Friday, 10/7/2011 - Blarney, County Cork, Ireland

Wow!  What an amazingly fun and activity packed day!  Just sitting here in our room, 117, on the second floor of the Blarney Woollen Mills Hotel starting to reminisce about everything that's transpired since my last, tired, blog from Long Valley.  We actually have 2 rooms in the hotel.  Rose is in room 118.  I'm tired now but, not due to work!  :-)

Let me rewind to yesterday afternoon in dojo Lansdale, Long Valley... a place that even now feels long ago and far away.  :-)

Our ride to the airport showed up early, at around ~1420.  The weather in Jersey on this day?  Gorgeous!  Fortunately, all of us were dressed, packed and ready to go.  I still had some lingering things to do with work and would take care of those either along the way to the airport or once we got there.  Bernard, our driver, was a decent enough fellow and quickly helped me load up the minivan he'd brought for the trip.  We departed home at 1435 and at this time of day expected to be at Terminal C in Newark about 1 hr later.  In fact we arrived at 1540.  We had planned on getting to the airport early.  Didn't want to feel rushed at all for our eventual 1930 scheduled takeoff on CO Flt#24 to Shannon... and we weren't, we were quite relaxed.

Between Rose, Rosie and I, we had 3 medium sized pieces of luggage weighing between 30 and 43lbs to check.  Rosie's bag was heaviest - hers bearing most of the gifts for family in Waterford.  We also each carried coats and at least 1 carry-on piece of luggage... mine being the heaviest, a camera backpack, full of all my DSLR accessories, JVC digital video camera, adapters/power cords, as sundry knic-knacs and, a few toiletries.  Rose had a very cute, chisai (Japanese for small), rolling piece of luggage - the size you might see being dragged around by small children imitating their parents and, Rosie carried a medium sized, fluffy, primarily blue floral patterned Vera Bradley bag full of stuff we might need, like snack food, and room for plenty more!  I was also sporting a cap that I hoped would help me blend in with the Irish landscape better.  $75 ($90 after tip) later, we bid Bernard farewell and stood outside Terminal C on the upper deck - unusual.

I can't remember the last time I'd ever been dropped off at the upper deck of a terminal in Newark for any type of flight, domestic or international?  Check-in and baggage drop off had always been done mid-tier after being dropped off at the ground level of a terminal here in Newark.  Not sure if this had anything to do with the United/Continental merger?  Anyway, we pushed our way into the terminal, expecting to go down one floor, and instead got directed to a counter area right on the top floor.  The Continental agent helped us check in with our bags for our flight to Shannon and we headed down 1 flight to the security area for processing.  Fairly unremarkable processing through except for my camera bag.  I had it jammed with so much stuff, the TSA person stared at his displays for a bit, gave up, and called for a bag inspection!  So, they did.  Another agent picked up my bag as it came out of the x-ray tunnel and rifled through it, including some swipes to test for explosive material - which I'm happy to say I had no residue of - finishing up by asking me if I was a professional photographer?  I smiled, said no, and that I was just an ardent photo enthusiast of Japanese tourist decent. :-)  All of us got dressed and headed off towards Gate 80.

We decided to have a bite to eat at the Diner near Gate 80.  Weren't sure what type of meal service we'd be getting back in coach on this 'red-eye' flight? After our repast we took Mom to Continental/United's President's Club area to while away some time and relax.  Rose had never been up in to this relatively exclusive lounging area and believe she enjoyed it.  Was nice to enjoy a cold beverage in comfortable chairs munching on snacks, reading the odd magazine/newspaper or, jumping on the odd, work related conference call before our flight - which I did for 1/2 an hour starting at 1800 (went better than I thought it would).  Left the Club right at 1830 to go and queue up at Gate 80 for our flight.

Shannon must not be a popular destination for Continental/United?  When Rosie was looking at booking our flights, she only saw 1 flight a day leaving out of Newark and similarly, for the other 2 major airports within the Greater NYC area.  So, one would expect (OK, maybe just me) a large jet to wing everyone over, right?  Wrong!  Was your basic, not that big, always feel cramped in it, over-sold, Boeing 757-200.  Disappointing and packed!  Our saving grace... I'm still Gold Elite and, therefore, got all of us boarded way early and squared away in our seats over the trailing edge of the wing in row 26, all on the starboard side of the jet, before most of the rest of our fellow travelers. Quite convenient.  :-) 

deconflict with West bound traffic.)  Trying to get some sleep was fitful at best for all three of us in the cramped quarters.  Mom had window, Rosie center and, I aisle.  And, not surprisingly since I am so 'wide-bodied', kept getting whacked on the arm by many the odd 'heinie' (not sure how to spell this alternative to 'rear end') all through the flight!  The ride though, for the most part, was quite smooth and turbulence free, thank you!

