Killarney: Pub Crawl.

Went to a couple of pubs in Killarney looking for traditional Irish music and ended up at McSorleys Music bar. Three fellows were singing and playing guitar, bodhran (typical drum) and a type of concertina. They were very good. Bought their CD.
Took pic in front of this other pub to email to the Weston gazette.

Killarney: Jaunting carts / Muckross House

We took a preview of the Killarney National Park from atop the small horse carriages called Jaunting carts. That was fun. I was lucky that the driver of our cart invited me to go in front with him. He provided wool blankets to keep us warm and away we went. I'll post some photos. The park is truly beautiful, the perfect environment for the "wee people" to appear.
Muckross House has some spectacular gardens. I specially loved the Rock Garden.

Irish Food / Keeping warm

See pic of the plate of "Guinness and beef" (stew) we had for lunch the other day.... Delish! Also, we seem to be getting used to having a Guinnes with or before our meal...
Fireplaces are so nice when you come in from the cold...this one was at the hotel in Killarney.

The Burren / Cliffs of Moher

Wow! What a trip. We drove to the Burren ( a stone world )...eerie and awesome to see the tiny flowers and plants surviving between the cracks of the stones. Our nature guide recited poems every so often but it was a trek and it took stamina to keep up. See the "dolmen" pic below. It is a Neolithic tumb where archeologists found the remains of 33 people. I found that they sold Lotto in the tiny post office of the small village by the sea so I bought 4 numbers for Saturday night. Let's see if the luck of the Irish sticks with me.

THE CLIFFS OF MOHER are incredible. We had wind gusts of about 50 MPH from the Atlantic ocean and it was freezing. Quite an experience.

In Ireland: Galway and beyond

Arrived yesterday morning. We have a nice group of about 20 people. Several couples and several singles, both men and women. Our guide is called Emma and she is from Northern Ireland. Our driver is Joe from Kerry.
Today we went to Connemara National Park. Isa and I took the easier hike with a naturalist guide and were glad we did not join Dave in the hardest one up the Black Diamond hill. He nor the group with him completed hike. The wind was fierce and one of the girls in our group almost got blown off the mountain. The Connemar hills are part of the North American Appalachian system from before the continental split. We also visited Killemory Abbey and it's gardens. I'll attach some pics taken w IPhone. Isa has the good ones in her camara. It's late and we leave tomorrow for Burren and Cliffs of Moher. Got to get some down time. Love you all.

Getting Ready

Two more days to takeoff!

Last night I slept on the couch because my bed was covered with clothes and accessories...trying to decide what to pack or not to pack. I'm still in the process & I'm glad I did not skip the Tai Chi class this morning since it helps me ground myself. I promised Grant, my Tai Chi Teacher that Isa and I will practice during the trip and I'll post pictures.

I'm looking forward to taking Adrianna and Matt for dinner tonight to talk about her plans to attend UM. I'll be a "Cane" Grandma soon!

I found this great map of Ireland in the Discover Ireland magazine:

Trailhead

Im packing my bags and getting ready for the start of my 2012 Irish Walk.

On Saturday, May 12th, I'll fly out of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, hop over to Kennedy International for an hour layover and take the overnight flight to Shannon, Ireland. There I'll be meeting my sister Isabel and her husband Dave who will fly out of Norfoilk, Va., to begin our Irish Walk. Yessss!!!

We'll be crossing the Atlantic at the same time for our rendezvous in Eire, "The Island of Saints and Scholars"
(Wikipedia).

I found the shamrocks in the attached photo while walking through a local Davie park and felt they were a good omen. I have decided to make the shamrocks a symbol for this trip.

You are welcome to follow our Irish adventures by keeping up with this blog.