Diary: Sept. Cruise and Ireland Trip-2011
Monday Sept. 05
All our bags are packed, we're ready to go
Tim arrived on time to pick us up and deliver us at Comox airport. The plane left on time at 14.25 and we enjoyed the low level flight to Campbell River and on to Vancouver. I had never realised just how large Texada Island is.
Check in at Vancouver with Air Transat was completed in ten minutes or so. Now free of our checked bags we made our way to our gate and had about an hour and a half to wait. Soon we were boarded and on our way. The plane was mostly full with very few seats empty. We were seated with a delightful young man of E. Indian descent called Visram. He was born in Bangladesh, educated in Canada at U.B.C. and was currently living in Norway and working on a Master’s degree there. After fighting with a very dodgy entertainment system, we finally got into the movies and I watched a movie starring Liam Neeson. It was good. Dinner was served with a glass of wine. The meal was adequate, The flight seemed to pass quite quickly and though I didn’t sleep, I felt quite fresh at the end.
Tuesday Sept. 06
Clearance from the plane and through passport control was good. The bags took forever to come, but once we had them we quickly made our way to the rail terminal inside Schipol airport and got our tickets to Rotterdam. The high speed, inter-city, all electric train had us into Rotterdam Central station in 50 minutes. We paused for a coffee after leaving the station and after we’d obtained euros from the hole-in-the-wall. We found, by questioning the locals, that our hotel, The Maritime, on Wilhelmstade was too far to walk to with luggage. Besides, rain was sheeting down and the wind was bordering on gale force. Not good for ambulation.
Maritime hotel Rotterdam
We got a taxi and ten minutes later it arrived at the front door of the hotel. Pleasant desk staff checked us in and we found our room. It was large and very clean. We were well pleased with our 80 euro per night (including breakfast) choice. Cynthia bunked in for a nap as it was about 14.00 local time and we’d lost a night’s sleep. I found a quiet corner in the bar, ordered a Heineken and sent off the “arrived safely” e-mail to the family. #2 Heineken went down well with the reading of a magazine on piracy! I then caved in and had a nap for a couple of hours.
We ate well at the hotel restaurant as the rain continued to slam us. For 17.50 euros each we had a fine three course meal with coffee, the standard fare of the the hotel. Back in the room, we watched a little BBC television before finding Ben on Skype. We chatted with him for a couple of minutes then noted cousin Ian was on in Wales. We signed off with Ben, promising to get back to him in a few minutes. We enjoyed the chat with Ian, a first timer for us, and then got back with Ben. Moments after finishing with Ben, we hit the beds, ready to crash for the night.
Wednesday Sept. 07
Ten hours later we awoke in time to hit the restaurant again, but this time for breakfast. I really enjoyed the selection of cereals, fruit, cheeses and cold meats available for our meal. Coffee finished it off. About 09.30, we boarded a city tram and for 2.50 euros each, we had a 50 minute ride around the city.
Our tram approaches
Overall impression was of a clean, bustling energetic city. Thousands of bicycles were in evidence, either parked by those already at work, or on the streets being ridden by those en route to university or to do some shopping. Pedestrians, cars, cyclists, trams and buses all seem to move smoothly and efficiently here. They all have their own traffic lights and no-one seems to be cross at anyone else. The roads are shared beautifully and this city would be a great model for other cities to copy in the way all forms of transit seem to mesh.
M.S. Rotterdam
At 11.00 we checked out of our room and boarded a taxi van along with five other passengers from Quebec, who were also heading to the ship. On arrival at the terminal, our bags disappeared and we were asked to wait until our boarding colour, good old Dutch orange, was called. Twenty minutes later we were in our cabin. We dumped our carry-on hand luggage and headed upstairs for lunch. We ate lightly after our filling breakfasts. (I have to avoid ending up looking like the Goodyear blimp by the end of this cruise.) We called in at the library and signed out our library books for the first week then I headed to the cabin to write up these first two days of the trip, while Cynthia went for a spin on deck. The bags arrived while I wrote, delivered by Erwin, our Indonesian cabin attendant. Safety drill is at 15.00 so I’m signing off now.
