Skip to main content

Lisdoonvarna, Day 5

Day 5 was a busy one! As soon as the girls were dropped off at school, Elle, Peyton, and I hustled out the door and headed west. Along the way, we stopped at Clonmacnoise, a 6th century monastary founded by St. Ciarán. Located on the River Shannon, it's a breathtaking spot and I had the opportunity to study a little more Ogham. The place was crawling with German tourists, which is an odd experience for us. While buying our tickets, I heard one of the workers ask some German tourists if they were Americans and you never heard such a gasp followed by a quick, "NO! We're Germans!!!!" I tried my best not to be offended.
Again, I'm stunned by the beauty of the wildflowers growing in the old stones. There were also a good many crows making their nests in the windows in the round towers.
The River Shannon with a few swans lazily swimming around.
A fairy ring with cows munching in the background.
Peyton among the ruins. Check out the Chairman Meow t-shirt.
I love the font of the script on this headstone.
The sky has been so blue and the weather has been so amazing on this trip. Everywhere we go people are constantly commenting on the unusually good weather and I have to admit, good weather makes for lovely photos.
While in the visitors center, I took lots of photos of relics and "old things" but the picture I like best is this box of jaws, bits of bone, and teeth.
After our tour, we refortified with cups of coffee and tea. I also had a piece of apple pie with creme (alas, it was consumed too quickly for a photo).
It seems like everywhere we go there are these bucolic scenes of cows grazing in fields of wildflowers. For an added bonus, it's also calf season and there are so many gorgeous little baby cows nursing in the fields as we drive by.
On the way to Lisdoonvarna, I snapped this shot of a pub with a handprinted Guinness sign.
I'm not sure what a "donkey derby" is, but I'm guessing it's not great for the donkeys.
Eleanor was really excited about a sign for Boston and insisted I take a photo of it--unfortunately, we were basically in the middle of the road, which explains this hurried shot. However, I have to confess that I love the look on Elle's face!
Once we arrived in Lisdoonvarna, we left Eleanor to nap while we did a quick tour of the town. Here's their adorable library.
 And, some less adorable graffiti.
 And, my adorable husband.
 Slow and local food seemed to be a big deal in Lisdoonvarna--there were these great snail signs all over town.
Peyton enjoying his first pint in the Roadside Tavern. In addition to having plenty of Guinness on tap, they also had local beer from the Burren Brewery on tap.
I loved the interior of the pub--especially the old man drinking a pint at the bar.
This is the town gas station.
Lisdoonvarna is best known for it's annual matchmaking festival. These statues commemorate the event.
Somehow, this is the only photo I took of our rental house. But, here's a link to the listing on Air B&B.
They're a bit out of focus, but this was our view from the bedroom window the next morning.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dublin, Day 2

After sleeping nearly 12 hours, we emerged from our warm cocoon and into the arms of this adorable child who is still waving her little American flag. Actually, moments before this she was sobbing because her mother was leaving for work. But, as I always say, there's nothing that an American flag can't fix (#sarcasm).  Figuring out new mass transit systems is always a challenge. I remember riding the subway in Munich for days without paying because we could never figure out how to buy tickets (in the days before the Internet). According to Eleanor, we're probably the only Americans who have ever taken the Luas from Stillorgan . But, conquer the Luas we did and in the process we learned several things: 1) try to sit so that you're not traveling through the country backwards 2) try to both see and listen to the stop names (said in English and Irish--the first in an accent we're struggling with and the second in a language that is utterly befuddling) and 3) move ou...
1 comment
Read more

Dublin, Day 1

While domestic flights will provide you a small glimpse into what makes human beings both delightful and horrific (sweat pants, 20 carryons, various kinds of drunken businessmen), the international flight is better. Peyton and I often lament about Americans, but we really shine when crammed into an Air Bus 330 and then forced to breath each others' air for eight or more hours. However, it turns out that the cure of exhaustion and jet lag to to be met at the house by an adorable Irish child. To ratchet up the cuteness a notch, add an American flag.  After a giant Irish brunch, Peyton, Eleanor (friend of 20 years and local Irish host extraordinaire), and I headed out to Dalkey--an adorable seaside town about 12 miles south of Dublin. Eleanor lured me in by announcing that there was a 10th Century cemetery at Dalkey Castle --that's all I needed to hear.    Once we arrived at Dalkey Castle, Eleanor bought us tickets for the medieval tour. Moments later, we were o...
Post a Comment
Read more

Lisdoonvarna to Dublin to Belfast, Days 8 & 9

Our last morning in Lisdoonvarna and one last morning walk before a long drive back to Dublin. All around our rental house were a variety of sweet kitties--this one was peeping at us from the neighbor's yard.  On our way to Dublin we stopped for lunch at the Barack Obama Plaza . This place had the two of us in stitches! Apparently, Obama has roots in Moneygall, which is where the plaza is located. Given the often divisive conversations in the U.S. about the role of the president, it's such an odd experience to witness another country loving our president so much. If Trump gets elected, I can't imagine him getting his own plaza anywhere except maybe Russia or North Korea. Once we got home, Peyton and I sent Eleanor and Dermot out for a date night, and we got delicious Indian take away and stayed home with the girls. The next morning we were up bright and early for a 7:00 a.m. pick up in Dublin for our all-day tour of Northern Ireland. Belfast is a couple hour...
1 comment
Read more