Karen Rubin's Ramblings

While on a two week vacation in Ireland & London, I kept track of what we did and my own thoughts in order to help me remember. Two weeks is a long time! I realized other might benefit from my experience, or at least enjoy my photos. This should not serve as the definitive guide to Ireland, just my own wandering trip.

Day 11 – Belfast and Drogheda 

We woke to blue skies and sun! It was so exciting we decided to head out and walk the Belfast Botanical gardens before leaving. At breakfast, we met a lovely American from San Diego who was here on a month long trip to find her ancestors. We talked with her about what we had seen and done, and she told us that the Irish men are ruthless when trying to get you into bed. We shared our story, and let her know that traveling married doesn’t always help!

We then headed to the Botanical gardens, which were somewhat of a disappointment. They were smaller than I had expected and it was early so much of it wasn’t open yet. We headed out of Belfast and started on our way back to Dublin.

The plan had always been to stop at a small town just north of Dublin the night before we left, so we didn’t have a lot of driving that morning. For whatever reason, I decided on Drogheda, something about “having heard of it before.” As we were walking down the street, wondering what we were doing in this nothing of a town, I remembered it’s a name of one of the plantations in Gone With The Wind!

On the way to Drogheda we stopped at Newgrange, which is one of the largest passage tombs in the world. It’s older than Stonehenge and the pyramids, and no one really knows why or how the Neolithic people built it.

In this section of Ireland, there are thousands of these tombs all over the place. Some have been excavated, some haven’t. Newgrange was excavated and “restored” in the 1970s. Its white stone façade is controversial, but since no one knows what these tombs really looked like, the team excavating it was able to take some liberties.

When we finally got to Drogheda, I needed to run more than anything. Getting runs in has been tough. By staying in B&B’s we have a set breakfast at 8AM and getting myself out of bed at 6:30 on vacation just isn’t happening. By the time we are done doing things, I am pretty pooped and need to rest before dinner. All lame excuses, but I had been feeling like I really needed to work out, so Jared and I went and explored the city. It was great.

However, our digs for the night were not. There aren’t any B&Bs in Drogheda town. So we had the choice of the 55 pound a night hostel or the 150 pound a night hotel. We chose the hostel and Jared’s very accurate comment was “I think I am beyond the point in my life where I need to be staying in hostels!” 

We did manage to shower without catching anything, and headed out for dinner, to find out there really isn’t any place to eat in Drogheda. Finally a nice woman took pity on us and showed us to The Hotel where the local prom was taking place. The bartender was nice enough to get us some dinner, even though dinner had technically ended. We ate surrounded by 18 year olds in formal wear while we ate chicken curry and stir-fry. It was awesome.  

 We then stopped by the pub, but there really isn’t any craic on Tuesday nights. So we headed back to the hostel and packed up to head to London in the morning.  

While on a two week vacation in Ireland & London, I kept track of what we did and my own thoughts in order to help me remember. Two weeks is a long time! I realized other might benefit from my experience, or at least enjoy my photos. This should not serve as the definitive guide to Ireland, just my own wandering trip.

Day 9 – Derry & the Antrim Coast

We were up and about early in Derry. First we walked the Bogside murals. Bogside was the Catholic neighborhood in Derry where Bloody Sunday occurred and the modern Troubles began. Three local artists have commemorated the events with 12 building side murals (you can see them all here). They were moving and a look into a past I have never understood. It was a worthwhile trip into Derry.

From there we headed east along the northern coast of Ireland. We stopped at Dunlace Castle, which is a beautifully restored and maintain castle ruin, one of the best I have seen.

We then went on to the Giant’s Causeway a place that really defies explanation. We walked the cliffs over looking the Causeway for an hour or two, and then descended to seaside. While we were topside, we couldn’t understand why everyone was swarming over this one little outcropping.

As we walked to it along the shore, we realized it was one of the most amazing geological phenomena’s we had ever seen. There are over 38,000 hexagonal towers. They look like they are made from concrete. They are stunning and photos don’t begin to describe it (probably why the guide book didn’t have any photos.)

