Howth and Malahide

Today we decided to spend some time on the eastern coastline of Ireland at the fishing village of Howth and the coastal town of Malahide. We took DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) which is like the subway in New York but not underground. We walked to the station, bought daily passes which allowed us to take the train to whatever stations we wished, and return when we were through.




Howth:

This was a quaint little village with some truly picturesque scenery. There were fishing and lobster boats in the harbor as well as many sail boats. As we walked along the dock we saw markets selling seafood directly off the boats and we got a bowl of seafood chowder (with salmon and cod instead of clams). I thought the last picture was interesting as it showed the remnants of an old building with modern architecture on all sides of it.





Malahide:

This coastal village is the home of Malahide Castle. As we walked through the grounds it seemed like we were in an enchanted forest. The path through the trees was heavily shaded with ivy growing on the ground and up into the trees. Where there were not trees large expanses of grass covered rolling hills. The castle was built around 1190 and was used by descendants of the original family until 1975, almost 800 continuous years! We also walked down the main street to a white sand beach on the Irish Sea.




We arrived back to our hotel just in time to get ready for the Edward Jones Farewell Dinner with Irish dancing for entertainment. It was "good fun"!

Happy Anniversary!

Happy Seventh Anniversary
Sherry and Bryon

A card is on the way : )

The Same But Different

While traveling through Ireland we have discovered many things are almost the same as they are in the United States. The "almost" in that sentence is the key. For example . . .

Stores and Restaurants:

There are many, many stores and restaurants in Ireland that are unique to its culture and country. However every once and a while we came along one that made us think of home. This is a picture of H & M which we have at the Galleria at Tyler. We also saw a Claire's, Famous Footwear, Gamestop, McDonalds, Burger King, Subway, and Pizza Hut.


Road Signs:

There are many road signs in Ireland with icons that mean different things. What made them unique is that the words on the signs are written in Gaelic as well as English. While English is the first language for most of the counties in Ireland, Gaelic is spoken by almost everyone and is included on their street signs.


License Plates:

The cars in Ireland are required to have license plates like we do in the US, but they are not composed of random numbers and letters. The first numbers indicate the year the car was first bought (2003), the letter(s) is the county code where the car was first purchased (Dublin), and the last set of numbers is the car identification number.


Car Insurance:

In the United States we assume that everyone else on the road has the required amount of automobile insurance, but in Ireland proof of insurance is required to be visible at all times. Every car we saw had a plastic pouch displayed on its lower left hand side front window (not the side in front of the driver because the driver sits on the right hand side in Ireland) with insurance information inside.


Toilets:

You kind of assume that a toilet is a toilet and that they all work the same. Well, that is not necessarily true. If you look closely at the picture you will see that the handle on the right hand side is flat and much bigger that the toilets we have at home. That is because one light push on the handle is not enough. In fact, often you have to push the handle several times to get the toilet to flush here in Ireland. It works better if you use the palm of you hand, thus the big handle.


Front Doors:

Of course all the houses (actually there are more apartments or flats in the city) have front doors, but what is different than the front doors in the US is that they are very colorful. It is not unusual to walk down a block and see a blue door, a red door, an orange door, a yellow door, and every color in between. The flats may be in the same building with the same exterior but the doors were all different colors.


Pedestrian Signals:

In Dublin there are crosswalks and pedestrian signals at the corners of all busy streets. Somehow I still managed to walk out into the street, thinking I was perfectly safe, only to jump back after being narrowly missed by a speeding car! At least until I realized that there were words written on the street that helped me . . . “LOOK LEFT” or “LOOK RIGHT”. I guess I had automatically looked the way the traffic flows in the US before crossing which did no good because the traffic flows in the opposite direction in Ireland. Now I just look down, and then look to the right or left as directed by the writing on the street, and then safely cross the street.

Street Names:

In California a street will almost always run through an entire city, or maybe more than one city, without its name being changed. That is not the case in Dublin. If you look at the map below you will see that Suffolk Street becomes Nassau Street, which then becomes Leinster Street, which then becomes Clare Street, which then becomes North Merrian Square, which then becomes Mount Street Lower . . . It can be a mass of confusion for those trying to get around town!

