Arrived here in Galway about 1 hr ago ~1415. Our room in the Carlton Hotel is situated on the second floor facing the Dublin Road and a double family home, the left half of which, Rose grew up in. I'll blog this day later. Need to finish yesterday's.
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| Caoimhe Ryan dressed for school |
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| A touch of class from the Ritz-Carlton: birthday chocolates for Rose |
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| Sugarloaf lounge for afternoon tea in the Ritz |
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| Rose enjoying a wee nip of a 'Pim' - delicious |
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| Our afternoon tea finger food tower |
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| PowersCourt waterfall on a rainy day |
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| Black & White of the falls |
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| Downtown Enniskerry |
Monday, 10/10/2011 - Day 4: Waterford to Ritz Carlton, PowersCourt Estate next to Enniskerry
Once again I was up early hoping to get some blogging done (and did). Our final morning with Oisin, Susan and Caoimhe. It's a work and school day for our hosts and we have a ~90mile trip to our next stop on our Irish adventure up near Enniskerry in County Wicklow.
Lots of rumblings on the 2nd floor of the house this morn'! Oisin was down first. Nice to see that the Ryan's daily routine is similar to most other families of small children. Oisin was busy making a cereal breakfast for Caoimhe followed by her lunch for school. He cut the crust off her sandwich bread and made 4 smaller sandwiches of the one... what a dad! Meanwhile, Susan was up helping get Caoimhe dressed and ready for school with the requisite amount of encouragement. :-) Eventually, all was set and ready and we got to bid our farewell's to Caoimhe and, although our time with her was short, received big hugs from her before Susan drove her off to school. She's got a lot of personality that I'm sure has rubbed off on her from her parents.
We spent the next 45min or so just visiting with Oisin enjoying some coffee/tea. Susan returned and we had some toast with butter and jams.
Side note: Everywhere we've been so far, the most popular breakfast jams have been: orange marmalade and raspberry jam... interesting.
Both Aislinn and Diarmait dropped by to see us off and, reluctantly, we said our goodbyes and were on our way by 1030 for Wicklow County... sort of; we made a quick stop by Peggy's to say goodbye too and thank her for her hospitality.
What a great time with a great family. the Ryans! It was evident to me that they all cared for each other, enjoyed one anothers company, worked hard and, enjoyed life. We couldn't have asked for better hosts, Oisin and Susan. They shared their lovely home with us, went out of their way to ensure we had a marvelous time, showed us their Waterford (many high speed, low passes! Was fun and what a cool city :-) ), introduced us (or at least me) to their now grown family, and shared stories both hilarious and sobering. Along the way, they strengthened family ties and, made 1 more friend. :-)
THANK YOU Oisin and Susan!!! You guys ROCK! Can't wait to see you all again either in the US or back in Ireland.
On we went. Our route today would take us up the N25 to the N30 on to the N11 and into the small town of Enniskerry - all fairly fast and spacious highways. I did get a bit lost as we arrived in New Ross off the N25. Oisin gave me good enough advice on how to efficiently get out of this town and onto the N30... long story short and after a few additional turns, we were well on our way again. Not too far up the road, I stopped for our first fuel stop at a Texaco just outside a small town I can't remember the name of (Camolin? Gorey?) anyway, total cost was $40.52 Euro. Cost per litre was $1.49. Doesn't sound like much but, when you do the conversion, for about 6 or 7 gallons of gas, I spend over $50! That's way more than what we're paying in the States. I'm OK with driving my underpowered, reasonably priced car, the Kia Rio - regardless of how little boot space! :-)
Rained the entire way as we left sunshine back in Waterford. The hamlet/village is about 5km off a major highway and is tiny. Town center is a round about with a monument erected in it. Roads are tight. The entrance to the PowersCourt Estate is a couple of kilometers outside of town. PowersCourts' entrance is gated with a guard house situated right as you go through the stone archways, single vehicle wide. Rolled down my window, said we were staying at the Ritz and were waved through with directions that said our hotel was up a ways to the left. Arrived just around 1330.
As you drive onto the estate, it's massively wooded and green with a large world class golf course (may be links, not sure) to one's right. Trees line the length of the road until you turn onto the Ritz's lane. As you drive in the road splits: to the left the self-parking area and to the right check-in and valet. The hotel is very white. Pulling up to the front underneath an arched ceiling, the bellhops rush out to meet you and you immediately feel welcome. As they helped with our luggage, Rose and Rosie went in to register while I went to park.
