We have some overall observations about the trip, as usual. First, the weather was not so good, but we sort of expected that and planned for it. It rained many days, and the temperatures were cool compared to what we left in Columbus. It only got above 20 degrees Celsius (68 F) once! But we brought clothes for cooler weather, and so it wasn't a problem. Also, the weather was suitable for palm trees. There were palm trees in every part of Ireland that we visited. At home, there are only palm trees in the south: Florida, Texas, California; there are none in Ohio. The people there were very friendly; not only our friends, but just the everyday people that we talked to: hotel clerks, cab drivers, etc. Very friendly and helpful. There appeared to be no crime; nothing like the pickpockets and gypsies we saw in Barcelona last year. We took precautions, like hiding our things and locking our car, but it all worked out well. There were one or two beggars in Dublin, but very few compared to other places. I thought the scenery was beautiful. Lots of green out in the countryside. The stone fences and hedgerows were quaint, as were the sheep and cows. Finally, there was a lot of drinking and smoking almost everywhere we went. Alcohol is everywhere. In the United States, smoking is a big sin, and you don't see much in public. But not in Ireland. Lots of people smoke, and we had to put up with the smoke in the air. Not a big problem, but we did notice it.
We had some problems starting out. We had a normal flight from Columbus to New York. But the plane we were taking to Dublin started in Los Angeles and went through Chicago before stopping in New York. Because of storms in Chicago, our plane was 6 hours late getting into New York. And 6 hours late getting into Dublin. But we met people who had worse luck than we did, so I guess it wasn't so bad.
We had another pleasant trip, this time back to Ireland. We took a cab from the port to the airport where our rental car was waiting. This was a British car, steering wheel on the right, and it was a manual transmission car. Well, I struggled with it, but we got through without any serious mishaps. Part of the entertainment is me wrestling with driving! We headed north, in the direction of Belfast.
We arrived at the hotel at about 3:30. It was a fine hotel that our friend Tony arranged for us. Tony arrived with his two sons, Kevin and John, ages about 12 and 11. Tony drove us around downtown Belfast, where we saw some of the more famous city buildings. Then we went to Carrickfergus, a large castle ruin with some interesting displays inside. We saw some more of Belfast, including a military vehicle and British soldiers in full metal jacket. We drove to Tony's house where we met his wife Carmel. On Saturday morning, Tony and John arrived to show us some of the sites of Northern Ireland. First, we headed south toward the "Mountains of Mourne", a very scenic area. We stopped at a place called Seaforde Garden; there was a butterfly exhibit, a bird exhibit, and a large maze made of hedges. We then found Dundrum, another castle ruin, near the mountains. The castle was interesting, and the mountain scenery was really nice. We then saw a small "dolmen stone", large stones put there a few thousand years ago by the native people. Next we went to a place called Mount Stewart. It was a really nice manor house that was originally owned by the Marquis of Londonderry. It was fabulous: a beautiful house, beautiful gardens, and I estimate about $100 million dollars worth of paintings, furniture, and other art works inside. After that we drove back to Belfast. We then we to dinner at a place called Clenaghan's. We were all there: Tony and his wife and sons and Claire and I. And there was Brian and his wife; I had met Brian on my business trip several years ago. Several of Tony's musician friends were there; they were members of the Irish Bluegrass Musician's Association, and they played American bluegrass for us. They were quite good. We had a fine meal in addition to the good music.
On Sunday, Tony and John picked us up again. This time we went north to the "glens of Antrim", the northwest coast of Northern Ireland. We could see Scotland through the mist. The scenery up there is really nice. Then we drove to "The Giant's Causeway", an interesting pattern of stones that look like they were cut out or made in a factory. We then had lunch at the Bushmills Inn. Bushmills whiskey is made near there; it is the oldest continuously operating distillery in the world. Then we went to Dunluce castle, a ruin quite close to the ocean.
Monday morning was our last day in Northern Ireland and with Tony. We drove to Derry (Londonderry to the Unionists); Claire and I drove in our car because we would be leaving, and he drove in his. There we met a musician friend of his, Frankie Robinson. Frankie was a real friendly character, and he showed us the big church and some other sites there. We saw lots of signs of the "troubles", almost more than in Belfast. There was graffiti, barricaded police buildings, and security cameras everywhere. After a time we said goodbye to both Tony and Frankie. Tony and his family really showed us a nice time that weekend.
When we first left Derry, we drove to Limavady. This is where Claire's great grandmother came from. It was a small town, with no really big tourist attractions. But we learned it was the place where the words to "Londonderry Air", or "Danny Boy", were first written down. After having lunch there, we drove south to the Republic and to other things we wanted to see.
We found another Band B near Glengarriff. This was actually near Bantry Bay, on the west coast. We only saw a little of the ocean there, but it was very nice. Especially with the sun in the west in the evening. The town was nice, and we found that the shops were open until almost 10 PM. More shopping! We left in the morning, and went to Kenmare. This was another small town with some very picturesque shops. I took some photos, but actually went in and shopped with Claire. We left after lunch, driving toward Killarney. We drove along the "ring of Kerry", a circular road with lots of really nice scenery along the coastline. There is shopping at both ends of the ring, making it a really big tourist attraction. We stayed in another B and B. We had a connection in this one. The son of the owners spent some time in Columbus, and some folks in our international program suggested we stay there. In her dining room, there was a coffee mug that said "Westerville, Ohio"! After checking in, we went into town, found a restaurant, then walked and shopped some more. Then we went to bed, preparing for our last day.
On Friday, we drove to Muckross House, near Killarney, another fine mansion owned by some English nobility. It was very beautiful, inside and out. It also had its own abbey. The abbey was just a ruin, but the buildings and gravestones were very interesting. There was a large lake on the property, and we drove to the far end of the lake. At the far end was the "Lady's View", a place where some of Queen Victoria's friends would enjoy the scenery. We drove back toward the house and the main road, and we stopped to see Torc Waterfall; this one turned out to be not so spectacular. We then drove to Limerick, which was near the Shannon Airport where we would be taking off. We tried to see Bunratty Castle, another tourist attraction, but we were too late. But we ate at Durty Nellie's restaurant, a restaurant that had been there for 300 years or so. We checked into our hotel, and started packing. This was the only "American" hotel we stayed in. It had a swimming pool and all the other nice things that typical American hotels have. We didn't use any of those things (we normally don't when we travel), but we liked the big room.
We left in the morning and drove straight to the airport and had an uneventful flight back. We got into New York, back to the horrible heat that we left. It was more than 90 F. And an uneventful flight to Columbus. Another good trip come to an end. Our only complaint was the cool and rainy weather, but we expected and were prepared for that. We saw friends, and we saw lots of other new (for us) and interesting things.