Anyway, while I was knitting on that bench, little kids kept coming by and being fascinated. They were super cute, but my favorite was a little boy about 3 who came running up to me and said emphatically, "We HAVE to see the ducks!" I looked at him very seriously and said, "Well, that does sound important." His mom came up behind him and laughed and said "Oh, it is important." (Except picture those two with charming Irish accents.)
The next day we left Dublin and went to Kilkenny Castle, which wasn't my fave, but there was a really cool artist studio center thing across the street that had some great textiles. My sister got a truly gorgeous handwoven blanket made in Ireland from Irish wool - super jealous. I wanted to get a handwoven blanket myself, but didn't see anything nearly as nice the rest of the trip.
Our hotel that night was the Glasha Farmhouse. I was getting really sick by this point, and so unfortunately didn't see much of anything. I pretty much ate dinner and went to bed. The food was delicious though - the porrige we had for breakfast the next morning was amazing - one of the best things we had the whole two weeks.
We visited the Cobh (say it Cove) Heritage Center the next day, which was a nifty little museum. Cobh was a shipping town, (lots of the survivors of the Lusitania were put up here and it was also the Titanic's last port of call) and there was a great emigration museum about, essentially, Leaving Ireland Through the Ages. This is Annie Moore and her two brothers, the first family to be processed at Ellis Island. They left from Cobh & apparently there's an identical statue in New York.
Next was probably the eeriest thing we did. We went to Glengariff and took a boat ride to the Italian Gardens. I say it was eerie because you get on a little boat and putt out past a couple of small islands where (sad to say) mean-looking seals are chilling (we got this close!) and then you land and walk into this imaculately kept garden-island. There were all different kinds of garden there, of varying levels of formality and theme. The Italian Garden, of course,
But there was also a Temple looking out over the water at the mountains on the other shore.
The whole time we were there Jorah kept saying he felt like he was in World of Warcraft, and I kind of agreed with him. I don't WOW myself, but it definitely had that feeling of being too romantic that you get from video games - like no place could really be this beautiful. They even had their own Martello Tower for the Orcs to hide in!
Martello Towers were all over the coast - they were originally a part of the early warning system to watch for raiders. You could just go up inside this one to the roof. None of my roof pictures are that spectacular, but it was pretty breath-taking. There was a strong cold wind blowing that just invigorated me. The whole trip I kept saying over and over, "This is my favorite thing!" Going up in this Martello Tower was definitely one of my favorite things.
The next day was one of my favorite days in Ireland - I'm not surprised that it is the most popular day tour. The Ring of Kerry. Let's check the photographic evidence, shall we?
These are mostly taken in the Gap of Dunloe, where there's an little old road and you take a jaunting cart with a jerry (one horse cart with a driver) back to see the scenery. This was also really the only time that it was foggy or rainy the whole time we were out in Ireland and Scotland - for the most part it was all bright and sunny. And hot!
All these beautiful colors made me want to knit a sweater. It's in my head, this sweater, and I'm hoping to make it this fall, possibly out of Manos of Uruguay.
You can also see the picture of me petting a lamb. When we were coming back through customs we had to go through the Agricultural line, because I patted this sheep. The customs people were a little eye-rolly at us when we told them our only contact with animals was that I patted a sheep for five minutes in a parking lot. What can I say? Jorah and I are rule followers - we can't help it!
Anyway, even after the Gap of Dunloe there was lots more driving and getting out and taking pictures and honestly, it almost felt like a completely different planet. Everything was so ethereal and spectacular, it was hard to believe that we could all exist in the same place. I felt bad because at this point of the trip I was really quite sick and would no sooner get on the bus than I would pass out.
It was good to have sickness as an excuse though, because later that night we went to the Liam O'Conner Irish Show, which was utterly ridiculous. It was making my brain pound on the outside of my skull, (never a good sign) so Jorah and I left at halftime and walked back to the hotel. We were staying in Killarney at that point, and it was much more enjoyable to just walk and take in the evening. And then go to bed.
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