Go raibh grá agus cairdeas i réim

In which we drive on the "wrong" side of the road...

2011-06-06T15:46:00.001-07:00

Amy's Top Ten

2011-05-28T13:44:00.000-07:00

Waterford Castle

Driving tiny, winding backroads

Loughcrew & Harry Hall

Ubiquitous antiquity around every corner

John and the Historical Walking Tour of Dublin

Pony trap ride through the Gap of Dunloe

Picnicking on a stone bridge hanging off the side of a mountain on the way up to The Vee

Glendalough and the following drive to Kilkenny

Hedgerows & sheep
Guinness in Ireland (yes, it tastes different!)

Waterford Castle

2011-05-26T16:53:00.000-07:00

Here it is....

what you've all been waiting for!

(and by 'you all' I mean maybe Kristi, Ruth & Kathy.

But blogs are for pretending the world revolves around you, right?)

Our pictures and video from our stay at

Waterford Castle!

We both agreed afterwards that staying here was truly the most romantic and refined experience of either of our lives. Way beyond our honeymoon, 10th anniversary cruise or anything else we can think of! We both rank it pretty high on our best-life-experiences-ever list. What a blessing to have this opportunity. If we had only gone to Waterford Castle for our Ireland trip, it would've been enough. How blessed are we that this was just one facet of this incredible experience?!

Musical Encounters in Ireland

2011-05-26T07:00:00.000-07:00

We had some pretty fun nights in several different place listening to live music in the local pubs. Most pubs advertise, "Live Traditional Music Here Tonight" because they know that's what the tourists are looking for. They all did have some kind of music, but to varying degrees of success. We had 3 different musical experiences that we really enjoyed...

Kilkenny

Dingle Bay

Ennis on our last night - finally found something that seemed more authentic Irish Trad to us! We just stumbled upon this place down an alley as we were going for a stroll.

Hindsight

2011-05-25T16:24:00.000-07:00

Looking back with the benefit of hindsight on all my trip planning for Ireland, I’ve learned a few things. I thought I should post them here so I’ll be more likely to remember for next time – and you all can feel free to get a good laugh at my expense if you like (see #6):

I didn’t budget enough money! I tried to make a good budget for our trip, but I stretched us TOO thin. Then, when the exchange rate changed for the worse, it definitely put us back. Thankfully, Doug had a back up fund. It would’ve been better for us not to use it, but at least it was there to catch us!
I didn’t budget for entrance fees. It costs to get into EVERYTHING in Ireland. We bought a Heritage card, which is a pass into state maintained sites, but it turned out that only covered about half the places we were going. What sounds not so bad at 6 Euros is much worse when you realize that actually means about $10 per person. It can add up quick.
It’s TOO hard to try and be conservative on buying gifts for the kids! I need to plan more money and more space for bringing home gifts. I could’ve done a lot of birthday, Christmas and souvenir shopping if I had more time and money.
It would be nice to research ahead of time places to eat – especially in the big cities. If you’re going to be spending all that money going out to eat every day, it would be nice to know of places to go that you are likely to enjoy the food. We landed pretty well on the whole. But it would be nice when we’re traveling to have a couple of choices in each major stop so that if we happen to be in the right spot at dinner time, we can go somewhere reputable.
I didn’t want to spend money on international cell phones, but I realized after I got there that it would’ve been smart to bring our family camp walkie-talkies. Then, when we needed to split up or got separated for one reason or another at some site in Ireland, we could’ve easily kept in touch or found one another. When we were in Killarney, I had to jump out and arrange our pony-trap trip and Doug had to find parking. Well, Doug had a terrible time parking and wasn’t sure if he was supposed to park now or after I arranged the tour. It would’ve been really nice to be able to stay in touch, even from just a few blocks away, on that day!
Liquor is liquid. Just thought I should remind myself of that. Let’s just say our Irish whiskey turned out to be really expensive by the time we got pulled out of security for putting it in our carry-on bags and paid to check an extra bag. :( When I decided to be dumb, I do it up big. Ugh.
Don’t plan to be up and at it before 10am. If you’re going to be traveling for nearly 3 weeks, you have to rest some time. Also, because we were staying mostly at B&B’s, you have to wait to finish breakfast before you leave. We were usually on the road by 9:30am or 10:00am, so I should keep that in mind when deciding how many things to do in a day and when the first thing starts.

Highlights from our last two days in Ireland

2011-05-25T08:35:00.000-07:00

For our final day and night in Ireland, we did a scenic drive of the Connemara coastline, providentially finding a very old Church of Ireland parish church at just the right time for Sunday services, and then went to one final iconic Ireland sight - the Cliffs of Moher. Afterwards, we found a little hotel to stay in at a lovely little town near the airport and had one more Guinness for the road. As a final treat, the Lord gave us the opportunity to stumble upon a pub that had just the kind of traditional Irish music I was hoping to find in Ireland and hadn't yet. It was a fitting end to a providentially blessed trip from start to finish!


Note that in this tiny town the Church of Ireland and Catholic churches faced one another on opposing hilltops - a fitting image of religion in Ireland!

Ubiquitous ruins in a sheep pasture along the way - the authentic Ireland sight - ancient treasures as everyday occurrence


Such a perfect last day! The clear sky reflecting in the wasves


Doug grabs some peat from the side of the road for me to bring home	- what a guy!

Quick stop at The Quite Man bridge (or what claims to be)

It's a LONG way down from here!

Our final mileage counts - converts to over a thousand miles driven in two weeks!

Welcome Home

2011-05-24T19:44:00.000-07:00

I have the best kids,

ever,

anywhere.

Look what they did for me while I was gone...

All my flower beds are weeded, cleaned out and mulched!

Note that they said they did all this because I do stuff for them. Not, "We did all your yardwork because you decided to take vacation this year and ignore the weeds." They pretended like I had a good reason for ignoring my gardens. I really thought I was giving up a nice yard this year because I was going to Ireland during yardwork month. I'm so blessed. What a happy family to come home to!

Pictures, pictures & more pictures

2011-05-24T18:14:00.001-07:00

When we were getting ready to leave for Ireland, several people told me to, “make sure you take lots of pictures!” Let’s just say I obeyed. To the tune of about 1400 kept pictures! That doesn’t take into account any pictures I deleted after transferring SD cards to my computer. Or the unknown quantity of videos I took.

I haven’t quite decided what to do with all these pictures. I will probably first make several movies with Windows Movie Maker combining pictures and video clips of various days or events on our trip. I’m working now on the one for our grand castle experience. If I ever get internet fast enough to use my photo editing software with, you might actually get to see the castle pictures I’ve been withholding. :)

Doing the Movie Maker thing will give me all my pictures in DVD form. This is good for archiving purposes and because they can be viewed on the TV if wanted. Then I’ll have to decide what kind of photo albums to make. I don’t know if I’ll do digital or scrapbook or what. 1400 is a LOT of pictures to deal with. I may just do a large album of a select few 5x7’s or 8x10’s for our coffee table and leave the rest in digital format. Maybe I’ll get a digital picture frame just for our Ireland stuff!

If you’re bored and want to spend large quantities of time looking at other peoples’ trip pictures, I’ll probably post the movies I make here on this blog. I’m sure we’ll be making a few more posts on our Ireland blog before we shut it down. It will take a few weeks to process all our thoughts and put them into words to record. We’re using this blog as a travel diary of sorts, so whether any of you want to read our Ireland musings or not, we will probably keep posting for awhile for our own sakes. :)

Thanks for sharing our adventures with us. - Amy

In which we defy death

2011-05-23T16:11:00.000-07:00

We're coming...

2011-05-23T14:06:00.000-07:00

can't

wait

get

home!!!!

David, Kathy, Amara, Jon, Michelle, Christian, Ben, Grace and Adam - I see no reasons why you shouldn't all be at our house tomorrow night.

Just sayin'. . .

See you all soon!

Amy

Leaving Ireland!

2011-05-23T04:09:00.000-07:00

DOUG’S DAY SUMMARY: May 23rd
Our last morning, sitting at the Shannon Airport waiting to fly back to the states: It all seems a whirlwind (only an indirect reference to the gale force winds outside today). I was unable to keep up with making posts. This lack of blogging/communication with the home-world was 1) in part (only a small part) because we were on the go so much and generally saw us getting in so late (but this excuse can only go so far because Amy still did it; 2) laziness, selfishness and the need to think a bit every day about what had gone on. I’m very pleased I took notes everyday about what we did so that I can write more later and get caught up on the daily summaries in the next few days.

I guess the thing I can say at this moment (the end of the trip) is that it was the best possible trip that I could have hoped for and dreamed of. Amy did an outstanding job of planning our holiday so that we were able to squeeze the most out of time in the Emerald Isles. It was romantic, quaint, awe inspiring, humbling, informative and breathtakingly beautiful. I will cherish this opportunity as one of those unique and inexplicable gifts that God presents us with for no other reason than that He good and gracious. We give Him thanks for using His precious servants Ruth and James to bless us in this way.
Doug (May 23, 2011)

Leaving, on a jet plane

2011-05-23T03:49:00.000-07:00

Well, we’ve made it through customs and all the security checkpoints and are waiting to board our flight to America. I guess it’s really over.

