A Little Video from Wexford, Ireland

Wexford in a very pretty town on the south east coast of Ireland. Lots to see and we barely scratched the surface.

More days, and heading southwest

Good Morning! It's Monday morning here and I've just had one of the best lie ins of the trip. We're in Cork at the moment and staying at a lovely B&B called Mariaville. It's tucked down a little street not far from the University of Cork. Just have to love those power showers after a long day of touring. :)

So let's back up and catch up some. Day before yesterday was Wexford Day and we had the honor of being shown around Wexford by one of it's ambassadors. All day long we saw people wearing the purple and gold of Wexford. After breakfast we met up with the ambassador and had a chat for a while, then decided to head off for the Wexford Heritage Center. It's set up as a walk through life from time 9000 years ago. Strolling through the forest to see the exhibits was wonderful, but chatting all the way about growing up in Wexford and listing to our guides memories was the real treat. After we went to the Ferrycarig Hotel on the Rive Slaney for tea. WOW what a beautiful place. Sitting, talking with that view. I could have stayed there for the better part of the day, but it was off we must, so on to Dunbrody. Many, many thanks to our guide and Wexford ambassador for the day, Michael.

We backtracked because of the weather the day before so that my traveling partner, Rita, could do a little heritage research. I dozed in the car as she did the Dunbrody Famine ship tour. After that we headed into the west. Our next stop was Midleton for the Jameson Experience, and an experience it is. We were too late for the tours, but did do a tasting. I'm not a big whiskey drinker but the chance to taste some of the better aged stuff is a nice thing now and then. A little shopping in their place and a few pictures by the giant copper distilling kettle outside and we were off to Kinsale.

I was told by my friend Tom that I had something waiting for me at The Spaniard in Kinsale. I was determined to get there Saturday and see what it was. We were running late and also wanted to get checked into our B&B. I'm now really realizing that when I look at a map for locations here in Ireland, often I'm looking at what we would consider alley ways. After spending about an hour driving up and down and in and out the streets of Kinsale, we turned around and headed to The Spaniard for a respite. And so glad we did. I do have to say that parking in Kinsale is a nightmare, but we were lucky enough to find a tiny spot for our little car.

First, I must say, to find out about The Spaniard you must Google it and it's history. Interesting place. Now for the fun part. So we walked into this small bar area and here I walk up to the bar and tell the barman, “I'm here to collect my drink. It's been left for me in an envelope with my name on it.” So the search for the envelope began. There were quite a few white envelopes along side of the register, and none were mine. As this search was going on I was telling the story of how my friend, Tom had visited a few weeks earlier and left it there for me. One of the gents looked above the bar where there were tons of pictures and spotted the envelope tacked up there. Now everyone sitting at the bar was surprised including a gentleman whose picture I had seen in one of Tom's posts.

This was Michael Barry and he had been listening all along as I told the story. Needless to say, once I opened the envelope and gave the barman the receipt I was given my drink. We sat down with Michael and had a great chat with him and a few others at the pub. It was a great evening, but was getting late. We still had to find our B&B, so off back into town. To shorten this story, I have to say I love the Garda in Kinsale. We stopped and asked for help. The female told us just to follow her in our car, which we did. She walked, we drove, until she saw a parking space for us, then walked with us on foot down the narrow street to the B&B. It was already after 9:00 when we arrived and we still needed some dinner. That ended our Saturday. I can say, that I have been up and down the hills and streets of Kinsale multiple times!

Sunday morning we checked out Kinsale some after a wonderful breakfast, then headed to Cobh to the Heritage center. After some time there, we were on the road to Blarney.

The rest of the day was spent at Blarney Castle and the Woolen Mills. This time I did have the time to visit the Rock Close and waterfalls. We could have spent even more time walking the grounds but needed to get back to town and fine our next B&B!

Now we're sitting having our breakfast and getting ready for the ride to Killarney and a day spent roaming that area.

