Bill's Trip report

wojazz3 · Guru

Bill's Trip report

Merle · Senior Member

Bill,

Can't wait to read your report. I have anxiously been waiting for this because I love your reports. Thanks for posting. . . finally

Merle

wojazz3 · Guru

As always, it's an excellent sleep aid. Thanks!

Bill

Michele Erdvig · Host

Bill,

I don't know that the trip report is a good sleep aid since I just finished reading it (look at posting time). Good show! I enjoyed it all, laughed out loud lots and marveled at your photos. Even bad weather produced wonderful moody shots. Kudos to the photographer. Skellig Michael looked absolutely fantastic. Unfortunately I will never make it as I don't have a head for heights. I wouldn't even cross Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. What a chicken.

So, what's the verdict? Was Switzerland or Ireland better? Is Ireland still number one?

Michele

wojazz3 · Guru

Hi Michele:

I actually think Carrick-a-Rede is a bit more frightening than Skellig. There really is only one spot on the walk that feels a bit too close to the edge. It is truly a magical spot. I think it would be nice to visit in a mist.

Thanks for the nice comments on the photos. I'm getting there. I have quite a few that I like now. The pub is now filled up with shots of the little island.

Switzerland is lovey, spectacular, magnificent and whatever accolades you my like to give it. Visually appealing one might say. Ireland feels like home and always will. We'll be back for Felicity's 50th birthday in February. We're staying at Castletownsend for a week. Finally slowing down.

Bill

Michele Erdvig · Host

Bill,

I know what you mean that Ireland feels like home. You will love self-catering. There will be no schedules but your own. My husband and I did a week in Northern Ireland in October and adored the experience. For once I actually got to relax (although I did fit work in each day). Also, we found grocery shopping fun. You never know what you will find. We mostly ate at our cottage. The supermarkets have a good selection of things you can make pretty quickly like pasta & sauces, frozen and fresh meat dishes, soup, etc. One thing I wish I had brought was a couple of zip-lock bags of my unscented laundry detergent powder. I could not find any unscented in the area.

Where are you staying? I have a new self-catering page: http://www.irelandyes.com/selfcatering.html But you are probably up on all that info yourself.

Michele

wojazz3 · Guru

I actually got the link from you. I didn't realise that Castletownshend did self catering. We have the room in the east tower. It should be fun. It may be hard not to waltz on up to Mary Ann's for a banoffee or two. Felicity has been promised birthday banoffee and I just can't disappoint her. Mary Ann's has the best.

Bill

-- Edited by wojazz3 at 00:17, 2007-01-07

yesiree · Guru

Thanks for all the effort you put into your report. Love having all those pictures tucked in. I haven't coursed through the whole thing yet, but from what I've read so far sounds great. I've got you bookmarked, so I'll be back.

wojazz3 · Guru

Thanks Corey. There are a load of pictures. Fortunately, photoshop automates building the slide show pages so once I have them sized down to work on the web, it's pretty easy to do the slide show.

Let me know your thoughts.

Bill

CowboyCraic · Guru

Bill,

What an excellent trip report! You may have been there during the wettest May on record, but I managed to be there last July, the hottest & driest on record. Thanks for bringing back some fond memories, Hook's Head being the best. It is one of my most favorite spots. You seem to have had better luck finding trad music on your trip than I did on my first. Everywhere we went all we could find was thirty somethings pounding on a piano and plunking a guitar singing Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Bob Dylan and the BeeGees or other 70's & 80's music, especially in Galway. They did play an obligatory "Danny Boy". We have had much better success in recent trips.

I believe Kenmare is the place where you felt it was "home". That place for me is Inis Mor. I have felt its call without knowing it since before Ireland was a constant thought. The moment I stepped on to the Ferry on my first visit, I felt at home.

I thank you for your report. It was a lovely way to revisit a place that has captured my heart and soul. I especially liked readinf of your wife's penchant for animals. I, too, stop to pet or talk any animal that looks approachable.