I’m a little bit sad because it’s all done, but I’m also very excited to get home to the kids and my babies. I thought it would be super depressing to be done with our big adventure, but it feels like we did SO much and had so many new and wonderful experiences that are cup is truly full and it’s okay that it’s time to be done.

We were talking last night, after our final “stop” at the Cliffs of Moher, about how the first few days of our trip were such a whirl that I was afraid the whole trip was going to just fly by and by the end it would be a shock that it was already over. We both agreed, though, that it does feel like we’ve been traveling for quite awhile. It feels like we did a lot and it doesn’t feel like just a blur. It’s been a full, wonderful, unforgettable 18 days and we are ready to go home.

See you all tomorrow!

Galway Bay

2011-05-21T13:13:00.000-07:00

Hmmm….well, you know how Galway Girl has been my ringtone for about the last year? One would think I would love Galway Bay, wouldn’t you? So far – not so much.

We left Ashley Park this morning around 10:30am after reorganizing our luggage (only 2 more days!) and headed off to Clonmacnoise. Clonmacnoise is one of the two great monastic centers of learning and art in Ireland and I had no hopes that we’d have time to get to it. However, since we were leaving Ashley House a day early, it turned out we could fit it in.

Even though today was the most rain we’ve seen on our whole trip, we were quite glad we went. It had a great interpretive center and it was a beautiful and interesting site. It’s nice to say we saw both the major monastic centers of Ireland – Glendalough and Clonmacnoise.

From there we made a plan to head to Galway and spend two nights at whatever B&B we could find to take us in while we explored Connemara and the Cliffs of Moher. It was only an hour from Clonmacnoise. This would give us time to shop today in Galway and do scenic drives after church on Sunday so that we wouldn’t need to be doing any last minute souveniring on the Lord’s Day.

Well, little did either of us know, Galway is one of the big cities of Ireland. It always seemed to me like a quaint, historic artsy town in the books I had read. We spent more time driving around looking for lunch (at 4:00pm) and somewhere to sleep than we did getting from Clonmacnoise to Galway. Not exactly a great start. Also, it was blowing up a hurricane and pouring rain, so the beauty of the place was a little lost on us.

Finally, after stopping in two places and not finding lodging and spending an hour just getting in and out of McDonalds, in pure frustration we gave up, parked the car and did our shopping. We did find the things we were looking for, almost. Is it bad I’ve bought Christian two gifts and Jon none? Sorry Jon, I couldn’t help it. We won’t come home empty handed, I promise!

By the time we finished our shopping the weather was starting to clear up. We hustled back to our car as it was going on 6:30pm and we still didn’t know where we were sleeping. Aren’t you proud of me? This is vacationing by the seat-of-your-pants. Canceling all our plans and just driving until we find somewhere to sleep – so not my style.

I have been wondering, though, if it would be a fun way to see Ireland. Just drive around from place to place, take as many rabbit trails as you want, and sleep at one of the millions of B&B’s lining every roadway. All along the way, from town to town we’ve seen hundreds of brown directional signs telling us of historical and cultural treasures just around this or that corner. If we didn’t have to get to our next destination, there was so much more to see!

Well, it turns out today confirmed that I am not a seat-of-your-pants traveler. We spent hours driving around in traffic, not knowing where to go, what to see or what to even look for. Providentially we’ve landed in a very nice B&B right on the bay with a view to the ocean and the Aran Islands. Lovely! Not so lovely was wasting half a day cooped up in the car finding food and lodging on our last weekend in Ireland. Planning ahead is for me. If I hadn’t had a destination in mind everyday, I may have followed more rabbit trails. However, we wouldn’t have seen as much. We would’ve spent way more of our time just finding a place to stop AND having to get to the next destination made us see more destinations. You could spend 18 days in any one of the many lovely towns we’ve stopped in. We never would have gotten in as much as we have if we didn’t have to move on to the next thing and so far Galway Bay is the only thing I would’ve happily missed!

So today I learned that I am really pleased with our trip plans. Nearly everything has gone so well and we saw just what we wanted. The only thing I can think of I would’ve changed would’ve been to stay one more night in Kenmare in Co. Kerry because that area was the most beautiful to both of us. But, not knowing we’d have an extra night to spare because of Ashley House, I can only say that in hindsight. Everything else has been just right. God is good.

On to Galway

2011-05-21T01:22:00.000-07:00

It turns out we will stay just the one night, rather than the two planned at Ashley House. It was so much NOT what we expected, that we’ve decided to use the extra day to explore Galway and Connemara instead. The housekeeper turned out to be a very friendly, sweet lady who chatted about HP laptops with me as she drew the curtains and added peat to the fire to make me comfortable. She also put on one of the most amazing breakfasts we've had in Ireland! The croissants were a food group all in themselves.

The whole place really is just strange and unexpected. David and Kathy, you would’ve been completely freaked out to stay here as it is everything ghosty and creepy but you also would’ve loved the house’s potential. It has 300 year old wide plank wood floors, original antique fixtures everywhere including the pulls for the wiring that would’ve rung the servants and all the old door handles and switches and all. We would love to have a house and grounds like this if we could have all the money in the world to do a proper restoration. It is so full of potential and so NOT restored as it was described. It does really have the air of a home that has died. Oh well, it was an adventure and now we’re on to Galway!

Staying at Mrs. Havisham's

2011-05-20T14:15:00.000-07:00

At a break in the greenery alongside the highway we turn into a gated drive. A lonely, once beautiful but apparently abandoned gatehouse stands to one side. Following the long, winding way along the lake, we emerge upon the 18^th century Ashley Park Estate house.

From the first, all does not seem quite as it ought. There is no answer to our ring of the bell. Cars are parked in front, but the house is dark and the grounds quiet save the crowing of a rooster and unique scream of a peacock. We are a bit early, so we decided to shrug into our coats as a guard against the wind and walk the grounds and gardens.

Amongst the oaks and ferns we stumble upon crumbling stone stables and farm buildings, overgrown gardens with white iron benches and rock lined paths overcome with moss and fallen limbs. A childhood paradise. Mysterious paths to follow, underbrush to explore that might just lead to a fairy’s fort. Old ruins of buildings to climb amongst and create worlds out of. A cottage once lovely and could be again sits ruining in the vines. All spoke of what once was enchanting and beautiful and now has been retaken by nature and become something that begs to be restored.

As we make it back to the entrance and try the bell again, we have better success. The door is answered and we are let in. Not, however, by the hostess we expected. A housekeeper hired by the absentee landlady asks our names as she leads us into a broad foyer. She is very sweet and accommodating but like the grounds seems to need a little restoration. A bit frazzled, with lanky, greasy hair and a slightly awkward yet welcoming persona, she shows us to our room and brings coffee and fruitcake on a tray.

We climb creaking stairs and look about at grand, even opulent, surrounding that seem to sag from their places and crack and peel as we pass. Rooms filled with fine, dark woodwork and grand Victorian furniture exude and air of mustiness and decay. The ornate stained-glass window on the second level of the winding staircase bows with age and disrepair. The heavy brocade curtains and acres of oriental rugs are tattered and worn. The elaborate moldings are cracked and the fine wallpaper is peeling. The whole place exudes a feel of forgotten glory gone by and grandeur lost to decay.

Once we have settled into our rooms, we explore the house a bit further. There are hallways to everywhere – grand dining rooms, back service stairways, a breakfast room and sitting rooms with peat burning in the fireplace grate. Our room is palatial in size with latticed windows, an ancient four-poster bed, both a sitting room and bedroom and a bathroom with a coffin-sized bathtub.

All is incongruity. There are pictures of the Irish president staying at this house and awards lining the walls. There are framed newspaper articles telling the story of the now 90 year old Sean buying the estate with 4 other farmers in the early 80’s and restoring the house. Yet our room looks as if the walls are all leaning and the ceiling may fall in. Sean invites Doug to take out the boat and fishing pole to go fishing the next day as promised. But the boat is full of water and the pole has no reel. The housekeeper proudly displays the great rooms without irony as the cobwebs flutter in the fading light. The dim and silent rooms are almost romantically historic, but only rise to murky and oppressive.

We have entered the time between times and met the fairy people. This place is bewitched. The residents all see a beautiful palace, glittering with magnificence and grandeur while we walk through rooms decaying with age and neglect. Every guest or staff whom I come across asks if I don’t find it all lovely and grand but as I walk the halls I feel sure to come upon a door behind which Mrs. Havisham will be sitting at her wedding feast. It’s as if in when the light glitters through the mullioned windows beauty sparkles and then when the light fades the skeleton is revealed.

