You all knew this was coming. I’ve been
off Frail Deeds for nearly two weeks while my Favorite Panamanian and I were gallivanting
across Ireland and Scotland. Now you have to pay the price and endure my
fractured prose trying to capture the magic I’ve been through. I say me because
my wife merely tolerated this because she knew it was the realization of a
lifelong dream for me. Her, not so much, especially with the cold (for her) and
rainy conditions endemic to these two countries. She did what she does best,
made friends with nearly the entire tour group while I was gawking at castles, bagpipes,
and the scenery. So, here goes, the vacation is over, for both me and you. I’m
going to keep writing as long as it takes and use the best of the millions of
phots that I took.
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| Dublin Airport Arrival |
Day 1 Swift Immersion
We didn’t realize this until we reached
our Dublin bound plane, but Taylor Swift was holding two concerts in our destination
city which meant our plane was swarmed with a lot of pink clad, pubescent young
ladies. There was so much more of that to come. Our plane left Boston at 8pm
and was scheduled to land in Dublin at 7 in the morning, so sleep would have
been nice. Would have been, if all the “Swifties” weren’t constantly opening the
blinds to marvel at the sun rising so early. Alright, I’m being a bit curmudgeonly
here. My Favorite Panamanian had been stressing about the weather conditions
for our trip ever since we made our reservations. It did her no favors that we couldn’t
see anything of the ground during our approach as we descended out of thick
clouds into Dublin, where it was raining.
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| First Walk Through Streets of Dublin |
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| Wife Found A Mall (of course!) |
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| Carrying her Hair Dryer Around Dublin |
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| River Leith |
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| Street Near our Hotel (looked typically Irish tome) |
You know who I was traveling with, so
when in doubt we went with her standard response. We went shopping. We walked
into central Dublin and found an indoor mall out of the rain where we completed
what my Favorite Panamanian considered the most important purchase of the trip,
a hair dryer. During our other trip to Europe, she had burned up her favorite
one and was determined to get one that would work with the local electrical
connections. So, I got to carry that around for the rest of the day as we
wandered around rainy Dublin. I was enjoying it immensely as this was a place I’d
always wanted to visit. We’d received directions at the mall to a place where
she could buy a rosary since that was the one thing she forgot. I noticed during
our trip that whenever asking directions, everything is a five-minute walk
away.
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| Swifties |
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| Wife in Front of Epic Museum |
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| Initial Tour Social Hour in Epic Vault |
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| Starting Our Tour Through Epic Exhibits |
To add to the local color, we got to
walk through the Gay Pride Parade as we went in search of the rosary. That was interesting,
especially since they were mixing in with all the Swifties who were everywhere.
We returned to the hotel a little after noon, totally exhausted. We sat down with a bunch of other people who
turned out to be the rest of our tour group, also waiting for rooms. Two hours later,
after observing the front desk for a while, it turned out that the head conciergerie
was a Spanish guy. Never one not to make use of the weapons at my disposal, I aimed
my Favorite Panamanian at him to ask about our room. She returned two minutes
later with the keys. She has that effect on people.
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| Wife in a Super Nova |
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| She Put me in a Lineup! |
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| And then Joined Me |
We came down at 4pm to meet the rest of our
tour group, other than time spent earlier waiting together for rooms. We all
loaded the bus and drove over, through the throngs of swifties, to the Epic
Museum for our ice breaking get together. The Epic is an award winning museum
right on the River Leith that commemorates the Irish diaspora. I was stunned to
learn that in today’s Ireland there are still two million less people on the
island than there was prior to the Irish potato famine of the 1800s. After a brief
buffet and beer in an underground vault we went through the exhibits and I was truly
impressed. The exhibits do a superb job of memorializing the factors involved
in the departure of so many, ranging from the famine to the English. It was a
powerful experience and I would recommend it to anyone who visits Dublin. It
offers a heartrending lesson for those of Irish extraction as to what their forbearers
went through. It also celebrates Irish culture and was a great way to kick off
our time on the Emerald Isle. We were back in the hotel by 7pm and went
straight to bed. We’d been up for 37 straight hours at that point. I used to do
that all the time when I was a young and stupid in pursuit of the fairer sex,
but the older version of myself, not so much.
