Judy,

Welcome Home! I look forward to your trip report. I will PM you so that I get an invitation to see the photos. I am so glad that you hooked up with Anchoress!

Slan Beo,

Bit

Dear Dude,

I don't know what PMing means. I went to your personal page and tried to give you my e-mail address. I never know if it sends or not. I'd love to see your pictures.

Joan

Judy,

I just tried again. Hope you get it.

Joan

Judy,

First thing this morning I looked at your photo's. What a treat, you took me places I haven't been and showed me the beautiful scenery and some very pretty Jones girls.

Thank you, thank you, Joan

Dude,

Thanks! I thoroughly enjoyed your photos. Although it is hard to choose, I think my favorite was the pier at Lough Ree. Very atmospheric. It looks like you had some good weather. Did you get a photo of Anchoress?

Michele

Ahem.

Random Observations:
Transportation
We flew Continental from Amarillo and Corpus Christi. For some reason they have replaced the Embraers with Bombardiers and I protest. I liked the single seat on one side. From and back to Houston we flew 737s except for Newark to Shannon when we were impressed with the 767--it has a 2-3-2 configuration with seatback consoles, and it wasn't nearly full so we all had plenty of room to stretch out and nap. There was the issue with taking off two hours late due to waiting on "cargo," the pilot was as annoyed as we were. Those extra hours' wait really made the dinner even more tasty than it would have been. Then on arrival at Shannon we waited about another hour because they couldn't get the jetbridge open. Good grief. At least we were on holiday and didn't have schedules to keep. Poor business folks.
No a/c on the Houston-Corpus Christi flight but it's only about 30 minutes so was good acclimation for the subtropical weather back home.
I had borrowed my husband's BearJaw tool just in case and it got confiscated in Newark--I had checked that bag through on the outbound trip and missed it when we packed for home and carried it on. That's an expensive lesson.

Our car was a Fiat Croma diesel. Since we were expecting one of IC's black Passats, the little metallic brown car was a surprise. It would have held one more person, but not one more person's luggage. We had packed a little heavier than necessary, but one more set of luggage would have been a stretch. The speedometer only registered in kilometers. No problem, you say? Not until we arrived in Northern Ireland, where life is measured in miles! I (the driver) had no clue as to how fast I was actually driving. Best I could do was try to blend in with the traffic and pray. (Even my Ford Explorer has miles and kilometers on the dial). My suggestion would be to have a little card for the navigator with mile/kilometer equivalents written out for the even speeds. Just in case.
My left knee bothered me a lot during the trip and I think it was due to the brazillion times I let in the clutch on some of Mrs. Toad's Wild Rides. At my age, I think from now on I'll spare the brass for an automatic transmission.
Oh, yes, and the ignition switch is in the CONSOLE! NOT on the steering column or the dash! Figuring that out took up a great many precious minutes. And then how do we get this thing in reverse? Fortunately a kind young man who was tidying up the parking lot came to our rescue on that one (little round thingy to pull up on when one wants reverse). The Croma has 6 forward gears and the universe's smallest gearbox so I spent a great deal of time in the wrong gear, or stalled out trying to take off in 3rd. Another argument for the automatic. Sister has already spilled the beans about my tendency to knock the front end out of alignment. We drove 2,927 kilometers or 1,818.75 miles with nary a scratch unless you count the driver's side sunshade which periodically refused to snap up in place.

Food
For heaven's sake, how do people in Ireland keep from being obese? I'm sure they don't eat every meal out like the tourists do, but the portions are just huge! We wasted more food, simply because we couldn't possibly eat that much.
Banoffee pie (often listed as cake) never had a chocolate crust. And carrot cake is ubiquitous--dessert and vegetables at one time. Life is good. Cadbury chocolates are much preferable to anything made in US. Rough Coconut is now my favorite; sorry, Hazlenut.

Money
The ATM has made finances so much more smooth for travelers. One of our B&Bs had a computer for guests' use so I checked my bank account to see how the exchange rate was working.
Banks in ROI will buy pound sterling notes but not coins--a good thing to know if you are going back and forth. Not sure if the reverse would be true since we started and ended in ROI. We did get the coins exchanged for dollars at Shannon airport--after first exchanging them for euros!
Ran into dynamic currency conversion at Foxford Mills; got a lecture on how much better it would be to charge my purchase in dollars--after I had asked for euros and she charged in dollars anyway. So I calmly made her void the dollar transaction and charge in euros. It's the principle of the thing--and the money.

There's a start--promise to get to the daily reports soon!

