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Paul Simon or bust… Our Dublin getaway! Part two

We left Stuttgart on the morning of Thursday, July 12th. I was pretty ready to go, since it had been awhile since our last foray out of Germany on an airplane. It’s not that I like air travel. It’s more that I’ve kind of been itching to go somewhere besides France or Switzerland. The last time we went outside of France or Germany was in February, when we hit the Czech Republic for a long weekend. Because we often travel with the dogs, we are kind of hindered in where we can go. Also, it’s taken Bill some time to build up enough off time to go somewhere beyond the immediate border countries.

We got up early on the morning of our departure, loaded up the dogs and all of their junk, packed up our suitcases, and headed off to Leinfelden, where the dogs would spent the long weekend with Max at Dog Holiday and we would board our first plane to the Emerald Isle. I don’t usually accompany Bill when he takes the dogs to Max’s, but in the interest of not looking like a negligent dog mom, I went in with him this time. Max and his wife, Chris, always take great care of our dogs and they love going to see them. It’s comforting to see my dogs greet Chris with much affection.

After the dogs were dropped off, we headed for the airport. Bill dropped me off with the bags, parked the car, and joined me as we found our way to Lufthansa’s check in desk. There was a family of Germans doing some business with the business class agent, holding up the line. Several people were ahead of us and finally got so exasperated, they went to the line for economy. Bill and I weren’t particularly in a hurry, so we waited and another agent came along and checked us in. The German family with their many, many bags were still being helped when we finished checking in. I don’t know what the issue was, but clearly it was a big and time consuming problem.

With our bags dropped, we headed for Lufthansa’s lounge, which like all the other lounges is on the second floor of the airport. I didn’t bother to take pictures of it this time, mainly because I’ve taken pictures in previous posts and nothing has really changed. It’s just a big room with comfortable chairs, free WiFi, televisions, and snacks. I have become accustomed to using lounges when I fly and I’ve found that they do make the experience somewhat less stressful on a multi-leg journey. The lounges are usually quieter and less obnoxious than the main airport and “free” beer is always a good thing.

Our first flight took us to Frankfurt, which is a huge and kind of old airport. The flight to Frankfurt from Stuttgart is super short– maybe twenty minutes or so. Nevertheless, they still fed us. We had maybe ten minutes to scarf down a snack of bread, fruit, and cheese, which came with a side of chocolate. I saved the chocolate for later. Business class on Lufthansa is kind of boring, but you do get a few perks, like an empty seat next to you. The seats are otherwise just like the ones in economy class. You get a snack or a meal and free booze, and supposedly “priority” handling of your luggage and a quicker security check, as well as the right to check two bags without having to pay extra. If I can afford it, I try to go business class. I find it makes the trip more pleasant for everyone.

“Freiraum” is always welcome on airplanes… especially when you have wide hips.

“Special” accommodations in business class.

In Frankfurt, we had a four hour layover. It’s good that we had so much time, since besides having a long walk to our gate, we also had to go through passport control. Ireland is not part of the Schengen Zone, which is an important thing to remember when you’re planning your flights and don’t come from a European country. If you go to the United Kingdom or Ireland or anywhere not in the Schengen Zone, you will have to wait in line. Sometimes the lines are pretty obnoxious, which was the case on Thursday, when it backed up all the way past the food court.

We were standing behind a nice looking Mexican family, who appeared to be grandparents with their grandson. They were very well-dressed and civilized, even when the abuelo reminded a veiled Muslim lady that she needed to wait in line like everyone else. I couldn’t help but feel a little sad about the current state of affairs between the United States and Mexico right now. To be honest, the current state of affairs in the United States was a constant topic of conversation on this trip, although no one was overtly unkind to us because we’re from the United States. Still, Trump’s policies did have an affect on our travels if only because people we met were asking “WTF?” a lot. Believe me, I ask the same thing on a daily basis.

We got to the window at passport control. The guy who checked our passports looked all of about 18 years old and had no sense of urgency. He paged through our passports, looking for evidence that we’ve been in Germany legally for the past four years. He finally found our SOFA cards at the back of the passports, smiled, and sent us on our way. I was kind of relieved that he knew about the Status of Forces Agreement. It’s been my experience that some folks at passport control have never seen the cards and we have to explain. That was kind of what happened to us yesterday in Munich, but I’ll get into that story later.

Anyway, once we got through passport control, we spent our lengthy layover in one of Frankfurt Airport’s many Lufthansa lounges. It was a pretty boring afternoon until I started singing Monty Python songs to Bill. That never fails to crack him up. And again, there’s free wine and beer, of which we took full advantage.

A common sight in Lufthansa lounges.

Our flight to Dublin was trouble free and by 5:30pm local time, we were picking up our bags. Although we flew business class and our bags were supposed to be offloaded first, we happened to be on the plane with a large group of Spanish kids. The hilarious cab driver who took us into the city explained that Spain and Italy send a lot of young people to Ireland so they can learn English. It appeared that a fresh group from Spain arrived with us last Thursday. They were kind of fun to watch. It doesn’t seem like that long ago that I was that young and awkward. Now, I’m just awkward.

I enjoyed the helpful signs in baggage claim. I don’t know how many people this sign has helped… are you ever thinking of driving when you’re picking up your bags?

