FRIDAY

We spent a relatively quiet day. Drove to nearby Mussenden Temple, a National Trust site, and happened to encounter a wedding taking place in the temple. Also met an annoyingly talkative (one way conversationalist) bus driver who was shuttling wedding guests in his restored antique bus. Then we had lunch at a mountain overlook with a view of Benone Strand.

SATURDAY

This was the longest driving day of the trip, so we didn’t expect to have much to do, but there were two unexpected developments and a wonderful dinner. The drive is about seven hours, mostly motorway from Belfast to Dublin and on to Limerick, then normal Irish two-lane roads the rest of the way. It being Saturday, traffic was light except for some congestion around Dublin.

We made a couple of rest stops along the way. One was in Barrack Obama’s ancestral Irish town of Moneygall (population 300). Moneygall is the home to Obama’s great-great-great grandfather on his mother’s side. There is a service area located on the motorway here. We had to stop if only for Jane and Fred. We even had our lunch at a picnic table in town.

Then we arrived in Dingle to find that it was mobbed for the Dingle Tradfest (music festival).. We’ve never seen Dingle so crowded! Before checking in at Greenmount House, we stopped at the Dingle Pub to have a pint with publican and friend, Tom Geaney. Music at the pubs in Dingle usually starts between 9:00 and 10:00 PM, but because of the festival, there were multiple events scheduled throughout the day. We got there at 3:00 PM and to our luck we discovered that Tom’s son, David, was scheduled for a dance performance at 3:30 (which means about 4:00 in Irish scheduling). David Geaney, age 19, is a five time world champion Irish dancer. We also know David’s grandfather, Eddie, who was the publican at the pub before Tom took over. He brought David over and introduced us. He is a very poised and polite young man. We sat at the bar, chatted with Tom, and watched David perform right in front of us. Video is next to impossible to upload to my blog.  I do have a pretty good video which I upload sometime later when I work out some technical glitches.

Checking in Greenmount House threatened to be a potential crisis as Garreth, the young manager, told me immediately that he had screwed up our reservation (made months earlier) and didn’t have our room available for the first night. Uh, oh! But he had also had an amazingly good solution. His parents, the former managers, have just finished renovating a home in Dingle near the seafront, and they had agreed to let us stay there for the night (or, at our option, for the whole four nights).

We settled in and definitely decided to stay in the house for all four nights. It meant a leisurely walk or short drive back to Greenmount House for breakfast, but once settled in, we didn’t want to move.

Dinner was at our go-to Dingle restaurant, the Chart House (no connection to the US chain). We know Jim, the proprietor and his wife, and we were greeted like the old friends we are. Dinner was grand! Most of the food is locally sourced. After Kir Royales, pictures best describe what we had to eat:

SUNDAY

The weather continues to be unbelievably good. More sun. No rain. We drove from our house up to Greenmount House for breakfast and dropped off some laundry for them to do for us. Then we drove to the gas station to top off the tank. And we discovered through some posters and some inquiries at the gas station that the Bhéal Bhán races were on for today at 1:30. These are horse races on the beach at Smerwick Strand in Ballyferriter, so that cemented our plans for the day.

We drove over to Ballyferriter at noon and secured a good parking spot for the races. This is real horse racing complete with bookies taking bets. The jockeys are pre-apprentice – i.e., they are very young, some as young as nine or ten. They can only ride in these sub-apprentice races until they are fifteen; then they have to graduate to become real apprentices at the major tracks or “retire” from being jockeys. There were 11 races, but we only stayed for four. I hit one of the four races because I bet on a jockey whose mother we had met and chatted with near the sandy paddock.

Then we went back to the Dingle Pub for a couple of pints and a little conversation with Tom Geaney. We learned that Tom has two nephews, one from each brother, who will be playing for Kerry against Donegal in the All-Ireland Irish Football championship game next Sunday. Up Kerry! There was a duet playing pleasant instrumental Irish music, but the crowd was much less than on Saturday as the music Tradfest winded down.