Dude,

Thanks for making a start. I always tell my husband if he is pulled over for speeding in No. Ireland he can use the excuse about no miles on the spedometer. Do you think that would work? He has wiggled out of tighter spots.

Michele

Kelli,

I can answer about the Autograph Tree. It is in Coole Park, which is NW of Gort in Co. Galway. Coole Park was once the happening place for Literary giants such as Yeats, George Bernard Shaw and Sean Casey. They, along with may other literary folk, carved their initials into a Beech tree, which is still standing today, as you can see from the picture. Coole Park was once the home of Lady Augusta Gregory, who was one of the co-founders of the Abbey Theatre.

In the present day, Coole Park is part of a Nature Reserve. If you are familiar with Yeats "Seven Woods, they are a part of the trail system through Coole Park. The link wil take you to the Coole Park site and you can browse and learn to your heart's content.

As to the Bearjaw tool, I can only guess that it is similiar to a leatherman, which is a multipurpose, multi-blade hand tool.

Slan Beo,

Bit

Economics
Building going on everywhere we went--houses, commercial buildings, who knows what. And road repairs! The richest person in Ireland is undoubtedly the one who has the orange traffic cone concession. Next would be the one who supplies the yellow hazard vests. We never got to follow a "follow me" sign but we did plenty of one-way-only trips.

How interesting to see which photos are people's favorites. I would be hard put to choose one, although the view from Rossknowlagh Friary is now my wallpaper.

Time to begin the daily reports:
Monday, September 17

How beautiful to watch the sky turn red ahead of us as we flew toward the sun!

We changed money, purchased the requisite diet sodas and collected our little car. After some false starts we were on the road north.

We had planned to have a late breakfast/early lunch at the tearoom at Coole Park but a rather rude young lady informed us that hot meals don't start until 12:30 (it was on the board, we later discovered, but covered up with today's specials). So we motored back to Gort and had the full Irish breakfast at O'Grady's pub. It was a bit cold but then it was the very end of the breakfast time and they cleared away and started putting out lunch as we ate. Back to Coole Park for a walking tour guided by a most friendly yellow lab. You will see him in a couple of the pictures. Off to Thoor Ballylee for the audio/visual presentation and then a self-guided tour of the place. A 20% off season-end sale started us off on our power shopping.

St. Anne's Farmhouse bed and breakfast outside of Milltown is very nice and clean, with amenities--soap, washcloths etc. Our triple room had two twins and a double, with a lovely view in three directions. The bath had both tub and shower. There was TV in the room, with coffee/tea setup. Water pressure was low, and the family TV was just underneath our room so if we had not been exhausted that might have been a factor. Mary was a gracious host although right after breakfast she settled in for a chat, just when we were anxious to be on the road! Breakfast was the standard full Irish. Would stay at St. Anne's again.

Dinner at the West Wing in Tuam. Good selection for reasonable prices. Our waiter was from the Philippines.

Day cool and sunny.

Tuesday, September 18

Knock was extremely interesting. We saw the museum, basilica and the shrine (chapel). Also bought some items in the gift shop. This was the day I managed to delete from my memory stick so no pictures. Now--we were on the road to Foxford. No we weren't. Yes we were. No we weren't. Gives new meaning to the term "Knock Three Times." But we finally got it sorted out and visited the Woolen Mill at Foxford. Serious shopping there, and some lovely scones and cheesecake. We had hoped that the tour included the weaving but it is only a rather poorly done history of the Mill. By the way, it was founded by a Nun. The last vignette featured a mannequin in Nun's habit with the eeriest talking face I have ever seen. Apparently the face was computer-generated onto the mannequin. Having spent nearly twenty years of my life working in the textile industry, I really wanted to see the weaving. Oh, well, at least the tour was free.

Back on the road toward Achill Island. Long time lost in Castlebar, but we finally found The Bervie.
John gave us the family suite with a double and a twin and then a tiny attached room with a twin. Nice big bathroom but only one washcloth. Low water pressure. We brought in all our luggage to repack since we were staying two nights.

Raining quite hard so Elizabeth asked us if we would like dinner and we happily said yes. Four courses, with several choices for each except for the soup which was cream of carrot and orange. Not something I would try again. Everything else was excellent.

Day cool and rainy

Wednesday, September 19

Actual written menu for breakfast with a number of tasty choices.

