An Olympic Sized Holiday

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An Olympic Sized Holiday Traveler
Killarney National Park
August 13, 2024 in Ireland ⋅ 🌬 17 °C
A selection of wizened trees, craggy rocks, Killarney lakes and narrow roads from the national park. Some cars had to learn how to reverse in a hurry.
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An Olympic Sized Holiday Traveler
Dinner at the Arbutus Hotel
August 13, 2024 in Ireland ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C
Our scheduled dinner from tomorrow night, was moved to tonight. I’m happy with that seeing as I skipped lunch!

It was a lovely evening with great food and some fantastic entertainment. We had a family group perform some traditional songs and dances for us, using traditional instruments. It was great. The girls’ feet moved so quickly when performing a reel!Read more
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An Olympic Sized Holiday Traveler
Scotts Hotel
Aug 13–15, 2024 in Ireland ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C
So here we are in Killarney. The town itself looks quite nice. As it turns out, Ireland doesn’t really have many major hotel chains. Instead, each hotel is independently owned. This hotel is quite nice, but the rooms are a bit smaller, with fewer power points. On the upside, because we’re here for more than one night, I can get some washing done!Read more
I can remember the green from when we were there .so bright. [Ray]
8/13/24Reply
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An Olympic Sized Holiday Traveler
Killarney
August 14, 2024 in Ireland ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
I decided to take a stroll this morning as my excursion for the day doesn’t start until 10:20am. Killarney is a nice town either way some interesting buildings and a very healthy nightlife. I know this because there was live music I could hear from my room last night until about midnight and it was only Tuesday!Read more
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Jaunting Cart Ride
August 14, 2024 in Ireland ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
Today’s outing was to Muckross House. Just getting there was half the fun! We took a Jaunting Cart ride through part of town and the National Park.

It was fabulous. We saw deer! Two different kinds. The larger were red deer which are native to the region, and the smaller were Japanese water deer (I think). We also saw a heron catching his breakfast.

The driver gave us lots of funny details about what we were seeing. My favourite was when he pointed out a large tree and told us that it was a beech. He then asked us to look at the smaller tree just behind it and said that it was a “son of a beech”.Read more
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An Olympic Sized Holiday Traveler
Ross Castle
August 14, 2024 in Ireland ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C
Our jaunting cart ride ended at Ross Castle. It’s quite picturesque. From here, we were taking boats across the lake, and they were quite small.
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An Olympic Sized Holiday Traveler
Boat ride!
August 14, 2024 in Ireland ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
The boat ride across the lake was fantastic. I was grateful to have the waterproof jacket Mum lent me, as the wind made things a bit chilly.

We saw some herons and swans as well as a few islands. One of these islands had the ruins of a church and abbey dating back to the ninth century.Read more
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Muckross House - outside and gardens
August 14, 2024 in Ireland ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C
We arrived at Muckross Housebwhich is just stunning. It’s so fortunate that it was donated as it is such a lovely historical site.

I also got to see my first kitty of the trip! Obviously a very important and friendly cat doing welcoming duties.

After touring the house, I came back to look at the grounds and gardens. The rose garden was in full bloom.Read more
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Muckross House - inside
August 14, 2024 in Ireland ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C
Muckross House is amazing. I was speaking to one of the curators and they explained how they were very fortunate that it was donated in the way it was. Many houses are done up to look like what they would have been at the time, but this particular house still contains most of the original furniture!

A couple of “funny” pictures in this set. Instead of “Don’t touch / sit here” signs everywhere, there are pieces of holly in plastic on many surfaces. It’s enough to keep people off with a smile and a laugh.

Also - the toilet picture. The family that owned the house were trying to make it into high society, and did up the whole house so that Queen Victoria would visit (which she did). The toilet is the first flushing porcelain toilet in this part of the world.Read more
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Muckross House - inside - Part 2
August 14, 2024 in Ireland ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
There were so many fully furnished rooms on display, including the boudoir, Queen Victoria’s bedroom and even the kitchens.

The kitchens were much bigger than the ones we have today, but when you need to cook for both family and servants that is understandable.Read more
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Radharc na mBlascaoidi
August 15, 2024 in Ireland ⋅ 🌬 17 °C
Don’t ask me how to pronounce the name of this lookout. We’re just up the road from Dingle, along roads that buses should not be on!

I took a photo of the sign so you can see what it’s supposed to look like, as opposed to the lovely weather we’re having today. I’m surprised I could see anything through my glasses!Read more
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The Blasket Centre
August 15, 2024 in Ireland ⋅ 🌬 17 °C
This was fascinating. The details in our itinerary weren’t very clear. This centre gives the history of the people who lived on the Blasket Islands right up until 1953. Those islands were what I was meant to be seeing from the lookout earlier.

At its peak, the population of the island was about 180 (in the 1920s). Over time, numbers dwindled and in 1953 the islanders were rehoused on the mainland as it had become too dangerous to live on the island.

I cannot imagine living in such a small island, cut off from the world in bad weather. The locals are famous for their writing, as the contributed greatly to Irish literature, that is, in the Irish language.

Fortunately the sea fog lifted a bit. I could get some pictures of what I was meant to see earlier!Read more
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Lunch in Dingle
August 15, 2024 in Ireland ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
Yes, that is the name of the town. Another cute little seaside town with brightly painted shops. Great seafood to be had here!

