England 2012: December 31st

 

New's Eve day was spent near the Thames River, perhaps not the best choice.  The crowds were so thick we had difficulty walking on the sidewalks.  It seems the entire country is in London for the fireworks at Big Ben. We made our way through Westminster Abbey with our wonderful London Pass.  It is prepaid and we do not usually have to wait in line. The church is stunning, more so than I remember, I saw the tombs of Elizabeth I, Mary, Queen of Scotland, Henry the VIII, The Richards, The Williams, James V1, I and Queen Mary (William's queen) were all there.  It was pretty spectacular. Melissa seemed to prefer poet's corner, where I took an illegal photo of George Eliot's plaque. :-) "It is never to late to be what you might have been" (Eliot). This is my motto.   We then made our way across the Thames and back down to Buckingham Palace. We stopped by 10 Downing, but they must not have got the message to let us in. :-) We saw Scotland Yard and some brave, wet guardsmen on their horses keeping everybody safe.   The barriers started going up for the night's festivities so we headed out of Westminster and back to Nottinghill and Bayswater. We planned to head into London Central for the fireworks, but a local told us we could wait up to two hours for a cab or the tube after midnight.  Plan "B" is the local pub down the street with what I imagine will be lots of drunk Brits. Yay!  Tomorrow is the London Tower, The Globe, and St. Paul's Cathedral.  It was soooooo cold and rainy today, but our jackets, hats, and gloves did their jobs.   Well time now to "pretty-up" for the New Year's festivities. 

 

 

England 2012: December 30th

Day 3 Found us in Hyde Park for most of the day.   We walked Kensington and Hyde Park visiting the Peter Pan Statue, The Italian Gardens, Kensington Palace, Buckingham Palace, and Harrods.

Kensington gardens was full of londoners and their dogs.  There was every breed possible chasing sticks and balls.  They were all covered in mud and having a great time.   They made me miss my dogs. :-) Melissa finally visited with Peter Pan, and we strolled the Italian Gardens created by Prince Albert for his bride Victoria after their wedding.   Kensington Palace was amazing.   The inside holds an exhibit of Albert and Victoria. Photos of Victoria before and after Albert's death.  There were pictures of the family, clothes worn by them, and intimate family items.  There was an exhibit of William III, also known as William of Orange.   He was the bad man resonsible for violent  oppression of the Irish in Northern Ireland.   :-(   Hense the Orange Party.  We moved on to Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park where every Sunday free speech is celebrated loudly.  It was great!   We headed next to Buckingham Palace where we were surprised to see that the Queen was home.  (The flag only flies when she is home).   We waited, but received no invitation for tea, so we moved on to Harrods where we were trapped amonst the cheese and caviar by the hoards of Londoners shopping for New Year's Eve. We plan to go back when there is less humanity there. We got back to the flat seven hours after we left with cheese and bread for dinner.   I will probably not be able to get out of bed in the morning from walking ALL day.   Tomorrow we head out to Westminster Abbey (it was closed today for Sunday services), The Tower of London, St. Paul's Cathedral, and  The Old Globe.   Whew, tired just thinking about it. :)  Oh we also visited the Princess Diana Memorial Water Fountain where water gently flows over stones in a circle near the boat pond of Hyde park. Lovely.

 

 

 

 

England 2012: December 28th and 29Th

12-28-12     Melissa and I arrived in London yesterday afternoon.  We took the Express Train to Paddington Station where the atm promptly ate my debit card.  Seems the bank did not notify their fraud department that I was traveling to England.  Using the back-up credit card, we found a cab that accepted plastic, and we arrived in one piece at our flat.   Well the flat, the photo showed a smallish room with a bath and toilet down the hall.   HAHA  small does not even begin to describe the room, but it does have a small kitchen that will save us money by not eating out. The roommdoes, however, have a lovely window looking out on a quiet street near Hyde Park.  I spent several hours working with my bank and they are sending a replacement card Monday.  :-) Once the card issue was resolved we went to a great meal in a local "brown bar" near the flat.   We toasted our adventure with sangria ( I know, not very English) :-) One last stop at the local market and we called it a night.

12-19-12     We woke from our tylonal pm induced sleep to tea and taste toast in the flat. Amazing tea!  Our plan for the day was to pick up our London Passes (unlimited tube/bus/train/museum pass) and hit Trafalgar Square, the National Protrait Gallery, and Picadilly Circus.   The museum was amazing!   We saw everybody from Prince Henry Stuart to Eliot to the Brontes.   Disraeli and Gladstone shared a wall (HAHA)  Oliver Cromwell, Dickens, and even King James were represented. It was a pretty spectacular day. http://www.npg.org.uk/ We spent a few hours on Charing Cross Road and all the bookstores. Melissa found a children's bookstore with a first edition Peter Pan, and it was on sale for only 400 pounds,  (insert laughing here), which I had to drag away from her. We managed the tube with ease and moved about London with little effort. Boy America could sure use public transit.  We are now eating dinner in the flat and planning our next day.     Tomorrow we will hit The Tower of London, The Old Globe and take the one mile "Bank Walk" along the Thames River. 

Johnstown Castle Jan 8

We had a long visit today at the Johnstown Castle.  It was built in 1810 for the Morgan family. It possesses three lakes and many, many levels of terraced gardens.  The three of us walked the entire grounds this morning.  The air around the castle is filled with the sounds of waterfalls, birds calling out to one another and the rustle of of the wind as it approaches through the trees.  It is truly a magical place.   The shot above is from the lake.  The water was so still that is appears to be a mirror reflecting the trees above it. The sight was almost like looking out of the earth at the trees and sky above.  The water was so clear that we could see the clouds moving in its reflection.

