Staying at
Leigh meant a civilised start to the morning watching the preparations for the
Royal Wedding before James dropped us at the airport. Southend Airport is
aiming to the be main airport for the Olympic Games with people being able to
come in and head to east London without having to travel through central
London. If you have ever been to a provincial airport in New Zealand then you
will get some idea of the layout of Southend. A shed a desk and a door. I think
it has some way to go before 2012. Nonetheless we managed to get on our flight
to Galway with reasonably little effort and we landed in a splendidly sunny
Ireland. We picked up our rental car at the airport. Not as nice as the one we
had had in Scotland but at least we had wheels. It was then a drive into Galway
itself to have a look around. We stopped for some tasty fresh fish washed down
with some Bulmers cider (called Magners in the UK. Bulmers is different in the
UK. Confused?) We then wandered into the town of Galway itself. It is a very
pretty city. It has a river which flows in from the port which we wandered
along before meandering back through the town centre. There was plenty of stone
and it felt old fashioned while still having all the modern conveniences. There
were plenty of people about just lazing around enjoying the sunshine. However,
we had much to see before the end of the day so it was back in the car again
and down the coast to the Cliffs of Mohair. They are a series of sheer stone
cliffs which (once you get through the hordes of flies) provide a dramatic and
spectacular outlook over the Atlantic. Like any of these sorts of places,
tourism means that they have now been quite heavily developed, so what was once
probably a relatively isolated walk to the cliffs is now a paved path with
shops and a museum. We had a nosy at the museum and checked out some of the
local legends about maidens and monsters before it was back into our car and
onwards to the town of Bunratty, our first nights accommodation. Upon arriving
we were very impressed with the country manor B&B which Marcus had booked.
We wandered down the road and found the local restaurant who served us up some
tasty dinner, washed down by a Guinness and then crossed the road to the local
pub, which had a good set of low ceilings and pokey rooms to qualify as a
quality Irish establishment, before making our way back to our room for some
sleep.
Turns out
we were just down the road from Bunratty Castle and historic village. So after
a full Irish Breakfast (which was similar to the full Scottish breakfasts we
had enjoyed the week before) we wandered down and had a look around. If you
have ever been to Shantytown on the West Coast of the South Island it is along
those lines. They have taken the castle and some nearby manor houses and
churches and built a village around it in the style of old Ireland. Although it
sounds quite cheesy it was quite well down and there was enough information to
keep you reading but not so much that you got bored. Slim Dillon even got to
have a look around at this one. After taking a nice stroll around and coming
out better informed we carried on to the city of Limerick. Limerick felt a bit
like any other city. There was a river and there seemed to be a castle down the
way, but the city centre was full of the chain stores and other places that
make it normal. It is a place where people live. For us it wasn’t a place which
was exciting to visit. However, we did find ourselves some sandwiches for lunch
before continuing south to the town of Killarney, the start of the Ring of Kerry.
We could see that Killarney could be a pretty town, if somewhat touristy.
Unfortunately it was the site of a car rally that weekend so chav boy racers
from all over Ireland had descended on the place and were doing laps around the
city centre and haunting every street corner and pub in the place. This was not
our idea of a good time so we grabbed some food and then made our way into the
reserve on the edge of town. There was an old manor house there but it was
pretty run down and obviously under repair but a walk further into the reserve
was very pleasant and a nice way to spend the afternoon away from the boy
racers. We assumed the bars and restaurants would be full so thought we would
try fish and chips for dinner. We weren’t quite sure where to look but found what turned out to be a fish
restaurant serving fresh local catches. It wasn’t fish and chips but it
definitely was tasty.
The next
morning we travelled backwards around the Ring of Kerry because we had heard
there were some good walks around a nearby lake. We stopped and went for a
wander up the hill through the forest and past a waterfall. A bit of local
nature is always well appreciated. It was then back in the car and off the
other way for a drive around the Ring of Kerry. So called because it is around
the Kerry peninsula. There were plenty of hilly areas, and views out to sea.
Although it didn’t blow our minds it was still very pleasant. I think we are a
bit spoiled with that sort of thing in New Zealand. It was certainly
reminiscent of some parts of New Zealand at times. We stopped off along the way
for photos and a breath of fresh air. We had a particularly nice walk around
the beach and grounds of Farraniaragh after deciding to take a random road where we
weren’t quite sure what we were going to find at the end of it. We finished up
our day coming into the town of Kenmare which was a bit like Killarney but
without all the boy racers. Our trip to the local stone circle left us questioning
whether the whole thing had only recently been set down there, although the
French hippies seemed to be convinced as to the authenticity of it all. A hunt
for dinner proved somewhat difficult. The place was full of restaurants, but
they all seemed to think it was reasonable to charge 17 Euros for chicken. We
felt if all we were getting was chicken we would be better of going for the
local fish and chips, which we did.
It was an
Irish/German breakfast as the B&B we were staying at seemed to be owned by
Germans, so that was a slight change on the morning routine. Also (it had had
to happen), the rain had finally arrived. We made our way towards Blarney in the
hope that the rain would lift. Unfortunately the rain continued to pour but
this did not deter us on our visit to Blarney Castle. It is a funny place,
Blarney Castle. It is clearly a tourist trap but luckily the rain had kept many
of the tourists away today. The grounds and gardens were beautiful and we
enjoyed wandering around them in our rain jackets. We weren’t entirely
convinced as to the authenticity of the druids’ cave and witches’ staircase but
we played along anyway. The kissing of the Blarney Stone, at the top of the
ruin of Blarney Castle, was again one of the those things that you do but,
unlike the American tour groups you wait in line with, you never feel quite like
you are getting a true authentic experience. However we both lined up and we
both kissed the Blarney Stone so now we should both have the gift of eloquence.
We shall see how that one plays out over time. As the rain continued to fall we
jumped back in the car and continued on our way to Cork. Cork is a mixture of
both modern and old fashioned. We were able to discern that much through the
rain. However it being Easter Monday and Ireland being a strongly Catholic
country Cork was largely closed. With the rain pouring and the city closed we
eventually relented and drove out to the airport to await our flight back to
London. Much like New Zealand, you don’t get an Emerald Isle without a lot of
rain. To be sure, to be sure…
https://picasaweb.google.com/JessicaLMcMillan/IrelandApril2011
https://picasaweb.google.com/JessicaLMcMillan/IrelandApril2011
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