Over the river and through the woods...to County Cork we go

How did our time in County Kerry go so quickly?  Yes, I know we tried to pack as much into our days as possible, but still!

As we packed up, it was with a little sadness.  Tuosist is such a nice little place.

We were thankful, however, that the drive to Kinsale was not nearly as long as the trip from Fintona.  It would have been even shorter if we didn't run into construction, closed roads and one road that we somehow managed to get on even though it should have been blocked off.  They were paving the road and there was no getting around them.  The construction worker we encountered seemed quite confused that we managed to get on the road in the first place and kindly sent us back the way we came.  *Our GPS sent us on a cow path road because another road was closed*  We kind of giggled because as we passed by the cow path road (we wanted to stay on the secondary road) there was another car coming that way.  The poor road worker had to deal with someone else.

About half way through the trip, we saw the sign "Welcome to County Cork" and since I had missed all the welcome signs, I quickly grabbed my camera to take a picture of it.  Bill said, "It's cool that you got a picture of the 'Gaeltacht' sign."  I was confused....I didn't see that sign.  I was sure he was wrong.  Oh, Missy of little faith. *A Gaeltacht is a town where Irish is spoken on a daily basis by at least 67% of the population.  Looking around at the next town we came to revealed signs in Irish only.  In most towns, the signs have Irish at the top and English on the bottom.  In this town, most signs were in Irish only.  Even the words painted on the road were Irish only.  "Go Mall" means slowly. When we got here and I downloaded my pictures, I was shocked to find that when I took the County Cork picture, the Gaeltacht sign was in the background (although they have it spelled Ghaeltacht).  Bill said the next time we are in Ireland, we will actually have to stop in a Gaeltacht since we've passed through one on both of our trips here.

Bill laughed at me when I took a picture of the stop sign at a road work stop.  I just found it funny that they have "stop" and "go" signs when we have "stop" and "slow."  Silly little differences like this are amusing to me.

 We finally got to Kinsale.  It was strange because we came into town the opposite way from last time...which made sense since we came from the West this time and East last time.  As soon as we were in town (we saw the grocery store where we shopped last time), we were able to turn off the GPS because we knew where we were. 😁

We are staying in the flat below the one we stayed in last year.  The view from here seems to be a bit better which is pretty cool.  This flat is quite a bit smaller than the other one, but it is still lovely.

Walking around town was cool because, once again, we knew where stuff was.  We didn't even have to look at the town map.  The kids had fun playing at the playground where they played last year.  Katie only asked a time or two to be carried.  She stopped asking when Daddy told her that she should carry me since my legs were sore from my race.  😮  I think she thought he was serious.

We ended up having a late dinner because we walked around so long.  The kids were happy with leftovers.  For Bill, I got creative and make him pasta with a butter sauce and sliced rashers.  I'm not sure what it is when we are in another country, but my cooking gets more creative.  I guess I have no choice than to use what I have here because....well, because that's what we have.  At home, we always have food for at least a dozen different meals.  Here, not so much.

Fog is starting to roll in.  Bill said that it's starting to look like Maine. 🙂  We haven't figured out what we are doing tomorrow.  Cobh isn't too far, nor is Cork.  There is also a beautiful beach not far from here.  Excitement is always close at hand.

I am not a runner

This title is true....I am not a runner!  That being said, I am so proud to say that I finished my 10k.  I have done several 5k races and I knew that 10k was "only 6 miles or so" so I thought it would be fine.  I researched races here in Ireland and found one that wasn't far from where we were staying.  I kept telling myself that I would start walking every day to get ready.  I told myself that nearly time and time again and never did anything about it.  I kind of regret that part....I don't regret doing the race, but I really should have put some time into training. 😅