With the drill over and our departure from port imminent, we headed down to the room to get ourselves ready for dinner. We sat next to another couple, Ike and Lucy from Belgium who, earlier today had been driven, by their son-in-law, from their home to Rotterdam. Ike was named after Dwight Eisenhower by American soldiers who were staying with his Grandparents, as were he and his mother, while his Belgian father was enlisted and away from home. The meal was delicious. Afterwards, Cynthia and I wandered the interior decks then alighted on some soft couches as we sailed out of the port and around the Hook of Holland into the North Sea. It took us two hours to get out of the port waterways and into the open water. That gives one some idea of the size of the port. We had an early night as we were still tired from our flight. We didn’t even make it to the show, let alone through it.
Thursday Sept. 08
The ship’s motion had rocked us to sleep Wednesday night. We awoke around 07.30 to a grey and forbidding sky. Rain squalls lashed the deck, with occasional blue skies to be seen. We enjoyed a full breakfast in the Lido restaurant and then headed downstairs to the Hudson room, the library come coffee bar, come lounge. It is a pleasant place to spend a couple of hours which we did while doing the daily sudoku puzzle and reading our books. We had a lazy day at sea ending it up with dinner, the movie “Jane Eyre”, and the evening show which featured a champion Dutch juggler.
Friday Sept. 09
Cynthia at the Langelinie pier, Copenhagen
Chains rattling and electric motors humming woke us around 06.00 as the ship pulled into the Langelinie Pier in the port of Copenhagen. We had breakfast and left the ship to look for friend Chris and his aunt Lissa who is resident in Denmark. We found them shortly after 09.00 and strolled along to see the Little Mermaid statue some 200 metres from the ship.
Little Mermaid, Copenhagen
Then, it was by car to Kronborg Castle Fortess up the coast at Helsingor. The fortress commands a powerful position over the strait of the Oresund. From the castle, dues were collected by the Danes from ships passing through the sound.
After Kronborg came a quick visit to the summer palace of the present queen of Denmark. She wasn’t there but there was no access anyway. The castle at Frederiksborg was very impressive and Cynthia and I both remembered visiting the place once before with Ben and Tim. Lissa took us on a masterful tour of the inside then we went for lunch at the castle restaurant. It was delicious. Soon it was time to head back to the ship. Chris and Lissa piloted us back skilfully and we arrived a the pier with an hour to spare before we shoved off. At 17.00 on the nose, the ship weighed anchor and we left the port en route for Warnemunde in Germany.
Goodbye for now and God bless. Stay tuned for the next post, whenever I can get to a ‘net café.
Saturday Sept.10.
Marley’s ghost or some semblance of it seemed to roam the decks around 06.00 again this morning. By the clanking of the chains, Cynthia and I knew we’d reached the port side at Warnemunde, but there was no desire to rise quickly on our parts. We knew a long day in port was ahead of us as the ship was not scheduled to leave again until 23.00. This would allow any who wished to make the trek into Berlin to so so. We chose not to.
Main Square, Rostock
After breakfast on a humid, overcast morning, we left the ship, made the short walk to the rail station in Warnemunde and took the train to Rostock, a 20 minute trip away. We walked part way into town before boarding a local tramcar and riding the rest of the way. Rostock was beautiful. We arrived in the square as the market was in full swing. We looked around then explored the lovely side-streets with their pastel shaded buildings. It got warmer and the sun came out. We visited St. Michael’s church and said prayers, noting the massive organ in the sanctuary. Morning coffee, and people gazing in the square was next. No cars got in the way as parking is underground in this city’s centre. A group of men dressed as Russian solders sang beautiful melodies.
Rostock Russians
Accordion players tinkled their keys along the way and young people on stilts passed us by. Soon the morning had gone and we wanted to get back to Warnemunde to spend the afternoon there. The train sped us back.
