Leaving Ireland

Leaving Ireland.... it is with a glad yet sad heart that we bid goodbye to Ireland... on our visit we have met artists, musicians, poets, mystics, intellectuals, a relative of the Bab and many other people that made our journey to this green isle a time we will never forget....

signs

Searching for wildlife... wish i had taken a picture of the sign warning of ‘elderly people’ crossing the highway... the beauty of each country is enjoying all the different signs... like papa learned when he first moved to BC and saw the signs announcing ‘watch for falling rocks’ he was surprised as they don’t have such signs in the east... however, he was more surprised when he took the fallen rock he found into the police station and asked for his watch.... and they tossed him out without giving him his watch.... ha ha

Armangh

We stopped at ARMAGH...an ancient celtic holy place and where st. Patrick is buried... It was also at Armagh that st Patrick declared that his church there should have pre-eminence over all other churches in Ireland and so to this day it has remained both for the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland... these are picts of the Catholic church...

The Earls

We spent an evening on the beach which was the beach where the last of the Irish aristocracy (the earls) fled from Ireland in 1607.... as well there was a fortress built here in fear Napoleon was going to attack... the beach is long and beautiful and they use the beach for running horses back and forth.... great all the history that can happen in a single place...

Raptors and Flyers

The eagles and falcons of Ireland are making a comeback after being almost driven to extinction by pesticides and hunting... but thanks to the work of a few dedicated people. Education programs with the raptors high-light the beauty and majesty of these birds and keep interest in reintroducing them and protecting them high.....the show out in the bogs was fascinating and we loved getting up close and personal with the raptors, however, we were attracting the other kind of stealth flying creature ... the little ones that bite and buzz and will never have their own show.... so we hang around for the demonstration but bolted across the bog before waiting for our turn to catch one on a glove...

music

I was listening to some very amazing music when all of a sudden i realized it was coming from a harp and an accordion... such an unlikely combination but with the celtic twist it was captivating... may be i will take up the accordion... i have never seen an accordion player singing so it might work for me....

rain

Aja and I have had rain every day in Ontario and every day in Ireland...but last last night someone told us a storm was coming in ... we laughed as that is pretty well all we have seen... but they said no a storm coming in... end of hurricane bill this .. we still laughed ... so he told us of a woman a few year ago who phoned the weather guy on the radio and said there was a hurricane coming ... the on the air the weather man told her that england doesn’t get hurricanes.... it damaged a great chunk of southern England... so that clip gets lots of air time since... it is sunny now so we are going to head up town ... get some milk while we still can.... i am not complaining about the rain... the rainbows are fantastic... the land is green,.. and since we have not managed to capture any leprechauns for their gold... may be we can find some at the end of the rainbows...

burning

In Ireland the last of the mighty trees were cut down to build Henry VIII's navy so except fo rthe dividing the fields there are few large trees.... the do still however dig up and burn the peat moss... i have tried to make a few jokes about them burning dirt... but they don't really get i am trying to be funny and go on telling us how they cut the earth, dig up the moss, prepare and bag it.... what is fascinating is the size of their fireplaces... Our fireplaces are so large to handle burning our wealth of wood... they have very narrow and small fire places... more efficient and better for burning dirt i guess... ha ha

Food stuff

The Irish lady who cooked the best lunch I have ever eaten.. see a previous blog.... said that the best cook in Ireland was the wife of a Baha’i in Letterkenny... she was right... we have had two amazing banquets... which as i am told by her husband David... were just her regular meals... “you should see when she throws a party” he said... she had to escape from Iran after she converted from Islam to became a Bahai as she would have been killed.... we heard part of her story last night... what an amazing six day adventure trying to get out of Iran with the revolutionary guard on her trail... Aja and I want adventure but i think we won’t ask for too much adventrue.

