"Tonight's Gonna Be Mental"

We've heard from a number of Galwayans that tonight's Sharon Shannon concert was the biggest concert of the whole race weekend. Everyone, young and old, were excited that she was playing the free concert, and most were planning to attend.

While walking the Saturday market today, Bill and I purchased some Green Dragon t-shirts (Ireland's racing yacht is called the Green Dragon). The young man who sold us the shirts chatted us up a bit and said he was also going to the show, and that "Tonight's gonna be mental!"

So Bill & I got there about an hour early and watched the tail end of the opening act (which was really good, traditional stuff). We were pretty darned close to the action, and there were thousands who were there to see the show. We got a few short videos of the action, but they're too big to add at this time (We're currently at an Internet Cafe on Inis Mor). So, here's a photo of the concert. I'll try to post the short video once I get home. 

It was pretty darned crowded, so we made it to "Unstable" but left before the night went all the way to "crazytown"!

Cheesemongers are Your Friends

Everywhere we go, Jennifer and I seem to run into great cheesemongers. It started in Carmel, when she and I went in for some picnic cheese and got some great advice and had some fun tastings. We asked if they ever hosted cheese tastings like wine cellars will host wine tastings, and the response was, with a huge grin, "Every day! What would you like to try?". In Bath, we hopped into a cheesemongerie and received a 40-minute tutorial about English cheeses while on our honeymoon. Today at Galway's Saturday market, we had a great experience yet again. We asked for a "travelling cheese" to go with us tomorrow to Inishmore Island. He had us taste two - a white cheddar and some goat cheese. Being suckers, we now have both (yum!). Quite friendly, he also helped direct us to a couple of places in town.
I suppose if your passion is moldy old milk, having someone interested and willing to listen is treat enough to keep you happy and engaged. Anyway, here's a big shout-out to the cheesemongers - thanks for helping us keep it cheesy!

Red Darts over Galway

This morning we walked to Galway's "Saturday Market," which is basically a farmer's market near town square. Along the walk we heard loud jets, looked up, and lo & behold, the Red Darts were flying in formation. Had we been down a few blocks at the waterfront, we could have seen the whole show, but the crowds walking that way kept us on our path to the Saturday Market. We were happy to see them zip by from time to time when they did their high-flying maneuvers. 

We learned that Galway has approximately 60,000 residents. Every year they have 3 festivals, each of which brings in an additional 65,000 tourists for the weekend. Galway campaigned hard for the Volvo Ocean Race to take place here, and once Volvo awarded Galway the spot for their event, the city spent almost two years getting ready.  They are expecting around 200,000 tourists to be in town this weekend. All B&Bs, hotels, etc. are booked solid. And here we are, gaping at our luck. It's just about as amazing as Surprise Miniature Golf!!

Connemara Bus to the Hooker Bar

Bill was surprised to find out that in County Galway, a "hooker" is a 3-sailed fishing boat. 

Connemara Flowers

On our bus tour to the Connemara, Ireland's lake district, we saw quite an array of Spring flowers. 

On the coral beach:

Along the roadside (it was warm, but windy!):

And at Kylemore Abbey - which was really more a manor house back in the day. Today Kylemore Abbey is a live-in school, Facts-of-Life style. However, I can only see Blair here, not Jo Polnecheck! Here are a few of the flowers from their formal gardens:

And a view of the scenery, Kylemore Abbey (at the end of the short video). You can also get a pretty good sense of the wind:

Conemara Scenery

Conemara is a scenic region on the western coast of Ireland, near the Aran Islands. Water runoff due to mountain rainfall descends to low-lying coastal plains, creating vast areas of bog. Welcome to the land of peat. This area is super-green, very rocky in areas, and gorgeous. We took a bus tour through Conemara on a gorgeous sunny day (hot! yuck!) and got some nice photos.
This is a coral beach on a brackish conjoining of stream with ocean. We didn't see any living coral, but the tide was low and the rockpools were full of interesting life.
This is one of the streams that feed the bogs. It's hard to tell, but the water is brown with sediment from the bog. According to our guide, the locals' bathwater comes out of the taps this way. They attribute the same healing properties to this water that people assign to hot springs and such. Gorgeous whether brown or not:
And a peat trench with a pile of peat:
Back when peat was their only source of heat, a family would have to cut 5 tons per year in order to heat their homes and cook their food. My back hurts just thinking about it.

