Our Second trip to the the Emerald Isle
September, 2022
We first discovered this jewel in 2005 where we arrived at the Dublin airport, rented a car on the spot (after begging to get a car without a stick shift), grabbed a map and took off without plans. We ended up driving the Ring of Kerry. It was a week of pure joy.
This is a snap shot of what we did this past month
HouseSitting
Bray, Ireland
Dublin
Glendalough
Northern Ireland Derry (Londonderry)
Northern Ierland Belfast
We had a strong desire to return. Was it the delicious Guinness and Mussels? Inquisitiveness about my Irish heritage, friendly faces, green landscape? Several reasons contributed to the appeal of a ‘do over’. Despite the fact that we have so many untapped destinations to dig into, we wanted more time to feel and experience life in Ireland.
RETURN VISITS Top Reasons:
Dig deeper, uncover things you didn't the first time
More relaxed, no pressure
Be creative find something outside the ‘must do’ attractions, and yes, we already kissed the Blarney Stone
You have a knowledge base and can get things done easier
Having made connections you now have friends to go see
Cracking our first experience with official Housesitting
Asside from wanting a return visit to Ireland, International Housesitting is what brought us here. We became members on a housesitting website and this was our first official gig. Housesitting is actually ’pet sitting‘, and in this case it is for two darling Boarder Collies in Bray, just south of Dublin on the coast.
We arrived a week early in order to allow us time to be tourists and headed to Northern Ireland . Our hosts, Marion and Andy were so gracious in allowing us to stay before this sit. It also allowed Brett to practice driving their car on the left side of the road. Keep left Brett just keep left! Also we became familiar with the area, the house, and the doggie routine. We now have new friends in Ireland, a win-win.
We certainly love the Irish hospitality and said more than once that we never have felt like we blended in quite like we do here. Well as much as we can ‘blend in’.
That is blackberries, not dog poop, in the bag. Lucky it was fall and the berries were plentiful and the skies blue. With our pickings I even made a berry pie for the first time in over 20 years.
HOUSE SITTING allows for owners to go away and have their home and pets cared for. This in exchange for living in their home. It is not an income earning venture, but it gives an opportunity to be part of the culture and experience it from the inside. We get to know neighbors, friends and others who live in the area.
Our hosts, Andy and Marion headed for the Canary Islands where they suggested we check out for our next holiday, before our November house sit in South Africa. They even had connections for a great little rental of a friend of theirs. Spain and the Islands is an upcoming location in early November.
Walks only minutes from our house
The Harbour Bar, our host’s local Guinness Watering Hole. The live music was a delight.
Brett getting the hang of driving on the left.
Our ’yoga studio’ for the month. We successfully completed a 30 day yoga challenge while we were there.
Our traditional Irish home had tropical plants we had to keep alive.
Beautiful green fences and walls adorned the neighborhoods of Bray.
The town was located on the coast with a Promenade in the heart of the town
Our Irish born host Marion's darling 1930's house which was her parents. There is very little new construction in Bray, a community of about 40 thousand still has much of old Ireland
Brett on one of our Cliff walks. It never got boring that is for sure. We clocked just about 130 miles while we were there
We had one particularly rainy day where we lit a fire, drank tea and read the entire day. I enjoyed Marion's kitchen and experimented with lots of Asian cooking along with some traditional Irish Shepherds Pie and fruit pies.
The Irish supermarket ’Tesco‘ was very good to us. I walked or Brett drove on occasion. The Euro to the Dollar treated us well. Fresh produce was so inexpensive and very local. It was a joy to shop.
More info and specific blogs on our HOUSESITTING and how to HOUSESITTING adventures coming up. For now we will reflect and enjoy the experience of spending an entire month in this unique Island Nation.
DUBLIN City and its Charm
Was it what we remembered?
Just a train ride away. We jumped on the DART Train from Bray to Dublin in the late morning to catch some city vibes. We hit Merrion Square Park, The Oscar Wilde House and a big surprise was the fantastic National Gallery of Ireland. So cool.....all the classics Picasso, Yeats, Rembrandt and Vincent Van Gogh.
The exhibition Anne Yeats: Everyday Fantastic was on display. I am anxious to read more about this influential female who's family was a pillar in Irish history. I read a few Historical Novels about Ireland while we were here which is way more interesting when you are actually experiencing a country.
We absolutely loved this city visiting the first time, and the second was totally fun, but honestly you only get to experience a place for the first time once. So cliche I know, but so very true! There is something about a fond memory that is very tough to live up to. Never-the-less, we had a grand time. I think the past focus was pretty boozy focused and honestly a bit hazy.
We fully enjoyed good coffee, the music in the streets, loads of people enjoying the Sunny Saturday and of course--Brett and his lust for Guinness.
We did the gratuitous trip to the Temple Bar area, but what we were really after was some good Mussels. The Falafel and zippy dipping sauce was ya, yumma. Bridge 1859 Pub and Restaurant hit it spot on. It was not in the tourist area, so it was a pretty big walk but WELL worth it.
Filling a day in a city doesn't take much for us. We clocked about 5 miles. We are extra super careful walking here, and for very good reason, when we were eating lunch we witnessed a man on a bike get totally schmucked by an oncoming car. Lets say that the response time for the ambulance in Ireland is much to be desired. He appeared to be moving a bit by the time help arrived, so thank goodness it wasn't fatal.
