From Limerick to pink bike shorts

***For those of you that don't know like me...(Tracy :-) , you can click on the picture and it will enlarge for you)

      Today was......what would you say weird.    The day started out normally like it has been when we showered and ate breakfast which consisted of cereal and rocking danishes to warm juice.  Then we ventured out into the great green isle in search of the city they call Limerick.  This city would be anything but what one would picture of a quaint and charming city in Ireland.  Rather it was a smaller version of NYC....smell included.  It was cool because we had the chance to watch people and take in the what some followers of this blog would call niners!  I witnessed panhandling at its best because where a sweet charming lass of the land was having a heart to with some kind albei very naive foreginers, which I am assuming consisting of how to help you's and what not, the girl was able to get a few dollars...excuse me euros out of the man, now it must be told that most of this story is assumed because it played out in my head as we walked by her.  The ending of the story would come a few blocks down and over when we passed a liquor store, now by this time I was a bit parched and I wouldn't have noticed the store, but for the simple reason that  a beer looked good to me and apparently another too.  Out of my peripheries I saw the same blonde haired begging lass dart across the street and into the store with a fistful of change from a philanthropic passer by to begin the day with a fifth of the stores finest...ie cheapest.  After this and some connection of dots for my wife we decided the perhaps greener pastures would be better....so onto Killaloe.

Limerick City

One of our three in a row timed shots......

Killaloe was a very nice town that crossed the river Shannon.  We ate lunch here, took in the views and wondered why some couples are together, long story very short and G- rated we saw a family with one child and wondered why they were together because the wife was clearly overlooking something that was glaring from her husband's what would you say, sway..... no, way?

More timed shots..bad light.....

Bigaz hill in Killaloe.....which is now named Killanme....

     The last stop on our day was for Tracy to go to Blarney Woolen Mills which is the mecca for my recently wool crazy wife, where they had, surprisingly enough wool products, and other Irish goods cheap, so we loaded up our bags to return to the hotel room to cram ten pounds of shit into a five pound bag, in other words pack our luggage.

Bunratty Castle.....didn't go in, just around...

   To finish the day after successfully cramming the purchased goods away we were on the hunt for sustanence once again, for the record I will eat anywhere so the decision for dinner was my wife's  Those of you that know her, know that she is picky to begin with and now she is pregnant picky.  So after much travel up and down the streets of Ennis in search of our last meal we find a Texas steakhouse in ol' Ireland, let the show begin.  The clash of cultures that converged on this little place was amazing because not only was this a Texas steakhouse in Ireland where the pictures that adorned the walls of Texas, were not from there but rather websites akin to, the propietors were Vietnamese.  The guests were French and German and the menu ran everything from fish and chips to burritos and prawns....wow I hope my stomach holds out.  To conclude this sleigh ride of a day as we were walking back to our home away from home, I carelessly crossed the street only on the lookout for cars, but must have cut off a man on a bike in pink bike shorts and was given a look only equaled to taking his first born and deflowering her on the grave of his mother......and on that note I leave you people with many thoughts and questions that can only be answered with time, prayer and reflection....so don't ask because truthfully I just don't know either.

Tomorrow.....home!

Fin......  

Day of castles and Ennis

Sorry that we dropped the ball yesterday all you blog followers!  We just were too tired to sit in front of the computer and upload and type, so we watched some 3rd Watch DVD's (thanks to Mike).  Check for Friday's post later, we need to get dinner, because right now it is only 1:50 for you, but almost 7:00 for us!!!

So today started with a little exploration around Ennis, where we are staying.  There are a number of streets that wind around town and they are all lined with shops, pubs and eateries.  The interesting thing about this town, and possibly other Irish towns is that there seems to be a "prime-time" to be out and about.  The shops all open a bit later 10ish and they all close between 5 and 6 it seems.  As we have been out on our ventures, we will drive through the narrow and densly populated streets on the way home but when we leave our hotel to get something to eat, everyone has disappeared and we are the only ones out there.  I am not complaining because it is nicer to walk on narrow sidewalks when it is just us, it just boggles my mind that it can be like clockwork and everyone has somewhere to go!

The afternoon began with us traveling again, we just can't sit still, there is too much to see!!!  So we started at Quin Abbey.  This is an old church which is also a graveyard.  Inside the ruins of what remains standing of the church are the graves of many.  Some are really erie to look because it seems as though they are coming up out of the ground!  After here, we made our way to Craggaunowen near Quin, in County Clare. 

This was pretty cool, although of course when we stopped in the tea room to get a quick snack, there was a British family (mom, dad, and three children) who were clearly staring at us and talking about us while we sat right there.  It seems the norm around here, but we are convinced that it isn't the Irish culture to do this, as much as the British who evidently teach it to their children at an early age.  Needless to say, Matt and I have come up with many faces with which to give back to them, when it happens again!  ..and that had us laughing a ton, just planning it!

So this place was open and had a bunch of different things to do, across 50 acres of land.  We saw a 19th century castle, and some other cool things, including some goats that didn't sound real when they made noise!  After we left here, we went to Knappogue Castle which wasn't far away and also in Quin.  For some reason, there are only a few castles which are real tourist spots.  We think they are all cool and rich with so much history, so we have traveled to as many as we could.  I mean, could you imagine the things that have taken place right where you are standing in these mind blowing buildings. Just getting over how they built them with this massive rock is overwhelming to do, let alone the families that have lived here among the many years.  Since they haven't been as popular, we have been able to travel through them at our leisure. 