Cynthia decided to stay put after lunch on the ship. We both relaxed on deck for a while reading our books. I went into the town for a while on my own and found an internet café after a good walk around this charming place. Narrow cobbled streets gave way to broad avenues and lovely parks as one got farther inland and away from the ocean. Here, as in Rostock, pedestrians enjoyed the centre of the town unhindered by traffic. I found an internet café and posted the first episode of the trip on our family blog. I also learned of the earthquake which had happened near the island where we live. Fortunately it was not severe, but large enough to move the ground and unnerve people in the area.
Sidewalk cafés everywhere
At dinner time I made my way back to join Cynthia on the ship where we ate at the lido deck. A German style BBQ had been arranged so we feasted on large German sausage, sauerkraut, and other traditional foods of the area. A German oompah band played melodies and I had to get a picture of them. In particular one of the trumpeters looked uncannily like my uncle Ron, so his picture was front and centre.
"Uncle Ron" (centre) playing in the Oompah German band at our BBQ on the ship
After the band, we watched a documentary in the theatre on the World’s Oceans. It was good, but I must admit to struggling to stay awake. I think it must have been the fresh air, the very early start to the day and Marley’s ghost clanking around as we docked. I think I’ll finish now and head to bed.
Sunday, Sept.11
Nothing much to report today as it was a day at sea. Weather generally was overcast and humid as the ship sailed on towards Tallinn, Estonia. We did enter another time zone and the clocks went ahead another hour at 02.00 this morning. Cynthia and I went to an information session on Tallinn and St. Petersburg which was very good. Where were you and what do you remember doing on this day a decade ago? I remember exactly.
Monday, Sept. 12
Tallinn's narrow streets
Today we had breakfast in our room. The ship had docked in Tallinn about 08.00 and our meal arrived at the same time. We ate well then caught the Hop-On, Hop-Off double decker bus at the edge of the security fence near the dock. Soon we were skimming around the outskirts of the old, walled city enjoying the sights of modern Tallinn. It’s right at the cutting edge of technology is this city. Did you know that Skype came from here? I didn’t. We saw The Song Festival Grounds, The Russalka Monument, Toompea Castle as we barreled along in the old double decker. Half-way round the tour, we dropped off and wandered into the old city. It’s a magical place full of narrow winding streets, gorgeous buildings and fabulous colours. It’s contained by over 2Km of the original 2.5 Km city wall. From the upper part of the old city, one can look down over the lower part and the new city.
Alex Nevsky Cathedral
After viewing the parliament buildings and the Alex Nevsky cathedral up top, we wandered downhill into the town hall square, fabulous because of its size and its surrounds. People relaxed at café tables sipping beer or coffee and enjoying the sunshine. We spotted an Irish Pub called Molly Malone’s which offered free wi-fi with a drink. We had coffee and sent off some emails and a blog post to home. Eventually it was time to eat our packed lunch in a park, re-join the bus and finish our tour before heading off to the ship. Once on board, we relaxed for a while, had a wonderful dinner, then finished up the day with the show in the on-board theatre. We listened to Craig Halliday, a wonderful young violinist from the U.K. Supported by the ship’s orchestra and the Adagio Strings, he kept us wanting more for 45 minutes. It was a perfect way to end the day.
The ship put out to sea around 16.30 and we expect to be in Russian waters by midnight. We also move another hour ahead on the clock. Tomorrow we will be 11 hours ahead of Comox.
Goodnight and God bless from Tallin.
Tuesday Sept. 13
Overnight we sailed to St.Petersburg, Russia. We have learned it was founded by Peter the Great in 1703,first know as Saint Petersburg, changed to Petrograd and then to Leningrad. It was the capital of Russia for two centuries and is the second largest city in Russia after Moscow. This port, the largest in Russia, has major import/export traffic in commercial and industrial products,
We had a quiet day of relaxing on the ship, reading, doing puzzles and sipping the occasional coffee or tea. I noted the buildings to be seen from the ship. There were blocks and blocks of boring, mindless high rise flats, much like the ones we’d seen outside Prague and left over from communist times. They were to be in stark contrast to the gorgeous buildings built by Peter the Great.