Remember how I said we ate dinner in a diner before takeoff?  Well, really didn't need to do that.  The cabin crew started us off with beverages and a snack, soon to be followed by a fairly tasty dinner of either: beef stir-fry with rice, salad, dinner roll and brownie-like dessert or; something called chicken Parmesan, which Rose enjoyed - this, quite frankly, pleasantly surprised all of us.  Due to the late nature of the flight, I was expecting breakfast at best before landing... which they also served up.  Was light fare:  a croissant, some fruit and the beverage(s) of your choice.

Went 'feet dry' over Ireland early morning, 10/7, and touched down in the dark at Shannon at ~0645 local time.  By the time we finished taxiing and pulled up to the gate, it was just short of 7am.  We deplaned into a relatively quiet airport that by Rose and Rosie's memory had changed quite a bit since either of them had last landed there.  Custom's was a breeze... we got our passports stamped after a few pleasant inquiries about our intentions in country and length of stay.  Since we were the only International flight at this time in the morning, baggage claim was easy to find and very quickly delivered our bags.  We headed out to find our rental agency.

We rented a car through National and here in Ireland they are serviced by Europcar - also in green livery.  Our agent at the counter was friendly, talkative and eventually passed over the keys to our ride:  a 4 door, Kia Rio - not what we were expecting to have been given.  With all the luggage we had for the 3 of us, I was a bit concerned with getting it all into the car.  Just before leaving the counter, our agent described to me where I could find our rental... it was at this moment I knew we were in Ireland!  :-)

He leaned over the counter, pointed vaguely in the direction to his left, my right, said to go out the end of the terminal, veer to the left (using his arm to indicate flow) for a bit and then turn back to the right and I should be in the vicinity of the car.  The car, according to my documentation, had been parked in space #133 but, he advised not to necessarily trust that and, as I got nearer the car's location, just keep pressing the automatic door open/lock button and look for head-lamps!  What could possibly go wrong??  LOL. Well, after a short bathroom break, we headed out into the lifting darkness of morning, partially cloudy with some light rain but, not a bad weather day start to our trip.  The breeze was up and it was definitely a mite chilly - 11 degrees C, in the low 50s F.  Well, nothing out in the parking area looked like National cars.  Lots of Hertz but, nothing notably green.  After some wandering about, I left the girls to sit tight and continued my search.  As I walked further and further away from the terminal, I started (or should say already had) to have a bad feeling... not the 'oh my god, where have I lost myself and will I make it back to civilization' feeling but, more of a 'this isn't going to work out at all' feeling.

Scanning about with my head, I spotted someone in a distant parking lot get out of her car and start walking towards me and the terminal I'd left behind.  She was wearing a lanyard around her neck with a badge at the end of it and I assumed, hoped and prayed actually, that she worked here in Shannon.  I moved to intercept her, did so, found out she did in fact work in the terminal, and asked her if she knew where I might find Eurocar/National rental cars parked?  She wasn't quite sure but still pointed to some lots in the distance that had the look of other rental companies return areas.  I thanked her as she went on her way and thought momentarily about hoofing it back to the terminal way back in the distance to get better directions... quickly decided against that and continued my trek.  Another few parking lots later, crossed a road over into some muddy offsite area with fenced in lots and signs for other rent a cars like Budget, Avis, and some others I don't recall and, EUREKA, what appeared to be and in fact turned out to be Eurocar/National's car return area!  So, walked into the compound, much relieved, only to find no one there?  After walking about furiously pointing my key and pushing the lock/unlock button at each and every car only to have none of them reply in kind to me, someone finally drove up in a car... a nice lady returning her car.  Bummer.  There we were, both perplexed by the lack of life attendees when another car drove onto the lot in a more helter-skelter fashion and out jumped a Eurocar person!  Hallelujah!