Our bags were probably the last to make it off of the plane. Consequently, we ended up in the cab line behind another American couple who had been on our flight. I knew they were American simply by looking at them, but there was another big clue hanging off of their luggage. The male half of the couple was a consular officer in Milan, Italy. The tag on his wife’s luggage gave his name, address, phone number, and job title. I noticed that he had positioned his tag so that it faced down, but hers was face up, revealing a lot of information about them. Bill noticed it, too. My good deed of the day is to remind all of you out in Internetland to be careful about what you reveal to people when you travel. I suppose I could have been really obnoxiously outspoken and said, “Hi Patrick!” to the guy in front of us, leaving him to wonder how I know him. But despite popular belief, I’m not really that brash.

I liked this sign, too. I think we should post a few of them in the United States.

The cab driver who took us to Dublin was hilarious. He started out kind of quiet, but was soon warmly welcoming us to Ireland, complete with dropping the f-bomb several times. We got caught in rush hour traffic, you see. Every other word was “fookin'”, which I thought was pretty funny. The cab driver was telling us about how Ireland has been experiencing a drought and all of the grass is scorched, which is a rare thing in the country known for being the most green. Like other chatty Irish cabbies, he also told us about how safe Dublin is and how much he loves the city, even as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s recent visit caused significant backups downtown.

Before too long, our driver had delivered us safely to the Merrion Hotel, where a man in a top hat was quick to rush over and grab our bags. He offered his hand to take my backpack and I shook it, which caused a moment of awkwardness for us both… I guess that’s a sign that I’m not used to posh living!

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Paul Simon or bust… Our Dublin getaway! Part one

Going back to Ireland for a stop on our year of concerts…

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how Bill and I have dubbed 2018 as our year of concerts. Bill and I aren’t usually concertgoers, but we’ll definitely drop some cash on tickets for certain shows. On June 30th, we both saw The Rolling Stones for the first time and were absolutely blown away by the experience, obnoxious as it was. Although the Stones was the first show we’ve seen so far, it was not the first concert I bought tickets to. I think that honor probably belongs to Elton John, who announced his farewell tour. Bill and I haven’t seen him either, but he’s coming to Stuttgart next year. I bought tickets to his show, then got on a roll buying other tickets.

And then James Taylor announced on Facebook that he and Bonnie Raitt would be joining Paul Simon for a few dates on his Homeward Bound tour. Now… as a child of the 70s and 80s, of course I like Paul Simon’s music. I couldn’t get through my childhood without hearing his greatest hits with former musical partner Art Garfunkel. My dad was a big fan of theirs. I have always liked Paul Simon, although at least prior to Friday night’s show in Dublin, not quite as much as I did James Taylor and Bonnie Raitt. Of the three on the bill, I was the most excited about seeing James play again. This was my third time seeing him play live.

The idea of seeing James, Bonnie, and Paul appealed, as did going to Dublin in the summer. Last time we were there was my first time– back in November 2016. The weather wasn’t exactly stellar. We spent three nights there before we moved on to the west coast of Ireland. The hotel I chose that first time was nice, but not in the part of the city most conducive to seeing Dublin. Plus, our time there was eaten by trips to Kilkenny to see the Smithwick’s Visitor’s Center and doing the Guinness tour. Bill had also never been to Dublin during the summer, although he has been to Ireland once more than I have. With his blessing, I ordered us tickets in February… and promptly lost them by June.

We don’t usually lose things at our house because Bill and I are both hoarders. But we’re also getting old and forgetful. Somehow, the tickets to the show I was most looking forward to got misplaced. I had to call Ticketmaster Ireland to get new ones issued. Fortunately, that wasn’t as onerous a task as online reviewers had led me to believe. We just called them on a Saturday morning and a young woman with a charming Irish lilt verified my payment details and sent duplicates. I’m so glad we went to the trouble. The show was absolutely incredible– as good or probably even better than the Stones’ show was. It’s too bad Paul Simon says he won’t be doing any more big tours.

I decided I wanted this particular trip to be as comfortable as possible. I used Expedia to book us a room at Dublin’s Merrion Hotel, which is reputed to be the best in the city. I also got us business class tickets on Lufthansa with flights laying over in Frankfurt on the way to Dublin and Munich on the way back. We booked the dogs for four nights with Uncle Max and Bill arranged for the time off, so we could leave last Thursday morning and come back today. Four nights made for a nice break, and gave us the chance to see a few places we missed the first time we visited Dublin.

As usual, this will be a series. That means there will be several posts, along with lots of pictures. I hope those who read this first post will follow along as I write up the whole weekend, although I know not everyone will be interested. My travel tends to be very adult oriented and full of stories about people we meet and things we see, rather than stuff we do. However, if you’re interested in reading about the hotel, restaurants we tried, and our activities, I highly recommend staying the course.

This is a concert I will never… ever… forget. It was just awesome. As amazed as I was by The Rolling Stones, I was even more blown away by this show, for which tickets cost me significantly less money.

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Guinness cake and Celtic tunes…

I had some tentative plans to do something today, but the weather was absolutely shitty. It’s been dark and cloudy all day and the fine folks at Weather.com were calling for snow. At the very least, we were assured of cold, damp, misty weather. So, although we certainly could have ventured out to a restaurant, my husband Bill and I decided to stay in, listen to Celtic music, drink beer, and bake.

