An Unforgettable Birthday

It sure was a birthday to remember! We drove from the Dingle Peninsula to the Cliffs of Moher. For the most direct route, we took a car ferry. I purchased our ticket online months ago thinking we were getting half price. Turns out we only saved 2euros... but hey, every bit counts right?!

 

The Cliffs of Moher were BRILLIANT! What a beautiful sight to see! It was super rainy, foggy and even thunder storming... so we were SO thankful when the weather cleared up while we took some pictures and took in the view. Praise God for some sunshine on my birthday! Here's some shots...

 

 

 

 

 

By the way Bayers, these are the "cliffs of insanity" from the movie, Princess Bride! Andy kept quoting that line and then we discovered they actually were the ones!

After taking those pictures, it began to downpour! We got SOAKED while making the ten minute walk from the cliff edge to our car. Every layer of my clothing was soaked through... and so a mixture of shock and laughter ensued. Oh my... I would have liked to take a picture in our drenched state but even the camera case was drenched and we were headed straight to the warm showers.

Andy treated me to a DELICIOUS birthday dinner at an adorable inn steps from our hostel. I had lamb, which if you've had my Grandma Carr's lamb, you'll know I mean delicious when I say it was almost comparable! The meal was complete with mouth-watering desserts... sticky toffee pudding and apple blueberry crumble.

 

 

Beyond the food, I was so thankful to be celebrating with my wonderful husband in Ireland. Together, we reflected on many of God's rich blessings to us this past year... we feel so undeserving but extremely thankful.

 

To finish off the night, we decided to check out a local pub that advertised live traditional Irish music that night. About ninety percent of the pub were local Irish and had white hair, including the owner. There were SIX Irish men, all white hair except for one guy our age, playing instruments... two guitars, one banjo, one accordion, one violin and one flute!

It's hard to describe how awesome this night was. The men had no pre-determined music set, they just played their hearts out. When one song finished, one of them would start another and throughout the song, each person would pick up the tune by ear and join in! The on-lookers, including ourselves, were all caught up in their musical passion... swaying, clapping and cheering at the end of each song. Here's a glimpse:

(shoot can't figure out how to upload it... if anyone knows how to do this, MSG me if you'd like to share!)



Being a part of this night made me think of a lot of things... one being, the importance of creating a welcoming space for people to gather and create community. In this tiny town in the Burren, it's likely none of the people there had a house large enough to host everyone, so the local pub has become their gathering place. It's become a place where they can connect with friends, freely play their hearts out and be themselves.

 

This is definitely a night and birthday I will never forget!

 

The Emerald Isle

To describe Ireland in two words... we'd quickly say GREEN and RAIN! "Emerald Isle" is a poetic name used to describe Ireland's lush, green countryside. Obviously this combo of green and rain work well together. In order for Ireland to remain as green as the postcards show, it needs rain and often! When we asked a local man in Annascaul how often it rains in Ireland, he very seriously explained that it rains twice a year... "once for six months and the other for four". It's very rare that you would wake up to sunshine in this country.

 

When I picture going to a new place, I cant help but picture it like the postcards... sunny and warm! Well weren't we in for a surprise! Our first morning in Ireland, we had planned to rent bikes and bike along the Dingle Way to go surfing at Inch Beach. With the rain teeming... we considered it for a bit and then decided to take the car and drive the scenic loop of the Dingle Peninsula.

 

Despite the morning rain, it eventually cleared up and the spontainaity of the day made for our best day yet! We stopped at four different places along our route and ended in the cute fishing town of Dingle. First stop, checking out a site from 500 B. C. in the foggy, misty rain! As we made our way to the cliff edge, we walked past this typical Ireland scene... a stone wall, sheep grazing and green grass! Love it!

 

 

Here's the Viking structure from 500 B.C.! There are many like this along the Western coast of Ireland.

 

 

Second stop, structures nicknamed beehives but are thought to have been homes for the Vikings.

 

 

By the way, here's another glimpse of our ever-so-alarming driving experiences...

 

 

Third stop, a random spot to hike down a cliff. Such breathtaking scenes... even in the fog!

 

 

 

 

Fourth stop, a beach! The dark, wet cliffs and surrounding green landscape, makes the beach stand out in contrast.

 

 

 

 

The end of our eventful drive brought us to the fishing town of Dingle. Here's some typical Irish coast scenes from our visit...

 

While walking through Dingle and poking in and out of little shops, Andy overheard two middle-aged Irish friends meet on the street. Here was their opening exchange,

 

"Isn't the weather miserable?"

"Ay! Terrible!"

"Ay! Oppressive!"

 

We had quite a laugh over this... you'd think the Irish would be used to the perpetual rain but no! And to describe it as oppressive is a whole other matter haha.

 

That evening, we freshened up and drove about five minutes to Lake Annascaul, situated in a lush vally between two mountains. Then to dinner and a pint at a pub that had live traditional Irish music! What a day of unexpected adventures... sometimes those are the best.

 

 

 

 

Despite its rain, WE LOVE IRELAND!

The First Hostel...

Neither of us had ever stayed in a hostel before. We knew there could be good experiences and bad experiences. Our first experience? FANTASTIC! We stayed at Paddy's Palace in Annascaul, Ireland (which is a really small town outside of Dingle... which is on the West Coast of Ireland). We arrived at 10pm on Monday night, opened the front door and were greeted by the managers (both from Romania and approx. mid thirties). Here's a picture of our room... there are four bunk beds and a small bathroom attached.

 

We were the first to arrive but our other six roommates entered just twenty minutes later. They were SO much fun! They were all in their twenties and came together from Dublin, where they are learning English (ESL) together. They have finished their year of school and now traveling together Ireland together to practice their English. We chatted for quite a while with them that night and laughed a ton!

