Day 6: Mucking around Muckross

Today we stayed nice and close to home and ventured to Muckross House followed by the Muckross Traditional Farms.

Muckross House is a 19th century mansion located in Killarney National Park.  Some 20 years after completion, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert stayed at Muckross and it was amazing to read how the Herbert family (owners of Muckross) spent 6 years and goodness knows how much money, preparing the house for the royal visit.  The Herberts wanted to impress the Queen as they wanted her to grant them a higher status which could lead to more wealth for them.  Unfortunately, this status was never granted and the Herberts went broke (due in large to how much money they spent preparing for the royal visit) and had to sell Muckross House.  Shortly after their visit to Muckross, Prince Albert died suddenly of typhoid (?) and Queen Victoria went into a deep depression and just never got around to approving the Herberts request.

Muckross then went through several owners over time, until finally the house and land were donated to Ireland in memory of the wife of the last owner who died of pneumonia.

Sadly, photography was not allowed inside the house.  It was beautifully decorated and the tour guide did a very good job in describing the daily life of the occupants of the house.  Inside Muckross house was a weaving workshop that produces beautifully handwoven items.

Adjacent to the house are the Traditional Farms.  These are reproductions of typical early 20th century farmsteads, and include costumed actors who demonstrate various aspects of farm life.  Butter making, open-fire bread making, and of course farm animals were a few of the things we saw.  The children loved it (as did we).  Rowan and Walker loved seeing the mama and baby donkey, puppies, piglets, and the enormous Clydesdale horses.  

The donkey & cart

Muckross traditional farms

Check out the size of that head!

There was even a playground...

... for Walker to practice his ninja moves!

That night we headed to Kate Kearney's Cottage which is a 150 year old cottage in the Gap of Dunloe now run as a pub/restaurant.  Kate Kearney was a woman famous for her looks and her distilling abilities.  Her illicit potion was called "Kate Kearney's Mountain Dew" and was offered to many people on their way through the gap.

We were there for a traditional "Irish Night" which included dinner, an irish band, and irish dancers.  Apart from us there was only one other group!  A group of about 20 twenty-something year old math students from Flanders, and they were ready to party!  They were a lovely group and at one point started a circle dance and invited Rowan and Walker to partake in the fun.  Walker clung to me shaking his head no, and Rowan was already up and linking arms with the girls in the group by the time we could say anything.  Then we realize it is a kissing game (ah, the Belgians...must be the chocolate)...

This did not deter Rowan at all and it was very innocent and fun.  The game went like this: Everyone links arms and is dancing around in a circle, one person is in the middle dancing around and contemplating who will be their prey (like a hunt!), they approach their chosen one and go down on one knee and then they do the cute kiss-on-each-cheek thingy.  Then the "hunted" becomes the "hunter" and the process starts again.

As Erik and I sat there watching out for perverts, Rowan is gleefully bouncing around the circle.  She was chosen a few times and quickly (too quickly perhaps) got the hang of things.  It was all in fun and I was impressed at how sweet these girls were with Rowan.

I have since heard her telling people how she kissed a few boys in Ireland and I quickly jump in to explain the context ;)

Day 5: Dingle All the Way

OH, sunshine sunshine how I love you!!

Today we went to Dingle which is located on the Dingle Penninsula and so the drive there was on an beautiful (though sometimes narrow) coastal road.  Our reason for going to Dingle was to find Fungi, a bottlenose dolphin that has lived in Dingle Harbour for over 20 years!  The theory is that he was likely seperated from his pod when he was quite young and ended up in Dingle Harbour. Dolphins are very social, and he get his social interaction from the boats in the harbour.  He is never fed, there is nothing keeping him in the harbour and nothing artificial that draws him to the boats.  Cool, right?  AND you get your money back if you don't see him.  Sounds perfect?

