Country Estates, Castles, City Streets, but No Queen

We made plans to leave Belfast early in the morning but truly did not get to spend enough time in this city.  You hear so little about the IRA and the conflicts in Northern Ireland anymore, everywhere there are reminders of a small country in a big state of unrest.

Graffiti like this was all over the city, a reminder of a part of the world's history that would be fascinating to spend some time discovering.....but that will be another trip and another story.

We pulled onto a ferry taking us to Scotland just after seven, and a after a smooth ride, a great breakfast and several games of battle between Alexa and I, we arrived in Scotland.  We knew we wouldn't have a lot of time to explore everything we wanted in Scotland, but took the opportunity to spend some time in the gorgeous country side.  Everything is so lush and green, the people friendly and of course, there were plenty of castles to spot along the way.  

It was a long but wonderful day on the road.  We started telling Alexa stories that would make the sights we were to see in London come alive a bit more and she grew more and more excited about the days ahead. We also played games like pictionary and charades!!!  Yes! In the car.  We laughed and giggled and sang......basically drove Rick crazy, which was a special treat for me!

 We had booked our London hotel through Priceline and actually were a bit worried,  Though highly rated, it seemed awfully cheap by London standards.  It was a little south of the city center, but that was going to work well for our plans.....and when we arrived, we were in for quite a surprise!  The Selsdon Golf Resort and Spa is an old manor estate built in the 1700s....and it might as well have been a castle to this group of Texans.  The  golf course was built in 1920 and the fact that the rooms hadn't been remodeled (other than really nice bedding) didn't bother us at all.  It was a gorgeous spot...and the surprises just kept on coming when the first morning we discovered that full breakfast was included in the price....and it was delicious!

Sometimes, we just seem too lucky for it to be fair!

After our breakfast yesterday, we headed out on our first day of only two in London.  We've found that the best way to get an overview of London for first time visitors is to do a double decker bus excursion.  That way they get a little taste of a lot that the city has to offer and can make plans to see what really interests them on their next trip.  Since this was both Rick and Alexa's first time in the city, that's exactly what we did.

Alexa especially loved the Tower, the crown jewels and Buckingham Palace, of course.....but was amazingly attentive to almost everything we saw and did.

As fascinated as she was with the changing of the guards, it really struck me this time as well.  The guards just seemed so young, and the fact that, more than just guards, these were young men in military service, was just hard to grasp.  Just look at these two faces!

The funny thing, the one on the left, cutting his eyes, just couldn't keep his attention off a group that were just inside his periphery.  It was a group of cute young girls, and his distraction with them just further illustrated that this was just a typical young man, with big boots to fill.

After exploring all day,  we had tickets to see Charlie and the Chocolate factory in the theatre district last night.  Alexa loved her first taste of theatre when we were in NYC earlier this summer and so We credited the fact that she was with us as our reason for fitting in a show....but the fact was we all enjoyed it. It seems like theatre just never fails to exceed all expectations! And a historic London theatre....even better!

After a long day that included a train ride, a ride in  a real London taxi, off and on several double decker buses, and a boat ride on the Thames, we were all tired.  But not too tired to spend a little extra time taking the "tube" back to our train station.  By the time we got to our hotel after midnight, none of us needed any encouragement to go to bed.

Today started just as early....and we planned just two stops, but both were going to take some time.

Our first stop was Hampton Court.  I had been telling Alexa stories about Henry VIII and his 6 wives, and seeing where they lived was exciting to her.  They do such a great job there of bringing this historical castle to life....we even got royal robes to wear over our clothes!  Rick opted out of that activity.....guess the royal purple robe clashed with his black windsuit....but that was okay, we three girls loved wearing our robes through the 15th century halls.  

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I even got a special "prohibited" photo of Alexa and Mom saying a prayer in the Chapel at Hampton Court.  It was well worth the stern look I got from the Chapel docent!

After we left, Alexa wanted to know again the names and fates of Henry's 6 wives.  I was lucky Cait had taught me a little rhyme about them, "Divorced, beheaded died:  Divorced, beheaded, survived" which helps me keep them straight.  Funny, but I think she especially liked hearing about Ann of Cleves, who I like to suppose only kept her head because she was a good card player!  We each add our own spin to history I guess!

After Hampton, we headed to Windsor to see if we might catch the Queen there for a cup of tea. Unfortunately she was off in Balmoral....I guess no one let her know we were coming.  We did the castle tour, Alexa taking special note of where Henry VIII is buried there.  She loved that despite his orders to be buried in a large ornate crypt guarded by a stone stallion, he is actually buried in a previously unmarked (and now marked only by an understated brass plate) grave under the floor of the chapel.  Goes to show if you want to be loved after you are dead, you better be nice before you die!  Probably didn't help that he had so mistreated the mothers of his two daughters who got to make decisions about his burial.

