Sara Withrow | FindPenguins

Ireland Voyageur
Daly's
24 juillet 2023, Irlande ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F
0 j’aime
Ireland Voyageur
St. George's Market Belfast
23 juillet 2023, Irlande du Nord ⋅ ⛅ 57 °F
We walked down to this cute market. It's open 3 days a week and changes theme each day. After walking around, we went up to the bar and had a drink.
Then we braved the blustery weather to head to our hotel.
Cheers!En savoir plus
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VoyageurCute market. I think we missed the fresh vegetables day before. Fun experience.
29/07/2023RépondreTraduire
2 j’aime
Ireland Voyageur
Titanic Belfast
23 juillet 2023, Irlande du Nord ⋅ ☁️ 59 °F
We went to the Titanic Museum to see where the giant ship was built. It was so informative!
Tip: if you go, skip the upstairs and go past the cable car thingy, then head downstairs to where they talk about the lives lost, then all the way down to where Captain Ballard is talked about. His story of seeking out the wreak of the Titanic is really amazing. And at the end we stood over glass and experienced the wreak from the eye of the camera. Highly recommend!En savoir plus
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VoyageurThank you for sharing.
24/07/2023RépondreTraduire
VoyageurPretty sad.
24/07/2023RépondreTraduire
VoyageurHard times. Interesting speaking to our taxi driver, this was another political time while building this ship. Success of getting hired on the docks was mostly a matter of catholic verses protestant. Also very horrible dangerous work conditions. Sad all around from build to end.
29/07/2023RépondreTraduire
2 j’aime
Ireland Voyageur
Victoria Square
23 juillet 2023, Irlande du Nord ⋅ 🌧 57 °F
On the way from St. George's Market to our hotel, it started pouring. We stopped into the Victoria Square shopping center to try to wait it out. We went up to the dome to look at the city, then stopped and had a drink.
Cheers!En savoir plus
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VoyageurCider looks refreshing!
24/07/2023RépondreTraduire
VoyageurCheers.
24/07/2023RépondreTraduire
VoyageurWe saw mist of the city land marks from here. Not necessarily seeing them but they had pictures of them and what they were. If the weather was clearer we could have spotted them. Glad we went up!
29/07/2023RépondreTraduire
2 j’aime
Ireland Voyageur
The Merchant Hotel
23 juillet 2023, Irlande du Nord ⋅ 🌧 55 °F
Wow! We lived like Kings and Queens here! A beautiful hotel. When we checked in, we instantly felt out of place. When we went to the bar to get a drink on our way to our rooms, and we definitely looked like poor people. Lol!
The beds were so comfy, and the blackout blinds worked really well!
Our room was haunted. The first night the motion light went on for no reason!
I have ran these two ragged. We were knackered. So night one, we walked to the store, got some liquor and snacks and went back to our rooms. After jammies, we met in our room to play games, order room service and drink.
We canceled our black cab tour for the next day because no one wanted to sit in a car for 3 hours.
The room service was to die for! Yum! Cory even ate the truffle Mac n' cheese!
We played dice and 31, then off to bed.
We all slept in, which felt devine. We went to breakfast, and this was one of those places where they put your napkin in your lap for you.
After our Titanic trip, we came back to the hotel to enjoy the roof top hot tub and sauna. Lovely! Just what we needed!
We ordered Uber Eats for dinner and went to bed at 8! So lame! Hahaha! So we really saw nothing of Belfast.
We slept in again, had breakfast, and Red picked us up for our last night in Ireland.En savoir plus
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VoyageurSounds divine.
24/07/2023RépondreTraduire
VoyageurThis hotel was fancy! We came in the wrong door looking like wet dogs off the street 😄 oh well, we head straight to the bar for a drink to take up. My room was awesome. Taking it easy here was fun. We made the most of this beautiful hotel. The rooftop hot tub was just what we needed. No way could we have enjoyed a 3 hour taxi ride around the city for history. Great food, fun and company!
29/07/2023RépondreTraduire
2 j’aime
Ireland Voyageur
Free Derry Walking Tour
22 juillet 2023, Irlande du Nord ⋅ 🌧 59 °F
Red took us on a very somber tour of The Troubles and Bloody Sunday.
Red was 17 during Bloody Sunday and was in the March. But he and his friends heard the gunfire and got out.
The stories he shared and the history learned was impactful for us all. I was teary-eyed.