After about 45 minutes of cruising around the harbour....yes, in a boat, and YES I was in said boat doped up on Sea Legs with my handy dandy wristbands on. I am a changed women.  Anyways, we hadn't seen Fungi :(  Erik is doing the math tallying up how much money they are going to lose based on how many people were on  the boat, and I am thinking this is going to be JUST as disappointing as when we went to Loch Ness and I didn't spot Nessie, when all of a sudden one of the boatsmen points to one side of the boat.  There was Fungi right beside the boat, jumping and looking around.  It was very cool.  Kind of hard to get pictures too between the dolphin not holding still and the people getting in the way ;)

Waiting for Fungi

Fungi following the boat

The kids even got a dolphin ride in

After seeing Fungi we walked around Dingle which had some wonderful artisan-type shops.  We had lunch at a really cute restaurant where Rowan asked if she could try mussels!  She even liked them!

We then set off to drive around the Dingle Penninsula.  On route we stopped at a couple sites, including the Donegal Fort (an iron age promontory fort) and the Gallarus Oratory (an very early Christian chapel).

Clifftop view from promontory fort

Wall of fort

At the end of the Dingle peninsula

Gallerus Oratory

On our way back there was a serious car accident and traffic was backed up and at a standstill.  It looked like we were going to be there for awhile so Erik tells me to turn around (I am driving) as he knows "another way".  I am immediately suspicious but he thinks it will be faster (he was probably right).  As we are heading up the road which is rapidly becoming a bit questionable, Erik reads out the road atlas legend's description of the road:

Extremely narrow, difficult and dangerous

Great!  Check out our video:

It all ended well, we got home safe and sound and ended the day with takeaway pizza and a glass of wine :)

Day 4: Horsing Around

Just to be irritating to anyone having bad weather....beautiful weather again in Ireland!  But really, who would have thought we'd have such gorgeous weather.  We need hats and mitts most mornings, but rather that than umbrellas.

Today we went for a fantastic pony trek into Killarney National Park with Killarney Riding Stables.  Rowan was very excited to go on her first hack without being led (mom was a bit nervous about this), Erik had never ridden English style before but has ridden western quite a lot, and sweet little Walker has hardly done any riding at all so he was led by a guide who rode beside him on horseback and held a lead rope.  After arriving we were introduced to our ponies/horses; Walker rode Archie, Erik rode a very large James, I rode Solomon, and Rowan rode Robin.  They were all very sweet and sound, but with fun personalities. Robin was a small gelding pony who thought he was a very large Stallion and he and James did not get along at all so had to keep their distance.

Our ride lasted an hour and we got great views of the Killarney Lakes.  We had fun trotting around and one of the guides pulled me aside for a few canters which was great fun!

After lunch we drove up to the bottom of the "Gap of Dunloe", a very dramatic mountain pass.  It is listed as a "must-see" in travel books and was definitely not a disappointment.  There are several ways of seeing the gap (car is not one of them):

• By Foot - you can walk up the "road" which takes approx. 2.5 hours one way.  Uphill mostly. Though the children have done several hikes of this length, and much harder, we thought simply walking along a road was a bit boring for this amount of time.
• By Bicycle - Yeah right. I am the weakest link in this option.
• By Jaunting Car - Now your talking!

As we drove up to the first parking lot we were approached immediately by a gentleman offering us a jaunting car ride up the gap.  I noticed right away that this was not anywhere near as smooth a ride as our jaunting trip the other day and questioned our decision to eat lunch before coming. Also different was that our driver was standing at the back of the cart rather than sitting in front of it.  Our driver explained to me that they are not referred to as "jarveys" up here.  They are "pony men" and drive these carts which have two wheels instead of four because the 4-wheelers would not do well on the bumpy steep roads.  The ride up was fantastic, the views were amazing and once again our "pony man" had lots of fun stories, geological explanations, and mythological stories about the area.

