Avoca to Avoca and Beyond

After having breakfast with 2 Chilean ladies, one who lives in Germany and her sister who lives in Argentina, and a French woman from Marseille, and thanking Jack for his hospitality we left Dublin.

Breakfast in a guest house has always been a highlight as you get to meet other travellers from all over the world and share stories with each other.

As for Jack you couldn’t hope to meet a nicer guy and his guesthouse is one of the nicest we have stayed in anywhere in Europe - it’s an 11 out of 10!

Luckily the vehicle has inbuilt GPS, so we could ditch our fallback option of following AA travel routes that I meticulously put together before leaving, however that didn’t stop us getting into a wrong lane and having to circle the block or get ourselves on some very narrow backroads but nevertheless after a 302km drive we have arrived at Blath Cottage near Fethard which we can call home for the next 4 nights.

En route we first stopped at Glendalough the site of a now derelict monastery dating from the 6th century 

However there is an intact “Round Tower” which rises above the area built between the 9th and 12th century 

Don’t recall it being on a lean so just the angle that I had the camera on

It is a very picturesque environment in the Wicklow mountains 

Leaving there we moved onto the Avoca Handweaving mills at Avoca, a site Sherry had visited when she was in Ireland last year with Jodi. Another beautifully laid out site with the cafe and shop in one building and the actual mill in another

Moving further south west we stopped in the medieval town of Kilkenny which has an intact castle but other than a stop for coffee and also the purchase of some groceries we didn’t spend too much time there as we have planned a return trip in a few days.

With the time getting on to 4.30 we drove to Fethard and met our hostess, Selina, who gave us some advice of what is in the local area. 

We are in a very rural and horsey part of Ireland with the headquarters of one of the world’s largest breeding operation of thoroughbred horses, Coolmore Stud just 500m down the road.

Having spent sometime talking with Selina we then drove about 30kms to Cashel, a rather nice village for dinner at one of the recommended pubs and a place we might visit again some time during our stay in this area. We were taken however by the gorgeous Cashel Palace Hotel a building erected in 1732 as the home of the Church of Ireland’s Archbishop and which was converted into a luxury hotel and spa in 1962 but was closed from 2014 to 2022 when it reopened following restoration 

Dublin Wrapped

 Our last day in Dublin started off cloudy and cool but finished clear and warm, though our excellent host Jack would call it hot.

As we needed to get back to the airport by 3pm to pick up our car for the rest of the holiday we only had until 1.30 to complete our tour of this engaging city so relatively early we set off for Phoenix Park one of Europe’s largest designed urban spaces some 4 kms or so away.

The Wellington Testimonial, a 62m granite obelisk dominates the area of the park we explored. It was constructed from 1815 - 1865 and is a testimonial to Arthur Wellesley, the then Duke of Wellington

This is a statue of Sean Heuston an Irish Republican who took part in the Easter  Rising of 1916 and was executed for his troubles the same year.

Leaving the park we continued on to the city centre, stopping for a coffee in a cafe where we watched a gent pour at least 5 sachets of sugar into his coffee. We joked with him about that and he said also jokingly he wasn’t satisfied until his spoon stood up straight in the cup!

Crowds of tourists were in the vicinity of the Temple Bar taking photos (as did we again, this time of the references to those after whom the area was named)

The story of William Temple is fascinating and can be read at https://thetemplebarpub.com/history/the-amazing-story-of-sir-william-temple/

After lunch we walked back to our accommodation, picked up the documents for picking up the rental car and took the bus to the airport and drove away with a Kia Sportage Hybrid.

It was only when we were back at the BnB I realised it was a PHEV and that at the handover no mention was made of the charging process or where the lead was etc. so will need to consult a manual tomorrow.

By now it was 5pm so we walked into the city for the last time to have a meal in one of the many lively pubs which soon filled up as the music played 

After dinner we had one last stroll through downtown Dublin saying our goodbyes and then caught the bus back to Drumcondra and our accommodation.

Having walked 18.9kms today in very nice weather I think sleep will come easy tonight and hopefully we will be fresh enough in the morning to start our planned journey around the rest of Ireland.

Virginity Lost

 Reasonably early start, walking to a bus stop 25 minutes away so that we could catch the H3 to Howth Summit though ended up catching the #6 to Howth Village as it came along first and standing in the cool breeze wasn’t pleasant.

There were some rather stately homes along Howth Rd which were worthy of being photographed if the bus was moving slower.

The trip was about 35 minutes (approximately 15kms) and like all public transport in and around Dublin the cost was €2 and if we had used more public transport within 90 minutes of our initial tag-on there would be no further charge.

As the route went past Howth Summit before getting to the village we decide to get off there and walk the path across the cliff top to the village, taking in the views

The 3 to 4km walk brought us back to Howth Village which is a rather pleasant fishing village on a peninsula north east of Dublin

and as well as many tourists there were 2 seals watching the passers-by from their watery home

A nice seafood chowder for lunch followed by a walk past other restaurants on the pier and it was back to the train station to get our €2 ride back into the city alighting at Connolly Station

Just like yesterday there were hoards of people in their team colours - Green for Limerick and Yellow for Clare - and it was again obvious that there was a significant game in town again today.

Our research had shown that it was the semi-final of the All Ireland Hurling competition at the famed Croke Park and we were going as well!

I had had numerous conversations in the past with my old golfing buddy John from Belfast as he used to play hurling to a good standard (or so he told me) but had never seen it played and this was too good an opportunity to miss.

A quick coffee in the city and we then joined the throngs walking the 30 minutes or so to the ground - there was that sense of excitement all around us and we soaked the atmosphere in.

