It's not a long way to Tipperary

Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland

  Cathedral door 

  "I heard its a long way to Tipperary?" and "Where be the Stone?" were questions Rick made a point to ask on this section of our trip. He did get serious answers and directions to both. We have just finished 121 days of wonderful travel and been through twenty airport security checkpoints and six immigration lines, with ten airline carriers in six different countries and hundreds of new experiences. This all adds up to a fantastic four months of travel and adventures.  We flew into Dublin from Edinburgh, Scotland, picked up our small rental car, and headed downtown.  A great young couple, Nat and Leah, were our couchsurfing hosts for the first two nights in Ireland.  Nat attends Trinity College, where he is getting a masters degree in ethnobotany, and Leah works in several health shoppes. They were a big help in getting our bearings and travel plans organized.  In Dublin, we enjoyed our experiences in the Temple Bar district with lively Irish music. We walked all over the city to tour the Dublin Castle, Christ Church cathedral, the Ha'penny bridge and much more. One highlight was Trinity College. Leah met Rick and I for lunch at at a vegetarian restaurant, and then we met up with Nat at the college campus. He took us to see the Book of Kells, and the "old library."  The Book of Kells is a manuscript of the four gospels from early Christianity, with elaborately decorated pages which are turned each day for display. The old library has a two hundred foot vaulted timber barreled roof, and is the most beautiful library I have ever seen. We appreciate Nat and Leah for taking time out of their school and work schedules to do some activities with us around Dublin.  From there, we headed west to the opposite coast and Galway.  On the way, we drove through the Burren, which are flat tablelands of limestone strata, rising in stages above the coast. It is a lunar landscape with barren terraces, little streams, underground rivers, caves, and swallow holes. The wildflowers grow in  cracks between the rocks; both barren and beautiful at the same time.

The Burren

Dolmen

One example of the rock walls that are everywhere

 We stopped at a dolmen(ancient tomb) and several  beautiful overlooks, as well as a farmers market in one of the villages.  In Galway, we enjoyed more Irish music in the pubs and had another great couchsurfing host.  Lydia is originally from Poland, but has made Ireland her new home. We had several hours of nice conversation getting to know each other, learning more about Poland and the places to see there. We enjoy so much our connections with the amazing people who open their homes and hearts,  making opportunities to learn and understand different cultures, and the events that magically bring us together. We briefly share our lives and interests, but the effect of these encounters last so much longer than the time spent together.  After Galway, we went to the town of Tralee via several small villages, including Bunratty, with its castle and folk village, and the medieval town of Limerick. We passed the Adare castle and church,  along with numerous other worn down bits of abbeys, castles and churches along the motorway. Upon arriving in Tralee, we were greeted by a loving family that are our new hosts.  Andrew, and their three children, were born in Ireland, while Sona is from Slovakia. These folks are the reason we travel the way we do. We were treated like part of the family from the moment we came through the door. We shared meals together, visited and talked about life, children, travel, games, politics and everything in-between.  Sona and I cooked together like sisters, with the kids running about the kitchen. We created new friendships that made it hard to leave. Later this year, they will be moving to Slovenia.  I hope our paths will cross again. From Tralee, we took day trips to the Dingle peninsula and the Ring of Kerry.  Both these areas have scenic roads that skirt the peninsulas, close to the coastline, with extraordinary scenic beauty. There are numerous stopping points that are unique and different from anything we have experienced.  We saw beehive huts, thatched houses, and classic examples of the rock fences that dot the countryside. Six kilometers off the coast, on the southern tip of the Ring of Kerry, lies the remains of the settlement of Skellig Michael. A monastic settlement for a thousand years, it is truly an inspired story of our quest for the divine. http://www.skelligexperience.com/skellig_michael.html  Strong winds prevented the boats from taking us there, but we will remember the devotion of those before us, who lived on that island. There was truly a lot of scenery and places to see before arriving in Cork.  We found a place to eat, and, for the first time in Ireland, paid for a night's lodging at beautiful B&B, where Rick was able to bargain a great rate from a fellow vegan.
We really have the luck of the Irish.