We ended our day at a pub for a nice dinner in town.  Also food report:  food is ok, takes some getting used to, but almost always is something you don't expect.  One example, I ordered a mozzarella pizza the other day and it came to me with tomatoes, and black and green olives all over it.  So far my favorite food is the fries!!! I had an amazing potato salad the other day, the cappucino's are awesome (decaf of course)and I LOVE the desserts!!

Quin Abbey

Castle (they still use this castle, by having medieval dinner banquets here)

They said we could go anywhere...not here though!

These are the stairs in EVERY castle...you can't tell how steep they are, but there are floors and floors of them all the way up the towers...so to get rid of my thighs, I decided I will build and live in a castle when we get back home!!!

These were definitely boys, they sounded very different from the other ones!

Day four: From Ballyhaninch to Ennis

So we left the Ballynahinch Castle today en route for the Old Ground Hotel in Ennis.  It was kind of cool to leave knowing that we would be almost starting over our vacation by going to a new hotel!  On the way, of course we had to take the long way and see some amazing things.  For starters we went to

Dunguaire Castle.  We were able to go all the way up to the roof and take pictures up there!  Some spots got kinda tight, but we got to see a panaramic view of Western Ireland that was beautiful!!!

Next along the way, we stopped and got something to eat so we could get there safely...i don't know if you know Matt when he is hungry!!!  We made our way along the coastline through the Burren (a rocky plain in Ireland) in search of the Cliffs of Moher.  Eventually, we came upon a spot that there were cars/people stopping and we thought this may be it.  After arriving and checking it out, we were a little disappointed if this was it.  Assuming that it wasn't, we snapped pictures and assumed there would be a lot more tourists and probably a charge to get into such a tourist attraction, so we kept on driving South along the coast. 

We drove through a cool town called Doolin and followed the signs to the cliffs.  After driving up what seemed like a very steep one way road (made for two cars), we found the spot.  Of course we were welcomed by a parking lot full of tour busses, people and a little boy who followed us thinking we were his family.  When he was done talking to his imaginary friend and refused to take my hand, we saw his parents frantically looking for him in the parking lot.  The look of relief that came over their faces was enough of a thank you and off we went!

The cliffs were breathtaking.  After the hike up endless stairs, we were literally on top of Ireland!  It was extremely windy and cold which you didn't barely notice because of the hike up and it was nice to catch your breath! 

To finish our journey, we hopped back in the car after getting some patches and a shotglass and after a 30 minute drive, arrived in Ennis.  This hotel so far seems very nice, a lot different from the first because well, it's not a castle for one!!! NO, really it is in a village surrounded with tons of shops, pubs and restaurants.  Tomorrow we will probably spend the day checking out our surroundings and seeing what else we can venture off to.  Two days left, the last day doesn't count because that is the dreaded plane ride home!!!

And...thank you to our parents who continue to take care of Seren.  If anyone knows her, it is extremely difficult to be away from her at all, let alone a week!  At least we know she is in good hands!!!

Castle in the background

Castle on top of the Cliffs

This is out of order, but you would not believe the size of the cows here...it is insane!!!!!!

The pictures will happen without writing until people leave us comments....please we feel like losers. Seriously Tracy is on the pregnant edge..might be withdrawal of alcohol?

The fireplace at our castle.....

Ace of Base...LIVE

One of these things is not like the other!

Great Tracy.....desecrate a national hero (Oscar Wilde)

Castle.....on a detour we took...cool!

 

Me in a big ole fireplace.....

Cows are the size of elephants....

We figured out that the camera has timed photos....ah technology.... three pictures at a time....lets make flipbooks.

This plant is abnormally large....

Day 2-Day of Rain

You would think that an entire day of rain would bother you... in syracuse new york it would, but something is different when waking up in Ireland no matter what weather you are met with!!!

(Matt's dictation)  We were awoken by the pounding knocks at our door for which was probably a second time because we asked for breakfast to be delivered by 8:30 and 9 and when we looked at our clocks it was 930!!! Much needed sleep we got!  As we begin to enjoy our breakfast we realize that over easy eggs were in fact what they say, easy to fall apart and over ....oh, and very slimy.  we're actually not sure if they were cooked.

After breakfast, a quick shower by Matt and then a three part mini series of Tracy getting ready, Tracy getting mad, and Tracy eventually being done, (again matt's version...i am typing though!), we left on our way to Clifton to go shopping.  Where we found out that Dentistry is far cheaper in the Emerald Isle at a mere 20 euros (about 17 american dollars)  Thus leaving no room for debate about how teeth in this region are as terrible as stereotypes.

Another thing we found out about with the plague of bad teeth is that there is also a plaque of people with staring problems. 

***Now matt is taking over the keyboard so this shall be ready in about two years....

After the excursion in Clifden we went on another harrowing ride across the Erin countryside and eventually reached Kylemore Abbey when at first sight was far from the picture perfect postcard paradise with cramped parking lots and a copious amount of European entry blocking smokers.  All that set aside the abbey was beautiful and after 360 payments of never gonna happen it will be ours.  ,The surprising thing is that in Ireland you never really know what is around the next bend......cars, sheep, narrow roads etc.  We have experienced all three in varying degrees.  The cars drive very fast and sometimes on our side which can make a grown man cry, laugh and pucker all within the span of one minute in time.  Sheep being the next topic are quite nice because they are what one would think of when reminiscing of Ireland, but the problem is that they are everywhere, field, hills, roads, dinner plates....everywhere.  The last topic before concluding would be the narrow roads where back home now the roads seem like  large cadillacs and here they are two-door Geo Metros again making a driver laugh, cry and pucker all at once.   Thusly concluding my literary contribution to this days blog.

This was where i was going to place matt for the evening for bad behavior

After driving on the roads here, it is quite obvious why these are here...!!!