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| Tall Ship on the Leith |
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| Very Cool Bridge over the River |
Day 2, Left Coasting
After a great night of overdue sleep, we
set out for our first full day in Ireland. Since we were changing cities that
day, we left our bags in the hallway as instructed and they were automatically
ported to the bus. This was one of the very cool things about the tour,
everything was taken care of. That included the breakfast each day at every
hotel and the food was awesome! The first event of the day was a driving tour
of Dublin with a local guide pointing things out to us. We went all over the
city as Swifties still owned the streets. We drove thorough Trinity College and
visited the home of Oscar Wilde. I learned that Dublin was actually founded by
raiding Vikings who needed a base to trade. There were some remarkable
historical sites pointed out and I was in heaven (history nut, don’tcha know). We
also drove by the massive Guinness brewery but didn’t have time to stop. They
take their Guinness very seriously in Ireland. The brewery sends out teams to
make sure the Guinness is being poured properly all over the country, each pour
taking a little over a minute. I watched during the rest of the time in Ireland
and it was true. More on Guinness a little later.
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| Park Dedicated to Irish Freedom Fighters |
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| Harp, the National Symbol of Ireland |
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| Oscar Wilde Statue |
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| Oscar's Home |
There was a mega yacht parked on the
River Leith and the guide said while the occupant was a secret, it wouldn’t surprise
her if a certain American singer (of the pink hat legions) was involved. After
this great tour we set out for the two-hour drive to Galway, on the west coast
of Ireland. Lunch wasn’t very sexy as we hit a highway rest stop which featured
Mickey D’s and the Circle K. A little after that we stopped in front of a huge golf
resort to get into a boat ride on what was advertised as a Viking ship. Actually,
it was a 100-year-old boat with a dragon head pasted on it with a very entertaining
captain/narrator. We cruised down the River Shannon to Athlone. My Favorite Panamanian,
still reeling from the 62-degree temperatures, claimed she would ride inside the
boat for the duration. She couldn’t resist though and was soon spotted enjoying
the cruise outside with our new friends.
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| Seat of Irish Government |
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| Guinness Brewery |
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| Our "Viking" Ship |
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| Wife Saying it weas Too Cold to Come Outside |
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| River Shannon Lured her Out |
We arrived in Athlone and got off the boat
in the shadow of a 1000-year-old Norman castle (very cool). Our destination was
the oldest continually operated pub in the British Isles and possibly the
world. Sean’s Bar was founded in 900 AD. The Guinness book of world records
certified it as the oldest pub in the world. Anybody who knows me, knows how
important pub lore is, so this was a real treat. Fittingly, it was here at this
auspicious location that I had my first Guinness in Ireland. They say the Guinness
tastes different in Ireland which I discovered was correct through industrious experimentation. I loved it which
was a huge surprise to my fellow beer drinkers, my son and Wingman who know how
mundane my usual beer taste is.
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| Arriving in Athlone |
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| I'm Next to the Normal Castle |
The manager of Sean's Bar gave us a
hilarious presentation on the full history of the pub. This was a trend in both
Ireland and Scotland where story telling was a true art (I think they call it,
a gift of the blarney). There was some great Irish humor injected throughout
the performance including how the pub was named. A regular named Sean was talking
with his friend at the bar one night and said if he bought the pub, he wouldn’t
have to change the name. So, he did. After this very fun time, we walked back
by the castle to the bus for the remainder of our drive to Galway.
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| At Sean's Bar for First Guinness |
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| That First Guinness |
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| Outside Sean's Bar |
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| Wife in Athlone |
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| That Norman Castle Again |
After checking into the hotel, it was
back on the bus for a trip into the center of Galway which was a real treat. As
we walked by the central park, enroute to the shopping district, our tour director
pointed out a series of flags representing the most significant families of
Galway. The second one had the Irish spelling of the ABFA’s maiden name (knew
she was special). The Favorite Panamanian’s head was spinning a little bit as
we immersed ourselves in the huge crowd in the main shopping district, especially
when she saw banner proclaiming it was sponsored by the local Latino group. It
was a very lively place with a pub every few feet (guess who was in heaven
(wife for the shopping and someone else for the pubs). Our goal was getting
some dinner and we entered what looked like a promising pub only to find it
packed and we kept walking and walking back into the pub. The small storefront
hid the immense size of the pub itself as it kept going back and back into numerous
side rooms. This happened a couple times on our trip as we would enter a modest
pub storefront only to find a massive internal space consisting of small interconnected
rooms. There was a Euro football match
on the abundant screens so no place to sit down and eat. We eventually emerged
on a side street and found a less crowded venue to eat (and down yet another delicious
Guinness). We ate with our new friends from Maine and it was the start of what
turned out to be a tradition where we ate most of our meals together.