Our seats were in the upper deck behind one of the goals, the teams were warming up and the crowd were cheering and singing.

National anthem done we sat back and watched trying to understand the rules (are there any) as the game progressed. We were treated to an exciting and close game, Limerick coming from behind in the last couple of minutes to pip Clare by 2 points in what the Irish Independent called an epic semi-final

Not sure how John survived such a rough game.

The continuous movement and the skill of the players shooting 1 pointers from over halfway coupled with the crowd involvement had us fully invested in the game.

Now that our “cherries have been popped”, so to speak,  I’d love to see more games of hurling, particularly of this quality.

Walked the 2 or 3ks from the ground to the pub at the end of the street where our accommodation is located along with many of the 56,892 crowd which had spread out over the road halting all traffic.

Managed to get a table, many didn’t and ended out in the street, and enjoyed a traditional pub Sunday carvery 

Another day in paradise comes to an end

Books and Music

 At breakfast Martina told us about her day trip yesterday and gave us some advice given we have planned a similar excursion tomorrow and then we started the walk into the city.

From the number of folk walking the streets in team colours it was obvious that there was going to be a game of something in town today and as we walked three lasses were coming the other way in team colours so I asked them what their team was - “Galway”.

One of them picking up that we obviously had a non-Irish accent asked where we were from so I told her. She then asked which area and said she was in NZ last week for Fieldays. We asked her had she enjoyed it “Yes, I love that f..king country” - laughs all round & as she walked away “I loved the men”.

The city centre was crowded with supporters of both teams, the other being Cork, and there was an obvious air of excitement.

After stopping for a Starbucks coffee we continued our walk through and out of town as we were heading for a vegan restaurant in an outer suburb managed by our host’s son.

Found it and had a tasty meal

after which we walked to St Patrick’s Cathedral being the significant Anglican Cathedral in Ireland.

There were many wall plagues honouring various individuals both religious and war heroes but it presented as being “untidy” a bit like a lad’s bedroom. There were areas however which were typical of Cathedrals

and externally it seemed well maintained 

Then it was a walk back into the centre of the city to view the statue of Molly Malone a semi-legendary figure and the subject of Dublin’s unofficial anthem “cockles and mussels” which tells the tragic story of a beautiful working class fishmonger who plied her trade through the streets of the city before dying young from a fever

We then had a stroll through a well frequented park, St Stephens, and then onto Trinity College  effectively the University of Dublin and which was founded in 1592.

From a tourists point of view the main reason to visit the College is to view the Long Room in the Old Library which houses over 30,000 old books with the highlight being the 1200 year old Book of Kells which is an illustrated manuscript of the four books of the New Testament in Latin. Currently there a restoration of the Old Library and the majority of the books have been removed to allow for the restoration and also their own restoration where necessary. Luckily there is an excellent digital show which provides a visualisation of what the library looked like

To top off the day we then had a booking for a meal and show of Irish music and dancing. Both the music and the dancing were excellent well appreciated by the crowd in attendance as was the warm-up musician who had the place rocking.

A bus back to Avoca ended another excellent day

Vibrant City

 Breakfast this morning was enjoyed with Martina, a German couple and an English couple as stories were told of places visited or still to be.

The automatic coffee machine, as I don’t have a degree in making coffee (nor did the other guests) presented a stern challenge even though it’s operation seemed simple but our host, Jack, was all too ready to provide the solution.

Jack provides delicious homemade wheaten bread baked especially for Avoca (the name of the BnB) by his nephew who is a chef.

The BnB is named after Avoca a small town in Wicklow as Jack hails from that part of Ireland.

Avoca BnB

Taking our leave from the table we then strolled into the centre of Dublin, a walk of around 50 minutes and we were immediately struck by the style of housing in the area of the BnB

On our walk into the city we passed an adult store and we were taken with the sign on the door 

Only in Ireland!

We stopped for a coffee on the way and as we sat outside in the sun (yes, at around 22C for the early part of the day you could almost think it was summer) we had a conversation with a young man who was doing similar and he gave his opinion of things worth seeing and also reasonable eating places. As he used to work in hospitality he had a firm view that the pub meals needed to improve.

For the rest of the day we just wandered around the city enjoying the vibrancy of it due in no small part to the numerous pubs and bars all of which had frontages adorned in flowers

We had hoped to visit Dublin Castle but that has temporarily been closed as Ireland from 1 July until 31 December have assumed the Presidency of the Council of the EU and the castle is being used to host EU dignitaries- in fact President Zelenskyy is currently in the city.

We walked the main shopping boulevard, Grafton St, and were entertained by 2 of the 5 members of a band, Keywest, singing some of their original songs, all of which had very poignant lyrics.

Around 3pm, as we walked in the Temple Bar area, there was live music coming from 2 bars which attracted our attention. The first we stood for a while outside the door listening but at the second we ventured inside. The place was packed, the music was loud, the patrons were dancing and singing and quite a few ladies were sporting green 4 leaf glasses.

In a lull in the music Sherry approached one and the conversation went along these lines:

Excuse me, but can you tell me where you got those glasses from?

A moment of silence

Amazon!

Giggles all round but a minute or two later the lady came over and gave both Sherry and me a pair

After we left the pub, ears ringing, we continued on our amble down various streets (Sraid in Gaelic) for another few hours coming across the tallest sculpture in the world, the 120m Spire of Dublin

After dinner in a bar that Sherry had enjoyed when she was here briefly last year we made our way back to Avoca arriving back 9.5hrs after we left this morning.

It was an enjoyable day in a very vibrant city!