In Ireland!/In the UK!

[jonestavern]

DH & DS17 have been off enjoying the Irish countryside for the past week plus.
It is DS17's 1st trip abroad & he is loving the B&Bs, castles & museums.
Today Patrick told me he is becoming quite the connoisseur of Irish 'brekkies' Eggs, fried tomato & black & white 'pudding'~

Everytime they drive along those precipitous coastal roads they think how terrified I would be Yep, that I am not missing!

For the next 3 days they are in a larger city of Dun Laoghaire in county Dublin.

I am holding down the fort here in New Hampshire. It's very bizarre not having anyone but the crazed Zippy (Boston Terrier dog) to look after. I went out & bought paper plates, cups & plastic utensils--barely any dishes

Hmm.. Pardon I'm thinking this is a little boring but I find myself needing a little conversation
It's just too gosh darn quiet around here!

Jean

 

[LakeAriel]

Next year I plan to enjoy the Irish countryside myself. (Mom's birthplace) My son has been there and says it is absolutely beautiful. Enjoy the peace and quiet!!!!!

 

[kelleigh1]

My sister, BIL, niece and nephew are in Ireland this week too. They are stationed in Germany and will be coming back to the states in June, so they're getting in their last European visits now. I believe Ireland was the last on their list. Can't wait to see the photos...although I'll be even happier to see them live and in person on my anniversary - June 5th!!

 

[jonestavern]

Patrick & DH, in a few more days, will be off to the England leg of their trip--so it's all the standard tourist things in London, then on to Bath & from there Scotland~4 weeks in all!

the 1st few days, for me, were nice but now it's just plain dull as dishwater around here!

As for entertainment, Zippy did barf in my Crocs last nite It was the Aspens
DH said if he thought he could get away with it, that would be his vote, too!

They visited the Aran Isles earlier in the week.

Tell your Sis & Bil the kid with the Boston Red Sox cap will be Patrick!

Jean

 

[Stitchfans]

I haven't had black and white 'pudding in ages. sounds like a wonderful brekkie. I would love to go to Ireland. We have relatives in Belfast. A trip to Ireland would be way too much for our budget. I have to just be satisfied with pictures.

 

[anewvance]

My dh and I will be in Ireland next month... wow, can't believe I can say next month now! We've been planning this for so long now. Our good friends are getting married, which is the base reason we are going. She is from the Mayo area and came here for work and met our friend, they've been dating 3 years and got engaged while over in Ireland last year and going back for the wedding next month. We are going for 2 weeks. The first 5 days are for the wedding and the rest of the time we will tour Ireland. We still haven't made any final plans as to where we will be staying, guess we better do that soon huh?

Any suggestions from your family would be great jonestavern... like I said, we have absolutely NO plans for the 2nd week we are there, have a rental car and no kids, we can do what we want. So what do we want to do? Where do we HAVE to go!!!

 

[jonestavern]

Thanks for all the replies, I'm already feeling cheered!
DH's budget for the 4-1/2 weeks is on the small side, also. He's using the Rick Steeves guides supplemented with some of my research. They're doing mostly B&Bs (amazingly they haven't had to share a bathroom, yet!) rented a car--automatic with GPS (you don't want to deal with shifting & clutching on the 'wrong' side' whilst driving on the side of the road you are unaccustomed to motoring on--& eating in small pubs.
Be prepared, the weather is very changeable, bring a small folding umbrella & a sweatshirt or sweater~

Today they were off to Dublin.
Trinity College--Book of Kells--no lines this time of year

Kilmainham Gaol--mercilessly bleak, DH's thoughts. Very creepy, very sinister.
This was the jail for political prisoners, the Easter Uprising--& also where they were execeuted. Raymond DeValera was one of it's last inmates
It has a museum, which has some of the prisoners' final letters.
DS17 says it really brought home the history we've been reading.

