England & Ireland 2002

The walk up to Warwick Castle

Peacock's in England? Only on the grounds of Warwick Castle I think.

A display of crossbows at Warwick Castle. The crossbow on the left with the two hand crank has a 400 lb. draw!

A very cool helmet on display at Warwick Castle

I imagine that more of these were broken by drunken Greeks than were saved for posterity.

Yah, that's the real Rosetta Stone.

Among other things traditional and British, like double decker busses, Big Ben, et. al., there were still plenty of the old red phone booths to call from when I was there. Here's cousin Joan checking on dinner plans or something.

Outside of London, things can be difficult to pronounce sometimes. This . . . box? . . . was sitting near the tracks in Wales as Joan and I made our way across the Irsih Sea to Dublin for the second half of the trip. Try and pronounce that: Cymru. I bet you'll get it wrong.

Here's Dublin, as it was about 1000 years ago or something. Somebody had a looooooot of fun putting this modle together, and some of the features of it can still be found in the city.

And here's Dublin today, or at least a common site in Dublin. Quite a few empty kegs were seen outside quite a few pubs as we jaunted around the city. And I'm pleased to say that I did my part to help empty one or two.

After Dublin the next stop was Newgrange. This passage toomb is over 5000 years old. Due to the earth mound slipping downward over that time the stones of the foundation were pushed out and the reconstruction team had to sort of guess where and how they were origonally placed. They probably got it wrong, because there wasn't a lot of evidence left to go on, but I'll give them and 'A' for effort.

This lane led down to the little house turned B&B that we stayed at while checking out Newgrange and environs. The woman who ran the operation was great, and put on a hell of a spread for breakfast. She claimed that she was getting to old for this work and that this would probably be here final year, but then admitted that she's said that for several years now. Personally, I hope she's still entertaining tourists and feeding them breakfast's.

The Bóinne River is a storied place in Irish ledgend. The salmon of Wisdom was caught here and the mounds to the north housed the Tuatha Dé Danann.

If you're exploring around the countryside in Ireland, do watch your step. There are plenty of sheep grazing in the pastures, and thus plenty of sheep poop.

Guinness has a greater presence in the minds, pubs and advertising space of Ireland than any other product in any other place that I've ever experienced. If you're a New Englander, you're very familiar with Dunkin Donuts because they seem to be everywhere. But you'd have to multiply the number of Dunkin Donuts signs (and the number of stores they have, for that matter) by five or six times to come close what you see of Guinness in Ireland. That beer realy is everywhere.

Found this castle as we drove toward Clare.

Hiking is open and trailless, as far as I could tell. There are some great views once you get up on the hills a bit. You do have to watch your footing there, because the limestone develops cracks (which, farther down, turn into caves) which could mess up your ankle if you're not so careful.

Every place in Ireland is dotted with castles. I found this one on the grounds of a beautiful hotel. The inside was in shambles (nothing wooden remained) but a spiral staircase still went up to the top and I was told that patrons could get the groundskeeper to open the gate and lead them up for the view.

Castles aside, one of the best aspects of Bunratty were its cottages. There was a sweet smelling peat fire burning in most of them, and they gave you a good sense of what rural life must have been like in Ireland not all that long ago. My great grandfather grew up in a cottage similar this, or so I am lead to believe, along with six or seven siblings. Maybe the tight quarters made for a tight knit family.

One of the more dominant features of the city is its cathedral. I'm not so religious, nevermind a Catholic, but I have to admit that this is an impressive edifice to faith none the less.

I thought the huge stained glass windows were especially nice from the inside. Windows on your computer may be a waste of 1's and 0's, but windows like these in your church are pretty damned nice.

This pair presented themselves to us after we stopped for a bite to eat. The little brown foal never strayed from Mom's side, but I think her curiosity kept her on the side nearest these strange visitors and their cameras none the less.

Yet another castle we visited. I don't remember the name of this one, but I do remember that the stone floor of the top story was supported by a wicker frame. Yep, reeds and branches holding up a stone floor with strength enough left so that I could walk on it without busting through.

It had been all refurbished and furnished with the things you'd see in a medieval Irish castle, plus a gift shop.

What we thought was a small castle at first turned out to be a 19th century prison refurbished and turned into a B&B. We stayed in what had been an office of some sort (cells, complete with doors that could be bolted from without, were available for patrons who required less space) and enjoyed the novelty of the place. The woman who ran the establishment must have been a reincarnation of one of the old wardens though. Her rules and instruction were delivered exactly, and when you didn't follow them (a crime to which I'll plead innocent) you were strongly admonished for it. Not the friendliest person on Erie for sure, but she completed the experience perfectly.

After getting our room at the prison, Joan and I got a furlough and went into town for a bite to eat. On the way back we heard the sound of fiddles and guitar coming from the little W. H. Irwin pub, and we were drawn inside. The next few hours were spent sipping Guinness and listening to the finest music I think I've ever heard.

The fellow on the left, one Dan Quin, added more whit to the display than guitar (though his guitar was good too). He cracked a lot of jokes and accused me of being paparazzi when I snapped this picture. It's bad enough ya done in Lady Di, he said to me. Now you've come for Dan Quin too!

The pretty red-head on the right joined the group late, but added a lot of sound to it. Someone told me that she had just returned from America, where she had been touring and playing with the Riverdance show.

The Rock of Cashel is an enormous, fortified abbey that completely dominates the landscape around it. The view from below must have made would be attackers think twice, and the view from above goes on and on.

It was very, very windy atop the hill this day, which made you wonder if you were in danger of being hit by some piece of the old Abbey being blown off a higher point. Here's cousin Joan standing next to just such a piece. That would leave a mark!