May 4-12, 2013-
Several months ago, my very good friend, Christina, asked if I'd want to go on a mom's only outing.
How long did you think it took me to debate whether or not to go?????
HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
Just so all of you know – Mark actually suggested this. Don't I have a wonderful, supportive and caring husband???? Why yes. Yes I do!
The dates of our trip were based on Christina's work schedule.
Now, why did we choose Ireland? Well, we figured we should choose a location that A) was approximately half way between us (she lives in the USA and you all know I'm in China) and B) some place neither us had been to. We wanted to get away to some place peaceful and very quiet and go on a self-guided walking tour….and Ireland just popped up.
Ready to head off to Ireland???
Ummm…
yes..
We decided to do the six-day Beara Way walk with Hillwalk Ireland company. That's two days of traveling and four days of walking. On the first day- right after Christina arrived in Ireland- we had to make our way out to Glengarriff….which was our starting point for the walk. So…this trip included planes, trains AND automobiles (ie. busses). What fun!
Day 1 of our hike; Glengarriff to Adrigole:
The first day of walking….was…AMAZING. The sky was clear and we were able to follow the written directions and the walk was clearly marked.
I wanted to get away from all the noise and all the people in China….we've come to the right place!!!! We only saw two people on this walk and they were going the other way on the trail. I'm loving this!
We did share our hike with lots and lots of sheep though! Thank goodness these weren't the head-butting kind!!! (they were ….sheepish. LOL!)
Day 2 of our hike; Adrigole to Castletownbere:
It's damp, drizzling and VERY FOGGY. However, we knew that we could have weather like this…so let's get going and start our hike! Our B&B hostess offered to drive us to the next destination (she has to take our luggage there anyway). No thanks! I think we'll try and stick it out.
Right away we could tell that this was going to be a very wet. And I really neglected to follow my own- "Always come Prepared". Rats. I have the wrong shoes (these are waterproof winter boots, not hiking boots) and I don't have rain pants. At least I DO have a walking stick. Okay, so it's the camera monopod but it works as a walking stick!
The ground is VERY VERY WET. Eep.
There isn't a single person out here hiking….
See that lake down below? That's close to where I fell in a bog…the first time. Up to my knees. Ugh! I was completely soaked. The rain, fog and the poor placement of the way markers….along with being very, very, very cold and wet ended up shortening our walk.
And then I fell into another bog- UP TO MY THIGHS. I am completely SOAKED through. I'm doing my best to keep moving and I'm still actually pretty darn happy…'cuz I'm in Ireland!!! 🙂
Gosh darn it! This part of the trail is *poorly* marked. Several times we've had to back track as the written directions didn't match the location of the way markers. What the heck? Unfortunately since we're not moving fast (the air is so thick it feels like we're walking in pea soup) I'm getting cold. Really cold.
Thank goodness there was a "road" (dirt track) *conveniently* on our path. Hmmm… What should we do??? I'm so cold that my feet are numb and my hands are getting numb. Christina is cold too. Hey, how about taking that road to the main road and calling the next B&B? Good! I'm done! DONE!!! I enjoyed this walk but I'm finished. Woo Hoo! We're getting picked up in about ten minutes. Whew! I feel better already. Okay, no I don't. BUT – I do know that I'll start feeling better later today!!!!!
After a meal, hot tea, Irish whiskey, Guinness stout and listening to an old Irishman tell stories…I perked back up.
The little town of Castletownbere:
Day 3 of our hike:
You know what? We're going to be smart today. After yesterday (getting soaked and super cold AND the poorly marked trail that we nearly got lost on) AND the fact that today is supposed to be the longest hike PLUS the fact that we have a time deadline (dinner is served at 6pm SHARP at the B&B) we've opted OUT of today's hike. Yep. We're on vacation after all! Nobody said we had to do the hike. The taxi will only cost 20 Euros…let's do that!
After a GORGEOUS breakfast we spent checking out the town. And buying me the right kind of hiking boots!!!! (and rain pants) Hooray!!!!! Now I'm all set for more hiking!
We saw a sign for a stone ring….let's break in my new boots and go check it out-
Stone Ring outside Castletownbere:
Sheep here, sheep there….I see sheep EVERYWHERE!
We took the taxi to our next destination, Garnish. After we checked into the B&B we did a short hiking loop.
Beautiful views of the ocean:
a view of Dursey Island:
WOW! IT IS WINDY here! It's so windy that I'm nervous about getting blown off into the ocean. I'm not kidding. The views from the top are gorgeous and well worth fighting the wind.