From there we headed along the coast, stopped into a small town for tea and then went to the rope bridge. If you look at any tourist book of Ireland, it will show the rope bridge. It was a lovely 1km walk to a rocky out cropping with a rope bridge extended well above the surf. It was windy and a little scary, but the views were well worth the 5 pounds.

We then drove into Bally Castle, checked into a lovely B&B and took a nap. Bally Castle was largely ignored by the guidebooks, but we found it to be everything we needed in a quiet town. We went to the Central Pub and had the best dinner in Ireland. It was a surprise to find it out here, but the food was amazing. We started sharing the chicken and sweet corn chowder. I had the sea bass over potatoes with caramelized onions and smushed peas (a new favorite). Jared had a pasta dish. Both were incredible.

We spent some time at the bar, sitting with the locals watching golf. The bartender is headed to Alabama in November to spend a couple of weeks bartending during the football season. We then came back, watched some BBC comedy and went to bed early.  

While on a two week vacation in Ireland & London, I kept track of what we did and my own thoughts in order to help me remember. Two weeks is a long time! I realized other might benefit from my experience, or at least enjoy my photos. This should not serve as the definitive guide to Ireland, just my own wandering trip.

Day 7 – Galway

 Phew, on day 7 we decided we needed a day off and took it! We were supposed to go to the Aran Islands, but once I realized it was a 2-hour trip there, we decided to just spend the day around Galway. I was pretty pleased with myself for being flexible and not getting upset about the “plan” changing. The whole goal of this trip!

We slept in (8:30!) had some breakfast and then walked around the town. It was a beautiful, sunny day. Crystal clean blue skies that I don’t think you see often in Ireland. We looked for a park to settle down in, like we did in Dublin, to read our books, but didn’t find anything great.

So instead we hit up the coffee shops in the main shopping area. We sat outside in the sun, drinking cappuccinos, frilly hot chocolates and tea while we read our books. Ireland has, like America, instituted a no smoking inside rule. Unfortunately, this means the patios and outdoor seating have become the home for all the smokers. I really wanted to be outside, but finally we needed a way to be outside relaxing, where we weren’t surrounded by smokers!

We headed to the beach. I was again grateful to have a car, because it allowed us to go a little further form the city (about 20 minutes) and go to a beach that was all Irish. We spent a couple of hours soaking in the sun, napping, reading our books and watching mothers chase their children around the beach. It was exactly what we needed.

After we headed back to the B&B, I went out on a much-needed run and Jared went to the pub to watch the Ireland football match. We met up after and discussed the next couple of days of our trip, deciding to head for Sligo (Sl-i-go, Sl-e-go…I have no idea) and then on into Donegal and Northern Ireland. (Again, notice all my FLEXIBILITY!) 

The evening was spent having a lovely dinner (Celeraic and thyme soup, which was divine!) and then watching the England football match. The craic wasn’t so wonderful, so we came home and called our parents. We are such good children!

While on a two week vacation in Ireland & London, I kept track of what we did and my own thoughts in order to help me remember. Two weeks is a long time! I realized other might benefit from my experience, or at least enjoy my photos. This should not serve as the definitive guide to Ireland, just my own wandering trip.
 

Day 6 – Dingle, the Cliffs of Moher & Galway

 We headed out of Dingle after another filling breakfast and made our way north. The difference between Irish roads and the roads back home is they are half as wide and twice as fast. (Seriously, think of any normal 2 lane road with traffic in both directions – then make it half as wide and give it a speed limit of 65 miles and hour!) Most of the time we are 25 to 50% slower than the speed limit and if I were driving I would go slower.

The drive out of Dingle was scenic, and this wasn’t the scenic route! We headed back through Tralee, which is a town I would consider spending time in, and caravanned with another car full of Americans. Every stop we made, they were there. It became a running joke.

We took a ferry across the river Shannon, to pass driving through Limerick, which was a nice stop in the drive. Then headed to the Cliffs of Moher. On the way, we passed Doonbeg, Gregg Norman’s $400-a-tee-time gold course. Jared wanted to see it, so we drove down the 2 mile drive way and took a look.