More later. A :)

Day 3, I think

So, where was I, oh, yes....It's day three and we are now settled in at a wonderful hotel for a pampered night in Wexford. Maybe I should back up a little since I didn't post last night.

Yesterday morning we left our B&B in Newbridge after a scrumptious breakfast at our B&B cooked by our host John.

Rita and I felt obligated that we have a full Irish breakfast at least our first morning in Ireland. We then headed off to the Irish Nation Stud. Most of our day was spent wandering around checking out amazing horses; stallions, mares, and both yearling foals, and younger foals. Beautiful horses, and the many of the foals were so friendly.

We got an up close and personal with a stallion called Indian Haven. Hard to even describe the power you could feel standing next to him. And boy, what a pampered stall. Hay piled high and metal name plates on the doors. Pretty fancy.

After we left the National Stud we headed to Kilkenney. Through the countryside for a wonderful ride and after checking in to our B&B we walked over to the castle garden and castle and did some picture taking. Across from the castle is the Kilkenney Design Center. At the back there are some craft shops that I have visited before. Veronique, a knitter who sells she scarves all over Ireland has a shop there. She aways has baskets of scarves she has in excess at great prices. We each bought something and headed in to the silversmith where I had previously purchased a bracelet. Had a wonderful visit with him and made a purchase there. Then a delicious dinner and headed back to the B&B. It was a long day and we were beat, so we headed to bed early as we wanted to get a good start for today.

This morning we headed off to Bennetsbridge and Nicholas Moss Pottery to see what goodies were there. The area is so beautiful on the River Nore around the pottery factory. From there it was Jerpoint Abbey. Jerpoint is one of my favorite places to visit. After the abbey, it was off to Waterford for a little lunch and crystal touring. The new location is quite nice. Tours are still pretty much the same, but the showroom is huge. I bought my first piece of Waterford. It's a crystal seahorse ornament that can only be purchased at the factory in Ireland – or on Ebay, I guess! LOL

It had started raining by the time we got to Jerpoint, and by Waterford it was really coming down. We passed on New Ross, in hopes the weather is good tomorrow, and came straight to Wexford to get showered, changed, and ready for some party time tonight with the Gossip Girls show and a little celebration after.

So I need to get showered and dressed. More later, :)

24 Days and Being Flexible

So here we are 24 days away from departure and we've already made 2 sets of changes to our "set" itinerary. I have to say that is the beauty of getting started early enough on all this. Yes, unfortunately, I've had to email some of the B&B's and see about changing dates, or canceling reservations, but this far out there are no extra charges or fees.

The first came when we were able to adjust our plane flight so we didn't have to stay overnight in Chicago on the way to Ireland. That gave us an extra day. We planned to stay around Clontarf, Howth and Malahide that day, and then head out on the road. As we looked at our itinerary more, we realized that we needed an extra day in the Cork area. So all days up to Cork were moved up a day and we changed a 2 day stay to 1 day at the end of the trip to plug in our Clontarf, Howth, and Malahide day.

As of yesterday we have decided to change an overnight in Kinsale, to an overnight in Wexford so we are able to meet up and have drinks with a friend. Totally an unexpected change, but being flexible is what it's all about. And when we looked at the itinerary for the day, this actually makes a little more sense to our travels. We'll still be spending some time in Kinsale, but not an overnight, and we will still have two nights in Cork.

Another friend just returned from Ireland and messaged me that he had some recommendations for me. I hope it's just great pubs, as I'm not sure I can handle too much more in the way of changes. I feel so very bad emailing the B&B owners and canceling reservations. I'm anxious to see what he has to recommend.

Still considering one more change, but it's more of a convenience one, than a travel one. Still thinking on that one. I like the idea of staying at one place for a couple of days now and then, and this was one of those places. Still time for that decision as it's near the end of our trip.

I'm finding that at times this trip is designing itself and we are just working around it. And actually it's working itself out just fine.