Compare that to some of the other crypts in St. Geoge's Chapel and you just might be a little nicer to your children AND to their "other" parent!

As a special treat for Mom, we planned our day to end with the Evensong Service in the Chapel at Windsor.  The chapel was beautiful lit up for the service.  It was surreal to be in that centuries old place, surrounded by all of the history and history makers inside those walls, listening to the angelic voices of the Chapel Choir and to do so, sitting beside my Mom.  It was planned as a treat for her, but I found myself lost in prayerful gratitude for another opportunity to experience the wonders of the world with people I love.

After dropping Mom and Rick at the hotel, Alexa and I had one more errand to run.  We were off in search of "strumpets".  Which means something entirely different to the rest of the world, but to Alexa it is synonymous with crumpets!  As much as I know I should correct her....it is just too stinking cute for her to talk about her love of strumpets, so for now, they will be strumpets to us. Happily, we found them....10 packages of them...for her to take home, freeze and take out now and then to remind her of our trip to Ireland and the UK.  Maybe she'll even share some with me when I'm around and we can remember together.

Tomorrow we head home.....we are ready, we are tired, we are nearly completely sated.  But we will plan another trip soon.  There is too much of a big wonderful world out there not to grab every chance to see and explore.  

Gift of Blarney, Luck of the Irish, Wily Leprechauns and Wonders of Nature

Well, just as planned we were off early this morning.  Our night ran so late last night at Dublin Castle that we didn't have a chance to build our Leprechaun trap as we had planned, so in addition to our planned activities, we now had to get the rest of our supplies for our trap.

Alexa has been looking for leprechauns since we arrived in Ireland.  We haven't seen any....not even one!  She was thinking maybe they didn't exist, but then we did some research on the internet.  The sites I found for her to check out explain that Leprechauns are wily, clever creatures.  They are very difficult to spot......the only real hope you have to see one is to catch one in a trap.  And if you are lucky enough to catch one, well, then they will grant you three wishes if you will let them go.  The website cautions you to be very careful about your wishes, because those tricky little fellows will get you to make wishes that end up getting you into trouble instead of making you happy.  Luckily there are directions online about how to build a trap......so our first stop this morning was to get trap making supplies!

We ended up in the little town of Terenure, looking for a store that might sell some of the stuff we needed........and not only did we find a great little dry goods store, but the town itself was out of a "Visit Ireland" guidebook.  The people were lovely and there was a beautiful church that we stopped and explored.  All of the parish priests were buried in the small graveyard at the  church, and on their headstone was their birthdate, date of death, and number of years in service to the parish.  One of the priests, who died in 1846 at the age of 96, had served the church for 82 years!  Amazing!  Alexa and I had a great time checking out that little cemetery.

Back on the road after our stop, we wind our way down the to the southern most part of Ireland, just south of Cork, to the Blarney Castle, to kiss the Blarney Stone.  Legend says that anyone who kisses the Blarney stone will be given the gift of gab........can't imagine any of the three of us needing that, but what the heck!  

The castle was built in the 1500s....and is no longer a working castle, but simply a landmark.  To get to the magic stone, you have to walk just about a mile, along a pathway lined with trees dressed in "leg warmers".

We never could find out why they were all covered with these "sweaters", but it was interesting.

When we got to the castle, we explored the dungeon a bit before heading up the 40 meters to the bottom floor of the old castle.  Arriving there we followed the signs to the Blarney Stone and soon found that the only way up was a narrow stone circular staircase, a staircase that had been there for 500+ years.  It was damp and slippery and so narrow there was no rail, just a big rope in the middle to grab hold of in order to try to stay balanced!

111 steps to the top of the castle...each one seemingly more slippery than the last....but Mom made it and I didn't fall down....quite the accomplishment.  Relieved when we got to the top, until we saw that we had to walk around to the other side of castle on a 2 ft walkway.....courtyard 200 feet below on  inside and exterior wall and 250ish feet to the ground on the outside!

But we made it....and we....ALL THREE OF US....laid flat on our backs, trusted the handsome young man working for tips to hold onto us, scooted out over the edge of the walkway, leaned our heads back and kissed that old dirty rock!

Mom was nice enough to take my camera and photograph me while I was kissing the stone.  Too bad that kissing the stone didn't give the "gift of timing" because then Mom might have actually gotten me kissing the stone!

Regardless, it was a great afternoon.  Worth every minute of the drive and every step to the top!

We headed north, planning to go through Waterford and look at buying some pieces before we returned to Dublin.   We just had to stop and get some fuel before we got there.

Any of you who have followed my blog before, know I had some trouble with the whole gas/diesel issue in France.  So we double checked what went into the car.....yep....diesel.  Saw a small station that sold "gazole", Irish for diesel.  Pulled in and the two pumps both had only one handle on each side.  Both on my side were green.  Diesel...right?   Just to be sure, I checked to see if the nozzle would fit without any rigging like I had to do in France.  Yep..fit just fine.  So I filled up and we were on the way again!