Renting Bicycles:

In many cities it is possible to rent a bicycle. You go to a shop, sign a release form, pay the fee, and the bicycle is yours for a certain amount of time. In Ireland it is different. You go to an automated machine and “subscribe” to be a long hire card holder or 3 day ticket holder, or a 24 hour user. The machine releases the magnetic hold on the bike at a certain numbered stall next to the machine and you have 60 seconds to take it. You then return it in the specified amount of time. It was pretty cool!

"In Dublin's Fair City"

As you can tell by the title of this blog we have left the countryside of Ireland and traveled to the capitol city of Dublin. As we walked the streets last night after dinner we could have been in any big city in the world. There was graffiti, litter, crowds of people bustling around, etc. Quite a change from the quite town of Adare! We were able to see a couple of the highlights of Dublin with our Edward Jones group on the way to our Hotel.

Nancy Hands Pub:


We were served traditional scones, along with all the tea and coffee we wanted. (Allyn and I had Seven Up and Fanta Orange!) The scones were more like a biscuit with raisins in it instead of the deep fried bread sprinkled with sugar I have had before. Good, but not what I was expecting.

Trinity College:

Trinity College in Dublin was founded in 1592 and is one of the oldest universities in Western Europe. They have a variety of disciplines including the Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, Engineering, Science, and Health Sciences. Our guide told us that if you are accepted you pay an acceptance fee of approximately $3000 and then the rest of your educational costs are covered. What a bargin! The buildings were magnificient, there was a bell tower, (like the BYU one but a different style) and lots of cobblestone.





We were able to see the Book of Kells, a copy of the Gospels from the New Testaments, completed by monks in the 800's. There were three books on display . . . a large one they would use only for ceremonial reading, and two smaller ones ("pocket sized") that would be used for everyday reading. There were beautiful pictures in each of the books depicting scenes from the gospels. It is interesting to think that this was one of the early steps that led to the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the latter-days.


St. Patrick's Cathedral:

Built in honour of Ireland’s patron saint, Saint Patrick’s Cathedral stands adjacent to the famous well where tradition has it Saint Patrick baptized converts on his visit to Dublin. The parish church of Saint Patrick on this site was granted collegiate status in 1191, and raised to cathedral status in 1224. The present building dates from 1220. The Cathedral is today the National Cathedral of the Church of Ireland. Inside the cathedral it was very dark, like many cathedrals from that time period in Europe, though there were some beautiful stained glass windows and carvings on the walls.






This was the baptistry. The "bowl" on the right would hold the water which was sprinkled on the head of the one being baptized.


While there was some interesting and beautiful architecture, artwork, and historical significance in the cathedral, for us the spirit was lacking. It was just a building, not a place where the Spirit of the Lord was present.

Flora, Foliage, and History

History:

We have seen many great examples of flora, fauna, and history as we have walked some of the 848 acres surrounding the Adare Manor Estate. Allyn and I both love history and are intrigued by anything to do with it. Today we saw the remains of a small cottage and a large castle, both made of stone. We were able to walk into the cottage and it was approximately 300 square feet. There were two rooms, one in the front and one in the back, with a large fireplace in the center of the cottage separating the two rooms. I assume that the front room was used for cooking and eating as the fireplace opened towards it, and the back room was the bedroom. I would love to have a conversation with the stones that remain and find out about the lives of those who lived there.

The Cottage from the front: (I loved the two round windows at the top!)


The cottage from the side: (The chimney is still standing in the middle of the structure.)


The castle on the other had was very large. We were not able to get too close because there was a field of tall grass and a river separating us from it, but it was evident there were many rooms in the sprawling structure. It also was made of stone and much was still standing.



Foliage:

There were some magnificent trees on the property. One of the most interesting, possibly a weeping willow, was very tall with huge branches that went out and then fell back to the ground, making almost a tent-like structure. It was so large that over a hundred people could gather comfortably under its branches. There were several of these trees in a row and a path you could follow under them which provided total and complete shade. This was a perfect place for moss, ivy, and other kinds of vegetation to grow.



Flora:

It has become a hobby of mine to take pictures of flowers when we go on trips and Ireland has provided me with a variety of beautiful subjects. I love to see a speck of bright color on a otherwise plain background, as well as a profusion of colors that dominate an area. Here is a sampling of my favorites.