I didn’t get Bill to put on his new County Donegal kilt… but I did get a photo of our family crests… or mine, anyway.

I am a fan of the Dublin Airport. I’ll be back in July.

Okay… so in fairness, Bill did the baking. But he made a cake that I made first and, I must say, he did a good job of it. We haven’t cut into it yet, but we’ve had enough of the crumbs to know it won’t disappoint after tonight’s dinner of lobster tails and champagne. Yes, my husband knows how to take care of his lady… or as Lyle Lovett would put it, “She’s no lady, she’s my wife…”

I really wanted to play this at my wedding. Maybe if we make it to twenty years?

Those of you who are curious about the recipe for Guinness cake can find the recipe linked to the New York Times’ Web site. For everyone else, here are a few pictures.

Bill readies the supplies…

For the cake and for me…

Bill models the German apron I got him for Christmas.

If our kitchen weren’t so pathetically tiny, I’d think we were on a cooking show.

Sugar… two cups worth… and other necessities for the cake.

Next, Bill heats up a cup of Guinness.

And blends the sugar…

Adds the cocoa powder we purchased at a chocolatier in Ribeauville, France.

The batter is about ready to blend with the chocolate and beer.

All set…

The chocolate batter is ready for the oven, where it will bake for about 45 minutes…

The finished cake, ready for cooling. It’s rich, chocolatey, and smells heavenly.

And… the finished product. Some people like to add a little Bailey’s to the frosting. I did when I made it, but Bill elected not to. I once brought this cake to a picnic and a lot of people didn’t want their kids to eat it because it had beer in it. But it’s one cup of rather weak beer… It’s not going to get you or your kids drunk, I promise. On the other hand, if you don’t want to eat it, that’s okay. More for me!

This is a pretty easy recipe and it can be fun to bake it, especially since it only calls for about half a beer. The rest is for you! I am not posting the recipe here because I don’t want any goons to come after me for copyright infringement. But if you want the recipe and don’t want to visit the New York Times Web site, just let me know.

http://www.singsnap.com/karaoke/e/b2997e6cb

No one will listen to this, but since I’ve been drinking…

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, y’all!

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Every girl’s crazy ’bout a kilted man…

Three months ago, Bill and I were in Glasgow, Scotland, about to embark on our fourth cruise on Hebridean Princess. While we were in Glasgow, we stopped into a kiltmaker’s shop and got Bill fitted for a kilt of his very own. We decided to do it because we both love visiting Scotland, especially on Hebridean Princess. Kilts are very welcome on that ship. On all of our previous cruises on Hebridean Princess, Bill wore his dress blues on the formal nights. The uniform, like kilts and tuxedos, has always been well-received on the ship.

Bill retired from the Army in 2014 and there comes a point at which it gets harder to do justice to the Army dress uniform. I also learned that it might not even be appropriate for a retiree to wear the uniform on a cruise, though I doubt anyone would “bust” Bill on such a British cruise. On each of our voyages, we have been among a very small number of Americans, none of whom have been affiliated with the military. In fact, we have found that the Army uniform is quite a conversation starter, especially among the Brits who have also served in the military. However, I was dying to see Bill in a kilt and kept pestering him to get one. He finally gave in and indulged me.

While we were in Berlin, the finished kilt arrived. Our very kind neighbor accepted our box for us while we were out of town. Bill got the whole package, which included everything except a shirt and a belt and buckle. Last night, he tried on his new Scottish duds.

Bill decided not to put on the Ghillie brogues (shoes), although they were included. Below is a video I made of the kiltmaker showing us how the shoes should be tied. He also didn’t put on the kilt pin, which was included.

The tartan used is County Donegal, since our last name is Irish. Bill’s surname originated in Donegal. The jackets are made in Donegal.

It took just under three months for the kilt to be made. I think it’s because the tartan we used had to be ordered. Otherwise, we probably would have had the kilt in late October or early November. The kiltmaker made the kilt by hand and the quality is excellent. It set Bill back about 900 GBP (approximately $1300). But again, everything except the shirt was included in that price, even socks. And Scots are not supposed to wear underwear under the kilt. On the other hand, Bill is Irish. 😉

Anyway, for those who are wondering who made this marvelous outfit, here’s the link to the man responsible. We are very pleased with the finished product, even though we probably could have had it made faster and cheaper at one of the other, larger kiltmakers. I would highly recommend James Robertson Kiltmaker if you’re ever in Glasgow and looking to be kilted.

Ten Things I Learned

Ten things I learned on our trip to Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Ireland…

From Mount Stewart House’s beautiful gardens…

It’s that time again. When Bill and I take trips, I like to sum them up with a “ten things I learned” post. Although we’ve been to Scotland three times and we visited Ireland last fall, this cruise on Hebridean Princess took us to Northern Ireland for the very first time. You wouldn’t think there would be that much of a difference between Ireland and Northern Ireland… and, I guess, there isn’t that much in terms of how it looks and how warm the people are. But we learned that there’s still some tension over the fact that Ireland and Northern Ireland are divided. I will get more into that with this list. For now, here’s the countdown in no particular order.

