Well things have turned to a sunny spot...we have found our way to the first of the castles that we are staying it. The drive into the grounds was absolutely lovely (mate). We are now sitting in the lobby after a day of travels from Northern Ireland just to the upper southwest portion. A town called Sligo is where we find our accommodations for the night. The lobby is very decadent with a grand wood staircase and a large fireplace. Just off the lobby are two sitting areas and an ornate dinning area. Our room overlooks the grounds. Mom is reading an Irish newspaper (and she declared "these newspapers are wide"), Dave is working on his email, and Steven is playing with his Blackberry. I can hear the hint of Prince music coming from the dinning area as the workers clean up from tonight's dinner.
Our day of travels started with two hour voyage to the western portion of Ireland. The first stop, Slieve League, the highest cliffs in Europe. To make this trip, you must drive up a winding narrow road that will only allow one car either way. The view is spectacular. Folklore would have if that the rocks at the bottom of the small ball of cliffs are call the Devil's chair and table. Mom learned of this while talking to one of the locals. Steven and I walked up a portion of the trail to take in additional scenes....you will see this as the picture of the day. The locals also informed us that when the clouds were low, they would cover a potion of the cliffs and hikers would get lost. As with anything on this vacation, there is a story here....well we got LOST. The GPS could not even find this place. So we decided to play it safe and ask locals as to the exact location....after the second stop, two old ladies watching a wooden boat being moved down the small road in which we were on informed us...."oh no the cliffs are not this way, you must go to the big white building up the road and make a left....once you get there go up the road and there will be lambs, just open the gate and make your way to the cliffs, but close the gate back so the lambs will not get out." First....when did lambs become landmarks, and how would one tell when a lamb has passed the age and becomes a sheep. Lord knows we would have turned on the road with sheep and not lambs.
After completing our visit to Slieve League, we made out way to Belleek to the Belleek Pottery plant. I must say, handmade means handmade at Belleek. We toured the plant and saw the workers painting the pottery. Each individual flower is handmade (often times requiring a lick from the tongue to get the petals to stick together, no jokes here we witnessed it). Anyone that likes Belleek, the time that it takes to make the ornate pieces is not reflected in their prices as far as I am concerned. It was short of amazing. Of course, we had to walk out with at least a piece of pottery (mom bought one also).
Next we were off to the nightly lodging, as you can imagine from the first paragraph, Markree Castle is well worth a stay.
Oh but here we go, we decided to make one last stop for the night....Carrowkeel Cemetery. This is located about 10km from Sligo and are irish passage tombs located at a top of a mountain. So we drive down narrow road number 554 on this trip and turned on to narrow road number 555, of which the GPS just went blank. We had officially came to the end of the earth and the GPS simply stated "stop because I will have anything else to do with this trip you bloody idiots." Oh no, did we listen, not at all....we simply looked at the sign that stated "the roads to the cemetery are narrow, bumpy, and windy and not to be traversed by coach." We all look at each other, awww we are in a car....it did not say not to be traversed by car....we can make it. So off we go...may I say we have not seen such holes, rocks, and sheep crossings in our life. We attempted to stay on grass, but the sheep just kept getting in front of the car. We made our way over the river rock hills and finally ended about 1km at the foot of the mountain. I cannot describe the effort it took to get to this location. The bottom of the car was dragging, and mom and Dave volunteered to get out and ride on the hood in attempt to redistribute weight. Luck would have it that we all made it in the car. Sad part of the story...Steven and I made out way up the hill to the cemetery....5 minutes to walk up the hill....to come down it 20 minutes....and you ask why....never send two guys (one from New Jersey and one from Nashville) up the hills of Ireland....both will get lost (and we did). It took us 20 minutes to find our way out of a 5 minute walk in...we had to follow a family from India to get the right path back.