Inside, the lobby is mostly deep, dark wood with raised ceilings. You enter on the 4th floor of 5 stories and the registration desk is to the right while conceirge services are to the left. As you face the back of the hotel, the center of the lobby area is full of plush, green sofas. There's a fireplace, a stairwell heading down to the 3rd floor (a Gordon Ramsey restaurant located there) and, at the very back of this floor a fairly wide area full of tables lined along floor to ceiling windows overlooking a vast glen of manicured grass and woodlands. The view off to the right and in the distance is a mountain with it's distinctive pointed peak that this particular tabled area was named for: the Sugar Loaf lounge. Here is where we would enjoy afternoon tea with Mom.
The hotel was designed in a large concave shape facing to the rear. We were assigned room #417, to the right wing as you enter the lobby, and with our bellhop in lead, headed that way.
Side note: The Ritz-Carlton PowersCourt is the only Ritz in Ireland.
Our room's incredible! Spacious, massive bathroom with a shower, large bath, 2 sinks and a flat screen TV imbedded in the huge vanity mirror. The bathroom is on the left as you walk into the room. On the right is a spacious alcove for all of your luggage and clothing with large closets. Continuing into the room, we had 2 large queen sized beds on the left, a wall mounted flat screen on the right and, a large wooden desk to work from near the large bay windows along the outer wall. Free WiFi too. Everything in the room could be controlled by several touch screen pads; one by the door entrance and the other by the bed stands. Luxury! We weren't in our rooms long when the door knocked and someone brought in complimentary chocolates for Rose in recognition of her upcoming birthday... very nice touch.
We didn't waste much time to freshen up - and we dressed up. Only a little over an hour to get ready for afternoon tea with Mom. So, a little before 1430 we walked over to the Sugar Loaf lounge, they were expecting us, and seated us right by the floor to ceiling windows looking out to the back property. Spectacular! We spent a good 90 minutes relaxing, having tea and a bunch of finger food/sandwiches, scones and pastry. The ladies opted for black English tea, I opted for red African tea - very nice! I also ordered a refreshing apertif called a 'Pim'. Not sure what was in it, secret blend... was carbonated, like a spritzer with slices of cucumber, orange wedges, strawberries and mint leaves.
What an excellent event to start our stay at the Ritz and PowersCourt Estates, regardless of the none stop rain.
After tea we headed back to the room to change into more comfortable clothing. Time was coming up to a little after 1600. Both the PowersCourt Water fall and Estate closed down at 1700. Weighing our options we decided to give up a rushed tour of the Estate in the rain for a more leisurely visit to the Water falls. On the way out of the hotel, we were told by the conceirge that the falls were about 10mins drive away and directions were easy. Coming out of the gate entrance area, one need just make 3 rights (not including the right out of the property) and you'd be able to drive right up to the base of the falls. Well, for once, the directions were spot on and we rumbled off in the rain. By the time we made the 3rd right, the roads had narrowed significantly and you had to pay a lot of attention to cars coming in the opposite direction to look for bailout areas - which we had to take on several occasions - along the way. Eventually, we reached the entrance where we were met by a gent coming out of a little cottage to our right. We ponied up the $15 Euro admission fee and continued.
Well, by golly, you could literally drive right up to the base of this massive, gentle cascading waterfall. There were 2 other cars there with us, only 1 of which looked to be in use by a young couple posing for photos by the falls. As we got out to approach the falls, they departed and left us to our own. Free run of the entire site. Very nice falls as falls go. Couldn't tell whether the mist was more from the falls or the rain as we stared up from it's base. Took a bunch of photos with everyone in them and we called it a visit. Both Roses could remember, Rosie vaguely, the last time they were here at the falls eons ago. On the way back out towards the Estate, we decided to make a quick stop in Enniskerry to check it out. We arrived at around 1715 and parked near the round about. I must say, and once again things may have been influenced by the never-ending mist/rain on this day, that I was underwhelmed with the village. A couple of nondescript places to eat, a handful of other shops to window by, one circle around the town square and, we were done and on our way back to the Ritz. Got back to the hotel just after 1745 and chilled for the rest of the evening.
We did order room service - a novelty for Mom - which included a margherita pizza (just ok, certainly not NY quality) and a club sandwich, came with fries. Just like in Asia, this club sandwich came with everything I'd expect and a cooked egg layered in? Strange, not bad tasting at all, just different. We all shared the evening fare over water and hot tea. Called it a night.
Just FYI, blog followers but, I've been wasting a lot of cycles this trip, usually late at night, attempting to upload pictures and having marginal success. Something typically happens to my connection and nothing gets saved... it's frustrating and a bit annoying so, I'll try to get the narratives posted and follow with smaller chunks of photos.
More later,
Fuji.
a margherita pizza (just ok, certainly not NY quality)... you mean nothing like IT quality, we were just in Florence last summer dad!
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