10. There are a whole lot of Presbyterians in Northern Ireland!

I was born and raised Presbyterian, although I am not really a churchgoer these days. To be honest, when I did used to go to church, I didn’t know that much about it. I simply went because my parents made me. It wasn’t until I was in college and worked as the cook at a Presbyterian church camp that I learned about what I was supposed to believe and realized that it’s a very Scottish religion. Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised to see so many Presbyterian churches in Northern Ireland, but when we visited Derry, our tour guide told us the story of Presbyterians in that large city. We visited the First Derry Presbyterian Church and The Blue Coat School Visitor Centre and I came to realize just how prevalent the faith is there.

9. There’s still a lot of tension between British people and Irish people over Northern Ireland’s inclusion in the United Kingdom.

I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised that many Irish people would like to see their island nation reunited the way Germany has reclaimed its east. As we listened to our Irish tour guide in Carlingford talk about growing up in Northern Ireland and visiting the Republic, I got a firsthand account of a man’s experience having to pass through checkpoints during a very volatile period in Irish history. I had sympathy for our Irish guide’s viewpoints, although I admittedly don’t know as much about the subject as I should.

8. Bill knows a lot about Irish folklore.

My husband seemed to impress a number of other passengers about how much he knows about Irish folklore. It’s a special interest of his, since he has a lot of Irish ancestry. He took a course at American University when he was a college student and learned a lot of the old stories. It came in handy during our tour of Carlingford.

7. The city of Derry has a connection to Harvey’s Bristol Cream, a favorite sherry of ours.

Although I’d be hard pressed to accurately retell the story as our tour guide told it, I was very surprised to find out how Bishop Harvey in Derry had a connection to Harvey’s Bristol Cream.

6. If you visit an Irish restaurant in the Republic, you’re liable to hear old fashioned country music.

Yes, I know country music comes from Scotland, Ireland, and the other isles up there, but I sure wasn’t expecting to hear “The Ballad of Jed Clampitt” in an Irish restaurant as we were discussing Irish folklore. The music moved on nicely to “D-I-V-O-R-C-E” by Tammy Wynette and a number of other feel good classics from when I was a wee lass in the 70s.

5. I learned more about the plight of Catholics in Northern Ireland.

Although I had heard a little about Catholic oppression by the British when we were in Ireland last November, I learned a bit more about religious persecution on this trip. For example, when we visited Derry, our guide explained that the Catholics were mostly very poor and were forced to settle in a marshy area of the city. Because they were so poor and many people often lived in one home, they were underrepresented in elections. For years, only one person in a Catholic household was allowed to vote and they really suffered because of that rule, which only changed in the late 1960s.

4. Every year in Carlingford, people are allowed to hunt Leprechauns for one day.

Our tour guide in Carlingford, a man named Dermott, explained that the town of Carlingford has a fund raiser that allows people to go up in the hills and “hunt” for Leprechauns. It is technically illegal to hunt for them on any other day of the year.

3. Crossing the border into Ireland from Northern Ireland is a non-event… for now.

Dermott, our guide in Carlingford, told us that as a young man, he had to submit to extreme vehicle searches whenever he wanted to visit Ireland. Although he was born and raised in Northern Ireland, Dermott considers himself Irish and wants to see the island united as one country unto itself. He told us of having the wheels and seats taken out of his car when he was a young man as border patrols looked for bombs or other weapons. Today, one can cross into Ireland and not even notice. But if Brexit comes to pass, that may change.

2. Mount Stewart is a beautiful place!

Bill and I had the pleasure of visiting Scotland’s amazing Mount Stuart House in Bute, Scotland, on our first Hebridean cruise. As the crow flies, Northern Ireland’s Mount Stewart isn’t that far away. It’s also a very impressive place. I really enjoyed the gardens at Mount Stewart, although I think I like Mount Stuart’s house a little more.

1. The Titanic Experience in Belfast is amazing… and amazingly crowded!

I really didn’t know much about the Titanic, the ill fated cruise ship, before we visited Belfast last week. I still don’t know that much about it because the Titanic Experience, while very comprehensive and impressive, is positively loaded with people. I overheard some passengers on our cruise saying that France’s exhibit in Cherbourg is better. Perhaps we will visit there and see for ourselves.

We really enjoyed ourselves in Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Ireland. I hope someday we will get to return. At the very least, I need to sit down and watch the movie, Titanic. I can’t believe I still haven’t seen it in the 20 years it’s been out. Maybe this weekend…

Hebridean Island Cruises

Scotland and Northern Ireland 2017, Part twelve…

After our beer break, we got dressed up for dinner. I put on an old black dress and wore a pretty red wool shawl. I kind of regret wearing the shawl, because as we were enjoying champagne, somehow I had a brainfart and accidentally spilled some on my shawl. Now I have a small stain that also got on Bill’s jacket. Nevertheless, we had a nice dinner.

A visible sunset as we left Belfast.

A self-portrait… searching for evidence of liver failure in my eyes.

This picture was taken right after the pilot disembarked the Hebridean Princess. These guys are amazing. They just walk off the ship as it’s moving and jump onto their little vessels. I wish I had gotten it on film because it was really gutsy. I wondered if any of those guys ever missed and ended up in the water.

More fish for me…

And more meat for Bill.

I enjoy cheesecake.

Bill enjoys a cheese course.

