Ireland
2007
Ireland
Photo Page
What a great week and a great vacation. There are a few photos on the photo page and more narrative will be added later as I have time. Here's a map detailing outlining some of our travels-
Monday,
April 30 - Flight out.
Patrick and I drove to Chicago O'Hare and flew out to Shannon at 730pm.
The flight was okay except that I messed up and forgot to order vegetarian
meals and our dinner pretty much was a disappointment. But the nature
of the time of flight meant that it was essentially a regular night.
We slept a bit on the flight and arrived in Shannon Tuesday at 1030am
Ireland time. (Joni and Brenden were flying out of Grand Rapids Tuesday
for a Wednesday morning arrival to Shannon).
Tuesday,
May 1 - Travel to Galway, find B&B, find Boston Scientific with
help of Irishman with a saw.
The primary reason I was going to Galway was that I'd arranged a job
interview on May 2nd. I like my job at JCI, but this was a unique opportunity
so I figured I'd give it a shot at obtaining a position there.
We got to Shannon, went through customs and picked up the rental car. This was an experience- driving on the right side of the vehicle and on the left side of the road. I had a manual transmission so the shift was left handed. It didn't take long to get used to it and though I had a couple pauses the next week, I think the driving went fine. We then drove around a bit, eventually buying a Galway city map and finally found the A Aaron B&B. I left Patrick at the B&B and then went to my appointments. I met with Dympna Brennan, a job recruiter, about my interviews the next day. I also took their medical exam.
I then went back the B&B after which Patrick and I walked downtown for dinner. He'd already walked around and had spotted a restaurant with a vegetarian lasagna on the menu- so we went back there for dinner. Then back to the B&B to get the car. I wanted to find Boston Scientific so I'd know right where to go the next day. We drove for an hour and just could not find it. At about 10pm, we pulled over and again looked at the map using the dome light. On older guy was walking by and asked if we were lost. We explained where we were going and he tried helping with the map, then said it would be easier if he showed us so he got in the back seat and took us right there! In exchange, we took him a few miles down the road to a restaurant. We could tell he'd had a couple beers, and while we talked to him I noticed he had a saw under his shirt. "you probably noticed I have a saw," says he, "I was just at the track doing a bit of betting." --- Uh okay--- Never did find out what the saw had to do with the track. But then, back to the B&B as we had an early morning waiting for us.
Galway is a very cosmpolitan town. There were numerous nationalities, a university, parks.. rather like an Irish Ann Arbor. According to newspapers, Polish immigrants are one of the larger influx of workers due to the very low unemployment.
Wednesday,
May 2 - Drive to Shannon, get Joni, drive back to Galway, interview,
drive to Killarney.
We got up early and left Galway at 7am. The plan was to reach the Shannon
airport at 830, meet up with Joni and Brenden, put our luggage on the
bus with Joni and Brenden's so the bus could take luggage to Killarney
and drive back to Galway in time for my noon appointment. This plan
went without a hitch. I'd purchased a phone there with some Euro-credit
on it for about $60 on Tuesday. I gave this to Joni and dropped them
off in downtown Galway and sped off to my appointment- which, now that
I knew WHERE it was (thanks to the guy with the saw)- I arrived a half
hour early. So I got a coffee, put on the tie and suitcoat and went
to interview for the next two hours.
The interview went well. I met with the engineering team and the quality manager and HR manager in two separate interviews. As of today, Thursday May 10, no word yet on the results. BC had six positions open in the lean and quality departments.
I went back to downtown Galway and met up with Joni and the boys. They'd had lunch at the same place Patrick and I'd eaten the night before so we browsed a bit, then got the car and headed for Killarney.
Now, a bit about driving in Ireland- NEVER go by the distance and figure you will get there in the time you think you'd do it here. 180 miles is NOT three hours there- It's more like four hours or even more. They have very few two lane split highways (dual carriageways). Most highways were merely two lanes with traffic in each direction. Passing is problematic most of the time. Also, nearly every "highway" goes through a town so no matter how well you are clipping along, you are guaranteed to have to slow down and pass through roundabouts and narrow city streets. We also hit Limerick at 5pm which was rush hour traffic that slowed us down.
Our hotel was the Killarney Plaza right in downtown Killarney- a great location. Originally, the trip was booked at the Hotel Europe, which is several kilometers out of town. The Plaza was right in town and made walking to shop or eat or pub very nice so as to not have to get out the car all the time.
Thursday,
May 3 - Dingle trip
We left on assignment-
photo in front of Murphy's Pub in Dingle..
didn't realize there was MORE than one Murphy's Pub.. but more on that
later. We drove from Killarney toward Dingle and the peninsula. On the
way into the area, I noticed, but didn't consider, "Dingle"
and a large arrow sprayed onto the pavement at a fork in the road. As
we neared Dingle, we say Murphy's Pub (left photo below) and stopped
to take a few photos, but it didn't look like the one of which Cheryl
wanted a photos. (My sister, Glenna, had her photo taken in front of
a Murphy's Pub in Dingle. Cheryl wanted a matching photo). On to Dingle
and THERE IT WAS- Murphy's Pub.. but with a difference. See below, the
pub has a red face, but they must have painted it because in the broad
flat area across the top above the door and windows, the photo my sister
had said "Murphy's" but it is absent here. But I printed and
framed it for a matching set.