He was a nice enough chap and was quite surprised that I had walked all the way out to this return location when my car was waiting in a lot back adjacent to the terminal!  Since the lady that had just dropped off a car needed to get to the terminal too, be loaded us up into their courtesy van and drove us back to the terminal.  On the way back, poor Rosie was still standing outside in the parking lot I'd left her in the chill air of the morning.  I was waving from the van and she saw me.  We pulled up to the terminal.  Rosie met me, I relieved her of 2 bags... Rose had gone back into the terminal to warm up.  The Eurocar guy then drove me the short distance to my car - I felt quite the idiot - and the rest of this story is history.  Picked up the girls... actually, the rental was so close to the terminal that I waved the girls over, how sad is that?, and with some creative loading got all of us and our luggage into the car (Rose's riding mate in the back is one of our suitcases) and off we went.

Driving on the wrong side of the road in the wrong side of the car, takes a bit of getting used to.  Everything is reversed to what we're accustomed to in the US and you have to concentrate and pay a lot of attention to where and how you're driving... OK, so this is true in the US too.  :-)  My brain for this trip is the Garmin GPS I brought along with us with the micro-SD card plug-in I purchased that has the latest driving maps of Ireland. Works great!  We headed out of the airport in our under-powered Rio (the 1.6liter motor has no 'gitty up and go').  This is my first time in Ireland so, I have no basis for comparison of the changes that have occurred particularly in roads.  Rose was quite surprised that we were traveling towards Limerick on a toll road, the N19, which eventually turned into the N20 headed south out of Limerick towards our planned destination of Cork via Blarney.  Felt to me a bit like driving on the interstates in the US but, only just a little.  The N20 for most of it's many miles to Cork necks down to just 1 lane each way and, they're not that wide accommodating vehicles of all sizes.

As we passed through the occasional small town, Rose was dismayed by the fact that these 'new' roads bypassed so many other interesting, quaint villages along the way that would have been a blast for me to see/visit - much like what our InterState system of highways have done to small town USA back home, most notably those towns along Rt. 66.  Welcome to the world of 'got to get there as quick as possible', Ireland.  A bit sad if I do say so myself.  On the plus side, we did get to Blarney relatively quickly ~55miles from Shannon.

Our plan for this first day was to get to Blarney to visit, among other things there, the Castle, and after our visit continue the 13miles or so down to Cork to find a B&B we could overnight in before heading to Waterford to visit and stay with family:  Oisin and Susan Ryan.  Well, we found our way into Blarney and just though dumb luck ended up parking within a good stone's throw of the entrance to the grounds of Blarney Castle!  The town of Blarney is quite nice.  Rose and Rosie haven't been back here in over 30yrs and much has changed. Things have gotten more commercial, I know - what a surprise but, for the better I think.  What a terrific heritage site this is!

Anyway, all the way down from Shannon we had been hoping to find some nice tea shop for a real Irish breakfast.  Didn't see a one.  After we'd parked somewhere in Blarney, Rosie spied the Blarney Castle hotel, guessed that they would probably be serving breakfast - they were - and we went in.  What a cool little hotel!  Closest place to stay near Blarney Castle, hence the name I dare guess. We were ready for some chow!  The hotel did not disappoint.  Rose ordered a fried egg, scone + toast; Rosie ordered the same + an order of Rashers (Irish bacon); I ordered the 'full monty' if you will and, Russell, eat your breakfast heart out - scrambled free range eggs, rashers + bangers, white and black pudding, fried tomato, some diced potatoes mixed with mushrooms, coffee and toast.  I was in heaven!  Rosie was happy to relieve me of one of my bangers (a tasty sausage).

As we were enjoying breakfast, it occurred to us that this would be a great place to stay the night.  Sadly, they were full but, recommended we go around behind their hotel to the Blarney Woolen Mills hotel and inquire about any vacancies.  So, we did as you know from my opening remarks of this long blog.  After we finished breakfast, we decided to check in to the hotel before going to tour Blarney Castle.  Our rooms were not ready, it was only about 1030, so we left our bags in the hotel's care and headed to the castle.

The keepers of the Castle and it's grounds charges adults $10 Euro and seniors $8 Euro to enter the site.  Well worth it.  The actual castle is about a 5 minute walk through well manicured grounds with the Blarney River meandering through the property.  There are quite a few trails throughout the site that one can walk and tour.  We chose to focus on the Castle and nearby Rock Close.