If ever I was tempted to believe in ghosts, they would live at Ashley Park. The eerie majestic decline of the place is haunting. The strange stillness of the rooms makes one feel as if the life of the house has died and it is frozen in time at the moment of its death. Even in my most prosaic and practical self, I find creepy-crawlies sending shivers across my skin. Katie Wilson would find the gloom and mystery of the place inspiring for dark prose. Amanda may find the overgrown woodlands and gardens enchanting. I find that this place gives me the heebie-jeebies.

And so we will spend the night in the mysterious manor house. What could be seen as the disaster of our trip is an adventure into all that is dark and enchanted in the old stories of Ireland. Maybe the strange air of the place will inspire murky and mysterious stories written in the shadowy rooms as we sit by the peat fire, laptop at hand. If you never hear from us again we have been stolen away by the fairies in the woods of Nenagh, County Tipperary, Ireland. That or the ghosts of Ashley Park arose and carried us away!

BRB

2011-05-19T11:54:00.001-07:00

No internet at our last place and maybe not at the next....so - you may not get too many updates over the next few days. If we don't get all our pictures and movies up and assuming you care, I'll keep adding to this when we get home until we have Ireland out of our system. :)

Enjoying Dingle Harbor tonight.

Okay, just a peek...

2011-05-18T02:01:00.000-07:00

That's all you get now.

These pictures deserve editing.

And arranging.

And time.

You just have to wait!

sorry.

DOUG’S DAY SUMMARY: Tuesday, May 17th

2011-05-17T23:28:00.001-07:00

Our day began casually with a little laundry (meaning – leaving your clothing for someone else to do because Ireland hasn’t heard of a coin-op) and coffee and pastry outside in a side street café.

We drove to Kells on our way to Waterford and spent time trudging around the Kells Priory which is situated on a grassy hill with scores of large lazy sheep, our presence only somewhat disquieting their calm. [Meaningless side note: Something I have noticed is that there are nettles everywhere, in the fields, on the hills, and even filling the ruins of the St. Kieran’s church at Kells.]

We pulled into Waterford just in time for the tour we intended to take of the city. Several features are interesting about this, initially early Viking and then Norman, seaport city, but I will mention just a couple. The first is that both the Catholic and the Protestant cathedrals were built at about the same time, by the same man (along with most of the other important buildings), John Roberts, who was a Protestant that had 22 children. Both of these churches were lovely – and strikingly different along Catholic and Protestant lines. The other interesting this is that we had an opportunity to go up into Reginald’s Tower, a four story tower with walls 10’ thick and has stood proudly and fully intact since 1185 without much by way of repair or restoration. It was the first building in Ireland that was fired upon by canons, with no damage.

WATERFORD CASTLE: Absolutely stunning! As we drove up the lane to the castle through a tunnel of brilliantly green trees we got our first glimpse of the wildlife, a pair of Pheasants waiting to greet us. Upon entering the grand reception area one is treated to the smells of age, grandeur and the smoke of the great open fireplace. We were shown to the “Rose Suite” which is a lavish treat to the senses. Its antique luxury is surpassed only by its stately beauty. There are only 19 total rooms at the castle, and we have one of only 5 suites.

After taking the SKODA to the car park I briefly walked around the circumference. The grounds are both orderly and rustic at once. Ivy and Wisteria cover much of the front, will all manner of trees and perennials scattered about. There are 20’ rhododendrons in full bloom (the Irish hydrangeas being past bloom).

We relaxed, walked around the grounds together (we saw the largest rabbits I’ve ever seen), had a drink in the formal bar. Amy went up early to take a bath in the beautiful, even ornate, bathroom (her favorite part of the suite), while I made some notes and a post to the travel blog. Dinner was at 7:30, a three hour four course, the likes of which are rarely experienced. I began with lobster risotto, potato leek soup, and was given a special appetizer, compliments of the chef, of smoked mackerel with a saffron sauce. My entrée was the roasted breast of duck, and for dessert, a hot pear and hazelnut tart with an incomparably creamy ice cream and coffee. Back to the room for award winning wine, compliments of the castle and enjoying the blessings of it all. For both of us I think, this was the most romantic, glamorous and beautiful place of our lives.

We got up unreasonably early so that we don’t miss any moment possible of our time here.

DOUG’S DAY SUMMARY: May 14-15-16 (Saturday & Sunday & Monday)

2011-05-17T09:54:00.001-07:00

I’ve been a bit selfish of late and not written as much these past three evenings (I’m older and been plain tuckered out). I’ll try to write up some brief summaries of our activities before we head out today, Tuesday, May 17^th. [Turns out we didn't get it done in time to do it before we left - here we are in the evening]

Saturday, May 14:

Took the bus to the Dublin airport to get our rental car for the rest of the week. We got a SKODA (“Schk-oa-da”), a car originally made in the Czech Republic.

Amy is the primary driver because she can tend to get car sick, and just because she wants to – which is her privilege because she planned the trip. Ostensibly, my job is to be the navigator, but as it turns out that’s only a position of ‘Navigator Second Class’ because of the GPS unit (however, the device seems to be a little confused at times, which gives me hope for a promotion to First Class).

We drove to Powerscourt, an Ango-Irish manner with very famous gardens that Amy was eager to see. We had both good weather and powerful rain while we walked around, but we came prepared with our handy-dandy umbrellas.

Then the real driving in Ireland began: narrow, windy, irregular roads with no shoulders between the road and the stone walls or boulders and oncoming cars (fortunately not many loreies). Amy did fine, but at times we were both feeling a little harried. We were well beyond hungry by this time and by accident came upon a town called Glencree, where we providentially lunched at what was once a barracks for housing British troops following the Irish Rebellions of 1798 and 1803. In 1858 it because a children’s prison: St kevin’s Reformatory school (closed in 1940). It became, in recent years, the Peace and Reconciliation Center for promoting good relations in Ireland. This place has quite inspired me – more on this at a later time.

We drove through the Wicklow mountains – Which were, at times, both barren, brown & not so pretty, as well as lush green, beautifully forested hills. Sadly, my main impression is that it was a strange, brown wilderness.

We made our way to Glendalough (“Glenda lock”) Monastic settlement and churches. We went through the tourist center, which was very informative and then struck out for the various interesting parts of the ancient settlement. This whole thing grew up around the person of St Kevin, who was for a short time a Christian hermit that attracted a following. Because such reclusive living cannot sustain itself or be of much earthly (or heavenly) use, a settlement was developed with craftsmen of all sorts, families, and of most importance, the “scriptorium” work of making books in many languages and across many subjects. St. Kevin died in 620 AD, but the work of Glendalough continue well past the 12^th C. There are eight church remains on the spot, with very old and new graves scattered throughout (as we have seen is common). This was a trip highlight.

Arrived at our B & B, the Fanad House, home base for TWO nights. At a local pub I had a wonderful dinner of braised lamb shank, but sadly Amy only sampled the inedible, dry as 14^th century leather, salmon served to her. We made our way to the Kyteler Inn, which has a very long and fantastic history, the mythical story of which I’m eager to tell whoever is interested (or even to those who could care less). We tried very hard to enjoy the “Traditional” (which we think is code for “For Tourists”) Irish music. We ended up having a grand conversation with four Norwegians.

Sunday, May 15:

We worshipped at the Irish Presbyterian church and enjoyed ourselves with the saints both there, and in the home of Tom and Helena (and 19 yr Kierian) Dowling, and John E. They feasted us for 3-4 hours straight, and delighted us with their eagerness in conversation. They endured the 19,071 questions I had about all things religious, political, Irish history and current affairs, their family and any other thing that interested me. They even told me about a Leprechaun that was captured by someone they know. It was a day I shall cherish!

To cap it all off, Amy granted me an afternoon of repose on the grounds of Kilkenny Castle. I took the time to relax and meditate on the many things I’d seen and had no time to think about. I have for some months now been trying to collect my thoughts about the world and my (our) place in it, and feel like I was able to gain some clarity about things that have eluded me. I feel rather energized!

Monday, may 16:

Surprise! We found that we have an extra day (discovered as we were packing the car) in Kilkenny. We took off for a day trip, and found Kilkenny Crystal and was given a private tour by the owner of the work they do to make their beautiful creations. It was providential that we stopped there because most crystal places now (including Waterford) import their wares (from China).

We made our way (Amy let me drive a bit) to The VEE, a marvelous view of the Irish country side and ate a picnic lunch on the ledge of a stone bridge, above a lovely stream, overlooking the astonishingly beautiful gully that went down into an enormous valley. Breathtakingly gorgeous and romantically charming!

We made our way up to the Rock of Cashel (the site where St. Patrick is said to have converted the local King Aengus in the 4^th C, and where Brian Boru was crowned King in 1014 AD), but it was closed because of the imminent arrival of Her Majesty the Queen of England (drats, foiled again by her). We traveled back to Cahiar and tourized the 13^th C Norman Castle that is probably the most complete castle of the kind because it was spared destruction by Cromwell in the early 1600’s by surrender.

We came back and went to bed early – our stored energies being completely spent by all of our tourizing.