About 10 miles down the road the car started sputtering.  Then it died.  Started it back up, drove about 30 feet....dead again!  OMG...could I have really done such a dumb thing again?  Yes....not only could I ...but I did.  Luckily we were near a small little store.  I went in and embarrassed by my stupidity,  ask for some help.  The two men in the store came to check and be sure that I had actually put in gas and not diesel.  They both sniffed of the tank....and agreed....yep...this woman is dumb!!!!

About that time, a friend of theirs came up on a big tractor.  He checked out just how dumb the American woman was as well.  They were so friendly and helpful though...even though they must have had a good laugh at me.  Mom and Alexa both needed to go to the restroom, so they allowed them to go into the house attached to the store.  They then had the tractor guy call a mechanic in the nearest town....who drove out, drained the gas out of the car....and gave us some diesel to go on our way!  The only good thing about the situation were the four new friends we met...charming and gracious and funny.  No one can have enough friends like that, no matter the circumstance of their meeting!

By the time we got back on the road, we didn't have time to shop in Waterford, but we did drive along the beautiful coastline there and enjoyed every minute of....feeling lucky to not be stranded on the road somewhere with no one to help us.

We didn't get back to the hotel until almost 10...and we still had a Leprechaun trap to build and set!  

We headed to bed, finally, with big hopes of catching us a little buddy before we left the next morning.  We, of course, planned on practicing the catch and release style of leprechaun hunting!

Well, up early to get ready to head to Northern Ireland, Alexa and I went out to check out our trap.

Some little wily leprechauns had torn up our trap, spread the fake gold we had used as bait all over the ground, and lefta us a snippy little note about not being tricky enough to catch a leprechaun!  They did, however, leave Alexa a cute little stuffed leprechaun.  We tried to follow there footprints that they left after walking through the glitter we had put out.....followed them to holes in some nearby trees.....but just couldn't find us a leprechaun.  Probably for the best, we had heard that after you catch one, they will grant you three wishes to let them go....but you have to be VERY careful because they are tricky about how they grant wishes.  No telling what we would have ended up with!

Today we drove to Northern Ireland.  Before going to Belfast, we drove all the way to the very northern tip of the island, to a place called Giant's Causeway.  WOW!  This is one of the most amazing rock formations I've ever seen.  They are almost all perfect hexagon shaped columns that rise up out of the surf and the coast line.  It was cold and windy and magical.  We had to walk over a mile to get down to the formations, and then did some climbing to get on top of them....but it was so worth it.  We had an amazing day exploring the natural wonder.

We are now in Belfast.....near the port.  There are tributes to the IRA everywhere as we are evidently in the middle of where most of the conflict happened decades ago.  More about this on the next post after I have a chance to get out and explore.

I can't close this post out without a quick note about Mom, especially since I was just talking about natural wonders!  The past two days are just perfect examples of what kind of traveler she is.  Scared to death of heights...... she climbed the steep stairs and inched her way around the top of the Blarney Castle.  Once up there, she was not about to miss out on the opportunity to do a thing, so she laid down, leaned back and kissed that danged rock!  And EVERYONE knows she doesn't even NEED the gift of gab!  She never even raised an eyebrow about me putting gas into the diesel engine....just fell right in, making the best of the situation, even though she really wanted to go to the Waterford Crystal Store.  Today, cold natured and again, afraid of heights....she climbed up to the top of the formations at Giants Causeway.  Kept us with us step for step!  All at 79 years young!  I still, more than ever, want to be her when I grow up!  She is the best travel buddy in the world!

And now....she is snoozing away....so if I want to keep up with her tomorrow, I better get some sleep myself!

Palaces, Parties and Lots of Interesting People!

Well, the little brother has had to go to work here now, so we three "girls" have been on our own for most of the past couple of days.  We haven't let his absence slow us down one bit.

Yesterday we were off to Kilkenny to visit the medieval village and Castle.  This was a tour provided by the company Rick works for so while we don't usually do the organized "tour" thing, we decided to give it a whirl.  It worked out just fine because they provided us private docents for the castle tour, bought us a wonderful lunch in an old restaurant there, gave us plenty of time for exploring on our own AND did all the driving.  What was there not to like?

Kilkenny was about an hour's drive from Dublin, through the most gorgeous green countryside.  They say there are 40 shades of green in an Irish landscape....and I definitely believe it.  The weather is cool, there is plenty of water, and everything seems lush and vibrant.

They wouldn't let us take photos inside the castle, but it was meticulously refurbished in the manner in which it was done when it was occupied by the Butler Family, Earls of Ormond, in the 1600s to the early 1900s.  The town was given the castle in trust after the Butlers moved (to Chicago of all things) and now it is the town's primary source of income.