Incidentally, if you ever want tea in your room, Hebridean has you covered.

After dinner, we went to bed early. Or, at least I think that’s what we did… After you’ve been on the ship for awhile, the days start to run together. I mostly hang out by myself with my dogs, so all the company was a little overwhelming. But the nice thing about this trip was that most everyone was pleasant enough. There weren’t any obviously obnoxious people onboard. On our previous cruise, we weren’t so lucky and there was a woman onboard who demanded to be the center of attention the whole time. I know I have my own obnoxious moments, but this lady had me beat by a mile. What made it worse was that she was an American and seemed to resent that there were other Americans on the ship. Anyway… we had a rather low key crowd this time and most people got along, at least on the surface. That was a real blessing.

In the morning, I decided to have oatmeal with a wee dram of whisky. If you have never tried this and you like scotch, this is a nice twist.

Bill had poached eggs with back bacon. The chef also threw in some “streaky bacon”, which I helped Bill eat.

Saturday morning, we spent cruising southward to Carlingford, which is a border town in the Republic of Ireland. To be honest, I’m not really sure why we went to this town. It was probably the least popular of the stops. I actually enjoyed our visit well enough for several reasons, but I heard more than a few people complaining about it. I’ll get to why in a minute. I took the opportunity to blog that morning while other people read books or sat around and enjoyed the scenery… or maybe had a gin & tonic.

It was time for lunch and Bill had a cauliflower soup that came with cheese toast. He said it was really comforting. I don’t like cauliflower much, so I skipped it.

I had duck confit for lunch, which came with a Thai salad with peanut dressing. I probably would have liked the salad, except it was full of mushrooms. Our waiter forgot my speech about how much I hate fungus. Oh well. I gave it to Bill, who enjoyed it.

Bill had a sandwich. Love how they serve their sandwiches with no crusts. It was like being back in kindergarten.

For dessert, I had Eton Mess. I think on past cruises, it was made with raspberries, but this time it was made with strawberries, meringues, and berries. It was very yummy!

Bill had bread pudding with chocolate ice cream, also very good and comforting as the weather turned wet.

After lunch, we all got on the bus and went to Carlingford. It was raining and dreary, though a few local guides were hired to show us around the town. The guide who spoke to us on the bus was an Irish guy named Dermott. I noticed he spoke with a lot of “uhs and ums”, which I found rather distracting. However, despite all the “uhs and ums”, what Dermott was telling us was interesting. He told us he was born in Newry, Northern Ireland and grew up there, although he considered himself Irish. This is an important revelation, given what happened next.

The bus let us off at the edge of town and we split into three groups. Dermott was to take the people who didn’t want to see as much. Because I really needed to pee and didn’t want to walk around in the wet weather, I chose his group, although Bill was wanting a longer walk. I told Bill he could join another group, but he likes to stick with me. So we followed Dermott around and he very excitedly told us about Carlingford.

Dermott started with this arch… and I was very glad I had an umbrella and Dermott explained the jail was in the arch and that people were routinely hanged there back in the day…

The entrance to the “jail”. I didn’t venture inside because I had a feeling it has been used for something other than jailing people. There was also a lot of trash in the cell.

More views of the town. It was at this point that Dermott told us about the annual Leprechaun hunt that happens in Carlingford. It is technically illegal to hunt Leprechauns in Ireland, except on one special day per year. Have a look.

The above three photos are of a house that belonged to a wealthy merchant. Dermott explained that whoever owned the house, referred to as the “mint” in Carlingford, although no money was ever made there, was very rich.

I think I was more interested in the pubs…

At this point, things started taking a bit of a turn. Dermott was telling us Thomas D’Arcy McGee, a Catholic Irishman who had vowed that if he ever betrayed his country, he should “die like a dog”. He hated British rule, so he worked to overthrow the British rule so that Ireland could be independent. McGee later went to the United States and Canada and became wealthy. Later, he was assassinated.

To be honest, I wasn’t paying very close attention to Dermott, because the weather had gotten worse. However, some of the elderly Brits in the group were listening and apparently getting a bit agitated. Dermott made it clear that he had Nationalist leanings.

We walked around some more and checked out this old castle ruin…

Then we went into a small museum that was recently opened. While we were in the museum, one of the other passengers took Dermott to task because he said he wanted to see Ireland reunited.

I stared at this exhibit as the atmosphere got a little bit more heated. Dermott was unfortunately bull baited into a political confrontation.

For Bill and me, it was an interesting spectacle, not unlike some of the controversy surrounding the North and the South in the United States. But, as we had no dog in the fight, we were free to simply observe without getting upset. We could tell some of the Britons were offended by Dermott’s comments about how he wanted to see Ireland reunited. I was interested in what he was saying, since he grew up when there was an actual physical barrier between Northern Ireland and the Republic. Dermott’s ten year old son, who happened to be getting fish and chips while we were on our tour, waved to us. Dermott explained how he had to describe to his boy how, when he was a young man, he had to go through police checkpoints to get to Ireland from his home in the north. He said guards actually took the wheels off his car and took out seats to check for bombs and the like.

To be honest, I totally understood Dermott’s viewpoints. If I were Irish, I would probably feel much the same way he does. However, it was kind of clear that some of the British folks in our group were getting irritated by his comments and wanted to be rid of him.