Arrived at Waterford Castle

2011-05-17T08:10:00.001-07:00

I've died.

I'm in heaven.

I'm never coming home.

I really need to win the lottery.

You won't believe this place.

Wait until you see.

I just can't even show you yet.

You need to anticipate.

Off to my suite to dress for dinner!

Things to Love about Ireland

2011-05-17T08:08:00.000-07:00

I don’t know if it’s the air, the water or all of the above, but my hair seems very soft and cooperative. It may look crazy all the time, because of the wind – but it feels nice. J

The sky is different here. Sometimes it’s just an average Oregon-ish gray. But the weather changes faster from sunny to rain to hail to sun here. So, the sky is more sharp and dramatic. The light is just different. I’m not sure how to explain it but the light in the sky is sharper, more distinct and very beautiful in all weather.

Everything is quieter once you leave Dublin. We were told by someone that 63% of the population live in Dubiln, which means that no matter if you’re in the city or country, outside of Dublin there’s just not that many people compared to the States. This mean fewer cars, no traffic, no real crowds of people and it just seems quieter everywhere. I think we Americans (okay, maybe just we Hayes) are just plain louder generally, but you can sit on a “busy” street and still feel calm and peaceful. Well, except for maybe Kilkenny’s main drag on a Saturday night – ask me about a “Hen Night” sometime…

Nearly everyone you meet is happy to talk to you and help you out – even if you are just a dumb American tourist. Even the teenager with a stud in her tongue is sweet about giving the lost American’s directions

Church bells ring out the time and prayers in every town you come to. We need some church bells.

Stone. I love stonework. Stone buildings, stone churches, stone fences, stone bridges. Stone with lichen. Stone with moss. Stone with purple flowers growing out of the cracks. I need some stone around my house.

Ivy growing on everything. As above – I need some ivy on my house!

Ruins. Everything is old. Much older than our country’s entire history. So old and so commonplace that you find the ruins of a stone chapel just standing in the corner of someone’s field or yard. No one roping it off or designating it a landmark. You find it just resting there unnoticed because there’s another little treasure of history standing around the next corner. History is so commonplace as to be superfluous around here.

Hedgerows. Why don’t we use them? They seem practical, easy to maintain, beautiful – I don’t understand. Something should be done.

To be continued…

Listening in on the streets

2011-05-17T08:06:00.000-07:00

Here we are, sitting at a little bakery-café on the street this morning, waiting for some much needed clean laundry to be finished. (Side note: there seems to be no such thing as a coin-op laundry here. I started to get ready to load a machine and was quickly stopped by the shop lady who informed me, “It’s all me – just leave it.” 12 Euro later, I’ll have clean jeans and socks! ) As I watched the mostly locals going to and fro on their daily errands, I was compelled to get out my computer and note down how much I love the everyday way the Irish speak.

I came expecting to love the Irish brogue, of course. I told our dinner hosts on Sunday that all the Irish boys need do is simply show up in America, talk with that accent and they’d have the girls falling all over them! We language deprived Americans love a brogue-ish accent. I’ve discovered, though, it’s really the way of talking that captures my attention and delight. It seems as if welcome and kindness roll of their tongues to one another simply by the turns of phrase used in everyday conversation…

“Would you ever post my letter for me that I left on the desk this morning?” Would you ever – I love that!

“Ah grand, that’d be loovly”

Doug (as the waiter brings dinner): Thank you

Waiter: “Ah, no bother, no bother t’all” which he then repeated about 12 times every time we uttered a “thanks.”

Amy: “Oh, sorry. Didn’t mean to…” B&B Host: “Ah, don’t worry dear, you’re grand, you’re grand.”

“Give Way” on the road sign rather than “yield”

“Are you long home?” meaning – “How long are you on vacation”

When I type it out, it looks like overstated or dramatic language, but in reality it’s just different words used to say, “that’s okay, don’t worry about it,” or, “could you.” The language just seems to go out of its way to be generous to others.

The Irish seem to have such better manners than the average American. They eat nicely, speaking nicely, give way to one another and generally seem a deferential, kind community. It’s a wonder to me how Ireland has been so politically torn for so long. Maybe I just need to work harder at making an Irishman angry?

Have a lovely morning now, won’t you dear? - Amy

The view from the top

2011-05-17T01:00:00.001-07:00

Highlights from today

2011-05-16T13:42:00.000-07:00

Since my last post, I've been able to check off several of my "want to's" for our Ireland trip -

Listened to live Irish music
Walked the ramparts of a medieval castle
Climbed the tower of a medieval castle
Drove tiny backroads to find amazing view

Doug checked off a few things I'd NEVER do, Ireland or otherwise...

Ate something used for making pee! (Steak & Kidney Pie - yuck!)
Slept in the car while someone else was driving on the wrong side of the road (After a couple days, I feel pretty comfortable driving, but I'm not sure I could sleep while somebody else was driving!)
Sped around a blind corner to get the "feel" of driving in Ireland on video for the kids (footage to come)

Anywho...

Unfortunately, today also held our first disappointment on our trip. We apparently aren't the only ones to be traveling in Ireland this week. Who knew?! The Queen of England decided to make her first trip to the Republic since Irish independence and is arriving tomorrow. She must've heard May is a good time to go?

Everyone seems to think her trip takes precedence over mine (weird, huh?) and half the country is shut down to tourists. We got out of Dublin while the getting was good as traffic is being diverted, all the big sites are closed and things are generally crazy. It's really only affected us in that one of the main sites I wanted to see and tour was planned for today - The Rock of Cashel - and when we arrived we found it closed and surrounded by Garda (police). I was pretty disappointed. However, I decided it was churlish to be grumpy about one disappointment when I have all this wonderful spread out before me and we managed to have wonderful day anyway.

Cahir Castle was grand because they let you climb all over it and go up in all the places that are usually roped off at these kinds of sites. I hope to put together some pictures and video when we get home.

The best part of our day, though, was our impromptu picnic on the side of a stone bridge halfway up the mountain to see "The Vee" viewpoint. :)

Off to stay in a castle tomorrow! - Amy

For Amanda...

2011-05-16T13:08:00.000-07:00

"The Vee" vista in the Knockmealdown mountains from a daisy's point of view...

Hurling

2011-05-16T00:09:00.000-07:00

Reflections

2011-05-15T13:34:00.000-07:00

Today was a day to stop. relax. absorb. our first week in Ireland.

How strange to think we’ve been in Ireland for a week now. So many sights, sounds, smells and experiences. So many small moments to capture and remember and yet such a blur of activity. Today was a day to be quieter and reflect. While it was hard for me to say “no” to driving out to Jerpoint Abbey or Kells Priory or rushing to make it to the Kilkenny Castle tour before closing and to put away my pre-printed walking tour of the city, it was good to make myself think on all we’ve seen so far so that it doesn’t become just one big blur of “what we saw next.” When I was a baby, Mom says she could never get me to nap anywhere but my own bed because if I was out I wanted to see everything and everyone. I still have that trouble. There is always more to see and do. However, seeing and doing is not always experiencing and I want to remember the experiences of this trip. So, I made myself say “no” to touring and “yes” to a Lord’s Day rest, even from vacationing.

We slept in and got ready slowly. At breakfast in our B&B Doug had the “Full Irish Breakfast” for the first time – blood sausage and all. I was happy to discover I could have just bacon and scrambled eggs. The bacon was not quite what we have – more like fried ham – but it made for a hearty breakfast. The Irish seem to eat hearty food.

After breakfast, we finished dressing for church and then left early to find our way to Kilkenny Presbyterian Church. Without too many turn-arounds, we arrived 15 minutes early for worship.

It was a lovely service and felt very much like home. The pastor and his congregation were very warm and welcoming. Oh and Jessica, I think I finally found your Irishman for you! Let’s just say you need to come hear the pastoral intern speak…;)

It was sorely tempting to pull out my camera and surreptitiously turn the video on just so everyone at home could listen to the pastor’s sermon in Irish. I could just hear Grace saying, “I wish he’d just keep talking so I could listen to him!” We were informed later by our dinner hosts, however, that his was not a true Irish accent, his was a Belfast accent. The intern who preached was from, “the north of our country!”

One of the elders of the church who is on staff as the church’s “Evangelist” (a full-time position to focus on out-reach to the community and unbelievers) welcomed us into his home for lunch. His wife made us a wonderful feast. It was SO marvelous to eat at a dining room table, real homemade food, with a family. I love going out to eat, but after a full week of it, it was startling how nice a home-meal felt. I enjoyed Helena’s dinner as much as anything we’ve had so far on our trip.

I kept thinking of Karen Lyons all day because it was Lyons kind of Sunday. Here we were, in another country, sitting around a tasty meal and just talking non-stop. Karen would’ve loved it! Doug asked anything and everything he wanted about Irish Presbyterianism, family life, politics, movies, stories. You name it – we discussed it! I’m sure it would’ve been your highlight of the trip, Karen.