Sidewalk Cafes, Nevsky Prospeckt, St. Peters burg
This evening, after dinner, we visited the Hermitage Museum. Located in the winter Palace and founded by Catherine the Great, it houses over three million exhibits which rival the Louvre, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Prado and the British Museum all together. Because of the enormity of the place and our physical frailty, we opted for a shortened version of the tour.
After leaving the ship we passed through passport control. Because we were in a tour group, we had no need of visas so we turned in one half of a document to the officer on the way out, and the other half on the return. We had our passports stamped. Tomorrow, when we do the second tour, that stamp gets us into the country again with no need of any other paper. The female officer behind the counter took a peek at the picture on my Canadian i.d. card, taken when I had lots of thick dark hair and about 30 years ago. A gentle smile flickered over her lips as she handed it back to me, with my now silvered locks!
Our guide Olga spoke English with a distinct English accent, not quite BBC, but close to it. What can I tell you from the tour? well, we were so impressed by the architecture once th bus got us to the banks of the Neva River and we traveled through the city along the embankments. There are so many beautiful buildings, colleges, universities and palaces it takes one’s breath away. Even government buildings ae so lovely. All this in contrast to the ugly blocks of flats we saw close to the ship terminal 40 minutes away. The Hermitage itself is made up of five massive and very lovely buildings forming what was the the Winter Palace. On the bus, Olga had equipped each of us with a set of headphones and a receiver. She had her own set and a microphone clipped around her head. The system worked beautifully, for even though some walked more slowly than others, everyone in the party would hear her commentary clearly. We had no need to crush close to her to hear, and she could speak quietly into her mouthpiece. This meant two or three groups could share one vast hall and not interfere with each other’s hearing. we spent the next two hours looking at great works of art by many of the great masters, too many to list here. We only covered two floors of one building I believe, not even inflicting the slightest dent in the total number of works in this massive collection. We had entered at 20.00 and left at 22.00. I was exhausted so I knew Cynthia was too. We chatted about the trip on the return journey to the ship. The tour had been an amazing experience n a gorgeous city. Now we look forward to a tour of the city tomorrow, with some free time attached. Good night and God bless from Russia.
Church of the Resurrection (Church On Spilled Blood), St Petersburg
Wednesday, Sept. 14th.
After breakfast, and passing through customs we boarded the tour bus. It was a double decker again. Our lady guide who spoke superb English learned here in St. Petersburg, explained the routine ahead of us. We would have a guided tour of the city with an electronic commentary. This would be followed by a short walk with her as she showed us our meeting point, where a bank was, and also where we could get a coffee or do some shopping. She also pointed out some more historical sites for us to visit if we wished, all of them within easy walking distance. She told us the time we had to be back at the bus and then set us free.
Cynthia and I changed some 20 Euros we had left, for about 820 rubles. The U.S. dollar wasn’t doing quite as well, for one dollar U.S. would get about 30 rubles. We hit a coffee shop and had a muffin which we shared. 45 minutes and 370 rubles (approx $12 U.S.) later we were back on the street. We visited The Kazan Cathedral, a huge Russian Orthodox church and sat in silence as scores of worshippers came and went.
In front of Kazan Cathedral, St. Pete's
We breezed up and down Nevsky Prospekt, perhaps the most important shopping street in St. Petersburg. Later we wandered back up the Kanal Griboedova and took a closer look at the magnificent exterior of the Church of the Resurrection (or the Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood), built on the very spot where Tsar Alexander was assassinated. Later, we crossed a footbridge over the Moika River and ate our packed lunches on some steps on the river bank. By now we were nearing return-to-bus-time but we stopped for another coffee at a small café close to the bus. At 14.00 exactly the bus pulled away with a full complement of passengers aboard, heading for the cruise ship terminal and our home, the Rotterdam. Our scheduled 17.30 departure from St. Petersburg was delayed due to high winds. The captain re-assessed the situation at 20.00.
