Grandma Faith's Fabulous Life: Ireland

Showing posts with label Ireland. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Time To Go Home

We were afraid it was going to come to this. Grandma is being sent home from Ireland. She is guilty of having more fun than the law allows. Good bye Ireland!

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Pretty as a Peacock Outside the Castle Gate

There is a gorgeous park you walk through to get to the castle and these girls were walking their dog. We thought it was so cool to see an Irish Setter in Ireland, so we asked if we could take his picture. They surely didn't mind, but they said he was born in Poland. I said, "Okay, he's still an Irish Setter. We have Irish Setters in America as well." They said, "Yes, that's where his father came from." Small world, wouldn't you say?

This is called Malaride Castle. It is about ten miles north of Dublin. Here is Bob taking another picture for some tourists. I guess he looks friendly or something because people are always asking him to take their picture. It was exciting around here because there is an Eric Clapton concert in the castle field tomorrow night. They were busy setting everything up.

I was so excited to see this beautiful peacock. I think he was happy to see me, too. He spead out all his feathers and pranced around showing off for me. At first I was afraid to get too close because I didn't want him to fold up his feathers. He didn't seem to mind though and let me pose with him for a picture.

Hanging Out Around Dublin

There are several bridges crossing this river that runs through Dublin. This one is called the Ha'Penny bridge because it used to cost half a penny to cross it. It is free to go across it now and it is very busy. We were lucky some tourists from California wanted Bob to take their picture, so we got our picture taken together.

Here I am waiting for the bus. I got so tired walking everywhere the first day in Dublin that Bob bought us a ticket so we could ride anywhere we wanted to all day long. It was great. Sometimes we stayed on the bus for half an hour and went all over the place. Sometimes we just got on for a couple of blocks. It was awesome, so we did it again today. See my shopping bag. In Ireland they don't give you bags for your stuff, so we bought one at a hardware store. Now I feel very Irish with my grocery in my hardware bag. There is grocery store very near our apartment, thank goodness!

This is Phoenix Park. It is twice as big as Central Park in NYC. There are supposed to be 500 deer running loose here. I guess it was too rainy for them today. It is truly a beautiful place. Ireland is very quaint, but it is also very metropolitan as well. Dublin is a happening place full of tons of people from all over the world.

Old Jamison Whiskey Distillary

Bob got picked to be a whiskey taster at the Jamison Distillary. He loved the job, of course, and he did it so well they awarded him a certificate.

Here is a beautiful copper pot I found at the Jamison Distillary. It wasn't for sale and it was too big to put in my jacket pocket, so I won't be bringing it home. I did find a cool copper pitcher at a thrift shop for the Irish Cancer Society though, so I bought it. I hope I can fit it in my luggage!

Friday, June 20, 2008

Flowers all over Ireland

Here is a cool flower that was growing at Blarney Castle. It was raining, but nobody minds much about the rain. They all just pull out their umbrellas and keep right on going like it isn't even raining.

This is a rose garden in downtown Dublin. These Irish folks really know how to grow a garden. The soil must be very rich. I know the sun shines almost all day long. It only gets dark for a few hours in the middle of the night. I have to sleep with a mask on because it is so light.

Here is a wild Irish rose bush. It was growing at the guest house we stayed in in Killarney, but you see them everywhere over here.

Kiss the Blarney Stone

Here I am kissing the famous Blarney stone. It was quite an experience. You have to stand in line for a long time, climb all the way to the top of an ancient castle, lay down, and finally reach your head back and down to kiss it. I haven't noticed any change in my life. I am already so lucky it's hard to imagine my life any better.

We went for a lovely ride in a carriage pulled by a big horse. We rode all around Killarney National Park. We saw a magical castle on a lake. I have a lot of pictures to show you.

Somewhere out there in the Ring of Kerry we stopped at a beach with mountains all around it. There were a lot of artists painting, so I pretended to pose for one. She thought it was funny!

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Having A Blast in Ireland

We visited the Cliffs of Moher in Galway. Bob really wanted to go on a climbing adventure but it was way too dangerous.

Here I am hanging out on the Burren. There are miles and miles of limestone landscape with beautiful little flowers. People come from all over the world to study how these plants survive on such a harsh mountainous land.

This is the beautiful home we stayed in with John, our host. We were somewhere on the Dingle Pennisula. I am actually in an internet cafe here in Dingle today, Tuesday.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Belfast, Ireland

We went to a very old pub in Belfast called "The Crown."

More Fun in Ireland

We went to a place called "The Giant's Causeway." There is a cool story about a giant I will tell you when I get home. This is the giant's boot.

Here's Bob on the coast of Ireland. That's the Irish Sea down below.

Ireland is so beautiful. That is a castle called Dunlace in the background. It is in the movie, "Chronicles of Narnia."

In Ireland and Loving It!

This is the bed and breakfast we slept in in Derry. Kathy is here with me.

This is tour bus we are riding all over Ireland on.

We went to a church where they have a dead Saint's head. I will tell you about it when I get home.

Friday, June 13, 2008

We're in Dublin

Just a quick post to let you all know we arrived safely. Our flights went fine and we slept well last night. We are currently waiting at the Paddywagon tour depot for our Tour of Ireland to begin. We will be away from Dublin for several days. I'm hoping to be able to blog again on the tour, maybe even send some pictures. We love you all.