Coming down we had a bit of a fright.  As we were rounding a corner right beside a lake, the horse (whose name I cannot pronounce nor spell but was authentically Irish) stopped suddenly in his tracks (from a quick downhill trot).  Our driver went flying forwards and landed on the front of the cart.  He got very nervous and was shouted gaelic instructions at the horse who was getting increasingly agitated.  The driver handed me the reins ("Here, hold these") and jumped out of the cart to try and sort things out.  The horse then is trying to turn around (we are on one-way cart sized path beside a lake) and run.  I quickly do the math:

 1 spooked horse pulling cart + family of four in thee cart  - driver of cart = one horsewoman holding the reins and is going to have to drive this thing down the mountain.

The driver shouts at us to get out quickly.  We get out and start walking down the road.  As we round the corner causing the problem we notice there is a goat hidden in the bush.  I alert the driver as this was obviously what has set the horse off.  He carefully gets a very reluctant Irish Draught horse past the "horse eating goat" (this is how the horse saw it!).  Afterwards, we climb back in the cart and enjoy the rest of the trip.  The driver was very flustered and was worried we were all going to end up in the lake.

We head back to our cottage and I am looking forward to relaxing for a few hours before dinner.  Now, anyone who has been married for any length of time knows that there are some fundamental differences between spouses that become quite obvious after a few vacations together.  Ours is that Erik hates to sit.  Neither one of us likes to sit too much, but Erik's idea of relaxing that afternoon was finishing his Guiness.  Once the "sweet nectar from the Irish Gods" had recharged Erik's body and soul, he was keen to get out again.  Erik and I have been married nearly 10 years and I feel comfortable and secure enough in our marriage now to tell him to have a nice time, take the children, and that I'll be here waiting for them when they return.  Which is exactly what happened. Erik took the kids for a fun river walk above the Torc Waterfall. They had great fun rock hopping and exploring and only 2 or the 3 of them got soakers.

Another great day.

Walker in Gorse

Dandelion kids

Rock hopping above the Torc Waterfall

Soaker #1... Rowan was next

Day 3: A Jaunting we will Go

Glorious sunshine!  Wonderful timing as we booked a jaunting car trip for this morning.  Jaunting cars are small wagons that are pulled by a single horse.  They are very popular here in Killarney and you see these everywhere around the town.  The driver of a jaunting car is called a "jarvey" and sits just behind the horse.  The owner of the place we are staying booked us a trip with his jarvey friend Pat and his Irish Cob horse Ben.

Our tour lasted an hour and a half and Pat took us into Killarney National park and all the way to Ross Castle. The views of the lake were beautiful.  It was a really cool way to sightsee as jarvies are known for their local knowledge of the area, including myths about leprechauns which the kids loved!  I also think when travelling with little people (children, not leprechauns) it is a good way to cover lots of ground and keep the kids interested.

Rowan with Ben the Irish Cob

KREW in the jaunting car.

I have always heard that the Irish love their horses and it was really nice to see these working horses being treated well.  Granted, not an easy job for them but they get every second day off and every chance they get they are given water, a break, and even some food.  The jarvies waiting for their next customers have their horses blanketed to keep them warm.  On top of that it was amazing to see how many verbal commands the horse knew.  The driver never even had to pull on the reins and the whip was never needed. 

That afternoon we headed back (by car) to Ross Castle.  Ross Castle is a "tower castle" built in the 15th Century that fell into ruin but has been rebuilt and furnished with authentic antiques.  These tower castles are very popular here in Ireland and typical design was knights quarters on the ground level, family lounge on the second floor, family bedroom on the third and the great hall on the fourth.  Very interesting compared to larger castle sights we have been to that are much more spread out, but these tower castles claim to have been extremely secure.

Ross Castle

We then headed over to see the Torc Waterfall which from its pictures looked like a beautiful, mythical-like waterfall gently cascading down through a forest.  Granted, it was beautiful and a must-see stop.  But take anything beautiful and build a parking lot at the bottom of it followed by a freeway-width walking path that takes 5 minutes (if that) to walk up and things become a little clouded.  After fighting our way (perhaps that's a slight exaggeration) up the path we arrived at the view point where we had to wait in order to get a picture of the children in front of the waterfall.  I think children have radars that tell them if any other child is doing something they are not, because almost immediately Rowan notices several children climbing up the rocks at the bottom of the waterfall.  She of course asks if she can do that too.  I say "no". She asks "why are those kids doing it?"  What I want to say loudly is "because their parents don't love them", but I show great restraint and say," because".