A stroll down a beautiful primrose covered lane:
The pot of gold IS in Ireland:
Day 4 of our hike; Dursey Island:
It rained – All.Night.Long. It was hard sleeping with the sound of the wind and rain pounding on our window. Yikes. And it's still raining! Well, this is our last chance to go on a hike here AND I'm now prepared ….so let's do it!
We crossed over to the island via Ireland's only cable car. We read somewhere that the cable car can either hold six adults – or one sheep. LOL! They transport livestock in this car!!!!
We ditched the hiking directions and decided to stick to the visible road as it was raining, foggy and the wind was blowing HARD. Another thing (I think I forgot to mention)…the rocks are VERY slick and slippery when wet. (that was another we ended up doing a lot on our second day of hiking- slipping and nearly falling while walking across the wet rocks). Let's just stick with the road, okay???
Are those ghosts I see in the old ruins of a monastery graveyard????????
At one point on our walk- trying to head out the Point- the wind and rain felt like needles pelting us in the face. Ummm… I've had enough, how about you? We turned around and walked back to the cable car. Now I remember- the cable car doesn't run continuously throughout the day. It operates a few hours in the morning and then a few hours in the afternoon. We have a couple of hours to wait but the GOOD news is that the cable car operator (who happened to be our B&B host the previous night) said we could find shelter in the shed next to the cable car station. We ate our lunch in the dark shed. It wasn't heated but it was dry.
Guess what? While we were eating our lunch, the sun decided to show up after all!
We still have an hour to kill before the cable car is operating again- let's go up the hill and do a short loop!
Such GORGEOUS views!!!
A better view of the cable car:
back on the mainland….heading back to Castletownbere with the taxi (they call a taxi a hackney). We checked back into the same B&B we stayed at.
We took a little walk to see a "castle". Only, it wasn't quite what we'd expected:
Is that a castle????
Day 5 – Heading back to Dublin:
Time to head back to Dublin- sadly, Christina has to fly back home tomorrow morning. Waaaaaaaah!!! We took a taxi to Cork, a bus to Mallow and then a train to Dublin. Did I happen to mention that we've seen bilingual signs? All the signs are in English and Gaelic. Cool! What an interesting looking and sounding language!
After we checked into our B&B in Dublin (the Ariel House) we made a beeline to the shopping part of the city. Of course we have to try and find nice souvenirs to take home to our family and friends!
Christina had mentioned that we should see the Book of Kells in Trinity College in Dublin…sounds good to me! Sadly, I couldn't take any photos in the Book of Kells exhibit- it was AMAZING. It was… well, you just need to see it!
We decided that on our last mom's only night we should take go on a fun -bit- historical ghost tour. Now that – was fun!!!!!
After the ghost tour we went in search of some pub & grub (we wanted Irish beer and pub food). Dang it! All the pubs are PACKED with people. It took us several different tries but we finally found a pub we could find a seat in. Hey! Did you know that "mushy peas" is an actual food item? Funny. A few things on the menu are served with mushy peas. I'm going to say no thank you to that. Bangers and mash for me! (brats with mashed potatoes)
Saturday:
Christina left – early; very early Saturday morning.
Saturday…after a VERY lovely breakfast at Ariel House B&B I trekked into the town and checked out the National Museum of Ireland- Archaeology. Annika has expressed an interest in all things relating to archaeology. Wow! This museum is FREE and has lots of fascinating things- including "bog people".
Dublin has many things to see, including this beautiful cathedral (Christchurch Cathedral):
Christchurch Cathedral:
There was a *very* interesting exhibit in the cathedral's crypt….Tom and Jerry.
HUH???
They're a mummified cat chasing a rat that were trapped in an organ pipe and now on display in the cathedral's crypt:
Ack! Did I just get HAILED on????? WOW!!!! The weather can't make up its mind! One minute it's raining cats and dogs and the next minute the sun is shining…and then it start hailing.
Sunday morning:
My turn to head back home. I'm flying : Dublin to Paris to Beijing. It'll be a l-o-o-o-o-o-o-ong flight but I'm ready to be back with my family. I miss them!!!
Trip summary:
So, every day I got wet and cold. Guess what??? I enjoyed EVERY BIT of it! I'm so grateful that I got this chance to have a mom's only trip and remember who I am. I'd like to say thank you to Jason, Christina, Holly, Debbie and most of all to Mark for helping make this trip a reality!
Comments
One response to “Ireland…a Mom’s Only Outing!!!”
I’m sure it was more beautiful than the pictures. Neat experience! Good for you.