Dinner tonight was at James Ashe’s Restaurant – we had booked a table yesterday. I had local Glenbeigh oysters (from County Kerry) to start while Elaine had Glenbeigh mussels. Elaine had her new favorite fish, hake, for her main while I had delicious cod prepared Cajun style. No desserts. The family that still owns Ashe’s is well known in County Kerry, and it has been open since 1849. Gregory Peck, a cousin whose grandmother was an Ashe from Dingle, visited here a number of times, and his family continues to drop in when in Ireland. Several picture of Gregory and his wife Veronique Passani with the Ashes are on the wall.

MONDAY

We walked to and from Greenmount House for breakfast (which was delicious as usual). Then we had a walk about Dingle. We went to St. Mary’s Church where Doc and Lena attended mass back when they visited us here many years ago. It was a normal Sunday mass but also a funeral mass for publican Tom Sheehy. Both Doc and Lena talked about that experience for years and years. We bought some flowers to leave at the church, and Elaine lit candles in her mother’s memory.

It being yet another perfect weather day, we took a ride around beautiful Slea Head revisiting many of our favorite scenic wonders. It is one of the most beautiful drives on earth. We stopped in pretty Ballydavid by the harbor for a lunch outside a pub on picnic tables by the sea. Lovely. The bartender was a transplanted Chicagoan.

Then we stopped at the fish market in Dingle and bought some seafood chowder for tonight’s dinner at home. All-in-all a brilliant day. Come back tomorrow for our last day in Dingle.

We learned early this morning that Elaine’s Mom passed away yesterday. She was 92. She’s been in ill health recently but still lived alone at her condo in Albuquerque not far from Elaine’s sister, Ann. We will be going to Dingle tomorrow where Doc and Lena visited us for a week about 15 years ago. They had a wonderful time there. We will remember them both as we see sights familiar to them and us in Dingle. Lena’s funeral will be on Monday.

Out of respect to Lena the blog will be suspended until Monday night.

 R. I. P. LENA

Well, almost perfect. It was fogged in as we woke up, but by 10:30 it had all burnt off and we had another cloudless sunny day. Three in a row. That just doesn’t happen in Ireland.  It’s almost like we are in Scottsdale but with cool temps.

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We decided to take it easy today staying fairly close to Portstewart. We drove about five miles to Portrush and then realized I had forgotten my camera. After circling back to get it, we were ready to roll with our picnic lunch in hand. First stop was at White Rocks Beach. When we in the area two years ago, it was pouring rain most of the time, so we hadn’t yet stopped to view this impressive spot. Thoroughly picturesque and enjoyable.

Next stop was the ruins of Dunluce Castle which dates back to around 1500. It was established by the MacQuillans who were soon enough ousted by the MacDonalds, a dominant family in the Antrim region. In the 1600’s Randal MacDonald and his men participated in the Irish Rebellion which was devastatingly put down at Kinsale. Randal was spared when he surrendered to King James VI. Randal and then his son, also named Randal, became Earls of Antrim and enjoyed a lavish lifestyle at Dunluce Castle. Randal II was arrested in 1642 in another Irish uprising. He regained control of Dunluce in 1655, but the castle gradually fell to ruin as the MacDonalds moved their seat of power to Glenarm Castle where it remains today. (TMI = “too much information” for most, but this blog aims occasionally to educate as we go along. Snicker.)

Next it was time for lunch under the beautiful sun along the ocean.

Then we stopped for a good look at White Park Bay. There was a long path down to the beach, but we decided not to take it on, enjoying the view from above. There is a hostel located here that looks nice enough to be a three-star hotel.

We headed back to Portstewart where we stopped along the promenade to have a delicious ice cream cone sitting by the sea. Elaine decided to take the cliff walk home from here, so I went to Shenanigan’s Pub for a pint, watched a couple of horse races on TV, and reached our street just as Elaine exited the cliff walk. We went home after getting the car washed at a self wash not far from Kinvara Cottage. The wash was needed as there was ample evidence of seagulls (“rats with wings” as they are called by one Aussie we met in Caernarfon) on the car.

