England and Ireland---Day 12

Old Jameson Distillery

Left the hotel this morning and retraced our path to the town of Midleton, to visit the Jameson Whiskey Distillery.  I never realized so much went into making whiskey, it was like the Waterford factory in that there are so many steps to the finished product.  Interesting fact:  the barrels they use to age the whiskey come from Spain, where they were previously used to age sherry, or the United States, where they were used for bourbon.  Both however, are made of oak.  At the end of the tour we got to taste three whiskeys: Jack Daniels, a single distilled, a Scottish malt whisky, which is a double distilled, and Jameson, which is triple distilled.  I will never drink Jack Daniels again-the difference between the triple distilled and the other two has to be tasted to be believed.  It was however early in the morning for a whiskey tasting!

Shoes worn in malting room (hot)

Ta-da

A very large factory

Blarney Castle

We then went west a short distance to the town of Blarney, and the Blarney Castle.  Neither Nila nor I had any desire to kiss the stone, Nila because of the long line, me, because of the height you had to climb to, plus 127 steps on a hot day did not sound the least inviting.  The grounds of Blarney Castle can more than make up for not kissing the stone.  Beautiful gardens, but Nila and I particularly enjoyed the Poison Garden, in which every plant shown has poison properties, and the Rock Close, which is an exhibition garden using the natural contours and the river for the setting.  The definition of poison was broad, as rosemary, lily of the valley, rhubarb and tea were all included.  I think their definition was "anything that could be addicting or cause bodily harm.

Lupins are poison

Just a wildflower, not poison

Nila enjoying the view

More twisty turny roads leaving Cork and entering Co. Kerry.  Our first stop was Aghadoe  (Irish Achadh Deo, meaning near to god) for a view of the lakes of Killarney and to have a group picture taken.   After this we drove into Killarney and our hotel.  Another nice place to stay, and a good meal (finally, lamb), a walk along the main shopping street in town, very lively as it is still light at 10:30, and bed.  I really enjoyed the walk, as there was singers everywhere, with the bars mostly open air with music and singing coming out to mingle with the walkers.  

Lamb, finally

Lakes of Killarney

England and Ireland---Day 11

Archway into Glendalough

Had our bags out the door at 6:45 this morning, then downstairs for breakfast.  Very nice hot and cold buffet with lots of choices of meats, cheeses, breads, cereal and eggs,  although they were a little light on the fruit.

Round tower

Leaving Dublin, we first went to the 6th century monastic ruins at Glendalough.  Certainly one of the more interesting cemetery's I've ever been in, with thousand year old ruined churches, a round tower that was used to watch for marauding Vikings and Celtic crosses everywhere.

Top of the mountains

Shaping glass at Waterford

After leaving Glendalough we spent a lot of time on twisty turny roads in the Wicklow Mountains (hills in CA), finally ending up on the M9, a nice dual carriageway.  We reached Waterford in time for lunch, then a very interesting tour of what is left of the Waterford factore.  Yes, they still do make some things, with everything else being outsourced to Italy, Slovakia, etc.  Saw actual blowing, cutting, polishing and sculpting.  No wonder Waterford crystal costs so much.

 

Waterford town wall

Directly after this tour we met up with Jack, a local guide, who took us on a tour of the old Viking triangle, the walled part of the original town of Vadrafjordr, which means "Safe Water".  This has been changed over time to Waterford, and has nothing to do with fording the River Suir.

Another drive, this time ending up in Cork, and our hotel for the nighe.  After a nice meal, and with the sun still fairly high in the sky, it's time for bed, and the Blarney Stone tomorrow.

Mayonnaise eggs

Salmon with potatoes

roasted and mash

The Irish do like their potatoes.

Pt. of hard cider

England and Ireland---Day 10

Us, except for Nila and me

Flew out of Heathrow today to Dublin.  Jiti and Moni really do live only about 25 minutes away, if the traffic is right, which it was on a Sunday morning.

Caught my flight on Aer Lingus with no problem...and had time to stop at duty free and get a bottle of Pimms (thanks again, Navi), then on to the plane with no wait.  Unfortunately Heathrow had a problem with take off and landings this morning, so we were about a half hour late in taking off.  No problem, as I really didn't have a place to be at any time.  Reached Dublin and met the Brendan Tours representative at the airport.

St. Patrick's Cathedral

The taxi transfer was actually a chase as the driver was trying to catch up with the tour bus, which he did outside St. Patrick's.  I was in time to see the cathedral, and then on to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells.  The Book of Kells is very, very old, about 1300 years!  Wow!

Illumination from Book of Kells

 Thousands of old books
Trinity College "Long Room"

Tarte au Ciron

Back to the hotel, and then a very nice dinner in the hotel restaurant.  Look at the wonderful dessert, which is the only thing I took time to photograph.  I was starving as I had not eaten since 8:00 in the morning, and it was not 6:00 in the evening.  

It is warm here in Dublin as they are having a "heat wave."  It was actually 61° today, but it feels really muggy.  Time for bed.

England and Ireland---Day 9

Now have a list of new things I want to do in England, next time.  Kew Gardens, Darwin's home Down House, and a narrow boat cruise in the canals of England.  Now I have to decide when to come again so I can convince Moni to go on the narrow boat cruise.

Lawn daisies

Today was a very relaxed day.  Wet out as there was a thunder and lightning storm last night, and scattered showers today, sometimes heavy.  All said, I have been very lucky with the weather on this trip so far.  If anything, its been too warm, or at least warmer than I expected.