Torc Waterfall

I am trying really hard to feel my waterfall groove and the power and loveliness of the energy all around me (la-la-la), but it is really hard to do that when a lady is yelling up at her children to come down off the rocks.  Added to which I am getting increasingly annoyed at the fact that every picture I take has these other peoples children (the dumb ones climbing up the rocks) in the frame.  You'll see in the pictures below.  Good thing its not video or you'd hear me yelling "GET OUT OF MY F-ING FRAME!!". Of course I didn't do that...
 

See?

Day 2 : Ring around the Kerry

The weather for the past week in Ireland has been similar to England, gorgeous sunny days with mild (if not warm) temperatures.  Today was raining.  Boo!  But on my long and constantly growing list of what England has taught me, is to sit down and have another cuppa and see what happens.  Still raining.  Right, next on the list is to drive to another location.  So off we went to drive the Ring of Kerry, a beautiful day-long scenic drive which takes you through mountains, cute coastal towns, and right by the Avoca store...

As we leave our cottage, we are sort of concerned that we are not going to get to see any of the views promised on this drive because of the cloud cover.  However, not 20-minutes into the drive the clouds begin to part, the sun comes out and we end up having sunshine that lasts the entire day.  Thank goodness as it would have been a shame to miss out on the coastal views.  This drive took us though so many little villages, across peat bog lands, into the hills, and alongside the ocean.  Every time we could smell peat burning, Rowan would call out "Do you smell bacon"?  Erik would say "That's not bacon it's peat".  Then later on when we smelt it again Erik said "Smell the peat!" and Rowan said "You mean the bacon?"  Ah kids.

Looking out at the Skelligs

Best Cliffs in Kerry

The highlight of this drive for me was the views over to The Skelligs, two huge rock islands rising out of the ocean. The larger, Skellig Michael is a UNESCO world heritage site and consists of a 1000 yr-old stairway leading up to an early Christian monastery (Monks settled here in the 6th century) and several beehive shaped huts.  It is possible to take a boat out to Skellig Michael and climb the staircase up to the site but we are not sure that we will have time to do this as it is a full day trip, and very weather dependent as there is no docking area for the boats (from what I could see from a short video the boats pulls up as close as they can and you carefully step out). So for today we went to the "Best Cliffs in Kerry" (near Portmagee), a small parking lot and cafe where you pay a small admissions to walk the 10 minute trail to a viewpoint with stunning views of the Skelligs.

Derrynane beaches

We had promised the kids some beachcombing so we stopped at Derrynane Strand (near Caherdaniel). Walker wanted to climb the rocks with Daddy and Rowan was set of finding a collection of seashells, and as "luck" should have it, one small crab leg.

Beachcombing

Mom & Daughter

 Our final stop on the Ring of Kerry was the Avoca store.  Avoca is one of the world's oldest weaving mills, and has been a family run business in Ireland since 1723.  They manufacture blankets, throws, clothing and now have lines of pottery, furnishings and gifts.  I left with a gorgeous throw, several pairs of fun knee socks, and a "moo cow" creamer.
We got back in time for the kids to have a run around outside. They played on the play structure, on the see saw, pet the owners new puppy and then got caught in a crazy hail storm.  Erik and I were sipping a nice glass of red wine when we looked outside and noticed the hail crashing down. Just as Erik was about to rush out to rescue the kids, they came running around the corner laughing their heads off that it was hailing.  Nothing seems to phase those two...they ended the day with a giggle-inducing jacuzzi bath.

That didn't hurt

What will tomorrow bring?