Thursday Sept 15
It’s 07.00 now as I write. The captain did reassess the situation and still considered it to be too dangerous to proceed to sea. Even at 22.00 Wednesday evening we had not moved. We went to bed and woke this morning still in St. Petersburg. The wind, according to the ship’s anemometer on the ship’s T.V. information page is still blowing at 19 knots, nowhere near the 40 knots it was moving at last night. I assume the captain still assumes the speed to be too high for us to move across the shallow, Baltic Sea. The ship’s superstructure is also very much higher than some of the ferries we’ve seen leaving the port. I imagine that it would act like a sail as we tried to leave the harbour here, and make ship movement quite tricky. Anyway, between the pilot, the port authorities and the captain, the decision to leave has not been made. I assume we will leave sometime today if the wind drops. The port is almost dead on latitude 60 degrees north, just about level with the B.C. Yukon border. Hopefully our departure will be before the ice sets in!
At 09.30 I attended a Q & A session with the captain. There he gave us more info about why we were still in the port of St. Petersburg and will be hear until noon today. He had been on the bridge at 01.00 this morning and was ready to leave the port. He consulted the Russian pilot and was advised not to leave the port, not to navigate the narrow and shallow channel to and from the port in the dark. He was advised to wait ‘til daylight hours. That also meant the captain had lost his chance to join a convoy of smaller ships LEAVING the port around 01.00. He now had to wait until 12.00-13.00 today for his next chance to leave the port. Add to this, the channel is only 80 metres wide and we would have only 1.8 metres of clearance under the keel in the middle of the channel. The ship is 30 metres wide, but because of the wind, drift and speed restrictions in the channel, the Rotterdam would have to steer almost diagonally through the channel, thereby increasing her width to perhaps 40 meters. This is why it is not possible for two ships to navigate the channel at one time. Now, because we leave between noon and 13.00, it is not possible to visit the city of Helsinki. We will proceed directly to Stockholm, making up time on the way. We are expected to dock at the pier in Stockholm on time at 09.05. The captain apologised for the non-visit to Helsinki. Someone in the group thanked him for keeping the safety of the ship and all on board as his primary focus. He received a very warm round of applause from all of us there, which I’m sure helped him feel much better about the tough decisions he’d had to make.
So…this day which was to be spent in port at Helsinki has now become a day at sea. It is a grey, blustery day. The ship’s equipment is now showing wind at 50 mph as we plough along through the Gulf of Finland en route to Stockholm. The ship is handling it well and very little roll or pitch can be felt. Let’s hope it continues this way. Goodnight and God bless.
Friday, Sept. 16
The entrance to the main harbour in Stockholm is spectacular. On a clear morning, our ship, along with at least three other cruise ships, made its way through an archipelago which reminded us very much of the Gulf Islands near Victoria. We slowly wound our way in and out of the islands and we could understand why the captain told us no ships were allowed to navigate here in the dark. In some places, the channel markers were ten -fifteen metres from the rock walls. I think the Swedish pilots were certainly earning their wages getting these ships safe passage through this area. As we ate our breakfast on the lido deck, We watched the ship pass quaint cottages, gorgeous homes all with boats and jetties attached. The captain announced we would be half an hour late in docking as there were so many ships trying to dock at the same time. He then announced a half an hour extension to our day in port, at the same time stressing the need for us to be back on board by 16.00 as the ship had to sail, on time at 16.30. Of course, the reason for this has been mentioned…we are not allowed to be in the archipelago chain after dark.
Swedish police needed to check the i.d. of everyone on board as passengers left the ship. Those with trip excursions booked were asked to leave the ship first then everyone else. As a result, Cynthia and I didn’t get off the ship until around 11.00. There wasn’t a whole lot of time to do any exploring in great detail so we bought ourselves some boat tickets and hopped on the harbour cruise boats moored at the stern of our ship. These flat-bottomed boats got around the harbour at a fair lick and we were able to get off and back on at a number of different places.
