Dublin July 27, 2006

We took a bus tour of Dublin, went to St. Patrick's Cathedral where the guide got in an argument with several about Protestants (which she called Lutherans).  Then we went to Dublin castle and had a tour. The bus left us off at Nassau st. where we had lunch and went shopping before heading back to Trinity Capitol Hotel to do some packing.


That evening we headed out to Ryan's Pub where we had a wonderful dinner with Irish coffee, whiskey sampling and listening to Bianca and ??? who had a Pub Crawl CD.

Our flight left the next day 10:45 AM!  Dublin airport was a mess!  It was very disorganized.  After we went through customs, we were trapped in a small waiting room which I recall was very difficult for handicapped to get to down steps. There were no restrooms, food or drink.  Our flight was delayed another  hour (we were fortunate that our connecting flight home was also delayed)  It was a great trip other than getting there and coming home!

Dublin July 26, 2006

After a lecture on Dublin by an American Expat, we went to the James Joyce Center which was certainly interesting. Quotes from his books were on murals and engraved in this cow!

We walked around Dublin, had an early dinner and went to the Abbey Theater to see an all male production of The Importance of Being Earnest.  The theater was not air conditioned.  We all felt sorry for the actors:  lights, double costumes and wigs.

Cork to Dublin, July 25, 2006

We heard a wonderful speaker on Monastic Ireland after breakfast.  Then we drove 2.5 hours to Rock of Cashel.  For more information, click here. Saw most of it after a long hike up the hill.  Then we drove 2.5 hours to Dublin.

St. Patrick's Cross

Our hotel , Trinity Capital Hotel, is a former fire station.  Well, actually the fire station is still there---the bays were under our rooms.  I was afraid we'd be up all night with sirens, but we slept well (they didn't turn on the sirens until they were out of the compound)  After dinner we walked around the hotel.

In the Lobby of the hotel.

Our fearless leader, Stephen Delaney

Cork, July 24, 2006

After a breakfast buffet at the Imperial Hotel, we attended two lectures.  One was Margaret O'Keefe on gender issues in Ireland and the other was a lecture on the history of Cork.

Then we had soup and sandwiches at the hotel and left for Blarney Castle where we walked around the gardens and bought gifts at the Blarney Woolen Mills.

We went to Innishannon House for dinner---beautiful along the river with swans and rose bushes.  After a delicious dinner of salmon or beef, we met Alice Taylor, an author and poet who told stories and read poems about living in rural Ireland.

Killarney to Cork July 23,2006

Drove to Cobh (Cove or Queenstown) which was a major departure point for America:  the Lusitania and Titanic left from here which is the second largest natural bay in the world. It was called Cove until Queen Victoria visited and then it was called Queenstown.  After independence, they decided to go back to "Cove" but gave it a Gaelic spelling.

After a walking tour with Michael Martin, we drove to our beautiful Imperial Hotel.  Our room was beautiful where we could check the internet with a remote keyboard.  This is a historic hotel with antiques in the hall.  Click here for a link.

Killarney, July 22, 2006

We went to Muckross House.  The renovations for Queen Victoria bankrupt the Herbert's who built it.  Second owner was Guiness (beer).  The third owner was an American who received the 11,000 acre estate as a wedding gift.  Upon her death, the estate was donated to Ireland.  Click here for more on Muckross House

We drove the Ring of Kerry, stopping at the Bog Village and later Cahersireen for lunch:  Hake (fried fish), salad, potato salad, Harp beer.

Drove through Sneem with Dave and I getting to ride "in front" back to Killarney.

Killarney July 21, 2006

We didn't sleep very well and woke up at 7:45.  We had no air conditioning, so had to leave our windows open---we were across the street from the movies and over a pub.  We tried to turn the TV on to mask the noise from the commotion outside, but it went off the air at 3 AM and they were still having a great time.

Great Southern Hotel

Batt Burns

Breakfast was poached eggs, toast, Canadian bacon, OJ and tomato.  Then we walked to the Great Southern Hotel where we heart Batt Burns who told stories of Kerry.  He was a great story-teller reminding me of Howard Gleason and Grover Morgan.

Then we boarded the bus and hiked to a presentation on Killarney National Park---flora, fauna, ecology and a little history---this park was begun as a donation from Americans in the 1930's, but the Irish didn't know what a national park was.  We were given 10 Euros for lunch to eat at Danny Mann's put.  Then we walked around and checked email.  Although others went on carriage and boat rides, we rested, watched the British Open and waited for our suitcases to arrive.

After dinner, we went to Siamsa Tire in Tralee for a dance, musical, dramatic production of Clann Lir (Children of Lir) which was spectacular!  We got back to International Hotel about 11 PM.

On Our Way to Ireland 2006

We left St. Louis on July 19, 2006 on one of our 100 degree days.  Little did we know a bad storm would blow in shortly after we left which even blew part of the airport away and left thousands without power for a week.

What we did know was our flight was delayed.  We were supposed to leave at 4:30 for Boston where we had an hour and a half hour layover.  But the flight arrived 40 minutes late because La Guardia had a power outage.  After the plane arrived, maintenance needed to fix a seat.  Then the plane wasn't getting air conditioning.

We didn't leave until 5:30 PM and knew even with them holding the flight, it was going to be tight so I requested a wheel chair for Dave.  I ran for the gate with our carry-ons, but they were still boarding a huge group of 5th-6th graders in the People to People program.  We  took off around 9:30.

We got a new seat assignment in First Class---but the seat was too big for me and in the bulk head so I had nothing to put my feet on.  It was a sleepless night.

The Hotel Lobby

Across the street from the hotel

Hotel is above the shops

We arrived at Shannon, Ireland 8:00 AM---our suitcases did not.  Seven golfers from Bellerive Country Club arrived with no clubs.  Dave filled out the missing luggage report while I went to find the Elderhostel people.  Then, I couldn't get back in.  Finally, I had Dave paged and he joined our group.

At 10 AM we had a buffet breakfast at Woodlands and drove through Adare with thatched roofs.  I fell asleep on the bus and didn't see much.  We arrived at International Hotel in Killarney around 12:45 so our rooms weren't ready.  Dave and I walked around town and had lunch.

After our room was ready, we showered, took another walk and had a meeting with the leaders where we were given a packet of information.

We had salmon for dinner, veggies, salad and rolls.  For dessert, I had fruit but Dave had rhubarb cobbler.