As we were leaving the museum, one passenger said to me that she had felt like walking out. As someone who isn’t British, I didn’t have the same feelings. But I could see that quite a few people were upset.

Next it was time for coffee and cake. We went into another tea room, where they were playing country music from the 60s and 70s. I had to laugh when I heard the “Ballad of Jed Clampitt”. I posted about it on Facebook because it cracked me up. I had to laugh even harder when a Facebook friend, who doesn’t know me offline, tried to explain to me where country music comes from. He doesn’t know I am myself a musician and a fan of a broad array of musical styles. But thanks anyway, dude. The above lemon cake was delicious, but we were a bit rushed in eating it (actually, lemon was just one of several choices, but it was a good one.)

Then Bill probably annoyed people because Dermott, who was still talking as we were waiting for cake and tea, had started talking about Irish folk tales he’d heard from his father. Bill, who is a fan of Irish literature and studied it in college, piped up with more information which turned out to be superior to what the guide was telling us. I have a feeling people would have been more willing to listen to Dermott had he not offended them, though Bill was enjoying talking to him about Irish folklore. Later, a couple of passengers congratulated Bill on his knowledge. I think they were being sincere, although it was probably because Dermott had annoyed a lot of them.

Then Dermott said he didn’t like huge cruise ships and he thought perhaps the really big ones pump oxygen into the casinos to keep people awake and gambling. Apparently, this is a practice in Las Vegas, although I have never been to Vegas and probably wouldn’t gamble if I did go there. I have only been on one large cruise ship and it was my observation that the place was full of cigarette smoke, not oxygen. He did say he’d live on Hebridean Princess. I can’t say I blame him. Aside from being a tour guide, Dermott is also a sound engineer. Incidentally, Snopes says the oxygen pumping claim is false.

This was where we had tea, cake, and fractious discussion… while music from the 60s and 70s played. It’s probably a nice place to spend an evening.

We got back on the boat, greeted by David and lots of little shooters of rum punch. It was just enough time to get cleaned up and ready for dinner. Damn, I ate a lot on this cruise…

I actually really enjoyed this starter, which was a breaded, deep fried, poached egg with asparagus and Hollandaise sauce and some kind of jelly I can’t identify at the moment.

Bill had a tart made of smoked trout, I think…

This was supposed to be lobster bisque and it was good, though it was missing cream.

I had Dover sole with cream sauce and vegetables.

Bill had chicken with mushroom sauce.

Then a slice of pie for Bill…

And a delicious lemon pudding with an almond cookie for me. They used another word other than pudding, but it escapes me at the moment. It was kind of like mousse, only not as light.

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At home at The Water’s Edge…

I realize I’ve been writing about Ireland for many days now, but I promised some people in the local Facebook group that I would post a review of our stay at The Water’s Edge, a self catering cottage in County Sligo, Ireland.

I found The Water’s Edge on Booking.com about a month ago, when I was searching for a place to stay in County Donegal. As it turns out, The Water’s Edge is in Sligo, but I decided to book it because it’s literally yards away from the Atlantic Ocean. I was also very impressed by the price of the cottage, which was 440 euros for five nights (plus heating and electricity).

Besides being in a prime location, The Water’s Edge is right next to The Beach Bar, which is a great place to have a pint as well as learn how to surf! At this time of year, The Beach Bar only offers food three nights a week. We were also told that the bar will be closing for about six months while extensive renovations are done. We feel fortunate that we were able to check it out when we were visiting. It’s a really neat little place.

Once I booked the cottage, I got an email from Helen, the proprietor. She was great to work with and very friendly and welcoming. Indeed, when we arrived at the cottage, we found that Helen had it all ready for us and had even left us a couple of bottles of wine and some chocolates. She remembered that I’d mentioned we were celebrating our anniversary and left us a lovely note along with the welcome gift.

The Water’s Edge has a well equipped kitchen, with a dishwasher, oven, stove, and microwave. There’s a generously sized table that faces a wood stove, where you can burn peat to keep the cottage toasty warm. Electricity is provided on a meter that you must drop two euro coins into. We don’t know how long two euros keeps the lights going, but if you choose to book, be sure to have some two euro coins available. We also paid about 70 euros or so for heating.

There are three bedrooms and six people can be comfortably accommodated. There are two bathrooms, one of which is equipped with facilities for disabled patrons. There’s plenty of parking, too.

The sitting room offers a television with satellite service, as well as a stereo that will connect with an MP3 player. It was great to light a fire, open some wine, and listen to music while we watched the surf from the half door facing the ocean. WiFi is free and it works very well!

One night, we went into town for our anniversary dinner. Our waiter knew Helen! I have a feeling she is well-known in the Sligo area, since she has two properties to rent! We noticed an article hung on the wall about her family, which is well known for farming as well as Irish dancing and music!

The only complaint I had about The Water’s Edge is that the double beds were indeed double beds, rather than queen sized. While we were able to sleep fine, it was a bit cozier than we’re used to. But really, this cottage had everything we needed. We even managed to do a little bit of laundry, which was a real blessing that spared me from having to do a whole lot when we got home last night.

I would have liked to have seen more of Sligo, but it was such a pleasure to have such a nice place to stay in during the inclement weather. If nothing else, we could watch the ever changing sea and enjoy each other’s company. Pets are not allowed at this property.