We had to get up rather early because the race was about 1.5 hours from our rental.  I guess I was full of nerves because I couldn't get to sleep until about 1am and had to get up at 6am.  The number pick up was from 9-10 and we got there right about 9.  We were incredibly happy to find a parking spot right by the hotel (the Ashe hotel was where we had to pick up numbers).  The guy there told me that if I found a spot there, "Don't let that one go!"  The 10k is part of a festival there called the Rose Festival.  They have a beauty pageant and the winner is the "Rose of Tralee."  Parking is never easy to find...especially here, but during a festival, it is even harder!  The end of the race was also just a couple blocks from this hotel as well which made it an even better spot.  The guy who gave me my number gave me a map of the city (that didn't have street names listed on it) and kind of showed me where to go.  We went in the general vacinity (the Aqua Dome) and asked a guy working in the parking lot if he knew where the "Wetlands park" was.  He told me it was easy, "Just go down that road and you'll run right into it."  Well, we walked and walked and walked.  Did I mention the fact that it was pouring rain?  I mean raining cats and dogs...water was running down my hair and I think my sweatshirt weighed 10 extra pounds.  Anyway, after walking for probably 1/2 a mile and not finding the place, we turned around.  I went into an office and asked the girl at the desk and she drew me a small map.  The park was across the street from the Aqua Dome.....I could see it from the parking lot where we asked the guy.  GRRRRR!!

We were the first ones at the park (well, the first for the race).  We went inside to get out of the rain and Katie started crying.  We finally got out of her why she was crying...."I don't want to run a race."  Apparently, she thought that all of us were doing the race.  LOL!  Once we informed her that it was only me, she was good.  The rain finally decided to stop about a half hour before the race started.  I got in the mix of runners and tried to stay near the back.  I am not a runner...did I say that already?  I started to jog the race.  Most people flew past me and I was cool with that.  There were these 2 ladies who were walking and I jogged past them (and overheard them say that they would be last).  I ran the way I was supposed to go and they took a short cut...and got in front of me!  This kind of bugged me but they just laughed when I called them cheaters.  The three of us became friends during the race, Dierdre, Caroline and me. 🙂  It wasn't long before I started walking.  *If you remember from the beginning, I didn't train.  The three of us walked most of the race and I think they knew everything about me by the end.  They were very interested in this crazy American woman who took a day of her holiday to run (well, walk) in a race.

About 5 miles into the race, my feet (well, toes to be more precise) really started to hurt.  I am thankful for my new friends because they kept me going.  Right around the time we reached 5.5 miles, Dierdre's husband joined us.  He had finished the race and came to find his wife so he could finish again with her. I thought it was adorable!  I was telling him about the guy who sent me in the wrong direction and he just shook his head.  "He likely sent you wrong because he thought it would be great craic!"  I just laughed and said it was my fault for not knowing where to go.  He had different thoughts on the subject though.  "You might be some at fault, but it is young people not having respect."  I almost think he was insinuating I was old, but I'm not sure. 😉

We got near the finish line so I started jogging.  Doesn't everyone who walked most of a race jog at the end?  I thought my friends were going to join me, but they just shouted, "Go, Missy!  You take this!"  I crossed the line to my kids and husband (and a couple other random people) cheering.  It was kind of cool.

I am so glad that I did it!  I have my medal from a race in Ireland.  Because my friends chose to not run, I did not come in last place.  And, because I didn't have my shoes laced tightly enough, I believe I am going to lose both my big toe nails.  It was rather an exciting day. 😀

Bucket list item checked off

Put my toes in the water on the coast of Ireland

Several years ago, someone asked me, "What is something you would like to do but doubt it will ever happen?"  Mine was the activity listed above.  Today, I experienced my toes in the water....the very cold water....of Ireland's coast.  Although we went close to the water last year, I wasn't able to put my feet in.  I know it sounds weird, but it made my heart leap!  Once again, I am so thankful for how blessed I am!

 The trip out to the beach was quite eventful.  We thought we had experienced narrow roads, but these today took the cake.  We found out just how good Bill is with moving over without running us into a ditch (or down the mountain).  There were several caravans coming down the mountain today and they freaked us out just a bit.  But it seemed that every time one of them came toward us, we had a small pull off so could let them by. 

