Ireland Day 4

We started out going to Muckross House, which you are unfortunately not allowed to take pictures inside. But it does have an interesting connection to Empire Mine in Nevada City, California--the same family that owned the mine bought Muckross and its acreage for their daughter. They also were the family that owned Filoli, so they certainly have great taste in architecture and gardens! Here is a taste of Muckross:

That last picture cracks me up--do you see how the lion-dog-griffin creatures are sticking out their tongues?
Parts of the Muckross acreage are now Killarney National Park, and there are some gorgeous views there too

We rushed back to Kenmare to get there in time for the Seafari boat to see seals and sea eagles. No sea eagles on the day we went--plus it was so cold I couldn't feel my feet by the time we got back in port. And yes, I was wearing a balaclava, my snowboarding parka, jeans with tights underneath, and waterproof boots. Still damn cold! But we got lots of pics like these:

That last photo is obviously not a seal--it's the ruins of an ancient church as seen from the bay. We got to go there a few days later, so stay tuned for some pictures from the church ruins and burial ground.

First Three Days in Ireland

Our travel on May 5th got off to a rough start--we got up at 1:30 AM, out the door at 3:30, and onto the plane in Sacramento as scheduled.

Only to sit on the tarmack. Then the captain announced they were having a mechanical issue and everyone would be getting back off the plane. It was a race to be one of the first people to the ticket counter, to try to get another flight. We were probably about #30 in line, and it took us an hour to get to the front of the queue and be told that they could get us to Chicago, but no guarantees that we'd make our existing connecting flight.

Given the choice between staying overnight in an airport hotel in Chicago or our own bed, I voted for going back home and doing the entire thing all over again the next day. I went to bed at 5 PM that night (hubby didn't, which may be why I was ready to go in Ireland and he slept 18 hours straight of our first day there, ha) and was up at 1:30 on the 6th all over again.

And I discovered that airports are possibly the worse place in creation to try to eat with food allergies; fortunately, I'd come prepared with all kinds of bars to eat. I slept maybe 2 hours out of 24, but was mostly just bored. By the time we landed, I was feeling a bit queasy from hunger, so our first stop was kind of a blur. But thank goodness for pictures!

Bunratty Castle is quite near the Shannon airport so an easy way to kill some time since we couldn't check into our cottage in Kenmare (a few hours drive) until that afternoon. Bunratty has a folk museum, a collection of examples of cottages and homes taken from several counties, as well as a small village and pub. It rained on us off and on, but that's how we knew we were really in Ireland!

We arrived at our cottage that afternoon and so began the Great Sleep. It wasn't until late the next day that I was able to drag my husband out for a walk, and we discovered the neighborhood was full of newer holiday homes--but very tastefully done to blend in with old places like this one.

The next few days were spent shopping (groceries, yay!) and exploring the town. Love the paint on the buildings, and they even have an ancient stone circle outside of town.

And since we spent a fair amount of time in the cottage (had some really nasty storms in our time in Ireland), it's only fair to show you the view from Bar Cillatha (the holiday cottage we rented).

More to come from Ireland next week--if I don't get too bogged down with other projects, lol