In front of Royal Palace, Stockholm. (Home of Henrik and Daniel Sedin)
We opted for the Royal Palace stop, got off and went to watch the changing of the guard at the palace. that done, we wandered down into the old part of the city and browsed through the squares and the shops. we went into the German church in the old town, sat in peace for a while and said prayers. The windows were gorgeous as the morning sunshine poured in. Moving on, we stopped for a bite of lunch in a very interesting restaurant which had formerly been the old city’s jail. We ate in the below ground jails. Time had raced by, so we re-joined the harbour cruise on one of four boats doing the rounds. We enjoyed cruising the harbour, listening to the captain’s commentary, relaxing and enjoying the sunshine.
Returning to the Rotterdam on a harbour cruise boat, Stockholm
Around 14.30 we got back to the ship and headed for afternoon tea in the main restaurant. Done with that, we took up our postions in the Crow’s Nest bar at the top of the ship in the bow and prepared to watch the ship leave the port. We weighed anchor at 16.30 and as the sun began to dip in the sky Cynthia and I enjoyed the cruise out of the archipelago and into the Baltic. A good dinner and some evening entertainment brought a fine day to a close. At bed-time the Rotterdam was making 20 knots in the Baltic, heading for Denmark and the cruise around Jutland. Good night and God bless.
Saturday Sept. 17
The sea was flat calm and the sun shining brightly as we began today, a full day at sea. We breakfasted with a couple from New York and enjoyed listening to them speak proudly of their great city. They encouraged us to visit the city as soon as we could, and we mentioned that a visit to the Big Apple was on our bucket list.
A large chunk of the morning was spent in reading in the sunshine but under cover, as it was too cold to sit outdoors. I did my few laps of the deck, a token offering towards maintaining some semblance of weight gain prevention. When re-entered the ship, a feeding frenzy was going on as certain items of jewelry, notably wrist watches, were being offered at $10.00. Other items, mostly clothing, were being snatched up by the swarm. I shuddered and moved on. I attended a digital photo editing class given in the very swish digital photo lab, but left after a while.
It was time to return to the room to get ready for lunch with our captain. We had been exclusively invited to eat with him….along with about 200 others!! In fact anyone who’d cruised with H.A. more than a certain number of times was invited to lunch in the dining room. I went back to the room and changed from my very comfy shorts and tee, to “smart casual” as the invitation requested. I awaited Cynthia’s arrival to do the same.
At noon exactly, and with about 200 other “Mariners” we were ushered into the dining room. It reminded me of the times I had spent with my parents and grandparents watching the cattle and sheep being moved from one pen to another at the Abergavenny cattle market. There was no bleating and lowing but hot bodies jostled for postion nevertheless. We were seated qucickly and the Captain welcomed us. His speech over, he departed and we got on with the business of lunch. Free glasses of wine, the bonus for us Mariners, were poured and toasts were proposed and glasses raised. Our meal was good but soon we were our of there and back in our “civvies” so to speak.
Evening time came. we had a good dinner together on the Lido deck as we once again opted not to go “formal”. The evening show was called Amore and featured just about everyone who could make music and/or dance on the ship. It was a lovely way to end up the day at sea. Tomorrow is our last full day at sea. This evening as we prepare for bed, the ship has turned north to follow the east coast of Jutland. I’d estimate that by first light tomorrow we will have rounded the northern tip of Jutland and will be into the North Sea and heading south again towards Rotterdam.
Sunday Sept.18th.
Today was another day at sea. After breakfast and a church service we attended the Information on disembarkation. That done, we headed off to do some reading in the library. It was grey and wet outdoors and no walking on the promenade was possible. Before long it was lunch-time and then on to afternoon tea. It’s a tough life but we haven’t weakened. I managed to catch excerpts of different games from the rugby world cup in N. Zealand. Tonight we have an early dinner and a show. Packing will follow as we have an expedited disembarkation tomorrow. We are leaving the ship between 07.30 and 08.00, taking our own bags ashore. From the ship to the rail station we’ll taxi, from Rotterdam to Amsterdam we’ll train it, and hopefully, around 13.00 tomorrow we’ll be winging our way to Dublin, Ireland on Aer Lingus. Goodbye for now and God bless.
Monday, Sept. 19.