Slan Go Foill,

Bit Devine

Merle · Senior Member

Bill,

What a nice report. I finally finished reading the Ireland part, makes me homesick for the southwest. I definitely have to get back to Dingle so I can stay at the Shores. When we were in the area in 2004, we had 3 days and it was rainy. We kept waiting for the best day and finally had to go on the third day. It was raining so hard we couldn't get out of the car, much less see anything from the car. So, my first Dingle experience was not good.

We are going back in Sep, but to the northern part of the Republic and Northern Ireland. We'll see much of the area you did in 2005. I like all the detail of your reports because it helps us make "informed" decisions.

Thanks for sharing, Merle

oopsy · Senior Member

Hi Bill,

I was so glad to see that your report was posted. I've been home with the flu and this has perked me up a bit. As always, beautiful photos and entertaining narrative. Makes me a bit sad that we won't be taking an overseas trip this year.

And though I know this is an Ireland board, I just have to say WOW to the shots from your balcony in Lauterbrunnen. Unbelievable. When I saw the "early morning light on staubbach falls" photo, I considered booking a trip right then and blaming it on my fever.

Thanks for sharing your adventures with all of us.

oopsy

wojazz3 · Guru

Hi folks, thanks for the nice comments.

Bit: I can understand the issues in finding trad. I hear a lot of Neil Diamond and Johnny Cash on one trip. It's a bit of luck of the draw but there are some good places to find and you have to ask a lot of people and have them understand what you mean by trad. I need to get enough whistle tunes under my belt to sit in on a trad session with that.

Kenmare is sort of home from a village point of view to me. We have a tendency to end up there a lot. There are other places though. A pint at O'Sullivan's in Crookhaven feels like my local. Staying at the Shores on Dingle is staying with friends. Unlike a lot of people, I like Doolin, but in the off season. We spent a number of days there in November and it was magnificent ... lonely, windy and serene.

Merle: I think the north half of Ireland is every bit as spectacular as the much more heavily traveled SW. It's hard to find an inch of Donegal coastline that is not sprctacular. An it continues right into NI. You should have a blast.

Oopsy: Hope you're feeling better. The Staubbach Hotel was great but not luxurious. In other words perfect. I guess we never quite caught you in Ireland though . Someday perhaps.

Bill

Ande · Veteran Member

Hi Bill,

I enjoyed reading your trip report. May I ask a couple of questions please? At one point, you reference avoiding Waterford at all costs. Why? Traffic? Been there and done that? Waterford is probably going to be on my itinerary this year and I am curious to hear your comments on the city.

I was so pleased to read of your journey to Skellig Michael. I don't know that I'll be able to work it in this year, but it's definitely something I want to do. Such as shame about the unpleasant people on the island though! How many people do you think were on the island at the same time? I was thinking it was severely limited how many people could be there at the same time.

Thanks for sharing your journal with us!

Ande

wojazz3 · Guru

Hi Ande:

Waterford isn't one of my favorite cities but avoiding it in 2006 was entirely due to traffic. I've been in some traffic jams there before and I wanted to see more countryside and less of the back of another car or tour bus. Waterford itself has the crystal factory and Reginalds Tower, but other than that, always feels a bit industrial to me. Granted, I haven't spent a lot of time there. I'm more of a small town guy.

The number of people visiting Skellig is only limited to the number of people that will fit on a boat and the number of boats that can dock. It takes about 10 minutes for a boat to load or unload. Each is given a landing time for both dropping off and picking up. It was very sad to see the way people were treating the site. If I were you and you were in the area, if the weather is reasonable, head for Portmagee and catch a boat. It really is an impressive site and one not to be missed.

Bill

Michele Erdvig · Host

Bill,

You are off to Ireland again at the end of the week. I want to wish you bon voyage!

Michele

wojazz3 · Guru

I made it back and I'm alive and well. I'll have some quick notes for you soon.

Bill

Michele Erdvig · Host

Bill,

Welcome home. I am glad to hear you survived another trip to Ireland and have returned intact. I posted a note for you in the main forum. Hope all went well.

Michele