Calm in the Storms

Meet Dave at universal used books in Letterkenny. If your ever here in Ireland plan to stop and have a tea, read a book, use the internet and relax. He wants his place to be a haven where people can relax and get away, and he totally has achieved it. In the pict is one of the local characters in the rocking chair... at 80 last year he decided it was boring in the home so he went off to Israel for a month or two... he has traveled the world, been thrown into countless jails for wandering where she shouldn’t and has so many stories that can hold you spell bound for hours... I am not sure how many famous people have been into the used book store, however, everyone that is no-one eventually comes into the shop and has rich and unique stories to tell and finds a hearing ear... like us.

Highways?

The roads in this part of Ireland are for the most part two lane paved roads with little or no shoulder... that is if you are luck and traveling on the main roads... I took this picture to show the road we were traveling on as we went along the Atlantic highway as it is called...as you can see from how narrow it is cars have to pull over to pass each other.... it was wild and hair raising at times but I hope it never changes...

Irish Nova Scotia

We went as far north and west as we could get without falling off the edge of Ireland into the sea. That took us to the lighthouse at Fanad Head... west of there is only ocean till you reach the coast of North America.... This part of the world is like Nova Scotia on the north atlantic except in Ireland it is influenced by the gulf stream which gives Ireland a warm but rainy climate, and very mild winters. The beach in the pict was voted 9th best in the world.... they have the sand, they have the waves, they have the beauty, now all they need is sunshine...

Back in Dublin

We spent the day back in dublin... here is the pict of the hotel we stayed at while we were in dublin the first time... it was grand and old and nice to see again... asking directions in Ireland is always deldightful.... we asked a girl where something was and the conversation went like this me: can you tell us where the book of kells is kept/ she: over the way / me; you mean on the next street/ she; no over the way / me; you mean across the levi / she; no over the way / me; oh over the way/ she; yes over the way... we asked someone else... other things we have heard are.... you see the street by that large glass building ... don't go there. And my all time favorite was when someone said ... well i wouldn't start from here.... love the irish... but i can see why they are always late...

The town of Letterkenny was the location one of three Hiring Fairs held in Ireland in the past. A hiring fair was where farmers and people came to hire workers from amongst the poor Irish. Land owners came from around Ireland and even the UK to hire workers. At the age of 9 children were seen as able to be put out to work ...mostly as shepards minding sheep or cattle as well as small domestic duties. Children who were hired... left home for 6 months and their families were paid about 3 shillings. I was just thinking how hard our children think they have it when they don’t get the game system they want, or they have to wash the dishes... There was no one around to offer Aja employment so i guess she will continue with me.

the Mountains

Ireland’s tallest mountain... we would call it a hill in the West of Canada.... a woman on the train was telling us that it was beautiful in the mountains of ireland and we asked here where in ireland the mountains were .... she pointing out the window and said right there.... both aja and i laughed...then quickly changed the subject.. they do have an answer for us visitors about how compact things are......for example a tourist seeing how small the farms are...was bragging about how big his farm was by saying ... if he drove his car it would take all day just to drive around it... the irishman answered... i used to have a car like that too but i sold it... we decided not to mention the mountains again....

On our walk around the countryside, some of which is very tundra like landscape we found plenty of life and beauty amongst the treeless hill and bogs... Early in the history this northern part of Ireland was seen as poor, barren and worthless and left it alone, which is why it is still the most traditional part of Ireland... however as you can see the earth is rich and filled with many unique treasures that you have to take time to walk on the earth to see...

Glenvagh Castle

No signs of the little people or the faries or the lepricans but no end of magical places to explore... this castle was built in the north west wilds... we walked many km's to get there and it was totally worth the effort...

We spent the afternoon in north of ireland on a windswept but beautiful sandy beach... the beaches are well known for surfing... but as we arrived after a rain shower there were few people on the beach.... on our travels we have only had one day of not rain since the 5th of july....

Inside house

Aja has taken to drinking tea from time to time... although she says it is more like sweet milk.... the picts are of the old house we are staying in.... the bedroom is in the attic of the house... and i have included a pict of the stairs up to the attic... the builders like payman might like it because of the clever way it is carved to allow for the very steep pitch...