Dinner tonight is a return visit to Harry’s Beach Shack.  Elaine started with Courgette Soup (indescribably good) while I had Fisherman’s Scotch Egg (different and exquisite). We both the house specialty, haddock and chips. 30 years ago we had fish and chips on Manly Beach in Sydney, Australia and have been looking for its match ever since. Tonight we found it. The best!

See you tomorrow!

We’ve been to southern Donegal on past trips but never to the north. Wednesday morning greeted us with cloudless skies yet again – very un-Irish weather we are enjoying – so we decided to drive and ferry to Donegal. It was a short ride through Coleraine to Magilligan in No. Ireland where we got the hourly Lough Foyle Ferry at 10:15 to Greencastle in the Republic of Ireland. It’s only a 15-minute crossing.  There were only three cars on this first crossing of the morning.

As we left the ferry we turned immediately north and stopped first at Stroove, a beach and lighthouse.

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Geography lesson: Northern Ireland consists of the six counties in the northeast of the island, still officially still part of the UK. No. Ireland uses the UK Pound for money and measures distances in miles. The Republic uses the Euro and measures distance in kilometers. Now, the northernmost point in all of Ireland is in Donegal which is not part of Northern Ireland but rather in the Republic. It sits on the northwest corner of the island and extends father to the north than the six counties of Northern Ireland. Confused? Reread and study a map.

After seeing the lighthouse we drove the back roads to Malin Head, the northernmost point in all of Ireland (refer back to geography lesson). We stopped at Five Fingers Strand along the way.  This is spectacular scenery in a country that has plenty of that. Pictures tell the story. And we stopped (how could we not?) at the Ferran Pub, the northernmost pub in Ireland. We had pints and good craic (fun) talking to the bartender and the two local customers. Real characters all (including us).

Then it was a picnic lunch of sandwiches, chips, and cookies that we bought at a SuperValu (Ireland’s Safeway) in Carndonagh. We enjoyed them at a picnic spot overlooking the water and next to an Irish photo radar van (go figure!). A leisurely drive took us back to back to Greencastle for the 15 minute Lough Foyle Ferry (their motto is “Ferry Friendly Service”) ride back to Northern Ireland. We met an interesting family on the ferry. The husband and wife live near Malin Head and they had an aunt with them who had just celebrated her 80^th birthday. She was Northern Irish by birth but has lived for 60 years in Somerville, MA and was here visiting. She worked for many, many years for Legal Sea Foods as a waitress, starting in the original Legal’s in Inman Square. The family also had friends that had lived in Melrose. Small world.

Dinner was at home. Smoked garlic steak burgers, with potato, cheese, and onion croquettes, and sliced cucumber. Gimlets, of course, preceded the meal. And Wolf Blass Cabernet with the meal. Delightful.

A couple of interesting sights along our travels today (courtesy of backup photographer Elaine):

The morning was gorgeous with bright sunshine so we took an early walk on Portstewart Strand (Beach).

Then we decided to take the train from Coleraine to Derry for a walkabout. We could easily drive there in less than an hour, but the train ride is supposed to be a beautiful ride, so why not give it a try? The ride definitely lived up to its reputation. The modern train made two stops and arrived in Derry on time in just 45 minutes.

We have been to Derry before, so this was familiar territory. The city walls are a good walk as is a stroll through Free Derry, the site of Bloody Sunday (the Bogside Massacre) in 1972 which remains among the most significant events in the Troubles of Northern Ireland. We skipped the very interesting Free Derry museum as we did it on our last visit here.

After the train ride back to Coleraine, we returned to Kinvara Cottage in Portstewart for a short rest. Then we walked down to Portstewart Strand for dinner at Harry’s Beach Shack. (Hmmmm, shouldn’t it named Harry’s Strand shack?)  It’s a new restaurant run by a restaurant family from Donegal in the Republic. It’s so new that they don’t take bookings yet, don’t accept credit cards, and do not yet have a license for alcohol. So we brought our own bottle of wine. Dinner was wonderful. Starters: mackerel cakes with a beetroot sauce for me; chicken liver parfait (pate) for Elaine. Then she had hake for her main while I had Megrin, a sole like fish. And we had desserts: chocolate pot with caramel salt ice cream for me; sticky toffee pudding with honeycomb ice cream for Elaine.