When I went to Colm Keegan's show a few weeks ago, I bought one of his new EP CDs.  The CD is full of Irish songs, many of which I had never heard before.  One of the songs is called, "The Cliffs of Dooneen."  Today, as we were driving up the mountain, we passed a small sign that said, "Dooneen."  My mouth dropped open in shock because I didn't even know that it was on this peninsula.  There was a pull-off just a hundred or so meters away from the sign so I asked Bill to stop.  I was able to get a few pictures of the cliffs.  It was so cool to see it....I ended up humming the song to myself all day with a big smile on my face. 

 We finally made it to the town where the beach was located.  It was such a quaint little town.  So many Irish towns make their buildings so colorful.  It is impossible to not be enamored. 

At the beach, Katie was a bit unsure, but trusted me enough to get her feet wet.  That in itself is HUGE progress for her.  She then went and sat on the sand....close enough to see the water but far enough away that she knew it wouldn't get her. 😉  Vladan just stood in the water looking around, and Fuad did NOT want to go near it.  The wave would come close and he would run in the other direction.  Maybe next time for him.

Time at the beach was cut a little short because we didn't realize how long it would take to get there.  Bill had scheduled with our rental owner to take a boat out on the water to fish.  On our way back, we looked over and saw two "islands" in the middle of the water far out.  We thought we knew what we were looking at, but weren't sure.  A little research when we got back showed we were right....we got to see Skellig Michael (although VERY far away).  Still...it counts, right? 😁

Remember the picture and story I told about the sheep the other day?  Well, today, we had a sheep get a bit closer.  He stood right by the edge of the road and didn't move even though our side mirror got about an inch from his face (there was a car going the other way).  They give you this look, well, I guess we were in his territory.

We got back just in time for Bill to go fishing.  It has been a long time since he rowed a boat, but he was so excited.  They had a rod for him to use and a local (who was just coming in from fishing) gave Bill a fly that gave him luck today.  😀 I tell ya, the people of Ireland are (for the most part anyway) incredibly kind!  Bill said that he had 2 strikes on his line, but wasn't able to catch either of them.  But he said that he was happy just getting bites. 

Tomorrow is my 10k.  I am a little nervous....to be quite honest, I didn't really train.  I'm not expecting that I will run much of it, but I am determined to finish.  My legs will probably be killing me tomorrow, but I will have a medal from a race in Ireland! 😅

Life on the Beara Peninsula

After a good sleep, the thought of venturing down the mountain wasn't quite as scary.  Bill said that he thinks he is getting the hang of driving on their insanely  narrow roads....you just have to drive closer to the middle of the road until you see another car coming.  Then, you get over and pray that your tires stay on the road.😁

The  closest town to where we are is at the head of Kenmare Bay.....it is aptly named Kenmare. 😀  It is classified as a heritage town.  Not many towns have that distinction but they are proud of it.  Their Heritage Center tells of Kenmare's history and there are also tons of walking paths around the town that give visitors the feel of Ireland.  We were happy to walk around the town and just revel in the Irishness of it all. 😊

After Kenmare, we ventured back up the mountain.  Yesterday, we saw on the map that there was a road that ran down by the bay.  MOST NARROW ROAD YET! 

We are incredibly thankful that we didn't meet any cars coming the other way because there literally was not room for them to pass us.  This road went in a circle and about half way through, we found a place to pull off so we could walk down to the water.  I have to say here that we were so impressed with Katie.  She has awful problems with balance and her legs are on the weak side.  But she walked down the dirt path by herself.  She did hold my hand while we walked on the rocks, but I don't blame her.  If I had someone to hold my hand...I would have too. 😉  The sky kept spitting at us so the rocks were on the slippery side.  It was also VERY windy so we were all pretty chilled.  Then, we looked in the bay and there were 2 people swimming...I didn't feel like I could complain about being cold after that. 