Day 1 : Across the Irish Sea

It is Day 1 of our 10-day Ireland adventure, most of which will be spent in Killarney in the south west of Ireland with a few days in Dublin at the end.  While planning this trip the most logistically difficult decision we made was how we were going to get ME over to this island!  Anyone who knows me knows I am not cut out for a sailor's life! Though I love the sea, there is a voice inside of me that screams very loudly whenever I think going on a boat is a good idea.  It's easy enough to fly to Ireland, flights are cheap at £30 per person with car rentals being pretty average in price.  We ended up deciding to drive because we liked the idea of having our own car and not having to worry about how much we packed.  This meant we had to take a ferry...


After a lot of Sunday morning "over coffee" research we had purchased:

• tickets on the "fast" ferry
• 2 boxes of  "Sea Legs" seasickness tablets
• a pair of sea sickness wristbands; and 
• as a last resort a large rubber mallet which Erik would use to knock me unconscious if none of the above worked.

I decided it was a good idea to start taking the Sea Legs the day prior to really let it build up in my system.  This seemed like a good idea.  What was perhaps not a good idea was having that glass of Tuscan red wine last night.  I admit that I usually ignore those "avoid alcohol" warnings on boxes thinking that they are referring to excessive amounts of alcohol (not one innocent glass).  In this case, the warning should have read "Any amount of alcohol could lead to excessive, drooling sleepiness. And may/will include hallucinations of half human half cartoon TV personalities".  Holy smokes!  What a night! 


We took the ferry from Holyhead (northern Wales) to Dublin, a two-hour ride on a really nice boat.  And the good news - I made it!  It worked (and no, Erik did not have to use the mallet)!  I can't believe it.  This will open up a whole new world of travel opportunities!  One of the first things I see in Dublin is this taxi in front of us, and I am staring at his roof-top sign which says "TACSAI" and I think that is hilarious Ireland is so phonetically driven that they would spell it like that.  But then I notice that all the other taxis signs are normal.  So maybe it was just some freelance taxi driver who likes Jolly Phonics?  Or gosh, is it Gaelic? I have no idea...


Any trip we have gone on with the kids always starts the same.  Upon arrival, we immediately ask the question W....T....F...?  In "parents travelling with children" language, this stands for: Where To Forage?  We need to sort out the basics of keeping everyone happy and figure out where and what and what time we will eat. We ended up finding a grocery store near our cottage in Killarney and doing a quick run though grabbing frozen pizzas for dinner tonight and breakfast foods for morning.  Perfect!


By this time, we have obviously arrived at our cottage, the beautiful Killarney Priory.  Amazing!  A small grouping of cottages made from some old out buildings that have been beautifully renovated into bright, clean    cottages filled with character.  The grounds are lovely and include a play structure, beautiful gardens, fields for the kids to run, and last but not least - real Irish people! with accents!


The kids are in bed and the fire is burning. Except we are burning peat, which makes me think of scotch and how nice a glass would be right now.  But I have learned my lesson and I am avoiding alcohol this evening :)

The Glastonbury Experience: Witches, Warlocks and Wells

Glastonbury is a beautiful small town in the Sommerset region of England and was the location of our most recent adventure!  There are so many reasons to visit Glastonbury - both for what it offers now, and also for what it offered in the past.....(insert mysterious music here)...

The best way to describe Glastonbury is that it is a New-Age town and attracts new-agers and people with neo-pagan beliefs and interests.  It is by far unlike any place I've ever been, the surrounding landscape, the high-street (which the kids and I thought felt like Diagon Alley), the people, and its history. 
Glastonbury is said to have been the site of the ancient isle of Avalon.  The site where Joseph of Arimathea drove his staff into Wearyall Hill and a Thorn tree grew.  Many of the thorn trees in Glastonbury have in some way come from graftings of this original thorn tree.  He also is said to have burried the Holy Grail near/in Avalon. Then enters the Arthurian emphasis of the area (my personal favorite!) as King Arthur and his quest for the Holy Grail.  Arthur was then mortally wounded at the Battle of Camlan by Mordred and burried at the Glastonbury Abbey along with Guinevere. 