The biggest takeaway is this:
The Troubles were not about religion. It's many, many years of British oppression, compiled with the Easter Rising in 1916, then the Partition in 1922, topped with the poor treatment of Catholics. Basically the Catholics and Protestants (the lower class were treated just as horrible as all the Catholics) got together and started a civil movement for equal rights in 1969. Things like jobs and housing to be equal and fair for all. If you were Catholic or a low class Protestant, you had slum housing and no job, or maybe you had a job, but you were paid at a lower rate. These poor conditions were the straws that broke the camel's back. There was so much more than religion involved.
Don't talk about Margaret Thatcher in Northern Ireland. They despise her. She claimed there was no war during the Troubles. Why did the British government send army tanks in and armed men? Lots to unpack.
There is peace now. But the Brexit issue has definitely caused some flare-up.En savoir plus
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VoyageurSo much sadness.
22/07/2023RépondreTraduire
VoyageurThis was very sad. Good awareness of history. I don't recall most of it. So sad. Especially with Reds commentary. He lived it, it was very emotional.
29/07/2023RépondreTraduire
2 j’aime
Ireland Voyageur
Ballintoy Harbour
22 juillet 2023, Irlande du Nord ⋅ 🌧 61 °F
Another adorable beach! And another Game of Thrones filming site!
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VoyageurAgain felt The Game of Thorne atmosphere for sure. I really wanted a cone!
29/07/2023RépondreTraduire
3 j’aime
Ireland Voyageur
Giants Causeway
22 juillet 2023, Irlande du Nord ⋅ 🌧 61 °F
This was a stop I was really looking forward to. I thought Cory would LOVE it.
The weather was not on our side.
A huge swale came in.
We walked down through the pouring sideways rain and wind. We overcame slippery rocks. Most importantly, we only waited for 4 busses to go back up.
It was like January rain. I was very grateful for my Vessi shoes as my feet stayed 100% dry. But my choice of denim...nope. Even mom's rain pants did not hold up. It was still very majestic. Such unique formations! That's why it's a UNESCO site!En savoir plus
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VoyageurQuite the adventure! Those rock formations look hand-placed.
22/07/2023RépondreTraduire
VoyageurPouring rain, pouring! But we walked down in the wind through the people walking back up. We can say we saw it. Sara and Cory took an extra step out on the rocks. I would have but a woman in front of us fell hard on her knee and hands. It was all she could do to hold her tears in from her children. Tough lady. It was fun standing in line waiting for the bus back up talking to other tourist from around the world. Most of us disappointed in the weather but grateful to see such an amazing landmark.
29/07/2023RépondreTraduire
2 j’aime
Ireland Voyageur
Bushmills
22 juillet 2023, Irlande du Nord ⋅ 🌧 63 °F
We didn't book a tour. But we decided to stop anyway. Cory had the premium flight. Mom and I had a whiskey cosmo....it was soooo tasty!
Cory said the 12 year aged was his favorite!
We were going to buy some as gifts. But the rules for traveling were too much. Sorry!En savoir plus
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VoyageurThanks for sharing the recipe!
22/07/2023RépondreTraduire
VoyageurDelicious martinis. This was the only place I bought a suvineer. I bought Ron a bottle of the 12 whiskey. It was a hassle for the rest of trip. Tried to send hone via post but illegal 🚫 so I had to check my bag. Ron appreciated it but not enough to crack that bottle open yet 😀
29/07/2023RépondreTraduire
2 j’aime
Ireland Voyageur
Dunlace Castle
22 juillet 2023, Irlande du Nord ⋅ 🌧 63 °F
Guess what! A castle ruin! Yay!
This was so pretty. If I were to invade a country, I would for sure build my castle on the coast.
Mom had a great question. All these floors are cobble stone. How did the soldiers run to defend?
Well....
They wore sandals.
And the cobblestones we walked on, while original, have been rearranged to be EASIER to walk on. They knew all the rough places and it helped with defense if there was a siege. But most conflict was handled in a specific field to keep the civilians safe.En savoir plus
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VoyageurI wonder what these castles looked like in their glory days
22/07/2023RépondreTraduire
VoyageurThis was a pretty cool castle/township. Views were amazing. They would definitely had seen any ships coming towards them. Still unsure about the cobblestones and fighting. I guess I watch to many movies.