The amazing thing about Irish golf courses is they are wide open. Because they are a long the beach, they have to give pass-throughs to the locals to get to the water. This means, lucky people like us, can get a peak at the course.  I think we will be checking out more courses as we make our way north.

We arrived at the Cliffs around 2. As expected, the place was full of tourist busses and the roads were clogged with tourists who can’t drive. (We were NOT among those that cannot drive, WE even thought they were too slow!)

The Cliffs were over all a disappointment. Due to a number of deaths from people being blown off the cliffs, in 2007 they added high walls and significantly cut down on where you can walk. This limited the view and the experience. I understand that people falling off the cliffs is bad, but I wanted to walk the cliff tops and we weren’t really able to.

Also, the cliffs we saw in Dingle, although not as large, were more picturesque and the whole coast is jaw-dropping cliffs. I’m not sure I would pay for the pleasure to see Moher again.

 From there we had another hour and half drive to Galway. We made it here around 5, found a B&B and crashed for a two-hour nap. The plan had been to go to the Aran Islands tomorrow, but we are both tired from two big days, I think we are just going to relax and enjoy Galway.

We did head out on the town for some more pubs. We stopped into two places, one with a fiddler, a banjo and a guitar that was lively and jumping. The other with an orchestra of fiddlers, guitarists, accordions’ and flutists. By the time we left, there were more than 20 folks playing together. The place wasn’t full, but I think it was the best music I have heard so far.

While on a two week vacation in Ireland & London, I kept track of what we did and my own thoughts in order to help me remember. Two weeks is a long time! I realized other might benefit from my experience, or at least enjoy my photos. This should not serve as the definitive guide to Ireland, just my own wandering trip. 

Day 5 – Dingle

We started the day with a HUGE Irish fry. Eileen is our host and is the most friendly person we have met so far. She calls us the newlyweds and has been taking quite good care of us. She is always available to chat with, and feels very grandmotherly. It’s rather nice.

 Breakfast included cereal, bread with cheese and jam, yogurt, a banana, scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage. It was delicious and very filling. We needed it because just after breakfast, we headed up the street to rent bikes and start on a 30 mile bike loop around the peninsula. 

 The ride started through some flat lands with a view of the water. I took photos all the way. We stopped at an old (4000 years old) fort that is failing into the water as the cliffs crumble. I took more photos. We hit some beehive huts (you need to see the photos to understand) I took more photos. It all seemed so lovely.

 Then about 12 miles out, we come around the corner of the single lane road we were biking on and before us are cliffs, a beach, huge waves and blue ocean.

It was stunning. All the previous photos opportunities were nothing compared with this. The sun came out just as we turned the corner and I took another couple hundred photos.

We went to the beach, played in the water, biked a little further and stopped for lunch over looking the next valley.

The whole bike was quaint, and beautiful, and also a bit exhausting. (I might have thrown a bit of a temper tantrum around mile 24….) 

We came back to the B&B, rested up, and went out for another night on the town. The highlight of my evening was my first Bailey’s Coffee. Creamy, rich, strong, it was heavenly. Unfortunately, I was too pooped to enjoy it for long. We headed to bed early.  

While on a two week vacation in Ireland & London, I kept track of what we did and my own thoughts in order to help me remember. Two weeks is a long time! I realized other might benefit from my experience, or at least enjoy my photos. This should not serve as the definitive guide to Ireland, just my own wandering trip. 

Day 4 – Ballybunion and Dingle

We were up before the sun this morning in order for Jared to make his 7:15 tee time at Ballybunion. Mr. Seanor (the proprietor of the Seanor House, we never actually got his name) made us a full Irish Fry. It was quite delicious and we went off having slept our best night of sleep since getting here (it was quiet) and with our bellies full.

We arrived at the course before almost any of the workers. The sun was just coming over the horizon and the sky was pink. Jared got his clubs, but not his caddie because no caddies had arrived yet. We headed out on the first tee and didn’t see another soul until we were well past the 7^th. It was cold, but lovely.