Going back to the car, Bill found another shorter path for us to walk up.  The only problem was the path was quite a bit steeper.  Katie was in front of me and started to fuss.  Sometimes, I think her problems are more confidence based.  She thinks she can't do something so she can't.  Anyway, I told her if she got up the path, I would give her a blackberry (I found a few by the path....they are everywhere here!)  That was incentive enough and she did it!  We were quite proud...and so was she.  Another funny story about Katie...we had just walked up the path and were waiting for Bill to meet us.  Another family was walking up another path and Katie kind of shouted, "Hi!  This is my mom!"  There were 4 family members and she said it to every one of the people.  The father of the group (or I assume he was) said, "Nice to meet you mom."  It's always nice when you are claimed by your kids.

We were all cold and wet so going back to our rental was the best plan.  But, as we were driving, we found a cemetery.  Both Bill and I have ancestors from Ireland...although not this part.  Both of us have wanted to visit a cemetery so we took this chance.  We had quite the conversation with the kids about having respect for the people that were buried there and surprisingly, they were all great!  I have a feeling, though, that Vladan is going to have a lot of questions in the near future about death.  He told Bill that he would never die and be buried, but we had to tell him that everyone dies.  He has had loved ones die, but I think it is really starting to make sense to him.  Sorry about that tangent...it happens often with me.

Most of the grave yard was newer, but there was a section of really old markers.  I didn't feel right about walking in that part because it was overgrown.  I didn't want to inadvertently step on a grave.  Like we thought, we didn't find any Rileys (or Reilleys or O'Reilleys) or any Breens.  But it was still a very special stop for us.

When we were nearly back to the house, another car had stopped to take some pictures of the gorgeous landscape.  There was a nice pull-off so Bill took the chance for us to get a few more pretty pictures.  As soon as I got out of the car, I heard a sheep yell at me.  He was standing up on the rocks right above our car.  I snapped a few pictures of the gourge and he yelled at me the entire time.  As I tried to take his picture, he turned his butt to me. LOL!  But I was able to get a good picture of him on top of the rock peak.

We also passed the shrine that I spoke about yesterday.  It did seem to have a statue of Mary but I also noticed a couple framed pictures (of a young man) inside.  I have to wonder if it is for someone who died in an accident there or something. 

We didn't find a beach today but that is on our itinerary for tomorrow as well as perhaps finding a castle.  (That shouldn't be hard here)  And Bill is going to get to go fishing on the lake that is on the other side of the road from where we are staying.  He is pretty excited!

 

Farewell Northern Ireland

It felt like we just got here and it was time to leave our first rental.  The one good thing about packing up is that you just know that everything has to go.  When I pack up to leave home, there is so much I have to remember.  For that reason, Bill let me sleep a little later.

Our landlady told us yesterday that she hoped we would leave a little on the earlier side because she had a new tenant coming this afternoon.  We were fine with that because we knew we had a 6+ hour drive.  I was surprised that the boys were still sleeping when I went to check at 9:30.

But we were all packed up and in the car at 10:30.  When we come to Northern Ireland again, we hope to stay at the Barn House (and longer next time).

Our drive was rather uneventful....other than driving mostly back roads that were full of HUGE trucks that don't fit in their lane. We did see some lovely countryside and we realized that Ireland does, in fact, have some decent sized mountains. 😮

 We also discovered that our GPS doesn't like going through the middle of nowhere.  It blipped at one point and told us to go down "an unknown road" and then when we were about 10 minutes down that road changed its mind and told us to turn around. 

But we made it down the middle of the country of Ireland without any major issue.  We were about an hour from our destination and Bill stopped for a minute for a restroom break.  It had been raining, then sunny, then raining during most of our trip.  I kept looking around for a rainbow but never saw one.....until we were at our restroom break. 🙂  I was getting Katie buckled in and glanced around the back of the car to see the prettiest rainbow.  It felt like I could reach out and touch it! 