29/07/2023RépondreTraduire
2 j’aime
Ireland Voyageur
1
Downhill Strand
22 juillet 2023, Irlande du Nord ⋅ 🌧 63 °F
A beautiful beach....so we were told. Just kidding! It's really pretty even in the rain.
Remember when I said that the Bishop built his woman a library in Ballintoy? I lied. It was here.
Oh! Some of Game of Thrones was filmed here.En savoir plus
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Voyageur Really pretty spot. Definitely Game of Throne feeling.
29/07/2023RépondreTraduire
2 j’aime
Ireland Voyageur
Bishop's View
22 juillet 2023, Irlande du Nord ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F
A super cool guy back in the long time ago liked a beautiful young woman. It took like 3 days for him to visit her because of the distance, traveling over water and mountains. So, being from a wealthy family like many bishop's were, he built the first bridge in Derry. He proceeded to build a road to her. We stopped at Bishop's View, and while I don't recall the significance, I assume this was where he might have started to regret his life choices.
Anywho...he ends up building her a huge house AND a LIBRARY on the coast. It's not at this stop. It's at Ballintoy, which is still very far away,which is why I assume he is regretting his choice .
Also on my way up (no one else wanted to go), a lady was walking down and said "I was told the view is beautiful " and I laughed and said apparently not today.En savoir plus
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VoyageurFoggy. Great views “on a clear day…”
22/07/2023RépondreTraduire
VoyageurYes, again I said no to walk up 😒 It was pretty from my view. Loved the story of the guy who loved women and attempted to please them all. 3 day travel to visit one of them was quite a commitment. PS - I'm sure Cory can build you a very nice library out near the shop!
29/07/2023RépondreTraduire
2 j’aime
Ireland Voyageur
Derry City Wall
22 juillet 2023, Irlande du Nord ⋅ ☁️ 59 °F
Mom and I got up and walked the Derry Wall. Pretty cool. It's about a mile around, and served the purpose of protecting the city in the 1600's. It served the purpose of keeping the Catholics out in the 1900's.En savoir plus
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VoyageurBeautiful old buildings. Very interesting history.
22/07/2023RépondreTraduire
VoyageurI really enjoyed this walk on the wall with my daughter and a coffee 💜
29/07/2023RépondreTraduire
2 j’aime
Ireland Voyageur
Bishop's Gate Hotel
22 juillet 2023, Irlande du Nord ⋅ ☁️ 59 °F
A cute apartment right in the heart of Derry! I think we all agree that 2 nights would have been ideal.
Fun fact: The hotel used to be a "Gentleman's Club" and Red, our driver, used to go swing on the door as a kid and the bouncer guy would bop them upside the head. When the hotel bought the crumbling building, they kept the revolving door!En savoir plus
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VoyageurOne of my favorite stays. 2 nights would have been great!! Very nice.
29/07/2023RépondreTraduire
2 j’aime
Ireland Voyageur
Pyke n' Pommes
21 juillet 2023, Irlande du Nord ⋅ 🌧 59 °F
Our driver, Deirdre, recommended this restaurant, and we all agree that it was one of the best meals!
We each had a burger and fries. The burgers were Waygu beef, and the fries were nice and crispy.
It was a short, 10 minute walk from our hotel. However, Derry is built on a hill. The walk back was a bit more challenging.
We wanted to stop at a cute pub on the way back, but it was too crowded. Dang it!En savoir plus
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VoyageurOMG ~ this burger was amazing. Had mine with cheese, bacon and jalapeños, delicious! Oh, and a beer😃
29/07/2023RépondreTraduire
2 j’aime
Ireland Voyageur
Donegal Castle
21 juillet 2023, Irlande ⋅ 🌧 59 °F
We stopped in Donegal City in the torrential downpour. It was cute to see all the people huddled under awnings. Silly.
We stopped at a pub where we were the only Americans. It smelled of dirty rags, and they used 2 colors of balls on the pool table. Yellow and red. Not even numbered. One of the workers was in lowrise sweatpants and a crop top. I thought she was a bum. But no, she worked there.
After the drink, we went over to Donegal Castle, an OPW site.
This castle was so cool! One of our favorites!!
On our way back to the carpark, we ran into a music store so I could get a gift for someone. That someone is my brother, who took my 15 year old out on his motorcycle, even though myself and Cory have expressly forbade him to do so. The gift is for his daughter. It's an Irish tin whistle and a book for her to learn how to play all the tunes.
