the other Robin
Unregistered User
(10/7/03 3:15 pm)

Chapter Three - I AM Irish...at least I feel that way!

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Day 5 – September 11

Robin – Today we got up a bit later and had breakfast in Groina’s beautiful dining room (Granville House). Groina and Emmet are so sweet, their house so beautiful and comfortable, the gardens are awesome and she cooks like a famous chef. Randy and I wanted to try something different today so we had fish for breakfast. It was delicious and Emmet kept telling us that he was doing all the work in the kitchen. He loved to tease with dad and dad was loving every minute. While we at breakfast, we chatted with Larry and Laura from Minnesota and Nigel from London, England. We spent much time reminiscing about our ‘close calls’ driving on the left. Nigel, being from England and having traveled in the states, told us where he had been and seen in the states.

We have taken dozens of pictures to try and explain to our friends back home how narrow the backroads are. I don’t think anyone can explain it to you, you have to experience it. We are amazed at how cars and people seem to co-exist on the roads each one comfortably and patiently making room for the other.

We headed for Wexford town center and drove down very European looking streets and shops barely far enough apart to get one car down the street, let alone two. No one seems to mind that we had to drive on the sidewalk because everyone else was doing it too. We searched and searched for a place to park so we could walk downtown for awhile and when we finally found a spot on a tiny side street, we were surprised and pleased to find two special things. First, we parked right beside Commodore Barry’s Newstand and had mom and Randy’s pictures taken in front of it. Straight in front of us was Commodore Barry’s statue also. We had just talked about it at breakfast and the fact that we didn’t really know for sure what city it was in. It was a definite God bonus to have driven down that particular street at the particular time. PTL

After leaving Wexford we headed for Kilmore, Kilmore Quay and Hook Head. Mom’s family hails from Kilmore, so we headed to a cemetery there, finding many Barry’s… although she is not sure which are actually relatives We took lots of pictures. Kilmore Quay is a quaint fishing village and has wonderful thatched roofed houses. I badly wanted to take a boat out to the Saltee Islands, but after yelling down to a boat captain at the dock, he informed me the weather made the water too choppy. Since it was almost lunchtime, we stopped at The Upper Deck for sea food. It was just a small diner but had delicious food. All of us had Gougan of Plaice and Chips. (discovered that ‘gougon’ means ‘strips’) We like trying new foods and had never had this kind of fish. It was very mild but delicious and we had more than we could eat. Since we couldn’t go out to the island, we headed towards Hook Head. On our way we discovered the Abbey of Tintern This was a wonderful old ruin on whose grounds had housed a small community of peopled, a one cell church, bridge, Abbey and cemetery. We saw several stones that had been there since the 1700s and a plaque from the 1500s. It is awe-inspiring to know these pieces had been around so long. I love the history behind Ireland.

We head out for Hook Head again and it seems we will never get there. The roads can get long. We finally get to Hook Head after discovering in ??? (can’t remember the name) the sign had been turned around the wrong direction. The lighthouse was closed to the public (looks like high-tech government defense equipment had been installed) but we enjoyed watching the waves beat against the rocks and explored for a while taking lots of pictures. I had just told Randy about this spot I had seen in front of the lighthouse where the water jets back into the rocks making a loud drumming nose. We were watching the waves there and Randy spotted something in the water. Frankly, I thought he was nuts, but soon noticed he was right when two sets of noses poked out of the water. One was a very large sea lion and the other a smaller spotted one. We must have stood there watching them for about 30 minutes as they stuck there massive heads up and stared us while we stared back. What a treat to see something like that in the wild. The bigger one enjoyed slapping his tail at us in the water as if to play.

We headed home, tired again but satisfied in all we had seen. We sea-saw between being so tired we can hardly push ourselves; to not wanting to stop because we might miss something. I hope we can come back some day but who knows. I feel compelled to see as much as I can while we are here.

Randy: Breakfast at Granville House was superb. Pan fried cod for breakfast… can life get any better? The entire house is built and finished to a ‘T.’ The decorating, the furniture, the gardens… front and back are incredible. Even the mint garnish in the prunes Mom and Robin rec’d were grown in the back yard! Emmet, Gronia’s husband, is a riot. He kidded Dad about not getting his food. Then when he returned, he told him, “You may not have any food, but you do have a job! You serve the coffee this morning!”

Drove and drove today. It was worth every winding mile, but I admit, I am ready for a day close to home today. NOT that we have actually traveled that far on any given day… but the pace varies from 0 – 50 miles per hour and mostly is around 20-30 mph. It wasn’t until about 8:00 PM when we got on the main road back to Wexford that I was able to drive on a straight-away more than ½ mile long. Driving on the left isn’t so disconcerting…. It’s the fact that the roads are 10’ wide… both lanes together! Meeting each other on a hairpin curve is always a surprise, because the roads all have hedges on both sides… sometimes just 3-4 ft high, but often they stretch to 8 or 10 ft.
Irish TV is a hoot. They apparently don’t have any censorship… so you watch with fear and trepidation… mostly keep the news on. They are very big on world news, so you get plenty of what’s going on all around.