Did I mention the Guinness Brewery tour? Free samples??
DH assures me that this is a 'must do' & very educational!
They also-- after Guinness I'm guessing-- chanced into one of the award winning Loo of the Year runners up.
Yep, nice placque on the outside announcing that in 2003 it placed in the top 3 of Dublin toidys.
Now that's one for the scrapbook pages

Holding down the tavern~
Jean

 

[MBeds]

Ireland and me will meet one day...

 

[perdidobay]

Today Patrick told me he is becoming quite the connoisseur of Irish 'brekkies' Eggs, fried tomato & black & white 'pudding'~

Jean

Oh my gosh how I miss those great Irish breakfasts!
Glad they are having a great trip

 

[Snoopymom]

Check out

http://www.IRELAND-WITHPATPRESTON.COM/

My favorites are

Slea Head
Cliffs of Moher
Galway
Rock of Cashel
Clifton - Clew Bay Hotel
Dingle
Kilkenney
Waterford
Wexford
Dunluce Castle
Bushmills
Giants Causeway

....nevermind the whole country is beautiful, see everything!

 

[jonestavern]

thanx Snoopymom great website!

they did get to the Rock of Cashel, for some exploring. At night it is 'sensitively' lit.
Cashel is the site of the crowning of Brian Boru as king of Munster. Boru would later become the 1st High King of Ireland.

Cliffs of Moher & Galway, also.

DS17 said he understands what they mean by "the 40 shades of green"
also took the boat to Skellig which only made the trip twice in 2 weeks due to foggy weather-

Jean

 

[Snoopymom]

thanx Snoopymom great website!

they did get to the Rock of Cashel, for some exploring. At night it is 'sensitively' lit.
Cashel is the site of the crowning of Brian Boru as king of Munster. Boru would later become the 1st High King of Ireland.


Jean

We had a view of the lightly lit Rock of Cashel from our room at the B&B we stayed at and oh my, is that one awesome but scary looking place at night! (My brother and sil switched rooms with us because they were so afraid, LOL) We got there first thing in the morning before the fog lifted and anyone else had arrived and it felt like we had traveled back in time. I kept expecting someone in armor on a horse to fly out any second...a really memorable experience.

That's funny that you mentioned the cap your son's wearing. An Irish lady came up to my brother because of his hat. She knew he was American because she said no one in Ireland wears "golf caps" out in public. She was so sweet, she wanted to talk to us, find out where we were from, because she missed her family that was here. We walked on the beach with her and talked for a while and she hugged us afterwards.

I could go on and on I love it there so much. Anyway, my dh and ds are taking a weekend trip to see sil, so I'm rattling around my house alone this weekend too. Your posts are really making me wish we had a dog. The worst part is that I can't sleep.

Take care!

 

[jonestavern]

The guys just called from Bath, England where they arrived today.

They had one heck of a time trying to call here from a phone booth. Apparently, this public phone was not set up to take calling cards & would only take certain
denominations of coin, so they were forced to go through the operator, calling collect. This stresses me out wondering if that was a scam & if we'll be receiving an enormous bill???

Anyway, yesterday, in Ireland, they did get to New Grange & Monasterboice, the ruins of a 6th century Christian settlement replete with the wonderful high Celtic crosses. Trim Castle was also a stop.

Easter they plan to go for Evensong, I think, somewhere in Bath.
DS has voiced an interest in meeting the 'Baby Eating Bishop of Bath & Wells'
DH has asked him not to inquire

Tonite they went for dinner at a 'Chinese fish 'n' chips' shop or as Patrick put it 'General Tsao's Fish 'n' Chips'~

Greetings Snoopymom!

Jean

 

[jonestavern]

So it was an outsized Cadbury chocolate bunny for DS on Easter.
All's right with the world
DH & DS17 did make Evensong & really enjoyed it.

Saturday they took the Historic Walking Tour of Bath given by the Mayor's Honorary Guides (is it possible I have that title at all correct???).
DH thought it was an excellent tour. The guide, Diana, was tremendously informative. For all interested, the tour lasted 2 hours & was free. DH said it was amoungst the best tours he's done anywhere, well worth the time spent.
Later it was a tour of the Roman baths & the Costume Museum.