Jared played well, beating his goal of under 100. There were a couple of rough holes in the middle, but he birdied the 18^th, which made his day.  Overall the course was a beautiful example of man taming the natural Irish seaside. I don’t think the photos do it justice.

From there we headed into town, picked up some fresh, warm baguettes, cheese and fruit and had a picnic over looking the Atlantic. We followed the road out of town and south on towards Tralee and Dingle.

My guidebook told me that just after Tralee (which looked like a very cool town,) you have a choice. Take the narrow, faster route to Dingle or the narrow and breathtaking route. We chose the narrow and breathtaking route over the Conor Pass and it was well worth it. The views were amazing, the road was a single lane in parts and there were two short but enjoyable hikes on the way up.

The first hike was on the way up with amazing views back in to Tralee. The book said “Look for the waterfall, then scramble up some rocks to a glacier filled lake.” We came around, what looked like the last corner, and sure enough there was a small waterfall with rocks behind it. We climbed up, enjoying the view down the whole way, and found a lake that was clear and all ours. It was very peaceful and quite.

 On the way back down the car I told Jared that I enjoy this day so much more than being in Dublin. I just love natural wonders more than man made.

We then drove a little further, up a windy, cliff-side one-lane road where Jared had to do some amazing maneuvering to get the car past those coming the other way. At the top of the pass, there was a parking lot and small climb up to look down in to Dingle, all the way to the Ring of Kerry.

The drive from there was short to downtown Dingle. We parked, walked to a couple B&B’s before we found Eileen Collins Kirrary B&B. It has a garden where we are currently relaxing with our feet up. We are planning on spending two nights here. I can’t wait.

 Later that night….We had dinner at the James G. Ashe Pub, recommended to us by the Rick Steve’s Guidebook (which I can’t live without.) He said that their Beef & Guinness stew was amazing, and with that recommendation, I needed to go there to try it out. The food was good, hearty and warm. We sat next to a nice American couple, visiting Ireland and Scotland for a number of weeks – we chatted for most of dinner about Ireland, what we had seen and where we were going.

 Then Jared and I headed out to the pubs. We did 3 different pubs, all with traditional music. The first had two gentlemen playing the guitar singing folk songs. They were funny, but when I learned there were no Irish in the house (except for them) I wanted something more authentic.

We headed up the street, to a dark bar with some more men on guitars. That was fine, but Jared was certain the craic was at a place we had passed earlier. We went headed back to The Dingle Pub, where there was 1 man and a guitar singing ballads. I thought Jared was crazy, but after 5 minutes we were treated to the publicans son doing traditional Irish step dance. It turns out he is an Irish national champion, and believed by all to be the next world champion. He was amazing. He danced 3 dances and we were awe struck.

While on a two week vacation in Ireland & London, I kept track of what we did and my own thoughts in order to help me remember. Two weeks is a long time! I realized other might benefit from my experience, or at least enjoy my photos. This should not serve as the definitive guide to Ireland, just my own wandering trip. 

Day 3 – Ballybunion, Ireland

The nights from our Dublin hotel continued to be eventful, we were both awake at 5:30 listening to two chaps singing  “Oh When The Saints, Go Marching In” as they danced down the street. Jared spent much of the ride out of Dublin thinking about what he should have hollered back, rather than stay in bed.

I went for a run first thing in the morning. It was fun to see the city waking up for a workday. I went past St. Stephens (which was still locked up) down Grafton and then along the river. On my way back, St. Stephens was open and I ran with the locals around the park.

We headed out around 9:30. Renting the car was no problem. Driving out of Dublin was easier than expected. Jared was a pro. We got on the new Motorway, which they recently (within the last couple of month) opened, and were feeling really good about the driving…until someone came down the Motor way at 120 km/hr going the WRONG WAY! The Motorway is like a US interstate. It was terrifying. We talked with an Irish woman about it later in the day and she said it’s hard for the Irish to get used to the highways.