Where we stay

We am staying in a 300 or so year old house in the old town of Letterkenny which is the Bahai Centre.... it is an old rock house that has been plastered on the outside and gyprocked on the inside... so as you can see the window ledges are about 2 feet thick to accommodate being built around the original rock walls... what i like is when i look out the windows there is fireweed... it takes me back to the Yukon in a big way.... and in many ways the people remind me of Yukoners... with their independent spirits, their musical, poetic and artistic natures...
(p.s. if you click the pictures you can see them larger)

LetterKenny

We are in the very north west or ireland..in the region of donegal in the town of Letterkenny.....and we will be here for about two weeks... the north or ireland is not to be confused with northern ireland which is part of England and is the north east corner of the country.... here they say you have to go north to go south...we are in the north west the land in the north is beautiful and wild a lot like the Yukon.. and when you head west it is totally like the north. Although the climate is like victoria in that they only get a few days of snow... we have been treated to days of drizzle... when it has not been raining....

Downsized

From the pict you can see that we have downsized our luggage again... we left victoria with four bags... and two very small day backpacks... in ontario we shuffled and sorted and got down to three bags and our two small day back packs .. when we were leaving chicago we shuffled and sorted again and got down to the two bags... if it was not for the school work that we have to carry we would be totally light.... i guess i learnt something from brandon.... if you can’t grab your bag and jump over fences at a dead run then you have too much.... ha ha

waterford

This is waterford where we were last week.... they say in ireland if you shake any tree a musician, poet or writer will fall out... and it is true.... we met so many of each... many of the bahai's are poets, musicians, writers and musicians.... what a tallented and amazing land and peoples....

not a drop wasted

The beginning and end of the leg of slow-cooked lamb that we had as described in the previous post.... as you can see the meal was enjoyed down to the bone....

mmm

Some say the irish cooking is pretty bland and it is only the bread that is outstanding... and it is... however i had the best dinner (lunch) that i have ever eaten at the home of a sister to the bahai’s we were traveling with.... it was outstanding..... it was a leg of lamb.... i can’t say i have ever liked or eaten lamb... but it is a local main food ....and as i said it was outstanding even aja ate two helpings.... the vegetables were fresh out of the garden.... i was totally an excited tourist... i had to take out my camera with every dish that appeared.... the aroma was amazing....the taste to die for.... and sitting in a small very traditional irish kitchen added to the amazing experience... of course i sensed her teen children did not know why i was so excited and enjoying it so much..... like most families they just chowed it all down and were off... normally i am the first finished but i was the last... after the home grown fresh garden vegetables and slow roasted leg of lamb.... she served what i thought was a cake... but i am not sure what it is called however, when we cut what looked like the cake open it was full of local berries.... by far the best desert i have ever tasted... the picts i took of every dish do not do the meal justice but it was amazing.... but that was in wexford county in the south of ireland and we have not been as fortunate in the north yet... although we will keep looking... resturants and things are expensive in ireland.... about 40 % more than in victoria which is in itself expensive.... and now that i know a couple of the locals i think i will begin to enquire about the better places to eat

music

The art, music and dance of ireland is marvelous.... sure they don't move thier arms and upper body when they dance... but boy can they sing and make music.... and they do wave their arms around as they talk.... marvelous people marvelous culture...

Irish

It does not take long to figure out how to look and act Irish.... fitting in has been easy.... wear a green hat... don't pronounce your h's, roll your r's, speak in rhyme and a long red beard doesn't hurt as well

Good Thing

in Ireland and the uk they drive on the other side of the street... luckily in dublin they seem to know there are foreign visitors and have marked all the streets accordingly.....

Ireland Dublin

Sorry we have not updated the blog for awhile... we were in chicago again then after flying to ireland have been exploring dublin..... and the south of ireland.... we have been staying at a quaker school built in 1798... they did not anticipate the internet... so getting into waterford (the nearest town) takes about a 15 min walk to get to the internet cafe... luckily for us in 1798 they knew of plumbing.... the pict is of the old buildings of dublin and the old section of town that we stayed in along with a pict of the very high tech trains that shuttle around the city......