Just beautiful!  It's really a stunning castle and surrounding keep. Although it's Fall now, the grounds are quite green and lush.  As you might expect, we took a ton of photos and I got to play with my new wide angle lens - which was fun.  We also took photos for other visitors and they responded in kind.  The first thing we wanted to get out of the way was to climb the 100 steps up to the top of the castle and kiss the Blarney Stone.  Rose chose not to make the accent - she's done so as a young mother back in the day.  Rosie and I decided to give it a go.  As you near the entrance to the path going up, there's a souvenir/small snack shop that houses the means to print you a professional photo of you bending over backwards to kiss the stone - yup, Rosie and I both bought those when we got back down.

I'm getting a bit tired of blogging right now (coming up on 2230 local time here and I'm still a bit behind my times) so, I will not do justice to the enjoyment we had today and the majesty of the Castle we climbed.  On the way up there are numerous conclaves, rooms and spaces in the castle to step into and wander around in.  As with anything that has some height and stairs to climb, I, once again experienced quite a bit of 'tingly feet' as we went higher. Not my favorite thing to do but, a challenge for me to overcome!  :-)  So, undaunted, we continued up to the top.  The last 30-40 feet or so is all about a spiraling staircase made entirely of stone that narrows down quite a bit as you get to the top.  There is a thick rope affixed to the spiral staircase that one tends to grip tightly on the way up.  We were extremely lucky for most of the day to get more blue sky than clouds and rain - which there was some of.  Once you get up to the top, you end up queuing behind everyone else up there to lay back, with help, and kiss the stone.  The views of the surrounding landscape are terrific.

Before kissing the stone, and I had Rosie to advise me, you should make sure your pockets are free of anything you'd rather not lose to the ground.  So, with empty pockets Rosie went first and I followed.  There's a gentleman sitting by the stone, his feet dangling in the air through the gap between the outer and inner wall that helps everyone sit, lay back, grab 2 steel bars affixed to the stone masonry above and flanking the Blarney Stone and, finally to kiss the stone sitting back up.  As you're doing this another chap is taking at least 2 strategic photos of you kissing the stone and preparing to sit back up.  Rosie and I purchased the shots of us actually kissing the stone.  Afterwards, the climb back down is slightly anti-climatic but enjoyable nonetheless.  Back on the ground we picked up a few bobbles along with our photos from the gift shop and rejoined Rose.

Much better view of new toll booths near Limerick enroute to Blarney

Just about to kiss the Blarney Stone

Believe I may have touched tongue to Wall!!  Certainly impacted my blog narrative volume

View diagonally on top of Blarney Castle

You can make out Blarney Village in the background

We were a bit peckish by this time again - it was about 1330 - so we walked over to the stable area, formerly a stable area, that's been converted over to a small bistro of sorts, purchased some tea and a scone and sat outside at some tables set-up to enjoy our repast under gorgeous blue skies.  Very nice.  After our short break, we walked over to the last area we wanted to visit known as the 'Rock Close'.  Cool place with lots of rock formations that were used by the Druids way back in the day for a variety of uses.  We spent about 15 minutes visiting different items of interest within the Close before deciding to head back to the hotel to freshen up.  On the walk back the skies went from blue to a bit dark and angry and rained on us for a bit.

Got back to the hotel around 1445, checked in to our rooms, carted our luggage up, freshened up and headed back out to the adjacent and quite well known, Blarney Woollen Mills shops, where Rose treated Rosie and I to an early Christmas by treating us to authentic Merino wool, handmade, sweaters!!  I went for gray and Rosie chose classic white. We're quite pleased and spoiled.  Thanks, Mom! Love you!

OK, I really want to get this looooonnnng blog posted and to bed.  Thank all of you blog followers for indulging my musings.  Shopping at the Mills didn't end our day.  We toured a bit more of the village, a church within the village the Church of Immaculate Conception and, enjoyed a light dinner at the Mill restaurant adjacent to the hotel.

What a phenomenal 1st day in Ireland!  Can't wait for Day 2!  I'm beat...  Expect my next posting to be some amount of related photos of the past day.

Until my next entry, goodnight!  (Once I figure out how to write that in Irish Gaelic, I will)  Apologies for any typos or gross abuse of the English language/structure.  Will attempt to fix those later.