Irish Famine Houses Shed Positive Light on Modern Egalitarianism

So back in the U.S. the Irish Potato Famine is well known and understood - that's when a flood of Irishmen abandoned their home country and came looking for a better life, bringing their colorful culture and hard work ethic with them. But as Americans we only learn about their hardships as immigrants, not what they faced prior to leaving Ireland.
Today, Jennifer and I got a glimpse into those aspects - "famine huts" are relics of that era, when indentured workers and their families rented tiny parcels on which to live and farm potatoes, eking out a meager living barely above subsistence level. Whole families (think lots of kids) lived in single-room or, if really lucky, double-room stone cottages with thatched roofs. When the blight struck, there were no potatoes, no money, and thus no rent. Oh yeah, and no food, either. Eviction ensued quickly in all cases. And to ensure that these evildoers didn't squat on the property, agents of the landlord burned the roofs off. The Irish have retained these relics of past troubles, and they stand as bleak reminders today.
Compare this behavior to what is going on today; in the face of a global economic failure centered on housing, we have banks negotiating with lenders, the Government intervening, and nobody is bulldozing perfectly good houses, regardless of their drop in value. While things are not perfect today and many are suffering seriously, I haven't heard stories of anybody's house being burned down around them. I also haven't heard of people being forced aboard "coffin ships" and sent to the New World, which only resented their arrival and abused their desperation.

So, we while we do not have a perfect society, I think it has shown signs of improvement.

Volvo Ocean Race Festivities

Galway has been quite a surprise. As I mentioned in my last blog post, we've arrived for the Volvo Ocean Race, Galway's biggest weekend of the year. This may not even be a yearly event, we'll have to ask around tomorrow. After a short nap to recoup from our accidental hike, we struck out to see the evening's free events down at the harbor. The harbor was closed for all of the foot traffic, and it was crowded, but you could easily get from tent to tent & booth to booth to see what people were selling (food, crafts, boating gear). 

The racing vessels were on display in the harbor, and the previous legs' winning yacht was hoisted up in celebration. 

I don't know much about yacht racing, but it does look cool. Everyone here seems to be rooting for "The Green Dragon" - Ireland's yacht. 

My big excitement for the evening was seeing the free Hothouse Flowers concert. I only have a few CDs from them, but I recognized most of the songs they sang. Their first song was "I Can See Clearly Now", a song I used to play a lot back in my college days. Lots of fun, good music, and a great atmosphere!

Hello! My Name is Jennifer & I give poor directions. Prepare to walk!

We arrived today after a long drive (that included a ferry boat ride!) from Dingle to Galway. After checking into our B&B, we walked the 5 minutes (down a twisty road) to the city centre. After purchasing bus tour tickets for Connemara district tomorrow, we walked back to our B&B. Well, as you can guess, I thought we needed to go left when we should have gone straight. Needless to say, 55 minutes (and one meltdown - mine) later, we arrived at our B&B. I should never override Bill's sense of direction. The man's an Eagle Scout, for crying out loud!! :) 

On the bright side, we fell ass-backward into staying two blocks away from the "Volvo Ocean Race" this weekend. Which includes yacht races, Great Britain's version of the Blue Angels, and best of all, daily & nightly free concerts. Tonight - Hothouse Flowers on the center stage!   

Dingle Coast Scenery

Jennifer is quite enamored with the construction of ancient homes on the Dingle Peninsula.  While I had a lot to say and study about the forts and huts, I'm also quite impressed by the scenery.  As any real estate agent would tell you, it's all about location, location, location! The Dingle Peninsula reminds me a lot of Big Sur, except with sufficient water to keep everything green. Exceptionally green. The locals say they don't see the sun much, so there's a tradeoff to be had; being from the Monterey Peninsula, this is a tradeoff we already understand all too well.