The Abby at Tintern was awesome. It was created when a man named Marshall, nearly lost his life in a storm at sea. He vowed that if God would get him out alive, he would establish an Abby for the Cistercian sect. He donated 35 hectors (however much that is) and then had this glorious castle built. Its being restored, but is very neat. The walls revealed the different floors and how each was suspended in a huge rock shell! The human effort that went into these edifices is unthinkable.

Day 6-Friday, September 12, 2003

Robin – We awoke to another beautiful Ireland morning and no rain. Every morning I look outside to see what the weather is doing and are pleasantly surprised to see a few clouds and the sun trying to peek through. This morning we found about 50 white doves flying outside our window. It seems that Emmet raises birds as well as plants. He is a very interesting man. We ate another hearty breakfast and headed into Wexford for a day of shopping, emailing at the internet café and relaxing. We first started at the Cyber Café and after $33.00 later and 1 ½ hours had caught up on all our mail. The last Cyber Café we had used in Limerick was $1.00 an hour so we assumed this would be the same. We failed to ask the cost, ordered coffee, bought a blank CD to download pictures and went to work. We had no idea the cost for this one was $1.00 for every 10 minutes. (remember …everything is in Euros and at this time…we only get about .86 to their 1.00 so our money doesn’t go as far here) Yikes. After we checked our mail and wrote back to everyone at home we set out for a day of shopping downtown. We didn’t buy much but had fun looking. We had lunch at Robertinos Pizzeria downtown….was great. After lunch we shopped a little more and then headed back to the B & B for a nap.

Later, all rested and relaxed we headed for what we thought was going to be a night of Irish music only to find out it was only Mon-Thurs. and this was Friday! Sniff! We had a great meal though at ‘Heaven Above’. It is above the pub ‘The Sky and the Ground’. Great food! Randy ate Kangaroo, but I couldn’t imagine eating anything so cute. I told him he could sleep elsewhere if he ate that poor little creature. I was kidding of course. They also serve Ostrich.

After supper, it was now about 10:00 pm while walking back to the car, we stopped in at an arcade and tried out the dance machine. I bet Randy he wouldn’t do it but he proved me wrong. We all had a good laugh at our stupidity and got back to our B & B only to discover our camera is missing. We aren’t sure when it turned up missing but I remember having it last night. I think someone may have taken it from our car. Luckily, we were taking pictures with both a digital and a 35mm. Randy and I have decided we will not let it ruin our vacation but I sure wish it would turn up somehow.

Randy – Ahhhhh, a day with less driving. Its not that I mind driving at all, but the truth is, it just takes a lot of energy and focus. Sometimes I just feel strangely drained… don’t even realize it when I’m going, but …

We had a delightful day, beginning with a visit to the only internet café in Wexford. It was very new, clean and neat, with all new equipment. It was not cheap, but we needed to connect. It took me far too long to get the pictures to upload, due to my own silliness AND because it seemed like the Yahoo site wouldn’t take more than 1 MB at a time… most combinations of 2 or more pics were maxing it out. Tonight, I am making a file with all of the pics from the trip reduced in pixels. Next time I will upload them quickly!

Wandering the streets was great. Similar yet different. So many things are so intriguing in their similarities and contrasts. Entered a medium sized grocery today… it was 2/3 liquor store, but the front half had a beautiful deli counter, a large selection of candies, etc., and a selection of sauces, pastes, and seasonings. But in the middle of the room was a table, probably 10’ x 10’, which was covered with large, open topped granite bowls of olives! Every kind of olive you could think of!

We returned to the Granville House a bit early to rest before going into town for a late supper and hopefully some local music. Emmet was tending to his garden and stopped to chat for a bit. An hour later Dad and I finally went inside. Emmet is an exceptionally intelligent man. He teaches at a local college, raises all the flowers, trees, etc. in the yard, and also raises the tomatoes, basil, and mint that Gronia cooks with. He spoke of politics, history, economy, agriculture, and real estate. He knows far more about our nation than w know of his. He told about his brother who owns a castle worth 15 million dollars, as if it was just any old family story!

Well, I am on the endangered species list now… for eating kangaroo at dinner tonight! “Heaven Above” was a superb restaurant that served some very gourmet meals at relatively reasonable prices. I say reasonable because we have paid more money for less quality and quantity already! While I dined on Roo, Dad had a great looking plate of various shellfish! Mom and Robin split an appetizer and then had strawberry short cookie! Went downstairs to listen to some Traditional Irish music, as was indicated by our hosts, and discovered that it is provided every evening except Fri. and Sat.

Michele Erdvig
ezOP
Posts: 1887
(10/7/03 4:26 pm)

Enjoying It All

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Hi Robin,

I am enjoying every minute. I like the two different points of view. Very unique. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed visiting with Emmet and Grainne. They really run a first-class establishment. Keep the commentary coming!

Michele

John The Man
Unregistered User
(10/8/03 5:38 am)

Thanks!

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I love this stuff! My wife Linda and I are planning a trip to Ireland next April. We are taking notes from your journal. Thanks for the tip on Michelle's book. I will look for it at the local book store in town. I am now "Hooked" on this site.

John and Linda Manley