A couple of Irish youngsters, fishing in the rain.IRELAND 2011
NOTE: When Sharon adds comments, they will be in {curly brackets}. Comments added AFTER coming back to San Jose are in [square brackets].
Trip Log 13. Day 13. Wednesday August 10, 2011. Ashford Castle, the Village of Cong, the Glebe Stone Circle
WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?
Here are the last group of Irish words and phrases for you.
spend a penny - pee
starkers - naked
sultanas - golden raisins
trad - traditional Irish music
Travellers - itinerants, gypsies
whacked - exhausted
zebra crossing - crosswalk
It's a little before 8 am, and we've got six more full days here, as we fly out on the sixteenth. That's Tuesday. It's rainy and windy outside, such that it kind of makes me want to stay inside. But Ireland awaits. So...
We drive to the Ashford Castle main entrance, and there is a beautiful drive, first through woods, then past a golf course, then past a small restaurant, then past some water. From here, you can angle left, and come directly to the castle itself, where a guard is posted at the gate. If you turn right, you come out in the town of Cong. So here are some photos from that drive.
A couple of Irish youngsters, fishing in the rain.
Castle entrance at left. The guard said it would be 5 euros per person to come in and tour, but if we have lunch at the Cullens restaurant, we could get in free. So that's where the photo at right comes from - the Cullens restaurant.
Wow. Red Bull in a bottle. You can't see this in the U.S. It's always in cans. We ask the waiter, and he says it's because they can recycle glass, but not aluminum. Hmmm, we wonder why not aluminum.
It's 2 pm, and we're talking to the boys about all the Red Bull they drink. Sieren points to his upper lip and says when he drinks a lot, he starts to get a twitch here. I start twitching the right side of my face and my right eye and I say whenever I sit by a hot girl, my face starts twitching. It's quiet for about five seconds then Sharon asks, "Are you having a stroke?" This breaks us all up. That Sharon.
We guys have been trying to get Sharon to join in talking smack. So then she says, "If you coulda seen your face, you would not have taken it as a compliment either." Ooh, good one. we have another good laugh at this one too. As I continue to crack up I say, "That was a good one, you almost made me cry." And Sharon says, "If you looked in a mirror, you WOULD cry." {A continuation of my being the ony female in this group. I get many interesting views on women from the guys. I tell Joshua that I am writing all this down to share on his wedding day. "I'll never get married!" He exclaims which is another of those things that I will save for his wedding day.}
Now she's gettin' it. We exit the castle grounds, into the village of Cong.
We continue in the rain, and Cong is the general location of the third of Rick Steve's five favorite stone circles, all of which I have planned for us to see. It's only a few kilometers out of town, and the unusual part is from the local road, we look through a combination sheep and cow meadow, then through another fence completely surrounding the stone circle, with the stones and several trees inside.
Vowing not to step in sheep or cow poo, off we go in the rain. The fence actually has a tall stone step to a narrow opening between two more stones, then onto a tall stone inside the fence, then down to the poo, surrounded by grass. You might call this a stile, and if you did, you'd be right. So here are the best photos we collect at the Glebe stone circle.
See Sharon. See the rain. See Sharon in the rain. See Sharon in the rain in Ireland. {I was so glad to have this rain jacket that I bought at the IZOD outlet store in Monterey. It folds up into a small package so is easy to pack but does a great job of keeping me dry.}
As you can see, the small forest of trees inside the fence adds a note of uniqueness to this stone circle. The four stones above, at right is one of my favorite photos of the trip.
Amazing to think that this is older than Stonehenge.
We're driving all over the area in the rain, and we have circled back and are passing the golf course again on another run past Ashford Castle. We stop and count 11 wagtails out on the golf course in this blowy windy rain.
I may have said this before, but I am now totally on board with the cloudy and rainy weather so prevalent here. When it is blue skies with billowy white clouds, something feels out of place, for me. Odd.
Our next stop after leaving Cong is to be a B&B between the towns of Westport and Castlebar, and Sharon has read that a musician for the Chieftains owns a bar in that area. I have a great Christmas album by the Chieftains.
We have started playing Scrabble on my iPhone. We can play either 2, 3 or 4 against each other. The computer offers an option to you when it's your turn called "Best Word." It shows you the word that will score you the most points. Sieren gives Josh the business when Josh uses this offering. So it's really Sharon, Sieren and the Computer playing each other, with Josh often coming up with words withOUT using Best Word. More Smack.
I forgot something about our dinner yesterday. Josh ordered ice cream for dessert, after I declined. He asked what kind they had, and they said vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. He said I'll take each. They came back with double scoops of each one. I liked the look of that and I ordered the same, after seeing his. They brought me one scoop of each, with only a tiny bit of chocolate, and what I'll call mayonnaise on two corners of the plate. Sharon claims it's cream, but it isn't sweet. Sharon thinks this is hilarious, but I pretend to laugh while crying on the inside.
After dinner we head back to our last night at this B&B.
1130 pm. I get another call on my iPhone (got one yesterday too), coming from the U.S. Just a phone number, no ID, and if I answer, it costs several dollars a minute. So I let it ring. It stops, but then starts up again, from the same number. Well, I take this to be an important call, as salesmen don't call twice, so I answer it. It's from my medical provider, Kaiser Permanente. They say they want to schedule an appointment with my "care manager" for information about exercise, nutrition and more. Huh? You have to call me in Ireland to tell me this? So I say I'm in Ireland and I will call you after I get back, on the 17th.
I'm mystified, but it doesn't bother my sleep any.
Good night from the King of Cong,
Bob and Sharon
Next Report 14
Previous Report 12
Ireland Reports
Family Trips
Home