I also kept thinking of Grandpa Charlie. The only other lunch guest was another elder at the church, John E., who reminded me very much of Charlie. He was quite the character and he and Doug got on like wildfire. They gave each other no mercy! I’m not sure if they all liked us, or just loved teasing the American pastor-tourist. J John certainly enjoyed putting us ignorant, arrogant American tourists in our proper place! Doug, of course, dished it right back. He whipped up a lovely dessert, lamented that he didn’t know ahead of time we would drink so he could bring us other treats, and generally carried on royally. An Irish Charlie if there ever was one.

After we finally tore ourselves away at around 5p.m., we went back to the B&B to decide how to spend our evening. Doug very much wanted to find somewhere to smoke his pipe and meditate on our week and write in his travel journal. Doug’s travel journal has become a fixture of our trip. He brought just a little paper thing from WalMart, but I saw what a key part of his trip it had become and insisted he buy something more lasting and beautiful in the gift shop at Trinity College. Doug’s parents gave us a little souvenir money for just the two of us and having the spare cash to make Doug buy this little book was so wonderful – thank you Wayne & Judy! Now he has a proper Book of Kells travel diary which I think will be one of the greatest treasures we bring back from this trip.

So, Doug sat in the shadow of Kilkenny Castle for a few hours and did his writing while I took pictures – my own travel journal – and eventually went back and picked up my computer so I could work on this blog post and uploading pictures and video from our week.

It has been a perfect Lord’s Day and just what we needed half-way through our time in Ireland. How wonderful to think we have a full week yet to go! So much more to savor.

The Lord bless and keep you all. I miss my babies today. Someone needs to put some video on facebook for me. (hint, hint) Today I very much feel the passing of the longest time of being away from them. I miss all the kids, but have been able to keep up a big with the big kids by watching their FB walls. Tonight I have a little grand-baby pit in my stomach. That’s what happens when you slow down and consider I suppose. Leaving will make us better for them, however.

Good night! -Grammy Amy

Loughcrew

2011-05-15T10:52:00.000-07:00

So far, my favorite day in Ireland was the day we spent on a private "hackney" (taxi in which you prearrange payment rather than run a meter) tour of County Meath with the wonderful Harry Hall. Having Mr. Hall show us the ancient, beautiful and historically significant places of this lovely area made us feel as if we were finally in Ireland, seeing the real Ireland. Sitting in the front as Harry drove the back-roads and chatted away about everything from Irish Republicanism to his best goal in hurley was such a treat.

Then we got to climb Loughcrew.

Truly this was the most stunning and beautiful we've seen Ireland so far. You really can't quite get the scope of it in pictures or video. To be surrounded on all sides by such a view and the unique light and shadow that is the every changing sky in Ireland was simply breathtaking.

Loughcrew is one of the less well known neolithic sites in Ireland. Most people go to Newgrange where there is an interpretive center and bus tour. As I wanted to see more than just Newgrange, I asked that we not be locked into that tour, but rather climb Loughcrew and explore it ourselves. Harry knew where to pick up the key for the cairns and we drove to the car park at the base. Since Harry thought of everything, everywhere we went, he had walking sticks for us. It only took about 20 minutes to climb the hill. Mountains around here are really just sloping hills. We could've climbed it faster, but the grass was slick from being wet and I had to keep stopping to take pictures. :) At the top we paused to admire the view and talk about what we were seeing before going into the passage tombs. Harry must've been watching the sky well, because just as we entered the cairn a rainstorm broke loose! We explore around inside until the rain passed and then emerged for our walk down the mountain. Before leaving this amazing place, I made Doug sing what he could of St. Patrick's Breastplate. :) It just felt right.

Off to worship and visit with the "evangelist" at Killkenny Presbyterian Church. More posts on our day yesterday and our trip in general to come later today. We've decided to take a day to rest and absorb all we've seen and done in our first week, rather than walk the sights of Kilkenny. There's just always more to see and do - you have to make yourself stop and take it all in at some point. Today's it for us.

DOUG’S DAY SUMMARY: May 12-13 (Thursday & Friday)

2011-05-13T13:52:00.000-07:00

We were unable to make any posts yesterday (Thursday, May 12) because our blogger account wasn’t working – and because we dragged ourselves in at 10 PM exhausted, sore and very happy. For now all I can offer is a quick list of the things we did – making for a wonderful, informative and enjoyable time:

· Breakfast @ Bewley’s

· Trinity College:

o Book of Kells

o The Long Room

· Bought a new pipe at the only Peterson’s store in the whole world – Happy Birthday to me from Amy!

· Guinness Brewery at St. James Gate

· Kilmainham Jail (very important in Irish history)

· The Literary Pub Crawl

Today: Friday, May 13

Glorious, unexpected and delightful day! We took a bus out to Drougheda to meet Harry Hall, our delightful private guide for the whole day (9AM to 7 PM). He was a perfect gentleman that thought of absolutely everything (down to the water in the seats, picnic lunch with cheese, wine, fruit and cookies, walking sticks for our trek up the wet grassy mountain)!

In the city of Drougheda (a 13^th century Norman city with the original gate still standing) we saw St. Peter’s Church, which has its own relics: bones and burned skull of St. Oliver Plunket – a great man of the Catholic faith in the 1690’s – murdered by the British. Also, the altar has a sculpture relief of the Last Supper with Mary Magdalene sitting next to Jesus.

Went to the site of the Battle of the Boyne – one of the most significant turning points in Irish history, and still plays a major role in the cultural consciousness of all Ireland. (No photography allowed)

Next we went to two Stone Age Celtic sites with cairns for us to hike out to: Dowth and Knowth.

Later we drove past the major cairn site and took some “snaps” of Newgrange. But best of all we went to the Loughcrew site (with private access by being given the key) to go inside and explore the passages (yes, even Amy, who took video). To get there we had to climb a very high hill, from which we were treated to the most beautiful view we could have hoped for in Ireland: In fact it was the view we hope and dreamed to see. I broke out in singing St. Patrick’s Breastplate (with Amy’s help) at the top of this lovely hill – a place where Patrick himself likely stood.

So many other things: Monasterboice 521 AD Monastery, (complete with one of the most famous Towers and Celtic Crosses [at which we had our picnic and Hurling lessons – fun story], Slane, the place at which Patrick defiantly (against the pagan gods) made the bonfire (433 AD) that could be seen by Laugire, the High King at Terra several miles away. Also viewed the Church and seminary near there. Last tourizing thing we did was see Trim Castle (one of the castles in Branveheart) – a 12 century Norman castle that is the oldest and largest of its kind.

We took Harry to dinner and had more friendly conversation.

All in all an exceptional day.

Tomorrow we begin a new part of our trip – driving and guiding ourselves through the rest of Ireland. Pray for us :)

Doug

A day in County Meath

2011-05-13T13:22:00.000-07:00

Today we took our personal guided tour with the wonderful Harry Hall to historic sites in County Meath. We were about an hour from Dublin and spent over 10 hours touring. Mr. Hall was amazing and generous and we had an unforgettable day. My favorite was climbing to the top of the hill of Loughcrew to see the neolithic passage tomb and seeing our first really overwhelmingly stunning view of the Irish countryside from where I then filmed Doug singing St. Patrick's Breastplate from the summit! If I ever get internet fast enough here, I'll post the video. For now here's a link to our pictures from today.

Love to all - Amy

Something to see for Ben, Kathy and everyone else

2011-05-11T13:53:00.003-07:00

Just a few sights on the Dublin streets as we walked home last night. :)

Click on picture so you can read the full name, Kathy

Note sticker on electrical box - "No bombs please"?!

An Amazing Day

2011-05-11T13:53:00.000-07:00

Today was a wonderful day.

After a full night's rest (at least for me - Doug didn't sleep at all!) I was more ready to take in what I was seeing and digest it. My brain was a little less fuzzy.

We took the 10am train to Dublin and after a few minutes of walking around confused, found our hotel. It is right off O'Connell Street - the main thoroughfare - and so right in the hear of everything going on. So far our accommodation choices, both from Priceline, have been great. Belfast was a little tired, old and not too clean - a bit like the city itself. Here we feel like we've landed in the lap of luxury. Especially as we found two bottle of wine awaiting us in the room - thanks to Aaron and Brenda! Both locations have been in close walking distance to everything we want to see. Priceline.com is my friend.

After settling in a bit we were off for a historical tour of the city. What a wonderful treat it turned out to be. We were the only two who showed up for the 2 hour walking tour. So, the guide took us on a private walk and answered all kinds of questions about Irish history, the Irish, and the city. We ended up going for a pint after the tour and he spent nearly four hours with us altogether talking about anything we liked. It was such a treat! A real conversation about all this Irish stuff we've been studying and thinking on with someone who was born and raised here. He also has a PhD in history from Trinity College, so his were some well informed opinions.