Dingle also had a dolphin that was regularly spotted hanging around the bay and marina. Unfortunately he hasn’t been spotted for several years now, but there is a statue of Fungie by the visitors centre.Read more
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Adare
August 15, 2024 in Ireland ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
This stop was promoted for its lovely thatched cottages. While there were several, it was a little bit of a let down. I thought the monastery was much more interesting, as were my bird friends! I also managed to get a photo of a huge bumblebee. I like these guys because they can’t sting me.

As a bonus, on our way out of town I was on the right side of the bus to snap a photo of Adare Castle.Read more
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A room with a view
Aug 15–16, 2024 in Ireland ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
So far on this trip I thought I was doing well being on the lower levels of hotels - that way there weren’t many stairs. This time, at Clayton Hotel in Limerick, I’m on the 9th floor. That could be an issue with limited lift space, but just look at the view!Read more
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Knappogue Castle Medieval Banquet
August 15, 2024 in Ireland ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
This was a lovely evening even though I had a terrible seat! I certainly cannot fault the quantity of food. Four courses did not leave us hungry. One couple in our party were nominated as a king and queen and sat in state at the head of the hall.

The food was great. We had a lovely soup, but because this was the Middle Ages, no soup spoons, we drank straight from our bowls.

The entertainment was great fun. Traditional music and dance. Of course our kings and queens had to reign and breaches in the code of chivalry severely punished. My poor Lord Edward, had to sing to spare his head!

Our valet host - Connor - was celebrating his birthday so we sang to him too. All in all, a lot of fun.Read more
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Cliffs of Moher
August 16, 2024 in Ireland ⋅ 🌬 15 °C
I was very worried that there would be sea fog, but there wasn’t! These cliffs are quite spectacular.

Silly me put my foot down wrong on one of the stairs and felt my calf twinge, but I just took it a bit easy after that. This shall be a no injury trip!! When you see warning signs, you pay attention to them.

The visitors centre and exhibition is also very interesting and meant I could get a better selfie than I could take.Read more
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View from Corkscrew Hill
August 16, 2024 in Ireland ⋅ 🌬 15 °C
With a name like Corkscrew Hill, you can imagine what the road is like.

I hope the panoramic photo worked. I’m not very good at those.

The grey hills to the side are called The Burren. They are exposed limestone. Due to the winds off the Atlantic the soil and vegetation never builds up.

The fields below were once barren too. The history of how they became more viable is incredible. Displaced Catholic farmers (due to Oliver Cromwell) had to make a living somehow, so they cleared the rocks by hand and used them to build the fences. Then, to add nutrients and soil, over many generations they carted seaweed from Galway Bay and laid it onto the fields to decompose. The result is what you see now. The backbreaking nature of generations of work to create this is heartbreaking.

The water is Galway Bay.Read more
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Galway
August 16, 2024 in Ireland ⋅ 🌬 17 °C
Galway was a great lunchtime stop. I really could do with a bit more time! I wandered through the Latin Quarter which had lovely shops and restaurants.

I also went to the Galway museum. Very well laid out and lots of interesting history about the architecture as well as the Irish Uprising.

There was also a little craft market. It had some food too, so crêpes for lunch!Read more
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Galway buskers
August 16, 2024 in Ireland ⋅ 🌬 17 °C
Galway had a huge variety of buskers. Lots of musical talent, with a variety of instruments. There was also a guy doing soccer tricks and another with puppets.
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An Olympic Sized Holiday Traveler
Harry’s Bar - Rosses Point
August 16, 2024 in Ireland ⋅ 🌬 16 °C
This was our evening excursion from Sligo. It was a lot of fun. A popular local pub that had been in the same family for six generations.

The entertainment was an older local man who wrote and performed his own songs. He also performed some Irish folk songs and other popular favourites. He had a great sense of humour and certainly kept us laughing!Read more
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Radisson Blu - Sligo
Aug 16–17, 2024 in Ireland ⋅ 🌬 16 °C
Sligo was the home of WB Yeats, an Irish poet that I studied for my HSC. With the lovely surroundings here, I can understand why he’d be inspired.

Our hotel is quite nice, but there is a wedding going on. It’s quite funny to see casually dressed tourists mixed with wedding guests in formal attire in the lobby.

I’ve also added a photo of the church where Yeats is buried that we saw on the way out of town.Read more
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Derry - the Bogside
August 17, 2024 in Northern Ireland ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
Wow. The amount of history I have learned this morning is incredible. Our tour director did an amazing job of setting us up so that we would understand what we saw when we reached Derry. Firstly, in Ireland, all the signs mention “Derry”, but once you cross the border they say “Londonderry”. The flags change from area to area. There is no possible way I can get into the intricacies here, but it was certainly eye opening.

We started by driving through the Bogside of Derry. This is where “Bloody Sunday” happened. There are an incredible amount of murals.

There is also a walled Protestant community right in the predominantly Catholic community. The walls were meant to come down after the Good Friday agreement, but for safety, this didn’t happen.

It is really hard to fathom what life must have been like here during “the Troubles”.Read more
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Derry walls
August 17, 2024 in Northern Ireland ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
Once we stopped, I headed up on to the Derry Walls. The view is incredible.
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The Tower Museum
August 17, 2024 in Northern Ireland ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
It’s quite a rainy day, so I thought a museum might be a good idea. I didn’t have time to see all of it, but the Story of Derry section was fascinating. It went from prehistoric times right into the “Troubles” and modern day. It was great to learn about how the area had changed over time.Read more
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