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| Center of Galway Flags |
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| Tour Director in Center of Galway Shopping District with Good Ole Oscar |
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| Shopping and Pubs, Best of Both Worlds |
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| River Corrib in Galway |
After dinner it was back on the bus and
a drive to a place called Leisureland to see a presentation of Trad on the
Prom. This turned out to be one of the real highlights of the entire trip. It
featured a night of Irish singing and dancing. The dancing included both a male
and female world champion of the Irish dancing style. They were truly spectacular.
Our tour was afforded front row seats. The singers were also very good and each
musician seemed to be able to play dozens of traditional instruments, sometimes
in the same song. There was a great energy for the entire performance. You all
know that my Favorite Panamanian is a huge fan of dancing, in all its forms.
After the performance concluded, the lead singer/emcee made his way over to our
location and specifically thanked my wife for the energy she had brought. Way
cool.
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| Getting Ready for the Show |
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| Great Seats |
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| Scenes from the Show |
We returned to the hotel after 1030 at night
and it was still light out, thanks to the northern latitude we were occupying. A
very full second day in Ireland.
Day 3, Castles, Gardens, and Bogs
This was a day to be remembered for our
time in Ireland because it gave us our first fleeting glance of a patch of blue
sky and a respite, late in the day from rain. We even had a completely blue sky
around 9pm. We traveled, after breakfast, through the Connemara National Park, which
offered stunningly beautiful views of the very green countryside. I know I’ve
seen these views in the movies before. There were sheep dotting virtually every
hillside. We also passed a number of peat bogs where they were harvesting the
peat. We pulled into our destination and I was shocked. Not only was a gorgeous
castle in view, but I’d seen this same castle a couple weeks ago on one of my stationary
bike rides. They always put scenic sights on the screen to take away some of the
pain and I was struck by the beauty of this one and wondered if I would see it
on our trip to Ireland. Very cool.
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| Driving Through Connemara |
It is called Kylemore Abbey and had a
very interesting history. It started out as a residential castle in the 1800s,
passed into the hands of a British aristocrat who lost it gambling, and
eventually became the home for an order of Benedictine nuns displaced from
Belgium by World War 1. It turns out Ypres (site of one of the biggest battles of
WW1) was not a good place for a nunnery. They eventually established a school
at the castle which is still in operation. It was a truly amazing building as we
toured the inside. My Favorite Panamanian found the attached church, of course,
which was a highlight for her. We also toured the adjacent six-acre, Victorian garden
(yay!) created by the original builder of the castle (guy must have been
loaded). For both the castle and the garden, the mountain provided a stunning
backdrop; just a great stop.
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| Wait a Minute! I've Seen This Place Before! |
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| Wife and I in Front of Kylemore Abbey |
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| Inside the Castle |
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| Walking the Castle Grounds |
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| Wife Found the Church |
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| The Victorian Gardens |
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| Look! I'm Smiling in a Garden! |
After scarfing down some lamb stew (very
Irish), on our way back to Galway, we stopped off at Celtic Crystal Ltd. I groaned
when I heard this was happening but it turned out to be fascinating. They make
and hand carve all their own crystal. They gave us a demonstration of one of the
artists hand carving a bowl. I was amazed at how easy he made it seem. There was
the predictable attached gift shop where the Favorite Panamanian scored yet another
rosary, this one made of crystal. We returned to the hotel for a short break before
heading back into Galway for another night of shopping. We leavened that experience
with dinner at the King’s Head Pub. Named after good King Charlie who lost his
head. He was English, so I don’t think the Irish were very sympathetic. I had
some more Guinness, of course.
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| Can We Leave Already!? |
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| That Patch of Blue Sky!!! |
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| Back Through Connemara |
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| Hand Carving the Crustal |
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| Final Result |
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| Outside the Pub |
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| Another Guinness |
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| Wife Loose in Shopping District with a Blue Sky! |
Okay, so that was the first three days.
I’m going to keep writing and posting while this is still fresh in the mind.
Thanks for hanging this long with me. You can now understand why I’m smiling so
much. There will be no updates to the A-Z watch until I’m finished with the trip.
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RECURRING CHARACTERS:
ABFA – Amazing Best Family
Athlete - my daughter
in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter
#3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel -
second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue
about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; CRC - Connecticut
Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor
of the big river; Curbside Girls – close
friends of my daughter acquired during him her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which
grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of
course); FBR - First Blog Reader -
first granddaughter; First Friday –
celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene
Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene,
NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend
since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife –
her US sisters, my wife is the 3rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew –
son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia
member; PanaGals – female relatives
/friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin
Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we
have lived & their spouses; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor
Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Seis Amigos
- two couples from our condo complex and my wife and I; Soxfather – my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger
sister; Wingman
– my son in law; Wingmom –
Wingman’s mom, of course
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