As we walked up from the beach back toward Kinvara Cottage, we got a good glimpse of the famous Portstewart sunset. “Red Sails in the Sunset” was written by prolific songwriter Jimmy Kennedy. The song was inspired by the “red sails” of Kitty of Coleraine, a yacht Kennedy often saw off the northern coast of Ireland near his adopted town Portstewart.

 

Dinner at the Anchor Inn last night was solid pub food, good but not memorable. I started with very good seafood chowder while Elaine had one of her favs, potato and leek soup. I had a Meat and Guinness pie for my main; Elaine had locally made sausages with garlic mashed. We shared an order of chips and a decent bottle of Australian shiraz.

The weather was expected to be cloudy but dry today. We decided to visit the Giant’s Causeway. We had been before, but it was mostly rainy two years back and we never visited the new Visitor Center. As National Trust members now we get free parking, free admission to the visitor’s center, and a free bus ride from the VC down to the main viewing area. A self guided audio guide is also included. The visitor center is modern and informative if you want to know a lot more about the history and geology of the formations.

We took the bus down to the formations and took a walk along the trail as far as we could go. The trail ends abruptly at the site of a landslip (landslide) some years back. It was nice to see the area without dodging raindrops and we also arrived early enough to avoid the big crowds that come here.

After viewing the interesting formations we headed back up to the VC and then immediately to the nearby Nook Pub where we enjoyed pints of Harp Lager and delicious bowls of seafood chowder. Just the thing for a cool day!  We chatted with a nice Australian couple who are doing a bus tour of Ireland with a busload of Americans. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.)  I cringe at the thought of bus tours – “Have your bags outside your room by 6 AM”, “OK, we have ten minutes here for pictures”, etc,

Next we drove to Coleraine for a stop at the big Tesco to get some essentials that we missed last time. We plan to eat in tonight, so we bought some chicken and salad as ingredients for dinner. Elaine made a nice meal of chicken in sauce, sautéed potatos, and a lovely green salad. We had a bottle of Australian Wolf Blass wine. Wolf Blass seems to be our go-to wine in Ireland. It’s reasonably priced, very good, and seemingly available everywhere on the Emerald Isle.

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As Usual, Click on Pics for larger picture in a new window

Technology Update: My WEP wireless device worked great in Liverpool and Caernarfon. Here in Portstewart it works but is very slow uploading pictures. Updates may be every other day rather than daily. Check daily and see.

Saturday

The Abingdon Collection was amazing, more so than pictures can show. The owner, Philip Faithful, is a collector. (He is not related to British singer Marianne Faithful. We asked.) Philip gives private tours of his collection by appointment only. We had an 11:00 AM appointment that I made months ago by email. We were the only guests this morning. Philip has an amazing collection of two things: automobiles and WWII memorabilia. There is no admission charge; rather he requests a donation to the Cancer Society. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit.

Then we had a two hour drive on mostly back roads to the coastal town of Portstewart. Lynne and Barry, our landlords, met us at the appointed hour at Kinvara Cottage and showed us the ropes: heat, hot water, washer & dryer, electric shower heaters, etc. Before arriving we had stopped at Tesco in Coleraine, the largest town in the area, and stocked up with essentials (water, wine, bread, breakfast stuff, and things for tonight’s planned eat-in dinner). We unloaded the groceries and our bags and settled in.

I had purchased two bottles (small ones) of vodka on the ferry (duty free prices) and had previously bought a bottle Mrs.Fitzpatrick’s Lime & Lemongrass cordial to use as my mixer for my Irish gimlets. As dinner was cooking (fresh potatoes, green beans, and minced ground lamb with mint), I had my first gimlet(s) in since Las Vegas and Elaine enjoyed glasses of wine. Dinner was grand and we went to bed after watching an excellent BBC show on the horrors of the planes crashing into the World Trade Center.