We were awake around 06.30 as the ship noises woke us. The Rotterdam was being prepared to dock in Rotterdam, exactly where we boarded her. Our in-room breakfast arrived at 07.00 on the nose as ordered and by 07.30 we were ready to disembark. I think we were first off the ship. we strolled to the nearest bank machine and got some cash. Then, we hopped on the city tram and arrived at Rotterdam Central Rail station in about 15 minutes. we got our tickets and hopped on the 08.28 to Schipol Airport, Amsterdam. 50 minutes later we were hauling our bags up to the departures counters and had our boarding passes from machines. we got rid of our bags with Aer Lingus and went for a bite to eat. The plane left on time at 13.05 and 85 minutes later we landed at dublin. We got the bags and headed to the car rental at Avis. That went smoothly and soon we were on the M50 heading south to Kilkenny. That took about 90 minutes and from the tourist info centre we got accommodation at a lovely B & B with a lady named Miriam. she has four lovely kids two of which I nearly backed over as they rode around behind the car as we went out for dinner. We ate at Kyteler’s, a gorgeous old pub in the high street. 10 minutes into the meal, the music started with drum, whistle, accordion, guitar and harmonica all being played. We ate well. I had a pint of Guiness and one of Kilkenny Ale. Cynthia had a red wine and we capped our meal off by sharing a sticky toffee pud with cream and ice-cream. Now we are back at Miriam’s and about to crawl into bed, very tired but very content. Goodnight and God bless.
Tuesday, Sept. 20th
Miriam cooked us the full Irish breakfast complete with Black and white pudding. We were full to overflowing as we entered Kilkenny Castle
Kilkenny Castle
at 09.30 and spent a good hour there. At the castle we bought Heritage Cards which allowed us to see lots of heritage buildings at a reduced price. We’d made up our minds to visit Waterford next, south of Kilkenny so about 60 minutes later found us at the Waterford Crystal showrooms.
Waterford glass showrooms
I’m pleased to say that though the company went into receivership they have re-opened under new management (Chinese I think) and the production is back up and running at full tilt. Tours of the factory are available though we declined. Instead we saw some of the most glorious pieces of glasswork ever including this one of the gypsy wagon.
Gypsy wagon in glass
From there we tried to visit Jerpoint Abbey but en route we made a wrong turn (it actually turned out to be a very good one) into Belmore House in Jerpoint Park. There we had tea and home-made scones, cream and jam with Maeve and Joe O’Connell, the delightful owners of the house and park.
With Maeve and Joe O'Connell and children Annabelle and Nick
When they bought the lovely home, they didn’t realise they’d also bought the rights to the ancient village of Jerpoint and the church of St. Nicholas (Bishop of Myra) which holds the saint’s tomb. You can see the remains in the background above. We had a wonderful hour or so with these wonderful people and if you go to this part of Ireland, you surely should go and see them and their place.
From Belmore House we visited Jerpoint Abbey
Jerpoint Abbey
and appreciated what an amazing job the Irish people are doing of restoring their ancient churches and historic places. The abbbey was wonderful.
We tootled along lovely country lanes ‘til we found Jerpoint Glassworks and its owner Kathleen. We missed the glassblowing demo but that mattered not as we had a fine time chatting to Kathleen. She allowed us to take some pics and explained how her business once employed eight, but now only her son Rory was blowing the glass.
Products of Jerpoint Glassworks
By now it was getting time for the homeward trip to Miriam’s place in Kilkenny. We took the country lanes home and hit the town in perfect time to visit La Rivista restaurant where we had a fabulous meal. We headed for Miriam’s and crashed. Goodnight and God Bless.
Wednesday Sept. 21
The day was grey and overcast when we got up. Miriam cooked us a lovely breakfast, we paid her and wished her well. We decided to take the scenic route from Kilkenny to the motorway…note to self…never take the scenic route anywhere in Ireland. We came upon intersections where three roads met with no directional signs to any of them, but that’s half the fun of being in this wonderful country. Nevertheless, with the help of farmers driving tractors and delivery men driving panel vans, we made it to the motorway near Cashel heading south to Killarney.