I caught Jen during a greenery-inspired spritual moment...

Beehive Huts Rule!

Today was spent driving the 30-mile Dingle Peninsula loop, known here as Slean Head. It is an absolutely beautiful drive, filled with seascapes, mountain vistas (covered in fog), and lots & lots & lots of greenery.  There were also fort ruins and ancient homes to explore. The fort & homes we saw today date back to 800 AD - and the homes were of the most wicked design - Beehive huts! Round on the outside, square on the inside. Once you were inside, the wind was completely blocked out (no mortar, either, thank you very much!) and even Bill could stand up inside. Here are a few of our favorite Beehive Hut pictures. Enjoy! 

Above is outside, and below is Bill & I inside our new home - we're never coming back, 'cause Beehive Huts rule!! :) 

(The tiny little hole is a bit much for Bill to crawl through, but I think he'll get used to it in time...)

Driving to Dingle

 

As you can see from the video, the roads are beautiful, but small. 

As you you see from the photo, they are also sometimes scary! And both of these roads are two-lane roads that trucks (big trucks too, not just like the little lorrie in the picture!) drive as well. 

Twisty Viking Towns

Jennifer and I were first introduced to the concept of Viking-originated versus Roman-originated towns in York, England. York was occupied by both the Vikings and the Romans for significant parts of its founding history.   What we were taught (by Rachel - Hi Rachel!) is that Roman roads are straight.  Really straight.  Must've been good for the chariots or something, but they made straight, sturdy roads that facilitated transport of goods and troops by land.  The Vikings, however, apparently only made roads in towns.  They liked twisty little corridors with corners that facilitated disorganized brawls and guerilla combat.  The rest of the time I guess they were aboard ship or plundering nearby villages.  Probably villages with twisty little roads that were hard to defend.  Go figure.

So, this brings us to the Irish town Kinsale.  For the past few days we've been driving across the country passing through numerous villages and towns.  Most, like Kinsale, have a fairly chaotic layout that is actually really charming.  A few main streets (and sometimes ways, closes, slips, and alleys) are filled with brightly-painted storefronts.  The larger the town, the greater the chaos.  It's really a lot of fun.  

But, you can get lost easily (as a naive American tourist, anyway).  For example, consider the map below. From our Bed and Breakfast, Jen was advised that the grocery store was "just down the street, take a right then a left, and then it's right there". If you follow those directions as we did (below), you will arrive at an intersection with 23 twisty little streets along the 500 feet in between yourself and the grocer.  Oh, and you don't know where the grocer actually is, so good luck with that.  It's one of those cute little storefronts - possibly painted red.  

Although we had to dodge a couple of large metal chariots that really really do not fit on these streets (apparently the Romans had that part right), I'm just glad I wasn't impaled by some burly Nordic dude wearing horns on his helmet.

Grand Mal Curry

Had I been in Mexico, I would have known better.  Given the reputation curries have, I should have known better.  Now, the lesson has been taught and learned in full.  I will use my best Mexico-tourist-spanish for this one:  "Curry de carne es muy malo!"  

So I basically lost a day, but Jen's keeping my spirits up.  She was even nice to me when I locked the keys in the car, necessitating a 1.5 hour hunt for an "engineer" who happily pried open the door with a screwdriver and rammed a coathanger in to pull the lock open for a mere 30 euro.  I have had better days.

Tip Top Tipperary

(This post was written yesterday, but our B&B's wifi in Kinsale wasn't so great. Thankfully, I'm able to post it today.)

We drove to County Tipperary to see the Rock of Cashel (Castle Rock). The site has been a fortress for as long as we know, but the existing buildings were built between 1200-1400. The cathedral and outbuildings sit high atop the tall rock outcrop, with views far & wide. During the tour, I learned that St. Patrick canonized the first High King of England in the still-standing (barely) cathedral. During the ceremony, St. Patrick injured the new High King's foot with his staff - but the new High King thought it was part of the ceremony and didn't make a fuss. He was probably thinking "This religion is pretty wacky; but if it's what I gotta do to be High King, I guess it's what I gotta do!" 