Sunday

The weather continues to be good as we arose on Sunday. After tea, toast, and yoghurt, we headed out to re-explore the area. We stopped first on the main road (Strand Road) in the heart of Portstewart and had a brief walk around. We cited a few of the restaurants we had researched, and we’ll give one a try tonight.

Then we drove another few miles up the coast to the next town of Portrush where they are having an air show this weekend. We got there early enough to beat the traffic and find a good parking place for the show. That was fortunate as later in the day parking was at a premium and the traffic coming in was heavy as we were leaving. We had a quick walkabout through the military recruiting booths and the BBC tent show. Then we found an ideal spot to sit on a wall for the flying demonstrations that were soon to begin. We had carried in our home made sandwiches and some potato crisps (chips to you Americans) and ate them sitting on the wall. The flying show was to go on all day from 12:15, and we stayed for a couple of hours before heading back to the car. We saw some amazing planes including the Red Arrows Synchro Team, a helicopter that can fly upside down and do a back flip from a hover, the Tucano T1, the North American Mustang, a Calidus Autogyro that looks like a helicopter but isn’t, the Avro Lancasters, and more. It was fun!

Recruiting at the Air Show

Again we stopped in Portstewart at the Anchor Pub & Restaurant. Elaine had a pint of Harp Lager and I indulged in some delicious Smithwick’s Ale. We made reservations for dinner at 7:30 PM and headed home for a nap.

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Another filling breakfast at the Black Boy Inn. By the way, the politically incorrect name Black Boy Inn has an interesting story. From Wikipedia:

“Prior to 1828, the pub was known as the ‘Black Boy’ Though still referred to by its traditional name, it was officially altered to the ‘King’s Arms’ and, later, the ‘Fleur de Lys’, until a change of ownership led to the restoration of the old name and the creation of the “Black Boy Inn” as it is today. The Inn signs each show a ‘black buoy’ on one side and a ‘black boy’ on the other.

“The Inn’s name has caused controversy and there are least three theories to explain its name. One is believed to come from a ‘black buoy’ which existed in the harbour in the early days of the Inn. Another refers to the nickname given to Charles II by his mother because of the darkness of his skin and eyes, as well as the fact that Royalists met at the Inn secretly at that time. Later, the place became the local fishermen’s favourite drinking place and the name of ‘black boy’ may come from this period.”

Then it was off to Holyhead to catch the ferry to Ireland. We made a slight diversion to stop at the town in the title. Actually, its full name is:

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

Pronounce it at your peril. You can hear the pronunciation here.

From there it was a short hop to Holyhead, the terminus for Irish Ferries. We drove aboard the Jonathan Swift and proceeded to the Club Class lounge for the crossing. The appropriately named Swift is the fast ferry to Dublin, departing Holyheadt at 11:50 AM and arriving in Dublin at 1:45 PM. We weren’t staying in the Republic just yet though, so we drove off the ferry and immediately headed to Omagh in Northern Ireland for the night. There is a purpose for staying here. We’ll get to that in a minute. Omagh is probably most famous as the site of a deadly IRA bombing backing 1988 during the Troubles.

First crisis of the trip!!! We arrived at our B&B (Heron’s Burn) a little early, so we stopped in a nearby pub/restaurant for a pint. Then we drove to the B&B. No answer to the doorbell. There was a number to call posted in the window, so I called. Not only did the lady have no record of our reservation; she was traveling at the moment in Canada. She offered to give me a number for a nearby B&B, but I demurred. Instead we drove back to the pub which had an associated B&B attached. They had a room and we were in. We dined in their restaurant which tunred out to be excellent. It was filled with locals. I doubt if they get many Americans there as it’s really out in the country.  So the Millstone turned out to be our pub, restaurant and B&B.

