting to see that.  The land was quite flat until we neared Edinburgh and the sea, then we noticed more rolling hills.  Everything is so very green with shrubs and flowers in bloom.

We finally arrived in Edinburgh and made it to our hotel by 4:30.  Not a lot of time to do much.  Went for a quick walk about before supper and then headed down the street for a very lovely meal. To top it all off we had the most delicious chocolate cheesecake I've ever had.  We returned to our hotel and most of the group turned in for the night as we will be busy tomorrow checking out the sights here in Edinburgh.

Windsor Castle & Abbey Road

Saturday morning we hopped on the bus with our local tour guide, Stuart, who guided us thought the streets of London to all the tourists sights giving us a comical version of the history behind each of the sights.  He was very informative and enjoyable to listen to.  We took in the Troupe of the Colors. practise and the real parade will be held next weekend.  The Queen celebrates 2 birthdays, the actual day of her birth and the 3rd Saturday of June every year.  Only the Queen has 2 birthdays.  The parade of  the bands and quarts was quite something to see.

In the afternoon we made our way out to Windsor Castle.  The Queen was in residence today and we are quite sure she invited us for a tea and scone.  It was indeed very tasty I must say.  We made our way to the castle entrance and did a walk about through the grounds seeing the actual residence of Her Majesty.  We continued on through the castle seeing the various rooms.  It was very impressive and we couldn't believe how enormous the rooms were.  A table with full service could be set for a gathering of up to 126.  Just happy I don't have to prepare a meal for that many at my house.  This was quite something to see.

This was our last day in London so we just had to check out Abbey Road so we hopped onto a double-decker bus (just to say we had a ride on one).  Not sure what we expected but it was a little disappointing.  It is a residential area that had Avery small studio on the corner.  The walls around the studio had graffiti on them so Margaret M wrote her message on the wall.

We will all have great memories of London.  This would be somewhere we could return to express some more.  Too many things to see and do in four days.

Stonehenge & London Tower

Friday am we were off bright and early on the Tube to get on our tour to Stonehenge.  Must say it was quite a sight.  Unfortunately it was raining so the walk around Stonehenge was quite quick.  We didn't stop at the stop points on our headset we motored around the rock circle.  We had a hot cup of tea and a Rock Cake before getting on the bus to London.  Wouldn't you know as we are leaving the rain stopped and the sun almost started to shine.

Once back in London we took the Tube to London Tower.  Very much worth the trip to see.  We had an excellent guide explaining each building and what took place there over time.  Once our guided tour was over we went to see the Crown Jewels.  Wow...Amazing...they were beautiful.  We found out how much our husbands loved us by comparing our diamonds with the jewels there...you guessed it...they didn't compare.  We didn't have a lot of time there but you probably could have spent a good half day or even a full day wondering around.

We returned to our hotel by Tube to join the rest of our group for dinner.  Here is where we also met up with Marj and Margaret who have been busy touring and visiting with friends.  They also had 2 enjoyable days of sight seeing.