Breakfast a little early, drag the suitcases down and wait briefly. The car came and whisked us to Heathrow Terminal 1. We went through the check-in process and they headed toward the gate.
We got through the normal security screening. We stopped in a bookshop and bought a couple of books; they had to see our boarding pass. We settled in a common area because our gate hadn't been assigned. When it was assigned we went to the gate. The gate people again checked our boarding passes and passport after which we went down the loading tube. At the plane our boarding pass was again checked.
Our friend Valerie of the recent knee replacement would never have made it from curb to gate; we walked through many tubes, feeling like hamsters in a habitat, for what seemed like a mile.
After push-back, it didn't take too long to get into the air. The flight only takes an hour. We went down through the clouds into Dublin where it was also cloudy and cool. Immigration took only a few minutes and there were no customs people since the fight came from the UK.
Our taxi, driven by Mr Barrett, was a good introduction to the city. Mr Barrett gave some good tips.
We checked in at Wynn's Hotel in Lower Abbey Street and were assigned room 403. We looked at it and found it very nice. There's adequate space, good wifi, and very little street noise. Good place.
Out for a hike, we walked up O'Connell Street, the main street north of the River Liffey. D did some shopping in Clery's department store and bought a scarf. We went through an Ireland tourist-trade shop and took notes as to what to get later; no sense dragging it all around Ireland. More walking, not too cool. Saw lots of interesting things like the flower market and a butcher shop. We bought a small book of Irish history to examine.
We ate at Carlos's off the Early Bird menu. D had salmon, I had steak. House wine. Not bad at all (€38). Then back to the hotel to put up our feet and do computer chores.
We must get up early to get on the road tomorrow, so tonight will be an early-to-bed night.
20130521 Dublin to Dungarvan Partly cloudy, windy Pictures-Owen Pictures-Dolores
Wow. What a pace.
Phil & Carolyn met us in the lobby, did introductions all around, and took us across the street to the midivan and stowed our luggage.
We are:
Victoria from Comox, BC
Barbara from Mississauga, ON
Brett & Carol from near Montpelier, VT
Matt & Jennifer from near Milwaukee, WI
Francis & Laurie (Matt's parents) from near Milwaukee, WI
...and us.
We drove south out of Dublin to get into the Wicklow Mountains. Partway up, we stopped at a Dublin overlook for pictures. Then we continued up onto and across the top of the ridge called the Wicklow Mountains.
They're a little different in that the rain collects in the bogs on the tops of the hills and makes it very moist. The vegetable life there soon rots and decays to become part of the soil but still damp.
When peat diggers want some, they go up there with narrow-bladed spades and hack out a long brick, perhaps 2” x 4” by 12” long. They throw it over their shoulders to one who catches them and stacks them in triangles so air will dry them. Later, they'll return to get the dry peat to take it home for burning. It's said a foot deep of peat takes a thousand years to accumulate.
I believe we never traveled down a road with more than two lanes, one each way. Some of it was one lane. One part was two gravel ruts. We kept bobbing and weaving and seeing nice scenery. Many pictures. Phil (and Carolyn to a lesser degree) told stories and history and myths and explanations of what we were seeing as we went. They’re quite knowledgeable.
The next stop was at the family home of Charles Stewart Parnell, a great Irish patriot. We stopped for tea; D & I had apple pie as well. The sun was out and we were out of the wind sitting at picnic tables outside. Glorious weather.
On then to see the ancient Duiske Abbey. We'll get a map and trace our route so we can put it here later.
We toured the church of the abbey, whose walls remained standing all these 800 years; the roof and other parts have been historically or to-period restored. The remainder of the old abbey was in ruins and has been re-purposed into houses and gardens. There is a model of the abbey as it was “back when” that's interesting.
After the abbey tour, we were given time and hints on where to go to eat. D & I didn't feel like eating, so she took a tour of the abbey while I went to the River Barrow to take pictures. Then we wound up at Doyle's, a combination hardware store, mini-grocery, liquor store, and bar. I had a pint and D had a red wine while we talked on several subjects with the proprietor; she was very nice and willing to talk (but not to have her picture taken).
We gathered up a little after the target departure time and went out into farm country where we found a dolman – a pile of stones, very large, put there in neolithic times, for whatever reason. We stood around wondering about its purpose and how it might have been constructed 6,000 years ago. We also watched a herd of young Holsteins, who got curious and walked toward us but stopped at their safety point.
We went on and stopped at an isolated cemetery so Phil could show us the Celtic crosses there, which he thinks are his favorites. He believes they're quite old and have been moved here many years ago from isolated locations. You'll have to look at the pictures.
Regarding pictures, Dolores took 271 while I retained about 100. Beware.
We reached Dungarvan and were escorted into our room by the staff at the Tannery. The Tannery is a restaurant, hotel, and cooking-teaching school and is known all over Ireland. It's hard to get a reservation at the restaurant. So we went around the corner to Merry's pub. By coincidence, D's great-grandmother's maiden name was Merry, which the proprietor said is relatively uncommon. We had a bottle of their “monthly” special, a French merlot that was decent table wine with D's ribs and my fish-and-chips.
Then we hiked to the harbor and to the square taking pictures. Now it's late and time for bed.