..
..
We walked around Dingle, and had a great lunch. We met some local kids. I also notices many signs that said "The town that lost its democracy." Apparently, a government minister, in an effort to promote the Gaeltacht, had "Dingle" removed from all signs and official maps and replaced with the Irish "An Daingean." Town citizens held a referendum and voted 98% to retain Dingle on all signs but were refused. The concern seems to be with a loss of tourism since tourists looking for Dingle will not be able to find it-and not know to look for An Daingean. Here's a Google link to some of the information on this issue. I don't understand why the government didn't just keep both the Irish and the English versions, as the do on nearly all other signs in the country.
We then drove west out of Dingle to the peninsula and stopped at a roadside attraction, some ancient beehive huts where we took a few photos. Our drive then went along to the coast for some sunset photos followed by a drive back to Killarney. We went to dinner at Bricin Restaurant where Joni and the boys had traditional Boxtys and I had a great curry Thai dish. Then a bit of pub attendance with local Irish music.
Friday,
May 4 - Bael nBlath pilgrimage, Clonakilty
Friday was the day to make my pilgimage- to the death site of Michael
Collins. He is my historical hero, killed in an ambush by rebels in
the Irish Civil war. The scene in the movie Michael Collins is fairly
accurate, though in the movie, the shooters seem to be on a higher vantage
point than actually exists in at the roadside. The white marker in the
image below is the approximate spot he fell dead.
We then drove to Clonakilty, walked around town a bit, then drove out to the bay where we hiked the oceanside and took photos. The boys weren't too interested in some of the historical items- so I'd like to come back again and visit the Michael Collins Center as well as his birthplace. I did get my photo taken at a statue of Collins- see above- (which was dedicated by Liam Neeson after the release of the movie Michael Collins.
Friday night Killarney exploded in activity- it was like Mardi Gras. Our visit coincided with the annual Rally by the Lakes which brought thousands of young people into town. Loud, fast cars, drinking in the streets, packed pubs, and skimpy clothes were the standard for the next three nights. For three nights (Sunday was like Saturday due to holiday on Monday in Ireland) the Garda simply kept watch, detained only the most out of control or intoxicated. Nice restraint- in most US cities, the police would have waded in and a riot would have ensued.
Needless to say, Patrick and Brenden wanted to do the pub scene these next three nights.
Saturday,
May 5 - Ross Castle and O'Sullivan's Cascade waterfall in National Park
The previous Mediterranean-like weather ended and rain came in. Rain
in Ireland isn't heavy drops, apparently, like it is in Michigan- it's
more like being in a steady mist. For part of the early day it was just
grey and cool, but not raining.
We went to Ross Castle, outside Killarney. We took some senior photos of Brenden at the site and checked out the information area inside.
We had thought of doing some biking, we opted then to hike instead of bike. Joni had heard of a waterfall called O'Sullivan's Cascade so we drove out to the other side of the National Park and hiked several kilometers into the park to a really sweet location. We hiked up here for a couple hours. Dinner that night was an easy take-away (they say "take-away" in Ireland, not "take-out") pizza in the room.
Sunday,
May 6 - Attempt to visit Galway, a ferry ride and lunch in Gort
We got a late start Sunday- the boys were sleeping in. Everyone wanted
to go to Galway again, so we started driving.. and man- Sunday drivers
in Ireland really ARE Sunday drivers- slow driving mixed with the previously
explained roads and traffic made our progress really slow- we went to
the Killimer-Tarbert Ferry
and crossed the bay. But soon we realized that we would not make it
to Galway and then back in time for Joni's dinner engagement with her
company. We stopped in Gort, then drove back to the ferry for the trip
to Killarney- a day spent mostly driving. We got Joni back in time for
dinner.
Brenden, Patrick and I went to a Dominoes-like pizza outlet for takeaway and ordered- when asked for a name I gave the kid "Murphy," naturally. Patrick said maybe I should give a first name. After a fifteen minute walk around we went back for the pizza and the kid called "Murphy" and I reached up and took the pizza- to which the guy next to me asked if I was sure it was my pizza, for sure, wasn't he a Murphy too.
Joni got back from the company dinner and dessert was next as members of the trip dressed in the gifts of pajamas. We kept it a fairly early night- we had to return to the USA the next morning.
Monday,
May 7 - Fly back to USA
Joni and Brenden were up early as they had to fly out two hours before
Patrick and me. They took the trip-provided busses to Shannon for their
1030am flight. Patrick and I arrived in Shannon at about 930am, returned
the rental car, checked in at the airline with our luggage, and got
a bite to eat. We flew out at 1030 to Dublin then O'Hare.
The flight back was good- I'd already ensured a vegetarian meal for us, which made dinner much more welcomed than on the trip over. We arrived in Chicago at 530EST to end a great trip!
I cannot wait for another visit (or perhaps permanent relocation).