We stayed at a fantastic place called Middlewick Farm http://www.middlewickholidaycottages.co.uk/ which I would highly recommend to anyone wanting to explore the area.  We had a lovely little stone cottage called "The Pippin" which was an old converted barn.  Each morning, the owner would meet the kids outside to go and collect the freshly laid eggs from the Hen House.  So fresh, they were still warm (and a touch poopey)!!  We finished our long days off with a swim in the indoor pool and an indulgent massage in the pamper cabin.

Our first morning we set off on a long hike up to the top of Glastonbury Tor.  The walk began in the orchard at our farm and passed through some lovely countryside and farm fields.  We then came to the site of 2 ancient oak trees.  We've all seen pictures of majestic old cedars from western Canada right?  Bah!  These two trees were beleived to have been planted by the DRUIDS (over 2,000 years ago)! Probably not the original trees but in druid times, the druids would replace dying oaks with the seedlings grown from it. Now, picture how old a druid would be.  Now look at how old these trees look:

Gog or Magog - Ancient Oaks

The Tor is a huge hill on top of which sits St. Micheals tower - the remains of a medieval church.  It is also home to Gwyn ap Nudd, King of the Fairies. This is just one example of the many overlaps between Christianity in the area and the pagan beliefs of the old religion. 

Glastonbury Tor

Our stay up at the top was cut short by really strong winds that I was sure were going to sweep the children up and blow them all the way to fairy-land, and by some approaching rain clouds. 





We then walked down into the town of Glastonbury and decided to start at the Chalice Well, one of Britain's most ancient wells.  To be honest, I thought it would be a quick stop - arrive, see the well, make a wish and leave.  However, this site ended up being one of my favorites!  The brochure stated that the well "is a living sanctuary in which the visitor can experience the quiet healing of this sacred place. For over two thousand years this has been a place where people have gathered to drink the waters and find solace, peace and inspiration".  Sounds cool, right?  The gardens were unbeleivable - filled with giant Yew trees and flowers of all sorts. The gardens were also filled with those seeking the above experience so we had to make sure the kids stayed somewhat quiet.  Everywhere you turn someone was nestled into a little quiet garden nook.  Our kids were mostly interested in the water.  After several sips of well water, Rowan turned to me and whispered "Mommy, I think I feel younger"....

The Vesicus Pisces with staff going through.

After the well, we decided to head up high street and have lunch and check out the shops.  I have been in countless New-Age shops over the years and love every bit of them.  But Glastonbury is for hard-core new agers!  Rowan begged me to buy a cauldron, but I settled for a Green Man wall hanging.  The children had lots of questions about what they were seeing and it was a fantastic opportunity to teach them about these earth-based religions. 

Our last site was the Glastonbury Abbey (originally built in 600) and is the earliest Christian Sanctuary in Britain.  Obviously now it is a collection of ruins but still quite magnificient when you think of how long it would have taken them to build these structures.  Again, we encounter Arthurian legends here as this is where Arthur and Guinevere were burried, dug up in 1191 and entombed in the chapel (in the presence of King Edward the 1st). After the dissolution of the monastaries in the 15th Century the tomb was taken and no one knows where it is...



Arches at the Abbey ruins

If you are going to drive to Glastonbury, try to work in a visit to the nearby city of Wells.  Complete with a lovely cathedral, Bishops Palace and Vicar's Close (my fav) - the oldest and continously inhabitated medieval street in Europe.  On our way home, we drove via the Cheddar Gorge (yes, where Cheddar cheese originated!).  We had planned a great hike to the top of the gorge but got completely rained out!  We settled on a scenic drive through the gorge and a stop at the Cheddar Gorge Cheese company where we learned how cheese is made and indulged on some delicious samples! 

Where will our adventures take us next I wonder...

Sweet Flower-Girl

"Mommy, I'm a Green Man"

Love