There is a grocery store in nearby Ballysadare, maybe twenty or thirty minutes away. Ballysadare also has a couple of bars and restaurants, though we didn’t have a chance to visit them.

I would not hesitate to recommend The Water’s Edge to anyone looking for a great beach cottage in western Ireland. It really is a gem and Helen is a delight to work with! Below are some pictures of the property!

A nice welcome!

Master bedroom. It has its own bathroom with a shower.

Sitting room. Loved the reclining chairs.

Kitchen.

Second guest room.

Second bathroom.

Third guest room.

Coin operated meter for electricity.

The Beach Bar!

View from the half door in the kitchen!

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Ten things I learned in Ireland…

Now that our long awaited trip to Ireland is finished, it’s time to reflect upon what I learned while we were there. Here goes!

10. People surf in Ireland year round. It sounds crazy, but surfing is a thing in Ireland. Where we stayed, a person could sign up for lessons. And they were very reasonably priced, too! I think I saw a sign advertising an hour lesson for 25 euros or so at the bar next to our little cottage.

9. W.B. Yeats is buried in County Sligo. As a former English major, I couldn’t help but take note that the famous Irish poet is buried in Sligo and you can stop and check out his grave.

8. A lot of Irish bars play terrible pop music. This may not be the case for every bar in Ireland. I just noticed that really bad pop music was playing in quite a few of the bars we visited. I have a new appreciation for the Auld Rogue!

7. Irish people say “you’s” a lot. As a southerner, I have noticed when I go to Pennsylvania or Maryland, I often hear people say “you’s”, as in “You’s need to come over for dinner sometime.” I noticed the same thing when we were in Ireland. I’m sure it has to do with the number of Irish immigrants who settled in the northeastern United States.

6. Free WiFi is ubiquitous in Ireland! Coming from Germany, where free WiFi is rare, it was quite a treat to find Internet connections so wide open in Ireland. Even at the airport, it was free to surf. Germany needs to get with the program!

5. Ireland reminds me a lot of America. Of all the countries I’ve visited in Europe, Ireland reminds me of America the most. I thought England reminded me of the States, but Ireland tops the UK in terms of similarities. I heard American accents on the television and radio and saw a lot of references to American culture. Every bar we went to was selling Budweiser and Coors beers, too.

4. Shopping is a thing on Sundays! When we were in Dublin the first Sunday, I was surprised to see that many stores were open and it was a bit of a madhouse. The lady who rented us the cottage in Sligo said that Sundays are when a lot of people who work all week get to do their marketing. I was surprised by that, since Ireland is also very Catholic!

3. Before you go looking for famous Irish cliffs, it pays to check your GPS. We spent a long time driving to a town looking for cliffs. Sadly, we ended up in the wrong place and missed our chance. The weather was too horrible to try again later in the week.

2. There are areas where Gaelic is the main language. When we drove north on our failed mission to see Irish cliffs, we ended up in an area where all the signs were in Gaelic. It was pretty cool to see how the Irish are holding on to their language, even though English has really taken over there.

1. Sometimes it pays to talk to kids on trains. I will confess that when we ran into a large group of youngsters on our way to Kilkenny, I was a little perturbed. But they turned out to be a highlight of our trip for making us laugh hard and often. I will always remember that group of boys on the train very fondly as they expressed incredulity that we’d want to vacation in Ireland because “it’s awful!” Too funny!

We really didn’t do as much as I would have liked while we were in Ireland. However, I will say that we found a fantastic rental by the ocean and being there to smell the salt air, watching the tide and the surfers, and taking lots of gorgeous photos was not a bad way to spend our time. I hope we can visit Ireland again. Now I want to venture to the south!

Surf’s up!

Celebrations

Celebrating 14 years in Ireland! Part twelve

We spent Saturday driving from Sligo to Dublin, eventually stopping in Mullingar for lunch. As luck would have it, the weather happened to be beautiful on Saturday. It would have been a great day to explore Sligo and the surrounding areas. Ah well. Now we have an excuse to go back to western Ireland.

We stumbled across the Newbury Hotel in Mullingar after a quick search. The hotel was old fashioned and kind of cute. I wished we could stay there a night instead of in Dublin. It was a nice place to have lunch, though. It appeared to be very popular with the locals, who were sitting around two televisions. One was tuned to a rugby game and the other, which was closest to where Bill and I were sitting, was set to a steeplechase.

Oops!

Obligatory shot of Bill.

I grew up around horses, so I’m always attracted to equestrian sports. I don’t remember seeing a lot of steeplechase in the United States, but it appeared to be a very popular sport in Ireland. There were several guys watching the races. Bill noticed that some of the horses had full body clips, which I had to explain to him. Sometimes, horses involved in serious competitive sports have all of their body hair clipped off. It makes for easier grooming as well as allows them to keep cool if they grow a heavy winter coat.

Steeplechase!

Anyway, the steeplechase kept us occupied while we waited for lunch. A handsome but somewhat inept young fellow brought us a couple of overflowing Guinnesses. I had a bacon panini and Bill had a chicken and cheese “whoppie”, which was basically like a panini made with tomato bread. The sandwiches were served with excellent chips (french fries).