Skellig Michael 

Irish landscape

Gorgeous day on  Dingle Peninsula

More coastline

The Irish built a lot of rock fences everywhere

Typical thatched house

Beehive huts

Blarney Castle

Rick kissing the Blarney Stone

View from top of the Blarney Castle

Druid forest around Blarney Castle

Dunguaire Castle

Town of Dingle  (Dingle peninsula)

 We thought we might as well increase our "luck," so we headed toward the Blarney Castle.  The castle was not obvious when we entered the town, so Rick rolled down his window and asked a few of the locals, "Where be the stone?" and we were on our way.  Seeing the Blarney castle, and surrounding grounds, was a true gift. We hadn't planned on going there, but were glad we made the time. It ended up being one of the most beautiful castles and settings we saw in all of the UK and Ireland. The fairy-like surroundings along the river, the druid forest, rocks and caves with ferns and moss, were magical.  I could live out my days as a fairy, playing amongst the grounds of this castle. After several hours, we had to move on, and arrived at the Cahir castle for lunch. This is one of the largest castles we saw, featured in many films, including Braveheart. We then drove to the Rock of Cashel and the Hore Abbey. This is a majestic castle and church complex on a prominent hill, which overlooks the abbey and an expansive green valley. When we went to view the abbey, we were stopped by two guards, who asked to see our passports and recorded our visit, since the queen was coming the following week.  Apparently her ancestry was tied to the abbey, and this would be her first visit to the site. We were only a few miles from the town of Tipperary. And in one of the postcard shops, Rick jokingly asked if it was a long way to Tipperary.  The lady at the counter very sincerely, and seriously said, "Oh, no, it is only about 9 kilometers from here," and gave us the directions. We did not go to Tipperary, but Rick was very satisfied that we had been so close.

Cahir Castle

 Our next stop was Kilkenny. We walked the castle grounds, located on the banks of River Nore.  The town's older center has narrow winding streets, with terraces of Georgian houses. The surrounding area is a fertile agriculture plain, which supplies a busy market center. After dinner, we headed for a small village, in the countryside near Buncourty.  We stayed the night at the home of our host Mico.  Mico is originally from Oregon, later married and Irishman, and now calls this land her own. She creates organic tea blends as a home business, and sent tea for us to deliver to her mom who lives in Ashland. And so the connections continue. We took an early morning hike with Mico and her dogs, and then went north. This would be our last full day in Ireland, and we covered a lot of ground.

Hore Abbey below the Rock of Cashel

The Rock of Cashel, above, as viewed from the abbey 

 On to the monastic settlement of Glendalough. Glendalough means the "glen of two lakes." This was also the hermitage of Saint Kevin, around the sixth century.  His piety and knowledge attracted many disciples, who founded a monastery between two lakes in this valley. The setttlement has miles of trails that loop around the lakes, amidst the caves were Saint Kevin meditated. We walked in his footsteps, experiencing the serenity that attracted others to this site.  Driving in this area also took us to the first Irish weaving mill, and incredible mountains and roads covered with trees, creating arches and green tunnels, for miles and miles. The homes and farms along this route were stunning. We then drove through the Wicklow mountains, a range of granite hills that extends forty miles just south of Dublin. This is a solitary region of hills flecked with brown and purple rocks, dark lakes and conical peaks. By  late afternoon we were back in Dublin, and parked again at Nat and Leah's house. We walked into the city for another great dinner at Cornucopia, an excellent vegetarian/vegan restuarant. We then headed for Gogaraty's Pub and more live music.  Later, when we felt like we had done just about everything we could during our stay, we walked back to Nat's and Leah's to connect with them and fill them in on our adventures.  At 4:00 am we were on our way to the airport, for the long journey home.  On our way we relived many of the amazing moments and highlights of our trip.  We are amazed at the amount of grace we were given, and how fortunate we were to be able to do a trip like this.  Rick and I managed to be around each other 24/7 for 121 days, and mostly enjoyed each others company. Despite all the crazy things going on in the world, we found new friends, places to eat and sleep, and learned so much.  Families everywhere are going through much of the same things we are in America, with a scarcity of jobs, high food and gas prices, the cost of quality education for their children, climate change, and figuring out how to live in a world that is shrinking so rapidly. We are all searching for love, in one way or another, and trying to feel at peace with ourselves. We find that we are all struggling souls trying to live a happy existence in a world that we think we know.  This is the end of our journey but I will create one more blog. Our 2011 adventures have not officially ended. We still have seven more months to go!
After returning to southern Oregon for a few days, we headed to Seattle, Washington, for the annual Folklife Festival http://www.nwfolklife.org/ that we attend each year over the Memorial Day weekend.  It is such a wonderful experience that I will share this with you as well. Until then, I hope you are enjoying the "NOW" moments of your life.   Sincerely, Julie and Rick

St. Kevin's in Glendalough

Green tunnel roads on the way to Glendalough

Street scene from the Bunratty Folk Park

Glendalough Valley