The town itself is just as interesting to visit as the Castle.  We had a great time walking the narrow cobblestone streets, checking out antique shops and vendors, and even watching a triathlon that seemed oddly out of place in this little village.

If you look real close about a third of the way down the photo, you can see the  triathletes  in the river.  Now it was about 55 standing in the sun....and the water was not only cold, it was also the color of a cup of strong coffee.  These were dedicated athletes!

We were seated at lunch with a great older couple from Miami, by way of Venezuela, who had wonderful stories of travel and life, which always make a meal more interesting.  Also making the trip interesting was someone we met on the bus.  I happened to be eavesdropping on a conversation behind us (I know, say it isn't so!) and heard a woman say she lived in a small town outside of Fort Worth. I turned and told her that we lived in Granbury.  She said she lived in Granbuy.  I then said we actually lived in Acton, just north of Granbury...........which is actually where she lives!  So, we live in the same small town of 1200 or so and she lives just behind the church to which we belong, and we meet in Dublin!  To even make it funnier, her husband is Mom's physical therapist! The world is a strange and small place.

Alexa had seen some street performers earlier in the trip, and had obviously been thinking about their "money hat" as she called it.  Well, she decided that busking seemed like a good way to pick up some loose change.....and for a kid that checks under every soda machine and in every checkout lane for dropped money, loose change is obviously a big deal.  Despite the fact that she didn't have a "money hat" of her own, she asked if she could practice "at busking", and if it seemed like people liked her then maybe she could get a hat and do it someplace for real.  (I love how this kid thinks!)  So,  while Mom was in a shop looking for a Christmas ornament, Alexa stood on the corner of the street and started singing.  I'm posting two videos of  her....you can tell by the difference in the response from the first to the second that as she grew more confident and moved away from the shadow of the building, the crowd loved her!   I guess we will be looking for a "money hat".  We just won't tell her daddy!

After all that sightseeing and busking we were fairly exhausted, so for dinner we walked to a small farm to table restaurant near the hotel and ended the day with a great little farm fresh, dinner.   We saw Rick for the first time at about 11 that night....which was okay because after all, he is "just the little brother".


Today, we got an early start because we knew it was going to be a long day.  Mom, Alexa and I headed out to explore more of Dublin.  We visited the Guiness brewery,  Christ Church, the Irish Parliament House, Trinity College and of course did more than our fare share of shopping.

We also saw more statues than we will ever remember, but the one fact we will retain is illustrated perfectly in this photo.

No matter how important you are, someday you are going to get pooped on!

We called it a day fairly early because we had a big night ahead of us.  Rick's company, HTNB was hosting a grand dinner in the Dublin Castle.  It was a formal affair and we had preparations to do!  The transformation from casual tourist to royal guest was especially fun for us because of Alexa.  I got to do her nails, put her hair up in a fancy bun, and even applied a tiny bit of makeup.

We arrived at the Castle by coach, everyone in their finest.  The castle was closed to the public and there were, again, private docents to show us through the rooms.  The main ballroom, St. Patrick's Hall, was kept closed off, but we had passed champagne, cocktails and hors d'oeurves as we moved from the bedrooms to the throne room to the state room to the gallery.  Alexa was definitely the hit of the night!  By far the youngest guest, she behaved with such poise and grace, meeting the adults with confidence and a sweet smile.  She was every bit the princess she appeared to be.  When they opened the doors to the ballroom so that we could move into there for dinner, it was breathtaking.  Dinner was amazing, albeit very grown up.  Alexa held her own.  She even tried a bite of the sashimi salmon and the crab tartar....but she much preferred the medium rare filet they served as the main course!

And now I have to write something that is extremely difficult for me.  As I watched my "little brother" in his professional element tonight, I was struck by just what kind of man he is.  He was so obviously respected, he was confident, he was impressive in his handling of both colleagues and clients.  Perhaps most impressive to me was that as I watched how his professional life had grown, I knew that he had never allowed his career to let him lose sight of what was really important.  He has raised that 8 year old to be a respectful, insightful, intelligent, kind human.  I was so proud of him.  So proud he is my brother.  So proud he is my friend.  But, like the story about Alexa busking, we won't share this with him.  Lets just let him go on believing he's just the "little brother" to me.

The marvelous night ended with a surprise performance by some traditional Irish dancers.  Actually it was such a surprise that Mom and I had both commented on how rude it seemed that the staff was clearing some of the tables before the guests had gotten up.   They were taking away the floral arrangements and even the linens!  It seemed incredibly pushy, especially for an event that had been so perfect all night.  Well, to our surprise, the empty table became the stage for a dance presentation that had everyone clapping and smiling and ended the night on just the right note! 

Tomorrow we are off to County Cork to kiss the Blarney stone!  Can't wait!