Our day of travels started with two hour voyage to the western portion of Ireland. The first stop, Slieve League, the highest cliffs in Europe. To make this trip, you must drive up a winding narrow road that will only allow one car either way. The view is spectacular. Folklore would have if that the rocks at the bottom of the small ball of cliffs are call the Devil's chair and table. Mom learned of this while talking to one of the locals. Steven and I walked up a portion of the trail to take in additional scenes....you will see this as the picture of the day. The locals also informed us that when the clouds were low, they would cover a potion of the cliffs and hikers would get lost. As with anything on this vacation, there is a story here....well we got LOST. The GPS could not even find this place. So we decided to play it safe and ask locals as to the exact location....after the second stop, two old ladies watching a wooden boat being moved down the small road in which we were on informed us...."oh no the cliffs are not this way, you must go to the big white building up the road and make a left....once you get there go up the road and there will be lambs, just open the gate and make your way to the cliffs, but close the gate back so the lambs will not get out." First....when did lambs become landmarks, and how would one tell when a lamb has passed the age and becomes a sheep. Lord knows we would have turned on the road with sheep and not lambs.
After completing our visit to Slieve League, we made out way to Belleek to the Belleek Pottery plant. I must say, handmade means handmade at Belleek. We toured the plant and saw the workers painting the pottery. Each individual flower is handmade (often times requiring a lick from the tongue to get the petals to stick together, no jokes here we witnessed it). Anyone that likes Belleek, the time that it takes to make the ornate pieces is not reflected in their prices as far as I am concerned. It was short of amazing. Of course, we had to walk out with at least a piece of pottery (mom bought one also).
Next we were off to the nightly lodging, as you can imagine from the first paragraph, Markree Castle is well worth a stay.
Oh but here we go, we decided to make one last stop for the night....Carrowkeel Cemetery. This is located about 10km from Sligo and are irish passage tombs located at a top of a mountain. So we drive down narrow road number 554 on this trip and turned on to narrow road number 555, of which the GPS just went blank. We had officially came to the end of the earth and the GPS simply stated "stop because I will have anything else to do with this trip you bloody idiots." Oh no, did we listen, not at all....we simply looked at the sign that stated "the roads to the cemetery are narrow, bumpy, and windy and not to be traversed by coach." We all look at each other, awww we are in a car....it did not say not to be traversed by car....we can make it. So off we go...may I say we have not seen such holes, rocks, and sheep crossings in our life. We attempted to stay on grass, but the sheep just kept getting in front of the car. We made our way over the river rock hills and finally ended about 1km at the foot of the mountain. I cannot describe the effort it took to get to this location. The bottom of the car was dragging, and mom and Dave volunteered to get out and ride on the hood in attempt to redistribute weight. Luck would have it that we all made it in the car. Sad part of the story...Steven and I made out way up the hill to the cemetery....5 minutes to walk up the hill....to come down it 20 minutes....and you ask why....never send two guys (one from New Jersey and one from Nashville) up the hills of Ireland....both will get lost (and we did). It took us 20 minutes to find our way out of a 5 minute walk in...we had to follow a family from India to get the right path back.
It turns out getting lost was the least of our troubles....it seems that on the way in gravity was working on our side....on the way out...gravity appeared to not work on our side. The car kicked, sputtered, and came to multiple abrupt stops as I attempted to make our way back up the hills. Finally we had to roll back down the steep hill and give it a running start...upon reaching the summit of the hill I had to push the gas hard....we are not sure if it was the burning of the motor or the tires that we smelled, all we know is we spun and leaped over the hill throwing gravels. The next puddle served as cooling for the car. - THIS is no joke!
This is turning out the be a great trip, the land is beautiful and we have learned to just take what comes. In the end, it will all work out and we are reminded of the saying from the islands "no worries man" and irish luck is with us.
This is turning out the be a great trip, the land is beautiful and we have learned to just take what comes. In the end, it will all work out and we are reminded of the saying from the islands "no worries man" and irish luck is with us.
I love that lambs are landmarks!!
ReplyDeleteLol, the lambs! "Close the gate!"
ReplyDelete