During our international travels this was the second body we have seen get hit and it always is a stark reminder to be so, so careful. (Sorry Mom, yes this is the reality. And you thought it was frightening when we took up SCUBA diving)
Glendalough: Wicklow Mountains National Park
It was time for a day trip, so we trusted the GPS to help us arrive at a beautiful national park about 40 minutes from our stay in Bray. The driving is a challenge with every rule you have ever known being broken and navigating a 6 speed. Brett is getting pretty good at and for good reason. Our next 3 countries we will be sitting in all drive on the left hand side. We loved our side kick Mosey, the 5 year old Boarder Collie who was one of the main events on our daily walks.
What is the REAL draw to this Irish island? On our 4 mile walk through the national park, we talked about specifics of what make this such a desirable place to visit. There is just a calm feeling no matter where you go. The general population is not inundated with advertising and signage everywhere, the landscapes give off this green beauty that has a vibe that is hard to describe. It has been relatively sunny, but for the most part the weather in this country is quite ‘vanilla’. It doesn't change a lot from season to season averaging 50 percent sun and 50 percent cloud cover over the course of the year. The rain passes quickly as does the sun.
Let's Be REAL the People aren't the reason you go to a place, but they are always a factor that you talk about after your experience. The people of a travel destination nearly always make or break a trip, but this is never pre-contemplated before going. The general attitude, kindness factor and acceptability of visitors and one another is certainly part of this culture. Encountering people out and about is also part of culture. Everyone walks and truly enjoys the outdoors. Some of my very favorite memories was the countless number of conversations I had with locals on our daily walk
The weather is lovely my dear as my Irish-German Grandpa would say. I did dozens and dozens of walks while I was here and found myself saying the local greeting "Howya"to the folks I passed. The genuine contentment and love for their lifestyle is evident. What I call "the farmer weather talk" has its own twist here. As long as it isn't a shit show downpour, Irish locals think the weather is lovely. I guess not being so picky for a perfect day isn't such a bad thing. This attitude is total opposite of where we grew up. It was refreshing to be in a place where the weather truly is ‘vanilla’ for the most part and everyone is totally a-okay with that.
Northern Ireland: Complex, layered history
We traveled to Derry and Belfast for a weekend trip. The train ride was very scenic and we visited with friendly locals that were up for chatting and always excited about sharing their perspective. One gent was a local musician who was great company full of stories that kept us engaged the entire train ride.
Londnderry (Derry) “The Walled City”. Beautiful Georgian Architecture-17th Century Wall Encloses the city. One of the longest intact walls you will find in Europe with 7 very cool gates. You can walk on them, a dreamy easy 1 mile stroll or jog on a Sunday morning when no one is up!
We found a Bansky Painting near the wall! I am loving his story and mysterious edgy often controversial sketches that are found all around the world. Read about him, you will be glad you did.
Free Derry Tour. Not to be confused with a ‘free tour’ but rather Local activists volunteer to lead tours to explain the story of the Bogside neighborhood strife, Bloody Sunday and all the very complex issues that Northern Ireland has endured primarily during the ’Troubles‘ era but continues conflict today.
Our 2 hour walk took 10 of us through the neighborhoods and explained where a lot of the events took place. Local resident and volunteer Andy offered context which helped us understand a bit more. The Murals depicted a lot of the events over the past 3 decades including the hunger strike.
The conflict is political and nationalistic in nature not really a religious conflict even though ’catholic and protestant’ is often referred to as the two sides. It is really was not so much about that. Catholic ’republicans’ want Ireland's reunification and Protestant ’Loyalists’ want N Ireland to remain in the UK.
My take away from this tour was not just telling the historical story of N. Ireland but the conflict and the activists are about the passion for continuing to keep activism and human civil rights alive.
Enough of the past--some of Derry's other treasures and really cool shit. Did I mention that we found a BANSKY street art ??
BELFAST- just a quick stop on our way back to Bray. We opted not to spend the night and decided to do a "Pack Mule hit and run". We didn't want to soak in any more historical Northern Ireland history so we headed straight for the harbor area where the Titanic was built. What a well done tribute to the ones who perished and a grand ship of its time. We love ships and harbors so we found it close to our interest.
The Harbour was once the heart of Belfast, still working docks but its main event is the Titanic Belfast Museum. We were able to walk on the decks where the ship was built. Also home to the Titanic Studio where Game of Thrones was filmed. Lots of frekin' people in a concentrated area tho.........the most we saw in all of Ireland.
Was it what we remember from 17 years ago?
No, not really. Did we enjoy our experience, yes we most certainly did. It is cool how your curiosity and interest changes over the years. Dark pubs, copious amounts of beer, driving through local towns (until we were too drunk to drive) and staying at B and B's was our thing back then. Sheep, fluffy white sheep, I remember thinking they were everywhere last time????
Today we soaked up the tranquility of the dozens of hikes, took in the sea side as much as we could, loved cooking in the Irish kitchen, enjoyed every conversation we had with local folks who were engaging and inclusive and found as much street art as possible when in the cities.
I hope not to give you the wrong impression........Brett still enjoyed as many pints as he possibly could order when we were out. Our, ’home before dark‘ Pack Mule rule, really does put a damper on that number tho and a lot of the pub music starts well after our bed time. OMG......we sound like old people.
THANK YOU Ireland---It was a joyful month to start out our year of housesitting the globe. We could be perfectly content staying awhile but there are more cultures to experience and pets to fall in love with. Mosey my dear ---daily walks with you was definitely the highlight.
The Pack Mule Adventure continues. Come along......we are catching a flight to Scotland tomorrow.
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