What better than a private tour of the city from a history buff followed by a couple hours conversation in a "old-school" Irish pub as recommended by a local, rather than the tourist trap pubs build for the tourists?! He even recommended another pub we can go find where a bunch of local musicians get together every night to play. He practically fell off his chair when Doug told him the story of how we got here. He then made us stay a little longer and tell him our whole trip plans and gave us notes and suggestions for all along our way.

This is just what we would dream of finding. Someone who wants to talk opinions on Irish/English history and relations. Places to hang out where the Irish go, not simply tourist traps. Real Irish musicians. Could not have planned a more perfect day! The Lord has certainly blessed the plans we've made, making them even better than we could ask or imagine.

Tomorrow is a very full day - a tour of the Kells display at Trinity College, a 1916 Easter Rising Walking Tour of the city, Guinness Storehouses and a literary pub crawl. Oh, and I've brought a little extra savings along because I'm going to make Doug buy himself a pipe from the original and only store of Peterson's of Dublin. Petersons are his favorite pipes so he has to have one from the source!

Oh, and to those who were looking forward on our behalf to our stay at Dromoland Castle - we've pretty much decided to skip it. Our money is a little tighter than we knew because of poor exchange rates and we've had two different Irishmen, including our favorite Dublin guide John, tell us we should skip that and spend our time exploring past Galway into Connemara. We've decided to see more rather than spend a small fortune for a few hours at a luxury resort. We will still have our castle experience at Waterford Castle. Several people have suggested that we could see a lot more in the 12 days we have than what is on our itinerary, so it seems we should try.

Pictures will be forthcoming, but the internet is giving us fits and the pictures are having a hard time loading.

Excited to find what tomorrow holds! -Amy

P.S. If I have half a brain later at some point I'll try and post something on the difference between Belfast and Dublin. So interesting the history and the effect of the two parts of Ireland.

Doug’s Day Summary: Tuesday, May 10 and Wednesday, May 11, 2011

2011-05-11T13:23:00.000-07:00

While writing my summary of yesterday’s activities I fell asleep because we had a very full day. Amy got onto the internet for a short time, but I was not able to get a summary of May 10^th completed. Here goes a real quickie for yesterday.

We spent the day in Belfast, Northern Ireland – United Kingdom. It was by my request that we went to Belfast because I want to better understand the violent conflicts between the Protestants and Catholics that I remember hearing about when I was younger, among other things. We took a Black Taxis tour of the places most impacted by the sectarian violence from the period of the 1960’s through 1980’s. Belfast remains, as far as our limited experience permitted, peopled by those who are fearful, suspicious and lacking in general friendliness. As one man I talked to today said about this observation, “It is little wonder, since they have so much to get over after so much trouble.” I could say so much more – but must move on to today. Amy took ooddles of pictures of the many murals and important things we saw yesterday in Belfast.

DOUG’S DAY SUMMARY: TODAY, Wednesday, May11

Lovely 2-3 hour bus ride from Belfast to Dublin. We wandered around the city with all our 200+ lbs of luggage trying to find our hotel until finally we haled a taxi who took us back to near where we started. The cabby (in contradistinction to our last taxi driver in NY), with his cheerful encouragement and enthusiastic support of our plans for holiday, singled handedly made us feel like we have finally arrived in our Ireland dream trip.

After we quickly unpacked our gear we made our way to Trinity College for the Dublin walking tour we planned. As it turns out, we were the only ones to show up for the two hour tour – so our guide (John Gibney, a marvelous gentleman with a PH.D in history who does this on the side and for the love of telling the stories of Ireland) spent the next 3 ½ hours tourizing with us. He quickly learned that we have been preparing ourselves diligently for our trip, which turned our time together into serious extended conversations between what felt like friends. It was, providentially, the best possible time we could have had of tourizing. But I hadn’t had quite enough. I asked if he wanted to go get a pint with us. “Sure,” said he, “I have 30 minutes to an hour.” And so we talked even more comfortably. I will have to share more of the details of our time together for another time. After we finally, reluctantly parted, Amy and I walked around to find a nice place for dinner (Traditional lamb stew for me, and Beef Pie for Amy). We walked back to our hotel down the River Liffy, where so much of importance happened in connection with the independence of the Irish from England.

I’ll leave my summary at that for now – more later about this fantastic day!

Doug

So many friends who love us!

2011-05-11T13:11:00.000-07:00

Look what awaited us in our room in Dublin!

A little hello from our fellow European travelers. :)

Thank you Aaron and Brenda!!!! What a treat! We actually had to ask on our way out if it was ours or if we'd be charged a small fortune if we opened it. :) The girls up front seemed pretty tickled about it. "What was the name? The wine room? Culb?" They all had little smiles on their faces. This must not happen too often.

Thanks you guys! Nice to be a few thousand miles closer to you all. :) We feel loved by so many friends today.

Miscellaneous Peripatetic Musings by Doug: Garbage People (9May)

2011-05-11T12:40:00.000-07:00

New York is fascinating for the sheer variety of people that you encounter (among the many other things). All of humanity seems to present itself for observation. Oddly enough, most of the time I just feel like taking it all in and experiencing it for what it is – just trying to understand the people I see, leaving discernment of character and propriety aside for a time. Many of the things I’ve seen I don’t really know what to make of them.

One example is the people I observed picking through garbage cans looking for treasures that others found no value in. Of course we saw plenty of those folks you expect to be looking through the garbage; those who appear to be homeless and hungry. But what I hadn’t expected was to see people that have no outward appearance of need. In Grand Central Station I saw a man in his thirties, holding a Baldwin Formals garment bag that seemed to have a suit or tux in it, looking around in a trash can as if he was just looking for a snack. Earlier in the day, I saw an Asian couple in their fifties (I only mention their race because I’ve never seen an Asian looking through trash), dressed as middle class as anyone, carefully making a search of a garbage can for several minutes. They did not look like they were looking for something accidentally dropped in the can and lost – but taking great care (the woman having a stick to push things aside while she looked in the can) to find something helpful to them. They talked like a couple in a grocery store discussing which cut of meat to buy, or which variety of rice would be best for the meal they planned.

What about these folks? Are they just well dressed, maybe even proud homeless people? Or, are they actually people who have no need to be rummaging through the trash, but do so from reasons known only to them?
I don’t have any idea what was going on with the people I saw – but I do somehow feel terribly sad for them. Whether they are just the eccentric rich or desperately poor; whether is through no fault of their own or by a lifetime of foolish choices – picking through rubbish is something that I hope all caring Christians desire to have eliminated from the world.

Arrived!

2011-05-11T05:53:00.000-07:00

We made it!

Google Maps failed me for the first time and as we walked for 20 minutes from the Dublin bus station, never getting closer to where our hotel actually was. A friendly cabbie rescued us and we are sitting in the lobby having a sandwich and waiting for our room to be prepared. It's lovely and busy and friendly and exciting here and we've only been off the bus a half an hour!

Doug is in heaven. He and the cabbie yucked it up the whole ride here. In our 5 minute ride we made between our wise choice to rent a car outside of Dublin to the chip Canadians have on their shoulder about Americans (his words, not ours!) shared by Irelanders about Dubliners. :)

As soon as we dump our stuff in our room it's off to Trinity College for us and a 2 hour historical walking tour of the city. Pictures to come!

Love to everyone - Amy

Belfast

2011-05-10T13:09:00.000-07:00

Won’t be taking time to post too much today. Internet is pay-as-you go at this hotel and despite our best efforts, we are pretty dead from our red-eye into Belfast. Red-eye flights – not my favorite.

We were able to check in early to our hotel and take a 2 hour nap. Then it was up and about to see what we could of Belfast in one afternoon. We took the Black Taxi Tour of the political historical sights of Belfast up the Shankill (protestant/Loyalist) Road sector and through the Falls Road (catholic, republican/nationalist) sector. It was fascinating and worth the out-of-the-way stop in Belfast to start our trip to Ireland.

After our tour we walked around the City Center and had dinner in the most amazing, interesting pub either of us had ever been in. It had “snugs” – booths with wood walls and doors – for you to sit and drink and socialize in with your mates. The place was just beautiful.

Now we’ve decided to crash early as we catch a bus first thing tomorrow and head into Dublin. The next 2 days in Dublin will be very full, so we may not have much of a chance to post all our thoughts, but we’ll do our best to update the pictures everyday.

Tired, footsore, but happy – Amy for us both

Tomorrow's Itinerary:

Day Five - Wednesday May 11^th

Belfast & Dublin

Breakfast at Hotel

Check-out and take taxi to train station

Transit to Dublin:

50 euros each: Train, Greater Victoria Station 10:35am-12:44pm

15 Euros each: Bus leaves next door to hotel every hour (9:00am bus arrives @ 11:40am)

Leave bags at hotel

Academy Plaza Hotel

10-14 Findlater Place, Dublin 7, Co. Dublin, Ireland +353 1 878 0666 – +353 1 817 4141

Transit: Connolly Station (678 m E) Dart, Northern Suburban, South Eastern Suburban, Western Suburban Rail Red 20B, 27, 27B, 27C, 29A, …

Grafton St.