Off they went to Glastonbury, where DH said everyone was "getting in touch with themselves & aligning their chakras"! All dancing sandals & crystals. I'm laughing imaging staid, cynical DH amoungst the New Agers.
He wasn't too crazy about
Santa Fe, NM either!
DS17 let me know Dad did not go into the "Mystical Piglet" or other such shops. Bet they're both thanking their 'lucky stars' I'm not on the trip

Last night a visit to the Bizarre Bath Street Theatre was on The Schedule ( ). Can't wait to hear what that is all about

Leigh Farm is the B&B they are staying at. Good reports in that quarter.

We also got tagged! Am I excited or what?!
Now how ever did I guess that would be the sentence the Tag Fairy would choose!
Well, no more naked DIsing
DH also surprised me with reservations for a 1 bdrm BWV 12-17 November of this year. Whoopeeeeeee.....!


Jean

 

[Tiggeroo]

I would love any info on Ireland. I'm taking my dd and possibly my two sons there next year as her college graduation gift. I"m trying now to start coming up with a budget. I want to see if we will be able to afford to go to London as well. So any advice like I said would be greatly appreciated.

 

[jonestavern]

I would love any info on Ireland. I'm taking my dd and possibly my two sons there next year as her college graduation gift. I"m trying now to start coming up with a budget. I want to see if we will be able to afford to go to London as well. So any advice like I said would be greatly appreciated.

I know one of DH's favorite books is Rick Steves' guide books.
Here's Rick's site:
http://www.ricksteves.com/

They are utilizing a travel agent, but loosely. Chris has really made up their schedule himself. They are on a strict budget, but have done very nicely in B&Bs & eating where the locals go. London is very expensive, so we'll see how the budget survives there.
PM us the 2nd week of May & Chris will answer any questions you may have.

They are enjoying the trip so much & all the kind folks they've encountered, I'm surprised they'll be back at all!

Jean

 

[HoneyPooh]

Sounds like they are having a great time. I know if my DH and both sons went away for that long I would be good for a week (quiet house!) then I would miss them like crazy. Don't know what I would do with myself if I didn't have to pick up socks every 10 minutes!

Next summer my sister and I will be in Wales for two weeks. We are writing a book together and decided we needed a field trip . Our dad's family is Welsh so we're planning on some family reseach as well. We just started our planning but we are doing the B&B route as well.

 

[Rajah]

What type of book, Honeypooh?

Sounds like the boys are having a great trip!

 

[jonestavern]

My wanderin' fellows just called today--on their way to Caenarfon & quite a way it is, evidently

Chris tells me he'd like to take a few well-aimed whacks at the Navman navigational system in the rental car.
He also tells me that it is a fortunate thing that DS17 sleeps in the car, or the poor kid would be getting quite the
tutorial in advanced profanity

So on they toddled to Stratford-Upon-Avon.
Of the houses toured they enjoyed Anne Hathaway's cottage the most. And while certainly interesting, W. Shakespeare's birthplace struck them as just okay. I had the feeling they felt there were just too many replicas for their liking.

Patrick & Chris were fortunate enough to see a production of Shakespeare's Antony & Cleopatra at the Swan Theatre. By standing in the Return Ticket Line they snagged fairly decent tickets, surprising as it was a 'press' night & the play featured Patrick Stewart. It seemed that not more than 15 minutes into the production the fire alarms went off & the entire theatre had to be evacuated Fortunately, the play was able to resume & the guys heartily enjoyed it.

Had their pictures taken at Stratford's Rose & Crown ! I can't wait to get those on-line for all of you!

Holding down the Tavern-

Jean & Zippy

 

[Rajah]

THEY GOT TO SEE PATRICK STEWART DOING SHAKESPERE???? How COOL! I hope we can end up with something like that. LOL!

Can you tell I'm a Patrick Stewart fan?

Sounds like they're hittin ga lot of the places we're going to be going, too.