After a nice breakfast (coming up imminently) we will head down the road to the Abingdon Collection, the reason we are staying in this area. It’s a private collection of automotive and military memorabilia, and it is viewable only by appointment. I had booked the appointment well in advance by email. No admission fee but a contribution to the Cancer Fund is suggested.  Naturally we will make one.  More on that in our next posting.

 

Trash collection in Caernarfon starts at 5 AM and today was trash collection day. Needless to say we were up early. No big deal. Breakfast at the Black Boy Inn was substantial and good. Elaine had a Free Range 2 egg Omelette with Ham, cheese, Tomato & mushroom. I had a One Eyed Sailor — Fried egg cooked in bread, topped with cheese, and served with bacon and fried bread.

Then we were off to Mount Snowdon, just a short 10 mile drive away from our B&B, for a steam engine railway trip to the top of the mountain. Mount Snowdon is the highest mountain in Wales at 3,560 feet. In The UK only some peaks in the Scottish highlands are higher. The Mount Snowdon Railway has been running since 1896. We had pre-booked the steam train rather the more frequent diesel trains. There is just one car. Needless to say, the one-hour ride up was very picturesque. You have 30 minutes or so to wander around the summit (and the gift shop and snack bar).

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From the train station near the summit, we trekked to the actual summit. The ice field was treacherous and the final assault up the north face was exhilarating. (Well, actually it is about 50 steps from the station to the summit.) The ride back down takes the same route.

We took a scenic drive from Llanberis (where the train station at the base is located) to Castle Curig before driving back to Caernarfon. There we visited Caernarfon Castle, the most famous (I think) of the castles in Wales. It is the home base of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, a famous fighting force for many, many years.

Beer, nap, and get ready for dinner. We had made reservations in advance at Blas, a short walk from the Black Boy Inn. Blas was fabulous – the menu and the food itself was reminiscent of Binkley’s in Cave Creek but without the exorbitant pricing. The food was fantastic. Pictures speak louder than words. And the dessert fast is over!  No pictures of dessert but I had “chocolate, coconut, and lime” and Elaine had “clotted cream pannacotta with strawberries three ways and minted shortbread”.

NO BLOG POST TOMORROW AS WE WILL BE TRAVELING MOST OF THE DAY FROM WALES TO NORTHERN ISLAND.  SEE YOU BACK HERE ON SATURDAY.

Dinner Tuesday Night at Lunya was both fun and good. We split six orders of Tapas and enjoyed every bite.

Wednesday morning we retrieved our car from the garage and at 8:30 headed out of Liverpool towards North Wales. (Obama will be in South Wales for a NATO conference, so he most likely won’t get to see us.)  Our final destination was only about 100 miles away, so we had time for stops.

First stop: Llandudno (Wales) where we wandered out on the ½ mile pier. This was like a time warp back to 1960 – penny arcades, cotton candy, etc. And Llandudno must be the geriatric holiday capital of the UK. Mobility carts, walkers, and canes were everywhere. We also drove along the Marine Drive outside of Llundudo. There were great views and a lovely stop for scones with clotted cream. Yum.

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Then it was on to Conwy Castle. This was a stronghold of Charles I, and it was a pleasant walkabout followed by a light lunch of toasted ham and cheese sandwiches.

Onward to Bodnart Gardens, a National Trust site. (We are members of the National Trust through their US subsidiary, the Royal Oak Society.) We get our monies worth out of the annual dues with free admission and free parking at National Trust sites. The Brits love their gardens. The beautiful site provided another good walk about the plants, trees, and flowers. Oh, we also enjoyed a honey ice cream cone at the refreshment stand on the way out.

Then we drove on to Caernarfon (Ka-nar’-van) and checked in at the Black Boy (or Black Buoy) Inn. We had a few pints at the Black Boy Pub and had a nice chat with a couple from Australia who were originally from the UK. Dinner was at the Black Boy pub. Traditional pub style: order at the bar and they bring you your food. It was good but not memorable – duck breast for me and a chicken pie Welsh style for Elaine. We started with a hot Camembert cheese board. No desserts. (In fact, no desserts yet in the UK!) After dinner we walked about the small town and checked out restaurants for tomorrow night.