Nice hotel!

Mullingar looked like a pleasant town.

After lunch, we finished our drive to Dublin. I had booked us a room at the Clayton Hotel Dublin Airport. We had a real problem getting to the hotel because it was located in a strange area. Bill made several wrong turns before he finally managed to get there… just in time to run into a huge influx of people. It turned out someone was having their wedding reception at the hotel and we happened to arrive just as they did. The lobby was teeming with people in their Sunday best, swilling Budweiser and obstructing things.

I was pretty tired from the drive and really just wanted to go take a nap. After a speedy check in, we went to our eighth floor “suite”, which was really just a big room. I took a shower and climbed into bed. We spent the evening watching TV over a meal provided by room service. I’m happy to report that the food quality at the Clayton Hotel Dublin Airport was much better than at the Clayton Hotel in downtown Dublin.

Unfortunately, the wedding party then proceeded to have a very loud reception, complete with blasting music that we could hear in our room. The noise made me very grumpy because I just wanted to rest up for yesterday’s journey back to Germany. Advil PM came to the rescue once again!

Yesterday morning, we got up and went to breakfast, which I had pre-booked. Unfortunately, the guy running breakfast couldn’t seem to find where I had pre-booked. It took a couple of minutes for him to tell us to just go eat and he’d sort it out with the reception. The breakfast at the hotel wasn’t all that good in terms of food quality. Fortunately, there were plenty of things to choose from, from fresh fruits to cereals, that couldn’t be screwed up by someone cooking.

This was the meal we had on our Dublin to Zurich flight. They also had lasagne. I might have had that, but I was too worried about fungus.

After breakfast, we checked out, paying the nine euros to park our rental car in the hotel’s enormous garage. Then we made our way to the airport, where we dropped off the car and checked in at Swiss Air. This was my first time flying Swiss Air. It was great to try it for the first time in business class. In fact, I’d say I liked Swiss Air better than Lufthansa. The food was better and the service was impeccable. Aside from that, the business class lounge at the Zurich Airport is fabulous.

My only complaint was that Bill ended up sitting behind me instead of next to me. The lady sitting next to me had a daughter who sat across the aisle from her, so we weren’t the only ones a little put out by the seating arrangement. But the flight was only one hour and forty minutes, so it was no big deal. I noticed the flight attendants made a point of being nice to the lady’s little girl and even invited her to go see the cockpit.

We had a long layover in Zurich, which we spent in the Swiss Air Business lounge after we got through passport control. Once again, I had to explain SOFA to the lady who looked at my passport. I guess next time, I’ll give her my military ID, too.

Our flight to Stuttgart was super short– maybe 30 minutes in all. In fact, the pilot turned off the seatbelt sign, only to turn it right back on seconds later. Even though it was a short flight, we were still given a snack and a drink in business class and it was actually edible. Our Stuttgart flight was on Austrian Airlines. It was a turbo prop aircraft. Everyone in business class got an empty seat next to them, so Bill sat behind me again.

Edible snack on Austrian/Swiss Air.

Once we picked up our bags in Stuttgart, we were in a hurry to get to Dog Holiday to pick up Zane and Arran. I had been fretting about Zane all week, worried because he had a mast cell tumor removed. As it turned out, Zane was a little out of sorts while we were gone. I’m taking him to the vet on Wednesday, so I’ll have her take a look at him. I did have him on Benadryl, though, so that could have been why he was so listless. Despite that, both dogs were very happy to see us. Arran kept his head on my shoulder the whole way home. Both dogs gave us kisses and were very excited about getting back to their people.

I’m glad to be back, too… although now the heat seems to be off in the house. It’s always something, isn’t it?

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Celebrating 14 years in Ireland! Part eleven

We’re heading back to Dublin today, where we’ll spend one more night by the airport. I’m a little sad to be leaving beautiful County Sligo and our lovely little cottage by the sea. It’s time to go, though. I miss Zane and Arran and there are things that need to be done in Germany. If I’m honest, I also miss my king sized bed.

Yesterday, we did decide to stay in and watch the surf as we listened to music and finished off some of the food and beverages we bought for our stay here. I took many pictures, as you can see.

Around 3:00, we went to the pub next door, had a couple of rounds of beer and a whiskey, and a little bit of food. Although they had a set menu available, we decided to stick with appetizers. Bill had spicy chicken wings and vegetable soup. I had seafood chowder and fried prawns with spicy chili sauce. It’s not lost on me the significance of the spice… The spicier the food is, the more you’ll be drinking!

Last night’s menu. On weekends, the Beach Bar serves food from 1-8, but they stay open until the wee hours of the morning. We ended up on the restaurant side last night.

Bill checks out the selections.

The dining area is very quaint, like the bar is. We were told they will be renovating for six months after next weekend.

Rich seafood chowder and fresh, hearty, brown bread. I will miss this.

Bill’s vegetable soup, which was the soup of the day.

Spicy prawns!

Spicy chicken wings with garlic mayonnaise.

I think our bill came to about 40 euros or so. On Saturday nights after 10:00, the beach bar has live music. I wish we were going to be around for that. I have been itching for some live music since we got here. At least now we have a reason to come back.

Below are some photos I took. The weather has cleared up and it’s warmer… just in time for us to leave. 🙁