The rain was fun. We laughed about how much it was raining. Laughed and laughed.En savoir plus
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VoyageurIt was pouring and pouring but not too cold. The castle was amazing. I enjoyed it much more that the Dublin castle. They didn't cram it full of old crap. You really got a good feeling of what it would have been like. The pub was quirky for sure but as usual the beers were amazing 🙃 while walking down the streets you really had to watch for huge umbrellas that people had. Funny, a rain coat and hood was fine.
29/07/2023RépondreTraduire
2 j’aime
Ireland Voyageur
Glencar Waterfall
21 juillet 2023, Irlande ⋅ 🌧 57 °F
It is so cute how proud Ireland is of their tiny waterfalls.
We, well myself, enjoyed a very quick stroll to this waterfall in the pouring rain.
Then we went to the tea shop for a sandwich. It was raining even harder when we were done. I can imagine how fecking gorgeous this area is in the sun! Or even in just overcast skies.En savoir plus
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VoyageurYeah, I nanny sissy poo posed this waterfall walk. The part I did complete was pretty. Sara was very disappointed in us for not completing the walk. Rainy and cold today just couldn't 😒
29/07/2023RépondreTraduire
2 j’aime
Ireland Voyageur
Knock Shrine
21 juillet 2023, Irlande ⋅ ☁️ 59 °F
We stopped at Knock Shrine, which is really an important site to Catholics. I'll tell ye a story:
A long time ago, 15 farmers saw an image of Mother Mary and a lamb, and something else...oh! angels!...on a wall. Some priests came and interviewed these randos and confirmed it must have happened. A Shrine was built.
Catholics would make pilgrimages each year to see this Shrine. Then, in the 70's, the Pope came.
The monument that was built claims the visit from the Pope was the second most important thing to happen to the Irish. The first...the coming of St. Patrick in the early 600's. So, as you can see, we had to be on our best behavior here.
I even dipped my savage finger in the Holy water before I did the sign of the cross.
I have lived to tell this tale. So, maybe this is a place of miracles?En savoir plus
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VoyageurI didn't feel it here.
29/07/2023RépondreTraduire
2 j’aime
Ireland Voyageur
Cong Abbey
21 juillet 2023, Irlande ⋅ 🌧 59 °F
We got to see some of the areas where The Quiet Man was filmed! Such a cute town. I love the quote on the plaque. One of the pictures shows the fishing pole from where the priest was fishing when the big fight broke out.
We also drove the grounds of Ashford Castle. Oh my! I wish we could have stayed there. But at $2500 per room, per night....not possible.En savoir plus
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VoyageurNope, no need to stay there. All of our stay locations have been unique. I would have felt under dressed at the castle. The Quiet man dedications are neat. I've got the movie in my que to watch again.
29/07/2023RépondreTraduire
2 j’aime
Ireland Voyageur
Galway City #3
20 juillet 2023, Irlande ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F
VoyageurFun!
29/07/2023Répondre
2 j’aime
Ireland Voyageur
Galway #2
20 juillet 2023, Irlande ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F
VoyageurLove the flowers, pretty buildings. The “chips” look so yummy! I would have picked the crispy onions
22/07/2023RépondreTraduire
VoyageurKings head was fun!
29/07/2023RépondreTraduire
2 j’aime
Ireland Voyageur
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Galway Cookery Class
20 juillet 2023, Irlande ⋅ ☁️ 59 °F
*Original*
I thought this would be so cool! Learning to make Irish Stew and soda bread.
We had to take a taxi to this woman's house. It was about 30 minutes.
We got there, and what I thought was a private cooking class turned out to be shared with another group.
Ok. I'll go with it.
The lady, Kate, was kind of a nut case. She reminded me of a cliché Sprite (supernatural entity in European mythology) in human form. She was tiny, kind of bucked toothish, and just flighty. I had a vision of a little sprite with wings just flying all around, slapping us on the hands if we did something wrong. Lol.
She did get a bit upset at one of the ladies for putting the carrots in the wrong pot.
No clear direction. Nothing laid out. She didn't instruct, instead she plopped things in front of you and walked away. It was chaotic.
The good things:
1. She had us pick potatoes and herbs from the garden
2. The stew was good
3. Cory had a great time

Cory had a blast cooking the meat and wearing an apron. He enjoys being in the kitchen and talking to the ladies.

Our stew was good. We didn't get to eat our bread, instead brought 3 loaves home. It will be our evening snack tonight.

