Sunday, April 5, 2009

The Isle of Eire

This is a plea. Amy and I are going to Ireland and are trying to figure out whether we should spend a night in Dublin or not. We will definitely be going down south to Cork area to kiss the Blarney stone so it you have any info on that area let us know as well.
Jessica

5 comments:

  1. Hi, Jess and Amy. I'm glad that my notes were helpful. Brian said that you are going to get a car instead of taking the train, so you will be able to really see England. Yeah! So, another idea... If you are going to Stonehenge and on to Bath or Wales or vice versa, an awesome stop would be in Wells to see the Cathedral and the Bishop's Palace, Vicar's Close, etc. The cathedral is one of the most spectacular in England and Europe. The facade rivals the cathedral in Chartes, France and the interior, with its scissor arches, is amazingly light and airy for a Gothic cathedral. This is where we attended evensong for the first time and it was heavenly. The boys choir was spectacular and the sun streaming through the stain glass was incredible. Evensong is at 5:15 on weekdays and 3:00 on Sunday afternoon, according to their website. I found some awesome pictures at this website http://www.catnip.co.uk/wells/ and Wikipedia has a good entry on Wells. It's just a suggestion.... We have been studying books and booking B&B's in Ireland and are planning to spend most of our time in southwestern Ireland since we land in Shannon. I'll write another time about what we've learned about the County Cork area. We haven't started studying about Dublin, since that is last, but we do know that we want to go to Trinity College (Book of Kells, etc.) Best wishes with your planning!

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  2. Amy and Jess, I'll start this post with a disclaimer: I know very little about Ireland since this will be our first visit. (We got an absolutely awesome deal and we are going with 2 other couples- we travel together alot.) I can only tell you of places about which I have read. Since we land in Shannon, we are going up to the Cliffs of Mohr, along the west coast, which are supposed to be spectacular. Then we will head down to the Dingle Pennisula, famous for its coastal scenery, Celtic antiquities, and the Gaelic language. Then we move on to the quaint town of Kenmare, Killarney National Park (lakes, waterfalls, beautiful scenery), and the Ring of Kerry, a popular tourist destination along another pennisula. From there, we head south to the southern coast and then to the quaint seaport towns of Kinsale and Cobh. Near Old Head (a point below Kinsale), the Lusitania was sunk and Cobh is where most of the Irish emmigrants left to come to the U.S. during the Great Potato Famine and it was the last port for the Titanic. Both these areas are very accessible from Cork. Of course, Cork is near Blarney Castle, which is a ruin, but is one of the most visited places in Ireland. We will not be stopping there as we will need to get up to the ultra quaint (we've heard) village of Adare (near Limerick)to visit and then stay at a 5-star manor house! Our package included this, as well as one night in Limerick, four nights at B&B's anywhere in the country, and two nights in Dublin. Since we had to book B&B's right away, all the time has been spent on deciding on what to see and where to stay before Adare and Dublin. I haven't really looked at Dublin yet, but I would recommend Rick Steve's Ireland book. His books have been our "Bibles" all over Europe and Great Britain. I did see that he recommends the Historical Walking Tour by history grads that meets daily at 11:00 at the front gate of Trinity College. That is something we probably will do.... One other note- I don't know if you will be staying at B&B's, but if you do, the hosts and the quests are the greatest sources of information and suggestions! Best wishes... have an awesome adventure!!

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  3. One last comment from Jan.... I don't know what you are doing about accomodations. We have mostly traveled in the "shoulder season," as you are doing. If you are planning to stay at B&B's, I want to reassure you that David and I have never had problems finding B&B's along the way. Rick Steve's books in England (and the one on Ireland) help, but most often, we just looked for B&B signs and had great luck. In case you wondered about our need to book ahead of time in Ireland, we had to do so because we have vouchers and can only stay in places listed in a book the tour company gave us. And, there are 6 of us! That complicates things... Have fun and remember that the planning and expectation is a great part of the joy of the journey!... Jan

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  4. If I happen to see my friends that are from Eire in the next week or so I'll ask them about Dublin. That that at least one of them is from Dublin, and I have another that is fro Cork. He is very proud of that fact.

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  5. Hey Guys!

    Dublin is ok for a day, but it's hard to find a clean, quiet place to sleep for cheap. It's a really young and vibrant city, but I was glad to leave. I don't know if you're planning to head up to Northern Ireland, but Belfast is a beautiful city (I liked it twice as much as Dublin). Also my little sis and I spent some time over near Gallway at a hotel in Connemara National Forrest on the Atlantic (Western) Coast. It was a quaint little place with INCREDIBLY nice owners. The views of castles and cliffs without having to fight other tourists was great! I wish we had stayed there longer!

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