 After what felt like forever, we finally reached our last road....it went up the side of a mountain and was so very narrow!  The people who own this property told us that it was 17km from the nearest town, Kenmare.  So, we set the trip odometer to make sure.  We went 17km and there was nothing....no houses, no turn offs, nothing but a cliff on one side of the road and the side of the mountain on the other.  We decided we must have gone too far, but had to drive nearly 10km farther just to find a place to turn around.  That doesn't seem like long, unless you have NO CLUE where you are going.  *The place we did find to turn around had a small alcove carved into the mountain and there was a shrine there.  I'm not sure if it was a shrine to Mary or another saint, but it was most definitely a shrine.  Anyway, we got turned back around and headed back down the mountain.  When we finally found the place, neither Bill nor I remember seeing it the first time.  It was kind of strange.  But we made it, so all's well that ends  well.  Once again, we are spoiled with the view here.  I don't have a picture of it yet, because it was a little late when we got here and after dinner, it was just too dark for me to get a good pic. 

The owners also have a pub that is right down at the end of our driveway.  Dinner was amazing!  I had fresh fish (I don't remember what it was) and Bill had what they called breaded scampi.  They tasted kind of like a shrimp "fish" stick.  I don't call it breaded shrimp because they were stick shaped.  But whatever you call them, they were delicious! 

Laundry is drying now and then it's time for bed!  We are excited to explore Kenmare tomorrow and maybe find a beach.  I want to finally put my toes in the water! 

Excitement in the Moy and some exploring

Sleep came quickly last night but sadly, I woke at 4am.  Katie was wide awake and continued to make so many noises that I couldn't get back to sleep for some time.  Finally, I found sleep and Bill let us all sleep until 10:30am, which felt wonderful.

Since this is our last full day in Northern Ireland, we chose to go to Moy for lunch.  It was a nice relaxing drive, but when we got there, we couldn't find parking near the restaurant.  Since we visited Moy last year, we knew that one of the churches had a nice parking lot.  We decided to see if it was open, and since it was (and there weren't any "no parking" signs), we took a chance and parked there. 😊 Today, we chose the Auction Rooms for lunch and I am so glad we did.  The food was incredible and the service was impecable!  There was only one guy taking care of the dining room (it was nearly 2pm so there weren't a lot of people there).  He was sweet and let the boys (and Bill) play some pool while we waited for our lunch.  I'm not exactly sure what happened about that time, but the fire alarm went off.  I found it hilarious and the guy said, "At least ye know the food is going to be cooked enough!" insinuating that our burning food was what set off the alarm.  He went and fixed it, and less than 5 minutes later, it went off again.  I still found it funny, but he didn't so much the 2nd time. It was quite funny watching Bill try to teach Vladan to shoot pool (or rather snooker since they were snooker balls). One thing that I found strange (although it shouldn't have) was the lack of a tip line on my credit card receipt.  I apologized to the guy about not mentioning a tip before and he just waved it off.  "No need to tip here!  We just want ye to leave happy!"  We did leave happy!  The food was tasty and so filling!  And it was quite inexpensive.  The only thing that would have made it better was if Ryan Kelly had joined us.  LOL! 

After lunch, we walked around for a bit to see what there was to see in Moy.  At the bus stop, there were some signs that told the story of the town and some local history.  There were also "Good Luck Tyrone" banners everywhere.  From what I have found, it looks like Tyrone is playing in the All Ireland Senior championship semi-final in GAA football.  Kinda cool!

Before we came to Ireland, we searched to see if we could find any wood turning shops.  Bill was hoping to find some local wood to turn at home.  We found  one in Northern Ireland, so that was where we ventured.  After several of those tertiary roads I spoke about last night, we finally found the shop. *We were blessed that we didn't run into someone coming the other way because this road is only wide enough for one car. It was just a building beside the home of the owner, but they had quite a selection of wood blanks.  We didn't get as much as we would have liked....after all we are just on day 2 of our trip. But we were able to get some cool ones.

 On the way back to our house, we stopped at a store called Asda....it is a Walmart subsidiary here.  Of course, we are all spoiled with the one stop shopping of Walmart, so I had to check out Asda.  They didn't have the one thing I hoped to buy, but we still enjoyed our trek.

Back at the barn house, Bill and I went for a small walk while the kids played on the playground.  I so wish we had more time here!  It is gorgeous and the owner is such a sweet lady!  Well, I guess that is all for today.  Tomorrow, we head south west for a teeny town called Tuoist.  We will be able to see the water from our rental and we are excited for that. 😁