Down to the beach to walk as far as we could go--were told later that it was 3 miles! Perhaps 3 kilometers would be more accurate, but it was quite a hike, and then of course we had to walk back! There were surfers out, and people walking dogs and flying kites, and quite a pleasant atmosphere. We took the Atlantic Drive. Stopped in Cashel (boy did we think we had taken a left turn at Albuquerque) for maps at the tourist office and got sandwiches, chips and sodas for a picnic in a scenic turnout. We took the very scary drive up to Minaun Heights, but clouds obscured the view. At least we can say we went. It was high enough that our ears were affected. We also drove in the other direction to Keem Bay to another lovely beach and cliffs. Getting there was another scary drive; probably scarier for the navigator since the cliff fell away directly to her left.
We went up to the deserted village just north of Keel and poked around a bit, also checking out the cemetery. Something about the oldest headstones that gives a sense of history.

Dinner at Cliff House Hotel. Very good food. We notice that cheesecake in Ireland is not nearly so sweet as it is in the US.

Day sunny and brisk. We would definitely stay at the Bervie again, especially if Bit and her brother buy it.

Thursday, September 20

Driving today--Achill Island to Belleek. Tour and lots of shopping at Belleek Pottery. We didn't get a piece of green ware to bring home; I was tempted to just take one but thought Sister would frown at me!

Iorras is a lovely place and Ita is a charming hostess. Our room was a triple, good water pressure but a bit hard to regulate. No toiletries, but washcloths provided. By the way, it's pronounced air-us. Something to do with where Ita and her husband are from. Another one we would return for.

Somehow missed lunch but it didn't hurt us. We ate dinner in the pub at Austies and skipped dessert. French toast, or ham and cheese plate for breakfast.

Sunny day. The pictures were taken in the evening when it had begun to mist up.

That's enough for one day. Go do something useful!

Wonderful reading, Dude..

Water pressure; most of the outlying places here have their own water suppy... we have a well here also. So pressure can be very, very low.

The green ware sounds lovely... we love these things too.. just we don't buy them ourselves..unless for our Chapel.... lol! Looking is free!!

Next time you come, we will take you on  a tour of the working weaving places hereabouts. Beautiful to watch...
 
And most of the enterprises in Ireland were founded by Nuns and Monks. Amazing history....

Blessings and thanks for a beautiful read.

Dude,

I have a small strand of Belleek clay used for weaving baskets. On my last tour they gave a piece to everyone. When I got home I found it in the bottom of my purse. Now it is in my curio cabinet with my Belleek collection. It makes an interesting contrast to the finished product.

I like the idea of the mph to kph and will be adding a chart to my website on the "Car" page soon. Thanks for the tip!

Michele

Maps, etc.
The aaroadwatch.ie directions are excellent, as long as you don't change your plans!My navigators did really well, especially once we learned to not look ahead but take one intersection, roundabout, etc. at a time. The places where the roundabouts had names were appreciated. We didn't buy the ordnance maps but the map from EuropCar was excellent--once we found where we had put it.

Organization
I purchased at WalMart a plastic portfolio, sort of a cheap version of the RedRope expanding folders, in bright Irish green. Each day had its own section, with driving directions, information about the accommodation for the night and how to get there, information about attractions and sightseeing, and what for that day had a two-for-one from Michele. In the back I put my labels for sending postcards, copies of all my travel documents, and my shopping list. Maps also went in. I forget who gave us the idea of taking just the parts of Michele's book that dealt with our trip, but it was a fantastic suggestion. Thank you, whoever!

Friday, September 21

This was the big day!! After fueling up, we found Sister in the lovely little picnic area at Laghey. She is right, I did misalign the front end, but I was still figuring out where the rest of the world was in relation to me when we turned the car in at Shannon!

Sister's little GrapeMobile station wagon will hold a LOT of goodies! And she will share, for some euros/dollars/pounds for the orphans. Besides scarves, jewelry and rosaries, we bought her entire stock of small jampots--about 20 altogether. The ones we have sampled so far are just delicious.

Then off in convoy to Rossknowlagh Friary for the famous concert from Fr. Sean--that was a moment that could never in a million years be scripted. Amazing to us Okies that anyone outside the state even remembers the song, much less can sing it in its entirety. Then Sister led us up hill and down dale to show us the lovely grounds of the Friary. Photo op at the top with the beautiful beach in the background. As she says, parts are overgrown but we enjoyed seeing it all just the same.

Lunch was at The Pantry in Laghey. Generous bowls of hearty soup, and brown bread. Very tasty and filling. We said goodbye, reluctantly, and headed north again.