Petersons of Dublin (pipe for Doug) - 117 Grafton St.

Lunch at Bewley’s

Historical Walking Tour 3:00pm

Meets in front of Trinity College

In just 2 hours, this Fáilte Ireland-approved award-winning and entertaining walking tour conducted by history graduates of Trinity College Dublin, explores the main features of Irish history - Dublin's development, the influence of the American and French Revolutions, the Potato Famine, the 1916 Rising, the War of Independence, partition - and concludes with the Northern Ireland peace process and Ireland today.

Where do we go?: Trinity College, Old Parliament House, Temple Bar, City Hall, Dublin Castle, Wood Quay, Christ Church Cathedral, Four Courts.

Tickets:
Individual: €12, €10 students and seniors (Under-14s free)
Pay guide on the Day, Book at Dublin Tourism offices or Buy Online below
Prices include 13.5% VAT

When?:
Summer (May-Sept): Daily 11am & 3pm

If not included on tour or if time allows:

St. Patrick’s Cathedral

Ha’Penney Bridge

Temple Bar for dinner & evening

New York - Day Two

2011-05-09T16:23:00.000-07:00

In an effort to make sure we didn’t rush up to our gate at the airport exhausted and harried because we left too late, we took a taxi plenty early. Early enough, as it turns out, to have 3 hours to kill before our flight leaves. :( Oh well, we almost missed the boat on our cruise a couple years ago and this is much more pleasant – even if it meant forfeiting an extra hour of sightseeing. Since we’ve walked enough New York blocks today to kill us, our feet may have not survived another hour anyway! Good thing we did, though, because I’m pretty sure we both consumed about 3,000 calories at lunch!

We’ve been trying to get up around 6am each morning and go to bed between 9 and 10pm because we will lose 5 more hours in the time change to Ireland and need to get used to going to sleeping earlier and earlier. We adjusted to east coast time pretty easily, so I’m hoping Ireland will be the same.

This meant that we were out the door by 7:30am and on the subway with a bunch of commuters this morning. We rode the subway all the way to the Upper West Side so we could have our H&H bagel fix and stop in at Zabars to say hello and have breakfast. After that, we strolled the streets over to Central Park. I love the streets of the Upper West Side. The townhouses are so beautiful and the peace and quiet between the busy cross –streets is startling. It was sunny and delightful out and was a great way to start our day.

Once we hit the Park, we walked through to the lake, arriving at the Loeb boathouse just before it opened. We were first in line for our rowboat and spent a happy half hour rowing the Central Park Lake and seeing the Bethsaida Fountain from the other side. The skyline along the west-side of the Park is quite lovely. The beautiful old buildings of homes for the rich and famous make a stunning backdrop for the lake. It was so odd to be rowing around a lake, with beautiful natural scenery, watching the turtles sunning themselves on the rocks and then glance up and see skyscrapers. Central Park is one of the truly great things about NYC.

By the time we finished, we had just enough time to walk the 15 blocks to our lunch appointment at Serendipity. Yum!

Serendipity is right next to Bloomingdales so we popped in to use a clean bathroom and took some pictures of the upscale shopping for Michelle. Our plan was to go take a tour of the Lower Eastside Tenement Museum, but we had missed the next tour, so we had an hour to kill before heading to the Lower Eastside. I am in love with the Chrysler building. I read a great book about the skyscraper race (which I can’t remember the title of at the moment) which featured William Van Alen, the architect of the Chrysler Building. It has endeared this magnificent and beautiful building to me and so I really wanted to get a closer look on this trip. I discovered that you are allowed in the lobby, just not onto the floors. So we took a train to Grand Central Station – stopped to admire again the amazing main concourse – and then walked across the street to 42^nd and Lexington.

Why do they not build business buildings of this kind of beauty these days?

After I got my fill, we headed off to find the right subway for the Tenement Museum.
As it turned out we got some faulty directions and arrived 5 minutes before the next tour. Apparently 5 minutes early is late as we were unable to get on that tour. We thought waiting for another hour would make us too rushed for getting back to our house and out to the airport, so we walked around the lower eastside ourselves, stopping by what we think was the old Tammany Hall building and Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

Another long subway ride and then a very expensive taxi trip ($25 in tolls just to get to New Jersey!) and we are here, waiting to take off for Belfast. In about 10 hours we will be in Ireland!!! It’s always sad for me to be leaving New York, I do truly love this place, but Ireland awaits so I can’t bring myself to be very sad!

Here's what tomorrow's itinerary holds:

Day Four - Tuesday May 10^th

Belfast

Arrive at Belfast Intl. Airport – 9:00am

Taxi to hotel to check-in:

Rest

Black Taxi Tour - $40

Each of our tours last approx 1 hour 30 mins. To take a longer tour or cut the tour shorter, just speak to your driver/guide who will outline any price changes.

We value ourselves on being the best and we are more than happy to tailor your tour specifically to suit your needs. Don't be afraid to suggest any destination to your driver/guide.

Below is a rough guide to Tour Prices:

1 Or 2 Passenger Tour £25.00

:: T - 02890 642264 ::
Frephone (UK)- 0800 052 3914

??Belfast City Tour –

Red, open top tour buses

Departing from Castle Place next to GPO

$9.25

Evening in Republican pub

Bed by 11pm!!

Doug’s Day Summary: Monday, May 9, 2011

2011-05-09T16:07:00.000-07:00

We got up early as planned and prepared our bags for departure before leaving our room for our tourizing of NY. We took the subway to uptown Manhattan and grabbed some H & H Bagels and ate them with our quiche and OJ at Zabar’s across the street. By Amy and Grace’s standards – this is not to be missed.

From there we walked down to Central Park and had a lovely stroll. We rented a boat and rowed around one of the lakes for awhile – what a delightful time it was! We saw whole herds of wild turtles sunning themselves on the rocks, on limbs and on the shore. We showed all due caution, giving them a wide berth for safety.

We made our way up to Serendipity 3 for lunch and had Iced Hot Chocolate, burgers (in my case it was a chili, bacon and onion cheeseburger), and then we topped it off by sharing a triple scoop, hot-fudge banana Sunday. We wattled along after lunch to see Bloomingdales, Grand Central Station and the Chrysler Building. After briefly tourizing people there we headed to lower Manhattan to go the Tenement Museum for a tour (to get a better understanding of the life of many Irish immigrants), but the tour we intended to join was sold out. So Amy gave me a personalized guided tour of the Old Saint Patrick’s Cathedral instead – quite beautiful. The weather has been fantastic all day – giving us a little pink on our cheeks.

Finally, we rushed back to our room as fast as three subways can take us to meet our taxi cab to make our plane in Newark. The cabbie appeared to be a 13 year old girl that knew little English, and spoke to us virtually not at all. However, she did not cease to speak Spanish with her hands free iPhone to someone that must have been fascinated by every word (I kid you not!). Our $70 cab ride (including $25 for road tolls) was one of the strangest experiences I have had in a long time, and one of my family members (not to be named on the internet) will be pleased to know that we did not tip her a single red cent – not one!

We are now resting our tired, sore feet and typing away – grateful for our three hour wait to board our plane for our 6 ½ hour flight Belfast, Ireland.

Thinking of Miss Michelle

2011-05-09T15:20:00.000-07:00

Just wanted you to know you were on our mind as we strolled through Bloomingdales in Manhattan Michelle! <3 Doug & Amy

A few notes

2011-05-08T18:58:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to get to bed early to help with the whole Ireland 8 hour time change thing, so I can't say much about our day in New York. I just have a few things to point out...

We had a beautiful, sunny day to enjoy strolling around Brooklyn and Manhattan. I enjoyed every minute. We saw lots, but didn't feel too rushed. As we went about the town, seeing the sights, two of the kids kept coming to mind.

Grace, of course, always comes to mind when I'm in NYC because of our first, amazing, perfect trip to the Big Apple for her 16th birthday. I said hello to our city for you my girl! It's really not the same without you.

Kathy too was on my mind all day. I kept running into Kathy-ness everywhere I looked.

I found where Kathy should live - in the ritzy-est neighborhood of Brooklyn (of course)...

And I saw what David needs to buy her when he starts "having expensive fun"....

You might not be able to see - but it's a yacht parked in Manhattan called the Katya!

Someday, Kathy, we have to come here together :)

Doug posted a rundown of our day. For my two-cents, I loved worshiping at Brooklyn Tabernacle, just for the whole new experience of it. I found Greenwood Cemetery beautiful, peaceful and interesting. I was pretty lost the whole time and didn't actually get to see Charlie Ebbet's grave, but I was close anyway. :) Eating pizza under my favorite bridge was such a treat and strolling through Brooklyn Heights was eye candy. It's been a happy day.

Oh, and it was so sweet to get a Mother's Day call from the boys. I didn't really expect it - being away and hard-to-reach on vacation - but it made me smile. Thanks Ben!