90 minutes later we were entering the city and what a beautiful place it turned out to be. I believe it’s counted as Ireland’s most “touristy” spot. However, everything is done with such taste and class it’s a pleasure to be here. After a quick stop at the tourist info office and a chat with Jennifer, we were booked into a B & B called Kelare House run by Maura Moynihan. We were there five minutes late and Maura greeted us like long lost cousins. Her home is gorgeous and our room is first class.
Ross Castle, Killarney
We dropped the bags and went to visit Ross Castle just outside the town. It was a great visit. Our guide took us round in 30 minutes flat and we were out of there soon after that.
Torc Falls, Killarney
Then it was on to Torc Falls to view a “spectacular” waterfall. With all due respect, it was a gorgeous place with emerald green ferns and foliage along the river’s banks, but Myra Falls has nothing to worry about.
Back to Kelare House we drove for a quick cup of tea in our room and a chat with Ben on Skype. Our evening meal beckoned us soon after and we went to Buckley’s bar in the Arbutus Hotel in College St. to eat as the bar in Murphy’s was packed to the gills.
Buckley's Bar, Killarney
We had a good meal there and listened to the trio of locals playing jigs, reels and other tunes. It was grand. We left the place feeling very good, so happy to be in Ireland and so blessed to be able to do what we are doing. We made our way home to Maura’s and sacked in after a long but very enjoyable day. Tomorrow it’s the Ring of Kerry, but tonight it’s sweet dreams. Goodnight and God bless.
Thursday, Sept. 22.
We must be doing something right for once again the sun was shining as we set off to drive the Ring of Kerry. Maura’s traditional breakfast was lining our bellies as we left her home at 09.30. The object was to make the ant-clockwise drive ahead of the tour buses which set off around 10.30.
Peat cutter entering cottage
Our first stop was at Glenbeigh, at the replicated Peat Cutters’ Village. It was well worth the entrance fee and we enjoyed it. They had two massive Irish wolfhounds there. We enjoyed petting them too. They were impressive at 120 pounds apiece!
One of the beautiful Irish Wolfhounds
We managed to stay ahead of the coaches, but more were appearing all the time, mostly filled with American tourists. At Cahersiveen we stopped for coffee and visited the Catholic church there. It is special as it is the only Catholic church in Ireland dedicated to a layman, Daniel O’Connell. More about him later in the post.
Beautiful coastal scenery greeted us at Waterville and we stopped briefly to capture it on camera.
Looking along oceanfront at Waterville, Ring of Kerry
Leaving Waterville
A short time on the coastal road brought us to a tiny lane off the main road. It lead to Derrynane House, home of Daniel O’Connell,lawyer, politician, statesman and the person most responsible for the emancipation of Ireland.
Derrynane house and chapel
We had a fine self-guided tour of the house, watched a 20 minute video about O’Connell and then had scones with cream and jam for lunch. The Irish breakfast, like “The Force” was still very much with us!
Pressing on, and managing to stay ahead of the tour buses, we made a brief stop at Sneem. The town is renowned as a tidy-town and is very beautiful and colourful, like most of the places we’ve seen. I took two pics here, just as a fellow roared up to the front of us in a BMW, hopped out and did exactly as I did before roaring off again.
Sneem's village green
Main Street, Sneem
We drove on from Sneem and soon entered Kenmare. It was a much bigger town and here we got some help for Cynthia. One of the nose-pieces from her glasses had come off. We couldn’t fine an optician but called into a friendly pharmacy where the folks there had a new one on in a jiffy…no charge, just glad to help! We wandered around enjoying the bustle of the folks, their smiling faces and the warm colours of the town. On this sunny afternoon, it was a joy to be there
Colourful restaurant, Kenmare
Church in centre of Kenmare
Central square, Kenmare
Another shot of colourful Kenmare
From Kenmare we headed home to Killarney which proved to be fairly quick. We arrived at Maura’s place around 16.30. it had been a full, satisfying time. We had thoroughly enjoyed the gorgeous Ring of Kerry. We rested for awhile then headed out to Murphy’s Pub to see if we could get in tonight!
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