The last walking tour of Derry Walls leaves the tourist office at 2:30 so we knew there was no way we could make that and had resigned ourselves to taking the open top bus tour which goes until 4:30. Well, as we walked up to the tourist office (mostly intending to use the restroom--as it turns out, they have no public restroom but graciously led us down a hall, up a lift and down another hall to use their private one) a gent called out to us, "Ladies, come take a walking tour of the Derry Walls! Only 4 pounds and if you don't like it, you don't pay!" Well, we couldn't resist a deal like that so off we went. Turns out that Martin, our guide, had been called in specially to take the group of students on the tour and he saw an opportunity to add a little cash. It was a very informative tour by a fellow who was born in Derry and has seen it all. At the end we did each give him the 4 pounds and considered it well spent. He advised us to not try to leave Derry during rush hour but to hang around for an hour and a half or so until traffic thinned out. We didn't feel that we could spare the time so we retrieved the car from the parking garage and headed out. As it turned out, it was very simple and almost a straight shot to Limavady with no trauma whatsoever.

Ballycarton House is wonderful! Much of it is carpeted in a modified Black Watch plaid. The rooms are small but nicely appointed. Babs and Mar had the twin and I had the single--couldn't be my snoring, could it? Patricia allows the guests to do laundry so we learned the ins and outs of Irish washers and dryers. Tucked in under the staircase is a computer with internet access and a tin for honor system money--30 minutes for a pound. We took advantage to check our bank balances and our football picks. The guest lounge is huge with very comfy sofas and rockers, and a sunroom attached. If not for the stairs I could live there. The grounds are just gorgeous. The water pressure was okay once we experimented with the shower heads. Turning the rings of the shower head often gives better results, we found.

Drove up to Magillagin for dinner at Point Pub. Delicious seafood and desserts.

We filled out our breakfast order the evening before and left them in the hall. Delicious breakfast--loved the pancakes.

Sunny day.

Saturday, September 22
Into Limavady in search of an ATM. Patricia and her husband own a c-store with an ATM but we never found it; however, an UlsterBank ATM sufficed. That 1 for 2 exchange rate was depressing. I have a confession to make here. On the way into town I looked at the road to see a small animal racing along in our lane, just in front of the car. All I could do was straddle him and hope he didn't panic. We heard a thump but on our way back we looked and looked and didn't see him so hope he was just concussed and immediately went home to tell the missus about his adventure with those crazy American tourists. It was about rabbit size but was running rather than rabbitting so perhaps a squirrel?

Anyway, we're off to the coast. First Dunluce Castle, then the Giant's Causeway and finally the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. Since we wanted to be back in Limavady for Mass we decided to leave the Torr Head drive and the Dark Hedges for next time. We really enjoyed all three attractions. The rope bridge is not at all scary, even for the most timid of us. Actually, the hike from the car park is much more fraught with danger for old knees! We had a late lunch at Larrybawn Tea Room at the Rope Bridge--just prepared sandwiches, chips and the ubiquitous carrot cake. It was late enough that we were hungry enough to enjoy the fast food.

Dinner at Coast Road Inn in Magilligan--a very noisy pub where we watched football, or soccer, depending on your outlook. We had double bacon cheeseburgers and chips or onion rings. All pretty good. Then to Mass at St. Aidan's, just up the road from Ballycarton House sort of in the middle of nowhere. 30 minutes flat with no singing. The church is just lovely and I would have liked to take pictures of the interior. I brought home a bulletin and newsletter to prove to my pastor that I did attend church during my holiday.

Day was sunny, cool and windy.

Enough for now. Rest your eyes and we'll be back later.

-- Edited by Dude at 18:00, 2007-10-04

Judy,
I used your suggestion of an expanding folder when you first posted it. It was a great way to organize different parts of the trip. I organized mine by B&B's and everything we wanted to see that day. I also had slots for car rental, insurance, maps, travel documents and misc which include my labels. Must be like minds!! A great idea.

Just hope I can get my trip report posted soon.

Merle

Dude,

I feel like I am along for the ride with the Jones girls! My husband and I had that same room at Abocurragh last time and I agree that breakfast there is a treat. I'm glad you enjoyed your stay (except for your sister falling out of bed!).

I am happy to hear that you liked Ballycarton House too. I haven't stayed there yet - just had a look last October when I was self-catering in No. Ireland. Has Patricia fully recovered from her skiing accident? She was on crutches when I met her.

I never got the boat ride on the lake at Marble Arch Caves either. Bill (wojazz) says we didn't miss much.

Do you have the website for Edward Monkton?

Looking forward to more.

Michele