In front of Windsor castle

Drove into Slough today to change some dollars to euros.  Don't need a lot as cards are accepted at most places, but I like to have for incidental purchases.  After this we drove Aanya to junior zumba at Wentworth Club and sat and had coffee while we waited.  I was multi-tasking because my wash was being dried in Ascot as we sat.

Swans on the Thames

Moni, Ranj, Aanya and I went out for dinner at Harvester, where I had a nice fish and chips meal.  After this, we drove to Windsor and walked by the castle, and then down by the River Thames.  There Aanya had a good time feeding bread to the Queen's swans.  Then home to pack for my departure to Ireland tomorrow.

A royal feather

England and Ireland---Day 8

Our chariot arrives

Jiti and I took the bus into London today.  I had wanted to see the British Natural History Museum.  London has a congestion charge of £10 for driving into the central area from 7 AM to 6 PM on weekdays so taking the bus avoids this charge in addition to making it very easy to park---you don't have to.

Windsor Castle

Interesting ride in, as we were on the top of a double story bus, in the front seat.  The bus goes through Windsor (with a stop at Legoland) then Slough.  From Slough its an express to London, where the bus goes down Kensington Rd and lets you off about four blocks from the museum.  It only takes one and one-half hours of air conditioned comfort to get into London.

 Main hall. Check out
the dinosaur skeleton

Museum wasn't too crowded except for the school groups.  The dinosaurs were the worst.  The museum has an impressive collection of fossils and has them exhibited very well indeed, but, of course, that's where all the kids wanted to be.  This is a huge museum and choices have to be made.  We went to the Birds, which has not only existing birds, but also specimens of extinct species.  The dodo and passenger pigeon, for example.  In addition, there is a skeleton of a giant moa, a New Zealand bird hunted out of existence by the Maori.

A real Neanderthal skull
Not a model...real.

After a pick-me-up of coffee and a sweet, I went to the Treasures-Cadogan Gallery.  This is where the choicest of the Museum's 70 million specimens are displayed in one place.  I saw a first edition of "On the Origin of the Species," a page from Audubon's "Birds of America," a moon rock presented by Nixon, a dodo skeleton, and so on.

Getting out is harder than getting in.

We then caught the bus for the ride back to Ascot.  Ride home was two hours, half an hour longer, because of traffic.  Also warmer...guess I brought too much sunshine with me.

Windsor from the road.

England and Ireland---Day 7

2 up 2 down---to me, typical houses

Jiti, Moni, Amaya and I drove to Kent today.  First stop was the village of Hartley where Ranjivan's parents (who are Jandiala Johls) live.  After a very nice tea we left Amaya and drove into Gillingham to see Jit and his wife.  More tea...

Jit and Jiti  cricket test match

What usually happens...

Kent countryside

I do like the Kentish countryside.  Lots of open rolling hills with wheat, still green here, alfalfa, pasture with cows and sheep.  The only problem from a photographers viewpoint is the hedgerows.  You spend a lot of time on small roads driving through green tunnels.  Just as you hit an open spot with the views, and hit your shutter button, another hedgerow has blocked it.  Argghhhh...

Gravesend gurdwara

Ranjivan's dad, Parmjit, drove Jiti and I to see the gurdwara in Gravesend.  It is easily the largest gurdwara I have ever seen, and looks like it was transplanted from India straight to England.  It cost £12 million to build, and they are still working on it.  "Wow" was my first thought.  Great appliqué in the floor tile too.

After leaving the gurdwara we drove by the Thames. It is quite wide here, but hasn't yet reached the sea.

Kent sunset

After a lovely meal at Hartley (Darshan is a fantastic cook), we left Amaya with her Nani and Nana and drove back to Ascot.  Lucky it is light so late.  We reached home about 10:15 and it was still light out.

England and Ireland---Day 6

Fancy water aerobics site

Moni and I went to water aerobics this morning at the Berystede Hotel & Spa.  Many similar moves to those I usually do, but in an indoor pool with the water just a little warmer than I am used to.  Afterwards we sat in the hydropool, which is what I would call a jacuzzi, then the sauna, the salt room, then finally a nice shower.  I think the combination of the exercise with the warm water totally exhausted us, so much so that we decided not to go to the Natural History Museum in London today.

Mary Ann and Kulwinderjit

Moni offered to take me to visit a Facebook friend of mine, Kulwinderjit Hayre.  We had "met" on JJ Johl's Facebook page, Hayre or Hayer? many years ago.  Her family was originally from Moranwali which is near Banga in Hoshiarpur Dist (for those who care).  This was obviously meant to be, as she lives in a town only about 10 miles from Ascot.  It was very exciting to meet Kulwinderjit and it turns out she and Moni know some of the same people.  We had tea with some very nice pakori to eat.

Ranj and her Ascot hat

The Royal Ascot Races will be next week, and Ranj is going with a friend to the Royal Enclosure, no less.  Hats are mandatory, and the brim must be at least 4" wide.  I think the hat Ranj borrowed meets the requirements.



A note about the roses...they are fantastic, and the smell is so wonderful.  Too hot in the Central Valley to grow roses like this!

Days are so long this time of year.  The sun rose at 4:44 and it has not yet set at 8:45.  I think it's not supposed to set until 9:15 tonight, all of which makes getting children to bed at a reasonable time difficult---school tomorrow.