Vantastic Voyage

Our sea voyage from Cherbourg, France to Rosslare, Ireland was 18 hours and we opted not to pay for designated seats or a cabin. Nearly everyone on the ship has one of the aforementioned accommodations, and this freed up some space in the bar and restaurant which were the only places we could stay, other than outside on the deck. We were prepared with sleeping bags, a precooked meal in tupperware and even a bottle of wine. We lucked out and nabbed a couch that would later turn into two so we didn’t have to sleep on the floor. It was far more luxurious sleeping accommodations than we had expected. Ireland has already overwhelmed us with open arms and genuine kindness from its people. We have met a host of interesting characters in our 10 days thus far. The villages, towns and even Ireland’s second largest city of Cork has provided encounters with friendly strangers giving it a small town feel. Though I’m convinced I inherited the gift of gab from my southern mother, we kissed the Blarney Stone to better prepare for our future encounters with the talkative Irish.Speaking of luxury, we did discuss and realize that although we are not being waited on by any staff, our views and locations we are stay at from time to time are arguably better than what you could get in a hotel, even when that hotel is 100 yards behind you. That being said, a nice bathroom and hot shower on demand is something we appreciate more with time. Thus far, travel in Ireland has been quite nice and finding a spot to sleep for the night has not yet been an issue. There seems to be plenty of amazing coastline to sleep by and we are forecasting more of the same in the coming weeks. We have met a handful of Irish who are traveling about in campers as well and they have squashed any concerns we previously may have had. The country has had some concerns with squatters and “travelers” as they refer to them, which I believe they mean gypsies. Thus far we have pulled into many nice places that have metal structures limiting access to vehicles below 2 meters in height. Though this restricts us entry and really most anyone with a camper style van, there have been places just outside or nearby with space to stay and neighbors doing the same.

We have discovered that nearly all the sites to visit in Ireland charge an entrance fee. Most of them are around 8-10 Euros and locals have said on a few occasions that “It’s a shame” as it sounds this has been a fairly recent change. There are city passes that get you into all the sites in a particular village or city, but come in a a whopping 40-50 Euros for you to race around to ensure you get your moneys worth. We don’t fancy all of the sites anyhow, so getting recommendations from locals and choosing the things that excite is the way to go for us. Recommendations have already pulled us away from some of the carved path of the many and getting to see a few gems have been more enjoyable than some of the commercial ones. We have indulged in a Jameson distillery tour in Midleton at 16 Euros each and the Blarney Castle for 13 Euros each. Though we enjoyed them both, still, quite expensive we thought, the distillery ends with a 10 Euro drink of choice and our group was so small that we all partook in a taste test at the end.A recommendation from Dennis, a local from Cork country we met in Cobh told us we must visit Garrettstown that had a nice and quiet beach. We took his advice and spent a nice afternoon there and had met some lovely Irish ladies Fran, Moe and Shirley. Moe had a trailer attached to her camper and she and Fran were making and selling crepes on this particularly nice day (gave us two for free). Shirley had a mobile sauna trailer on her van and though tempted, we didn’t fork over the 20 Euros to indulge. They all provided great recommendations of places to visit and we changed our plans and stayed the evening there instead of heading to a distant peninsula. Fran and Moe invited us for dinner which was incredibly tasty and discovered that day Fran’s job is preparing food for The Game of Thrones sets, cast and crew! She was a great cook and besides that fun fact, Ratha and I had a very nice time with the two of them. The wine and hot port flowed, many laughs were had and they gave us all the leftovers to take with us. We might just get another chance to see Fran on our way up the coast if she is not off preparing feasts for our favorite TV series. Another nice stop we had was at a small egg stand that lay at the end of a gravel driveway off the side of the road. We discovered there was honey in the stand as well, though without a marked price to deposit in the tin, so we drove up to the house, met the parents Brian and Mary as well as 3 of 6 kids, Ellen, Margaret and little Laura. We had a nice conversation with them, went with the girls to see their new litter of kittens, Mary sent us off with homemade biscuits for our honey we bought, and then we ran into them in the nearest town a bit later when Mary was dropping the girls off for music practice. The girls also gave us a short performance with a tin whistle (sounds 100 times better than the standard recorder played in U.S. grade school) and small accordion instrument. We loved the encounter and are meeting great people every single day. I love it, you can talk to anybody about anything and the next thing you know, your day has done a 180 and your headed down a new and exciting path. That just happened when I approached a stranger and learned that we were only 20 minutes from where they are filming the new Star Wars. We missed the actual shoot by two days we would find, though many of the cast and crew are staying just nearby in scattered residences and are said to visit the local pubs after finishing a day’s work. Mark Hammel was there and though tempting to stay at a pub in hopes he or any of the cast would turn up for a pint, we decided we might give it another shot in Dingle, where they may be filming in the next few weeks. We walked up to a lookout to oversee the shooting site and it’s quite impressive.

We have indulged in some Irish whiskey, a couple of cold pints of Irish beer (stouts for me, red ales for Ratha), kangaroo steaks (nothing too crazy flavor wise, though has the consistency of wild duck breast), and some Irish sweets from a candy shop looking like the inside of the original (and best) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. We are glad we stocked up on more wine before getting on the ship to Ireland (costs more than double here) and also thankful there are affordable groceries as well. So far the weather has ranged from quite nice to windy, rainy and downright nasty. Though when the rain and fog clear, it’s simply amazing green country thus far. A little rain will give us some down time and slow the pace somewhat for now.

Ireland:

Rosslare, Wexford, Waterford, Mohon Falls, the wishing tree, Midleton, Cobh, Cork, Blarney, Garretstown, Kinsale, Clonakilty, Skibbereen, Krookhaven, Schull, Mizen Head

In hopes to shift slightly the content of my writing, I will attempt to put the locations we have visited at the bottom of my entries. Suggestions and comments are more than welcome for places to visit and type of content you would like to see.