Knights of Templar Jan 8

On the way to the Hook Lighthouse we also passed the church in Templeton where several knights of the Templar are buried. 
"Templetown has received its name from the Kinights Templar, a brotherhood of monastic warriors originating during the crusades in the Holy Land. When the Anglo-Normans under Strongbow added Ireland to their property portfolio the military orders soon followed. Henry II of England swore to provide for 200 Templars after the murder of St. Thomas a Beckett - and in 1172 gave away wide stretches of Ireland to fulfil this promise. The Manor of Kilcloggan, basically the whole southern end of the Hook Peninsula, fell to the order.

Today only few remains of their church in Templetown are visible (the impressive tower is a later construction, the church even from the 19th century). But the churchyard holds a graveslab with a cross and the agnus dei (Lamb of God), typical for a Templar grave."

Tintern Abbey County Wexford Jan 8

In the On the way to the light house we stopped at the Tintern Abbey.  The last family member to live at the Abbey did so during the time of Henry VIII.  The grounds were lovely, and there were many locals walking in the sunshine, yes sunshine, with their dogs. The river running through the grounds was overflowing its banks with the recent, torrential rains. "The Abbey – which is today in ruins, some of which have been restored – was founded in c1200 by William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke, as the result of a vow he had made when his boat was caught in a storm nearby. Once established, the abbey was colonised by monks from the Cistercian abbey at Tintern in Monmouthshire, Wales, of which Marshall was also patron.
After the Dissolution of the Monasteries the abbey and its grounds were granted to Anthony Colclough of Staffordshire, a soldier of Henry VIII. The final member of the Colclough family to reside at Tintern was Lucey Marie Biddulph Colclough who donated the abbey to the nation"

New Ross Ireland Jan 7th opps forgot this from yesterday

New Ross Ireland was on mom's list of to do while here. New Ross is the town JF Kennedy's grandfather came from during the potato famine in 1846. There is a large statue commemorating his visit back to the island in 1963.

Hook Head Light House Sunday Jan 8th County Wexford

Today was a very busy day.  We woke up and had breakfast at the organic, free range farm, The Oleary's Farmhouse, then we were off to see a light house, a tomb of one of the knights of Templar at an Abbey, and an very old castle.  Whew, I'm tired with only the itinerary. Lighthouse


"Hook Head is the oldest lighthouse in Ireland, and one of the oldest in Europe still operating. In the 5th century St Dubhán set up a fire beacon on the headland as a warning to mariners. After his death his monks kept the beacon going for another 600 years. Between 1170 and 1184 the Normans built the present lighthouse. It was built from local limestone and burned lime mixed with ox’s blood. Even today traces of the blood-lime mix can be seen coming through the paintwork. The walls are 9 to 13 feet thick and 80 feet above the ground. In 1665 King Charles II granted letters patent to Sir Robert Reading to erect six lighthouses on the coast of Ireland, one of which was at Hook Head on the site of the older lighthouse, the others being at Howth, one to mark the land, the other to lead over the bar; the Old Head of Kinsale, Barry Oge's castle (now Charlesfort, near Kinsale), and the Isle of Magee."

There were fishing boats dragging a net between them in the small bay near the light house.   The birds were delighted with the fish.  They were diving and soaring together in perfect harmony as if to a song only they were privileged to hear.

We ate lunch at the light house restauraunt overlooking the ocean.  I  had a yummy bowl of seafood chowder.

famous bacon and cabbage meal

Random cool fact from ireland

Tater tots in Ireland are called potato cubes.

Irish Breakfast:  No we are not eating it.

The Pond House B and B in Blarney Town - Jan 6

We spent the better part of the day driving to Blarney Castle so mom could kiss the infamous Blarney Stone. We climbed the steep, narrow steps to the castle's highest point and mom kissed the stone. (See the photos). It is a narrow round staircase that is almost a ladder it is so verticle. It was a lot of work to get to the top of the castle to the stone - she did a good job.

http://www.bandbireland.com/accommodation/3246/cork/pond-house-bed-and-breakfast.html

We stayed in Blarney town last night at the Pond House (above).   Steven and I went into the local pub to hang with the locals and listen to some music.  There is a great tradition here on the 6th of January every year. The women all go out without the men.  It is a celebration of sorts after the work of the holidays.  The scene in the pub was grand.   The women of all ages were dressed as uf they were going to a night club: sequins, glitter, cleavage and lots of make-up.  They were all singing, drinking, and having a great time.  There were woman 18 to 80.  It was a hoot to see.  Steven and I sat at the bar, and there was a football match on (Soccer to you and me), one half of the bar was screaming for Liverpool, the other half for the Irish boys.  Our bartenders told us stories of local lore and filled us in on the local boys.   There was a man of about 70 who, "took a fancy to me."  Everytime I walked past him, he would grab my hand and and say, "you are lovely now."  He was sweet and funny and no doubt had more than a few pints in him.  hahahha.  A local group named "The Voodoos" played very American music.  (See pub above)

Steven and I stopped at a fish-n-chips and bought two orders of "chips."  Chips are french fries that are doused in salt and vineger and then wrapped in a giant piece of parchment paper.  They are truly a beautiful thing.  I have to say, one of our better nights on the town.

We had a long travel day today: Blarney to Wexford. The town we are in now has a harbor and our B and B is right on the beach. We can see the lighthouse in the harbor twinkling in the distance. It is a working farm and we will have free range eggs for breakfast. Tomorrow we travel to the Hook Lighthouse and much more.......