Ireland 2022

Ireland 2022

Spetemebr 20 to 30, 2022

I also went to Belfast, in the UK but it annoys me that Belfast is part of the UK and not part of Ireland.

I visited Belfast, Dublin, Kilarney, Limerick and Galway.

Stacey, Callie, Erin, Abby, T and Cadence joined me on the trip. They drank a lot.  We joined a tour group of 30 other people.

Sally was subposed to join us.  She orginialted the idea of the trip.  We were to celebrate her two years since she had a double lung transplant.  She could hardly wait to go.  And four days before she was to leave, she feel and broke her hip so badly that she needed a partial hip replacement. She had to stay behind.

Belfast blew me away. I thought the peace accrods were in full effect and had resolved all of the conflict and hate.  I could not be more wrong. The tensions are as strong as they were in the 1970s. Not much has been gained by way of tolerenace for one another.

On the day we went to visit the Cliffs of Moher, it was so foggy that the clifss weren't even visable at all. That was a huge disappointment, even though I have already seen them.

We stopped at a sheep farm and saw a demonstration of  a dog who herded sheep. Then we watched a sheep sheering demonstration.  Apparently, there does not seem to be any money in raising sheep anymore as many of the sweaters, in Ireland, are now mande with synthetic materials.

We watched a video about monks who used to live on a rock about 12 miles out to sea. It sounded like a dreadful opportunity.

Our medieval dinner was lame. The food wasnt good.  I dont really like mead and the perfromers were annoying.

We went to the Ploughboys Pub for a show of irish music and dancing.  There were free pints of guiness and irish coffee and I drank too much. And had a good time.

I drank too much that night: two pints of IPA, two pints of Guiness and two irish coffees.

I really couldn't find a beer that I was wild about. I tolerated teh beers I drank.

I missed Sally.  

The tour was lame.  There was no substance to it. Mostly, we drove around and took photos.

I loved Killarney. I would have liked to stay there for a few days with nothing to do but wander around that same town and visit the shops and pubs.

On the way to Galway, we passed Kilvarro, my family's homestead.

I had seafood chowder almost every day and all of the bowls were different and delicious.

I picked up covid on Thursday, our last day in Ireland.  I laid in bed all day. Four of us got it.