It turned pretty grey & wet this afternoon. So we're now ensconced in our B&B in Kinsale, County Cork, and will likely have a mellow afternoon/evening. We've been going pretty strong for almost a week now, and a quiet evening sounds pretty darned good!  

Ballykissangel

Today, Bill and I were exited to find the small hamlet, Avoca, used in the filming of the Irish BBC series, Ballykissangel. For any of you who have watched this show, you will recognize Fitzgerald's Pub, the Garda station, and BallyK's river bridge, where everyone went when they needed to think. If you haven't seen the series, the first three seasons are really fun. For the last three seasons, they almost "jump the shark" on many occasions, but seem to barely steer clear of complete disaster. 

And on a side note, it's 10:23 and it's just now dusk. This whole sun-going-down-super-late thing is hard to get used to!

Beef Curry

Tonight Jen and I are basing our posts on BBC shows seen in the U.S.   Me, I've picked Red Dwarf.  If there's any one food that Dave Lister would be proud to be served in Ireland (or anyplace with a breathable atmosphere), it would be a curry.

Tonight I had a nice beef curry at an excellent Irish pub/restaurant.  I've had curries at pubs in America, and they're good.  I've had curries in the English midlands, and they're great. Now I can also say that I've had an Irish curry, and I have to say I'm quite pleased.  Firstly, about the choice of meat: beef. A rare choice for a curry so far as I know, but a well-made and balanced selection here.  The beef was quite distinct - a bit like tenderized and marinated skirt steak like you'd find on a Texan fajita, but retaining more of the dark beef character.  Set against a backdrop of sweet onion, red and yellow bell pepper, and zucchini, this curry was fresh and crisp, with a healthy spice and great texture. This one was at Langton's in Kilkenny.

With a nice poppadom and pint of Smithwicks to accompany it, this was a pleasant find (Smithwicks is brewed in Kilkenny, by the way - so don't blast us for not drinking Guinness!).  To be honest, I wish we had more time here in Kilkenny rather than just the one night - it looks like a great town with a lot of charm.  The twisty Viking streets (Roman roads are straight; Vikings like lots of curves) are colorfully populated with shops, pubs, and random historical attractions.  Below we show shots of a couple shops across the river and of Kilkenny Cathedral. 

Anyway, now we know that Ireland is also a great spot for a curry!

Historical Dublin

In the past two days, Bill & I toured various sites, including (but not limited to):

Kilmainham Goal (Ireland's historic Jail), 

Trinity College & their Book of Kells (photo of Trinity College, no photos allowed of the Book of Kells),

and Dublin Castle.  

We have learned a lot about Ireland's troubled past, and feel that although the Irish (at least those we've met) are proud of their country & heritage, under the surface their feelings of "the troubles" still seem very raw. 

Sounds from Dublin

Every night, the ChristChurch Cathedral bells play their Evensong at 6:00PM. For 45 minutes. 

Tonight we attended the Traditional Irish Music Pub Crawl. Which was very entertaining, educational, and a lot of fun. Tomorrow we hope to get "locked in" to a music session!

A lot of good music has been heard today. Unfortunately, the pub downstairs is currently hosting drunken karaoke. So we'll probably be up for a while, listening to more bad renditions of Cyndi Lauper's Girls Just Wanna Have Fun or Meatloaf's Paradise by the Dashboard Lights. Sigh...

The Guinness Report: Phase 2

The Guinness Storehouse: the mecca of stout aficionados.  Inside, we were treated to a history of the brewery, lessons in the science of beermaking, and most importantly, to the beverage itself - straight out of the vats and into a pint glass.  There can be no argument that this is the freshest and most authentic version of the brew possible.  After all, we're not aging this in oak, or waiting for complex tannins to settle.  It's pretty much ready when it goes into the cask/bottle/can.

Important lessons about those bottles and cans were taught inside: these hi-tech containers are specifically designed to preserve the flavor of Guinness for worldwide transport.  Formerly, they had a separate beverage - the Foreign Extra Stout - that had a higher hops and alcohol content to make up for the loss of character during transport.  Not so anymore!!  All that said, there's really only one test that matters.