Tomorrow - boating in Central Park and making it to the airport on time!

Good night - Amy

The Lord's Day Vacation

2011-05-08T18:37:00.001-07:00

What’s to say about our first full day of vacationing? Very full!

We got up early (6:30) because we are trying to adjust ourselves to losing 5 more hours. Went to the famous Greenwood Cemetery for a walk-about – a curious but interesting and enjoyable Lord’s Day morning activity. We worshipped at the Brooklyn Tabernacle and we’re pleased to have done so.

When Amy and I last were in NY we were not able to get some real New York pizza, which was a great disappointment to us. Today, however, we ate at [one of] the most famous pizza place in NY: Grimaldi’s Coal Fired Brick Oven Pizza. It was fantastic.

We went to Battery Park/Castle Clinton (a place that was used for receiving immigrants before Ellis Island, among other things). While at the park I had a chance to see “The Sphere,” which I initially mistook for bad art. More on the this later.

We walked back up to Trinity Church thinking we would make the Sunday Even-Song service, but it was not open, as we thought it would be. We walked two more blocks down to ground zero of the World Trade Center to at least say that we did, although there was not so much to see.

From there we went to the Irish Famine Memorial, which I was very glad to do because it tied today’s activity with what’s coming tomorrow.

We finished with, ice cream from the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory and a stroll through Brooklyn Heights to see the old beautiful homes.

A quick subway (which we had been riding around all day in) back to the home we are staying in (Hillary is very nice and has shown us good hospitality). Early to be, and early to rise for more adventure and exhausting fun!

Amy will add more, and of course pictures (they are downloading from her camera now) as she can. I’ll add more details later.

Doug

First Stop - SFO

2011-05-07T10:49:00.000-07:00

Can I just say, there's nothing like airline travel to make you feel chubby!

After a couple of hours smashed like sardines into what I'm pretty sure was the only full row on a half empty flight, we have arrived at San Fransisco Intl. Airport. We wait here for about 2 1/2 hours and then it's on to New York. Just long enough to have some San Fransisco sourdough and clam chowder for lunch! I wonder if they sell sourdough starter in the airport gift shop? Hmmmmm....

We managed to have one bit of a snafu this morning - Doug's little point-and-shoot camera gave us the black screen of death when he turned it on to take boarding pics this morning. Clearly we won't be hurting for pictures with my Canon along, but he likes to be able to take a few pictures from his point of view and having his own makes it far more likely that I actually make an appearance in some of our vacation photos. We might try and dash into a camera store when we're out and about on Monday in NYC. If not, oh well - at least we'll look less like American tourists if we are both taking pictures at the same time!

Other than that it's been smooth sailing so far! The Secret History of the IRA put me right to sleep on our first flight. :( I just may not have the mindset for this one at the moment and have to break my personal taboo against leaving books unfinished to move onto one of the lighter novels I brought along. We'll see. We brought our favorite sappy Ireland movie to watch on my laptop on the long flight to NYC. P.S. I Love You here we come!

We both feel like it's going to take a few days to turn off the worry-about-work-and-running-the-home-front parts of our brains. I'm still worrying about what to do about that check I forgot to give Adam for his choir DVD and Doug is still checking his work email on his Blackberry. I think it's a good thing we have a couple of days in NYC to get in vacation mode. Hopefully by the time we hit Ireland we'll quit obsessing about what we're not taking care of at home and be fully engaged. Despite the fact that all our children are adults or nearly so, it's still weird to walk off and leave everyone for 3 weeks. Have fun without us, guys, but don't get too used to it! :)

Love you family!

-Amy

15

2011-05-06T15:56:00.001-07:00

15 months ago I was handed an envelope by a dear friend. Within that envelope lay an adventure.

15 hours from now that adventure will begin.

It hard to believe the time has actually arrived to leave! Our bags are packed, our boarding passes printed and all that remains is to get to bed early and try to sleep. Hah! All these months of research and planning, scheduling and budgeting, reading and studying will come to fruition starting at 5 am tomorrow morning. And I’m supposed to sleep tonight? Where’s my Tylenol PM?!

This week my excited nervous system went into overdrive. Somewhere around Monday afternoon my stomach started churning in a way I’ve haven’t quite experienced before approaching a big trip. All I could think of is what I might have done wrong, forgotten, all that might go wrong, what if, what if, what if. The closest I’ve felt to this keyed up is just before a big wedding I’m supposed to coordinate. What if I screw the whole thing up?!

On Wednesday was a gorgeous, sunny day which turned into a surprise free-day from school. So, I took the opportunity to calm down, relax and switch from “planning” mode to “Traveler” mode. I’ve done everything I can do. It’s time to go with wherever our escapades carry us from here and whatever the Lord has for us on this trip – regardless of whether that is what I have arranged for or no. I’m going to put aside obsessing over what comes next on the itinerary, whether my well laid plans are progressing apace and what I should be doing to avoid disaster. The disasters are part of the adventure! Now is the time for enjoying whatever comes our way for the next 18 days.

15 hours and all’s well.

Next time you hear from us will be from an airport somewhere between home and my second favorite city - NEW YORK here we come!

5 Things

2011-05-06T11:59:00.000-07:00

Just a warning...this is going to be a silly, sentimental post. I'll get to something much more reasonable and vacation-y later, however...

After a night of not sleeping because I had to say goodbye for 3 weeks to my babies (when did I get so ridiculous?!) and a morning telling myself, "No, you can't stop by Amara's when you're running errands today in Oregon City," God took mercy upon me and the phone rang. It was Kathy calling to ask for Jon & Michelle's number so she could get them to fill in her for her mom, who was sick and was going to watch Amara this morning. There will just never be a time I'm too busy to want to watch my girl for a couple hours! "Of COURSE she can come by here for an hour - no need to call them!"

So, I had a happy morning shining up my kitchen and playing with my girl. I had to say goodbye again, which stunk. But I have 5 things to live off of for three weeks til I see her again....

Amara: (sitting in the living room playing while I wash dishes two rooms away) I!" (long pause) Grammy: "LOVE" (long pause) Amara: "YOU!" (just checking I was still there without having to leave her toys)
One more tight hug - her newest skill - to tide me over.
Amara: "Daddy" Grammy: "He's at work" Amara: "PIANO!"
Amara: (as a light colored sedan drives up the road alongside our house) "OL-I-VER!"
Snuggling on the couch while Amara names every animal, park and airplane in Richard Scary's First Word Book

Okay, I'm done now - thank you for you patience

“Isn’t God Odd!”

2011-05-06T07:15:00.000-07:00

For those who know me well, it would not be surprising to hear me say, “Isn’t God Odd!” To those who don’t know me this could seem to boarder on the blasphemous.

What I’ve always meant is that God in His providential dealings with us throughout our lives is as unpredictable and uncontrollable as the wind or the waves. We tend to think that, since He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, we can have a pretty good idea about what will happen in our lives. And yet, isn’t it true that we all know from experience that few things ever turn out just the way we plan and anticipate? In point of fact, very often the Lord does things that are entirely unexpected and even inconceivable to us in advance. But as time marches on we begin to see the wisdom and glory of God in these odd things.

Today, the day before our wonderful trip to Ireland, I am struck again about the oddness of our good God, who has made this holiday possible through the graciousness of our astonishing benefactors. Little did they know how deeply meaningful it would be for me, and for Amy – already. If, God forbid, we were unable to go on our trip, my life has already been made richer and more beautiful.

Through their gift to us I was given greater insight into the significance of how God’s love is mediated through other people. Question: What kind of people can take it upon themselves to save thousands of dollars over a ten year time, for friends that they seldom have any contact with at all? Answer: those who are inspired by the Spirit of our Odd God. I know more about God and His love for us than I did before we received this gift.

I love history. Mostly because I love to see the oddness of God, and history gives us a record of how marvelously odd he is. Once again, I have come to see that many things I’ve always thought about certain parts of history were not so accurate. I won’t go into the details here about the errors I so ferociously held to and have now repented of – just ask me if you’d like an ear-full. Suffice it to say, as I have been preparing my mind by reading piles of books, watching scores of documentaries and movies about Ireland. I now have a much larger and brighter view of the Irish people and the wonderful gifts we’ve inherited from them. Even more, I’ve come to love them for the pity I feel for all that they’ve suffered. Even more than that, I’ve come to have a much clearer view of Europe (and the British in particular) than I even had before. And most of all, I have been forced, through this rehearsal of history, to consider the larger questions of how Christians of every stripe and variety should relate to one another, and the world around us. All that to say, I know more about my world and my place in it than I did before we received this gift.

Providentially this holiday comes at a very fitting time in my life. I have a felt need to go away, eat and drink, to relax, to think, play with Amy, and to seek the Lord anew. My prayer is that I will be able to return with new vigor and vision for the future.

To our family and friends: Thank you for your interest and support.

To our kind patrons: May God bless you abundantly with His loving oddness so that you are repaid many times over!

Doug