Our cab driver was so kind. He waited in town for us and took us back to Galway. Our conversations were great.
Tonight I had booked dinner and a show at Bunratty Castle. At the time, I had planned on us having our own car. Due to transportation issues (not having our own car and not wanting to ride 2 or more hours on a bus) we will be hanging around in Galway. No refunds on the tickets, so I transferred the credit to our first driver, Vera. Her and her kids will have a blast!
It all looked good on paper, but just didn't make sense now. Oh well. You win some and loose some.

*UPDATE*
The bread was so fecking gross! All 3 loaves. They tasted like wallpaper. We carried those around like they were the baby Jesus. We went and bought pads of butter, excitedly talking amongst ourselves about the delish loaves of bread we had awaiting us at home.
The bread now resides in the the garbage. I literally ate a pad of butter to remove the taste of the bread from my mouth. We have tossed the recipes. How did this woman win awards?En savoir plus
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Voyageur Don’t eat that! Poo poo. Ml
20/07/2023RépondreTraduire
Voyageur That looks … good (?).
20/07/2023RépondreTraduire
VoyageurEven with the long taxi ride and the crazy Sprite with a very unorganized class setup, the experience was fun! The lamb stew was pretty darn good. Fresh veggies from her garden were amazing. The bread that we so carefully took back in taxi and carried around like baby Jesus until we got back to our room was Poo Poo indeed 😄 Sorry to have missed the dinner, but you can't get everything perfect. Next time!
29/07/2023RépondreTraduire
2 j’aime
Ireland Voyageur
Galway #1
19 juillet 2023, Irlande ⋅ ⛅ 66 °F
Galway is a fun city, full of art, food and music. We walked all around and listened to music playing on the streets. We did a free walking tour, which was a bust. I had a Butler's Chocolate hot cocoa, and it was the best in my life. We people watched. We had a late second dinner one night and had the best fried rice and yakisoba noodles ever. We had the worst dumplings of our life on the last night at a little Asian restaurant right by the Spanish Arch. So gross, yet we were so hungry that we forced ourselves to eat them.
Full of fun, Galway is a great city!
I will do a couple posts of pictures.En savoir plus
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VoyageurNo poopoo head!
22/07/2023RépondreTraduire
VoyageurThis was a fun city! We had a yummy pink martini. The street music was fun. If I was 20 years younger it could have been dangerous 🍻🥂🍹🍸🍾 The blonde women in the video looked like my mom. Weird, we all have a twin.
29/07/2023RépondreTraduire
2 j’aime
Ireland Voyageur
Mutton Light Flamine Memorial
19 juillet 2023, Irlande ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F
A part of the Famine Walk. It is very moving. Such a sad time.
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VoyageurVery sad
19/07/2023RépondreTraduire
VoyageurI missed this walk. But the placards state so much sadness.
29/07/2023RépondreTraduire
2 j’aime
Ireland Voyageur
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Salthill
19 juillet 2023, Irlande ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F
We took a taxi to the promenade. We went to the casinos. We had linner. We walked the beach and watched all the Irish taking their evening swim. Mom met a friend on the beach while Cory and I walked. Her new friend felt very comfortable with his body. Actually, it is apparent that American's are just kind of prudish about the naked body.
Truly, the water was warm enough to swim. Mind the jellies.En savoir plus
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VoyageurLooks so relaxing and beautiful.
19/07/2023RépondreTraduire
Voyageur ❤️
20/07/2023RépondreTraduire
VoyageurI really enjoyed Salt Hill Promenade. The restaurants, pubs and people. I did experience meeting a nice Irish man who had just come out of ocean from his daily swim. While talking, he continued to remove his swimsuit, dry off and dress. All I could do was to continue to talk 😀 Sara is right, Americans are a bit prude with naked bodies. After he was dressed, I spotted a jelly fish. He told me about the seasons of them and how thier stings are not too bad if they get you while swimming.
29/07/2023RépondreTraduire
2 j’aime
Ireland Voyageur
Laughter Loft
19 juillet 2023, Irlande ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F
We saw a comedy show here today. It was...ok. That's all I'm gonna say about that.
Also, there were cameras in the bathroom. Not in the stalls, but still. Weird.
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VoyageurThe pub was super neat. The beers were great. The comedy was ok. Fun afternoon!
29/07/2023RépondreTraduire
2 j’aime

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