What I have learned is this: just as with the finest Reuben sandwich on the Monterey Peninsula, the best Guinness to be had is the pint you pull yourself, which they teach you on the fourth floor:

So, wherever home is, whether Ireland or otherwise, I suppose the lesson is that Guinness is universal.

The Guinness Report: Phase 1

We hear it at home in the U.S. - "the Guinness tastes better in Ireland".  Why is never explained. Perhaps it's the age of the beverage after shipping.  Perhaps ionizing radiation damages the goods while in airborne transit across the Atlantic.  Or perhaps the export just isn't as good as the proper Irish domestic brew.  All I know is that I was told to expect improvement.

So, we prepared.  Over the last three weeks, Jen and I managed to sample four types of Guinness offered in the U.S. - pint draught at a local neighborhood pub, pint cans with the nitrogen fizzer, 12 oz bottles with the nitrogen fizzer, and the extra-stout (not strictly the same) 12 oz bottles sans fizzer.  Being practiced wine connoisseurs, we applied our normal regime of appearance, nose, and taste metrics, with taste being complicated by the factors of tannic imprint, mouthfeel, flavor origin, and overall happy factor.  Those of you who know us will understand this.

So, with that basis, we have now sampled Guinni from two Irish pubs in Dublin.  Our early report is this: it tastes just like at home.  We think it has a more velvety mouthfeel, but it's pretty much exactly like the Guinness we have come to know and love at home.  Perhaps we're committing blasphemy with this statement, so let it be said now: we intend to conduct further study.

Our review of the fine Guinness product will likely continue tomorrow, at the Guinness brewery here in Dublin.  Stay tuned...

First Night in Dublin

 The "Traditional Irish Music Pub Crawl" was sold out, but that didn't stop us from having a few pints & listening to some live music. It was basically Seamus Kennedy (Monterey's mildy hokey itinerant Irish bard), but we're in Dublin, so it was okay. 

Ireland, Here We Are!

Our day's adventure took us on the Irish Ferry from Holyhead, Wales to Dublin, Ireland. The deck of the ferry was very windy, but I just had to get a picture of me with Ireland's Wicklow Mountains in the background. After a crazy, 45-minute walk through downtown Dublin with all our luggage in tow, and nary a clue as to where we were, we found our hotel. The last picture is of Christchurch Cathedral from our hotel room. Not a bad view. Tonight - live music in a pub! 

Baby Lambs!

The train ride from London to Wales was mostly dominated by fields of grazing sheep. And baby lambs, which are cuter, probably even more delicious (I hope to find out soon), and just as friendly. 

Oh, and for the record, when you are trapped on a plane for 10 hours, Paul Blart: Mall Cop is tolerable. Otherwise, don't bother. But I do have to admit, it made me laugh out loud on a few occasions. Oh, the horror.

Tomorrow - to Ireland!

Houston, we're in Euston

After the 10-hour flight from SFO, we dashed through London by tube and train, stopping longest in front of this sign for a quick photo.  A four hour train ride got us to Holyhead in Wales.  We now sit in a McDonalds, the only place in town from which we can scam free WiFi.  So far, the only other thing to report is that sadly, a pub that hosts "Sky Sports on Multiple Screens" does not mean either skydiving or paragliding - it's satellite football (soccer).  Imagine my disappointment.

To the Emerald Isle!

Tomorrow morning, Jen and I head out to Ireland. Jennifer has always wanted to go, and is brimming over with excitement. Me, well, I figure any island on which I can get a great wool sweater and drink a few pints is a fine place to go. The weather should be just like home this time of year (cold and grey randomly intermixed with nice and gorgeous). Since I moved to Monterey nine years ago (YIKES!), I just can't take the heat anymore. So Ireland should be perfect.

This is Us

Here we are together, with me sporting my typical 3-o'clock shadow. I really should have gotten my Mom to take this shot, but it probably wouldn't have been as fun.

This is Jennifer

So this is Jennifer from my point of view. Larger than life, she's a goddess-made-human with a huge heart and plenty of love and laughter to fill it with. I'm lucky she puts up with me, and grateful that she does.