 

These new friends are from all over the world! We took a picture with them but for some reason it didn't turn out at all! Misung took one too and will send it to us. Here's the blurry one...

 

 

From left to right: Juan (Argentina), Gabriella (Ecuador), Juen (South Korea), Andy & Julia (Canada), Mesung (South Korea), Miguel (Spain) and Jose (Venezuela)

We loved meeting these fellow travelers and staying in this hostel! Oh and did I mention it was only 18 euros for Andy and I to sleep there for TWO nights?! The best hostel deal we'll have on the entire trip. Plus we received breakfast both mornings! Hostel experience so far? SUCCESS!

 

Driving in Ireland

After flying to Dublin with RyanAir (a super cheap airline, notorious for delays and baggage restrictions... so thankful we arrived on time and with our bags!), our worry about driving in Ireland's round-a-bouts, and flipped road sides and driver sides increased. Ireland sits next to Portugal for the highest number of car accidents per year. The man at the Budget Car Hire said that many tourists get confused about how much space they have on either side of the car and often run into things. All this to say, we bought the insurance for 29 euros/day and prayed before starting our four hour drive to the Dingle Peninsula.

Well, Andy has been driving on these crazy Ireland roads for three days now and he's been an AMAZING driver thus far! Praise God! This is good not only for our safety, but also our relationship ha! We tend to get frustrated with each other on car rides... especially when we don't know where we are going! He has been super focused and calm. I am super impressed.

 

Being on the opposite side is quite a challenge to get your head around as the right turns go through the intersection! Probably the main challenge is how NARROW the roads are, coupled with the ridiculously chosen speed limits. The speed limit signs actually make us laugh now. It will say 80 mph or 100mph on what looks like a one lane country road with bends and turns every 100m! They do have some major routes but once off them, there is no shoulder and often no line separating traffic.

 

Despite all of these difficulties, we have both agreed that the best way to see Ireland is by car! We have really felt a sense of FREEDOM while navigating, exploring and laughing our way throughout Ireland's beautiful country. For us, it has been worth the worry and effort!

 

We have one more day of driving... please pray for continued safety for us and the other crazy tourist drivers on the roads!

 

 

 

Final Thoughts on England...

British Lingo...

During our time in the UK, we've been quite entertained by the English accents and chatter all around us. The British sure use the English language beautifully. Andy even commented that he wished all sports were announced by the British ha. Here's a list of the "British Lingo" (i.e. words we hear often during our stay)...

• Entirely
• Queue (a line of people)
• Extremely
• Quite
• Loo (a washroom)
• A bit (instead of "some")
• Brilliant (my favourite one... will be using that one more!)

 

An Unexpected Encounter...

On our first day in London, while roaming the city, we stopped in Covent Garden, a square with nice little shops. I (Andy) was looking around at the scenery and caught two faces that I thought I recognized. I had a second look and I met eyes with Tom, one of my former floormates from my university dorm in St.Catharines, Ontario! And right beside Tom was Aaron, another one of my former floormates! This was incredible for a few reasons. London is a city of 8 million people. What are the chances that I would see two familiar faces in my three days in this city?? And these weren't just distant acquaintances. These were two guys that I spent many a good time with, but I hadn't seen them in three years! Tom is now doing his Master's in London and Aaron was visiting him along with another former dormmate of mine. Needless to say we had a good, quick chat and went on our ways. What a small world it is!

 

 

Ireland posts to come... soooooo GREEN!

 

A Cathedral, Tower & Bridge

Sunday morning, we went to St. Paul's Cathedral for their "Orchestral Eucharist Service". What an incredible experience to soak up! The City of London orchestra led worship, along with a boys choir and men's choir... It was so much to take in, not to mention the building itself! So glad we did this.

 

After this, we went to the Tower of London and were entertained by performers giving tourists a taste of what Life would have been in the tower. This guy cracked me up... So we did the appropriate tourist thing and took a picture!

 

The Tower Bridge is stunning with all it's intricate details. I'm sure those watching the Olympics later this summer will see this shot often... (the tube lines are also filled with London 2012 ads and signs).

 

 

Lastly, Happy Canada Day! Alan sported his t-shirt all day... Here's a picture of him and Andy creatively posing next to a claasic London double decker bus.

 

Farewell, London. Next stop, Ireland.

5 Generations Back

We took a two hour train through the English countryside to the university city of Oxford. I think we've already over-used, "Look at that beautiful building!" in only two days on the continent.

 

The BEST part of this day (for me) was finding the house my Great, Great, Great Grandparents lived in during the 1800s. We found a bus that took us to the Headington neighborhood, walked down a little street, turned right and there was the little black door with the address "1 North Place." I can't quite describe the experience... it was almost as if we had solved a little mystery... but more than that, my ancestral past was physically tangible! It all became so real! Here's Andy and I in front of the front door.

 

 

Next, I knocked on the door! A man named Mr. Small answered and after a quick explanation, he and I enthusiastically exchanged everything we knew about the history of this address. It was surreal! He was extremely kind, invited us in, explained where additions were made and after seeing the house, he practically followed us outside to share more about the adorable neighborhood! Here he is... (I am still in shock here ha).

 

 

Here's the church my ancestors, John and Pricilla, attended just a five minute walk from their home. We attempted finding their graves but the inscriptions were so worn they could barely be read.

 

 

 

Dad, I hope you enjoyed this post and am so glad you encouraged us to go! It was SURREAL! Below are some more pictures of our Oxford adventures that day, which included being touristy in a telephone booth, picnic in an empty University courtyard, an afternoon cream tea, wandering and admiring buildings and finishing off the day with fish & chips at a pub C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien frequented.