It also wasn’t completed. So we frequently had to get off, go on the smaller local roads, until the motorway picked up. All in all, I was impressed with how well the roads were labeled, especially after all I have read about how hard the driving is here.

The roundabouts (rotaries) aren’t bad at all. They are very well labeled and going the wrong direction in a roundabout is easier than handling a normal T intersection, where we can’t help but look the wrong way.

We got to Ballybunion around 1:30, and were in awe of the beach and the cliffs. Seeing the other side of the Atlantic was a breath taking moment. We stopped in one of the local pubs, had a bite to eat (I got the potato leek soup which was great, Jared had a chicken cajun sandwich) and then headed up the street to the Seanor B&B where we got a beautiful room for the night.

We then went out to the Ballybunion course, so Jared could be sure we knew where it was for tomorrow. It’s stunning. They have a walkway through to the beach and we wandered around some and got excited for tomorrow. We stopped at the clubhouse and had a drink and spent 45 minutes in the pro shop picking out the PERFECT hat for Jared.

Tonight we went to a restaurant in downtown Ballybunion, which is a sleepy off-season beach resort town.  It is a Monday, but town was very quiet and so we came home early to get some sleep.

Tomorrow we are up for a traditional Irish fry at 6AM! I can’t wait. 

While on a two week vacation in Ireland & London, I kept track of what we did and my own thoughts in order to help me remember. Two weeks is a long time! I realized other might benefit from my experience, or at least enjoy my photos. This should not serve as the definitive guide to Ireland, just my own wandering trip. 

Day 2 – Dublin, Ireland

We headed out around 8:30 and walked down to the Bad Ass Café in the Temple Bar area. Jared got his first Irish Fry. There was a lot of meat (sausage and Irish bacon, which is more like slabs of ham,) a very runny egg and some baked beans.  I had an omelet, which I split with Jared in exchange for his runny egg.

 We then walked to Trinity College, and had a tour from a current student. It was great! The tour ended at the Trinity Library, which houses the Book of Kells. The Book of Kells was written some time before A.D. 806 on vellum or calfskin. In the end, it was just a book surrounded by lots of people. A very pretty book, one of “the best examples of Dark Age literature,” but a still just a book. The Long Hall, a long library above the Book of Kells exhibit, was amazing. No photos allowed. It’s the largest library in all of Europe and is beautifully done filled with old books and busts of dead people. We were behind a large tour bus, but I think seeing the Long Hall was worth it.

 Then we walked across the city to the Guinness Storehouse. Their new museum was amazing. Built in the old factory, they redid the entire place 3 or 4 years ago. It was interesting without being boring. Not too much text and nice short videos explaining how they make beer. At the end, we enjoyed our complimentary Guinness on the top of the Storehouse in the Sky Bar which has the best view over looking Dublin.

We walked from there to St. Patrick’s Cathedral. We stopped on the way and had fruit and pretzels in the sun. The cathedral was a disappointment compares to some of the others I have seen. Small and cluttered. I was glad we went, just so I could realize that how amazing the cathedrals in Germany really were.

 We walked from there back to Merion Park and sat in the sun. Napped and read our books. It was amazing, after walking all day it was a treat. Merion Park is the smaller of two parks near our hotel. The guidebook said it was a good place to see “couple snookering on sunny days” so we went and added to the charm.

We changed at our hotel and went over to the Winding Stair Café for dinner. It was lovely. Organic, farm grown, on top of a bookstore. We had an amazing dinner.  We didn’t have a reservation, but they managed to get us in and out in an hour and fifteen minutes, without making it seem rushed.  It was a best meal we have had since coming to Dublin.

 On our way back to the hotel, we split a banana & nutella crepe and stopped in for some craic (fun, good times, pronounced crack) at a pub with a real session going on. The Dubliners, a band located out of a small bar near St. Stephens Green, have been playing together for 40 years! There were all white haired old men, but really put together a good tune.

 We didn’t stay out long as we drive to Ballybunion tomorrow and we have been told it can take anywhere from 4-8 hours.