PLACES
THE PLACES WE'VE BEEN AND THINGS WE'VE SEEN ARE SO MUCH A PART OF OUR JOURNEY THROUGH LIFE WE JUST HAVE TO TALK ABOUT THEM.
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IRELAND: THE STAR WARS CONNECTION
The Ban Cheile* and I were fully charged and ready for our three-day adventure to South West Kerry to see if the Star Wars™ influence had changed the area in any way and also to enjoy a seriously chilled extended weekend break. If you’re a Star Wars fan you’ll know the cast and crew spent some time in and around Kerry while filming scenes for The Force Awakens and returned for the upcoming The Last Jedi. I’m pleased to report that other than an odd, and I mean odd, reference to the brief, but important, Star Wars experience (like a three foot storm trooper challenging an equally diminutive sith lord in the window of a guest house in Portmagee and a few “Skellig Wars” t-shirts featuring green-eyed puffins in Darth Vader gear) the Kerry coast has been…
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IRELAND: VALENTIA – ISLAND AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD
While the Ban Cheile* and I were on our Ring Of Kerry trip last month we based ourselves in the Valentia Royal Hotel on the small island off the Kerry coast. The island is just 11km long and 3km wide with a population of only 665 permanent residents – about the same as a very small neighbourhood in Dublin. Having said that it’s a fascinating place to spend a few days and since we were fortunate enough to have terrific weather it meant we could arm ourselves with our cameras and do the on tourist exploration of the island. Accessible only by a bridge at Portmagee (the small ferry from Reenard on the “mainland” – can you even call a bigger island a mainland? – to Knightstown only runs from April to late autumn). Valentia is steeped in history and…
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VALENTIA ROYAL HOTEL
The Ban Cheile* and I were really looking forward to our three-day stay on Valentia Island (Kerry, Ireland). We jokingly decided we’d go to South West Cork to see if we can follow the Force as it were. All true Star Wars fans know by now that the amazing scene at the end of The Force Awakens, where Luke Skywalker makes his big entrance, was shot on a tiny monastic island off the Kerry coast called Skellig Michael. We decided it was time for us to return to the area to see what the influence of the Force might have had on the place and to treat ourselves to a chill-out long weekend in the process. We arrived early the previous day to our hotel, The Royal Valentia Hotel. We’d stayed there some years earlier when it…
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GALWAY: A WEEKEND TRIP (Part 2)
In Galway: A Weekend Trip (Part 1) I took you through the food and accommodation highlights of our recent weekend trip to Galway. In this instalment, I want to share some photographs of the first leg of our tour of the Wild Atlantic Way. The Lonely Planet™ describes the route as “The ‘Wild Atlantic Way’ driving route neatly packages the abundant attractions of Ireland’s west coast, from West Cork to Donegal. The well-signed, easy-to-navigate route includes 157 ‘Discovery Points’, where drivers can stop and learn more about the must-sees and lesser-known diversions of this fascinating area”. It’s 2500 km of coastline and apparently one of the longest coastal routes in the world. Our plan is to take in chunks of the way over a period of time in a weekend or one-day bites. In truth, we’ve travelled along much of the…
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GALWAY: A WEEKEND TRIP (Part 1)
A couple of weeks ago The Ban Chéile* and I went to Galway for a three-night weekend in the Ardilaun Hotel. We hadn’t been away for a weekend in ages and high on the agenda was a lot of rest, food and booze. It proved to be just the right antidote to the stressful work life we both have and went a long way toward recharging our batteries. The Ardilaun Hotel is 3km from Galway City itself and set right smack in the middle a number of well-established housing estates. Set back in its own grounds it lives up to its 4-star rating. The room was comfortable if a bit dated and the view from our room was out across a small fountain to a well-kept garden. The best feature of the Ardilaun all told was the…
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DUBLIN MADE ME…
Grey brick upon brick, Declamatory bronze On sombre pedestals – O’Connell, Grattan, Moore – And the brewery tugs and the swans On the balustraded stream And the bare bones of a fanlight Over a hungry door And the air soft on the cheek And porter running from the taps With a head of yellow cream And Nelson on his pillar Watching his world collapse. Dublin by Louis MacNeice I’m not really the sort of person who raves about his city or country. Largely because to a certain extent I believe where you’re born is pretty random when you think of all the decisions your parents made that led to the happenstance that dictated where your mother was when you were born. An example would be the fact that my parents planned to emigrate to the UK during…
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CHARLES FORT
How often do you get the chance to have a day out with your Grown Up Children – especially when there are no grandchildren involved? Not too often in our case and so we were delighted when last month, The Ban Chéile* and I teamed up with GUC No. 4 and No. 6 for a trip to Charles Fort near Kinsale in County Cork. It’s less than an hours drive from the country place and we just wanted a couple of hours out in the sunshine doing what tourists do. Charles Fort proved to be a great idea and since we were all armed with cameras (No. 6 is an avid photographer and blogger – paparali.com) it turned into a bit of a “shoot out” with lots of lighthearted photos of both the fantastic fort and the…
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK! (Challenge #6)
New York City, USA is the place I would like to see most of all for a number of good reasons and here they are (in no particular order). I’m a shopaholic and would love to roam through the department stores and shopping thoroughfares of the Big Apple (preferably with someone else’s credit card!). I was raised on TV cop shows based in New York, like Kojak and Cagney & Lacey and now Bluebloods. So I kinda feel I already know the place! The sights to see – Lady Liberty alone would be worth the trip. The bars and the restaurants- pastrami on rye, please. The people – it’s THE melting pot of cultures. no surprise the UN is based there. The fact you can be your ‘authentic’ self there and it wouldn’t even raise an eyebrow.…
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A LITTLE BIT OF HEAVEN
Sure, a little bit o’ Heaven fell from out the sky one day And nestled on the ocean in a spot so far away And when the angels found it sure it looked so sweet and fair They said suppose we leave it for it looks so peaceful there! So they sprinkled it with star dust just to make the shamrocks grow ‘Tis the only place you’ll find them no matter where you go Then they dotted it with silver to make its lakes so grand And when they had it finished sure they called it Ireland! Okay so it’s so sweet and Stage Oirish that it makes your teeth ache but it helps me sum up how I feel about my home country. The weather changes with the flick of a celestial switch (four seasons in…
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LE CHATEAU…DEJAVU?
Having just recently returned from France I had a stop-in-your-tracks-and-do-a-double-take moment last Saturday when strolling through Cork city. I looked up and spotted a bar called Le Chateau. My tiny mind took a minute or two to register the coincidence and make the dislocation disappear. Le Chateau had a plaque outside proudly proclaiming it was established in 1793 (34 years after the invention of Guinness) which must make it one of the oldest public houses in Cork, if not the whole of Ireland? The exterior is quaint and indeed reminiscent of a french tavern but inside the pub had more in common with Dr Who’s Tardis, it was much bigger than you would expect and went quite far back. I hadn’t the time or inclination to sample any of the enticing beverages on sale but the customers…
