First Time From Afar

Before the leaving the U.S. from Providence RI where we had spent a day and night before our flight with our Daughter, my wife Mary and I were generally excited to be using Passports for the first time and embarking on an international flight to Dublin, Ireland where we would meet up with our tour guide and coach (bus) for a trip around The Emerald Isle.The day of our flight out Ashley had taken us to an old lighthouse near Jamestown, RI a  historic coastal area in the south She would later drop off us at the airport to begin our journey. The weather that day was what we thought we could expect for most of the next 10 days across the Atlantic maybe 10-12 degrees higher in latitude but similar temp and precipitation, windbreakers and hoodies. We would be pleasantly surprised as we traveled on.                                                    

 After our maiden 6 hour trans continental flight we were picked up from Dublin Airport by our touring coach driver and tour guide, in a Mercedes touring coach, both fortunately turned out to be wonderful at their jobs, After attempting to get a nap from the jet lag/time change we met up with most of our 45 fellow travelers who we would be spending much of the next 9 days with traversing the Irish coastal countryside.
Let me start with our tour guide Liz, born in Tralee ( a town we would visit on our trip)who resided in Dublin and would set the tone for our daily excursions around the coast of Ireland. Her demeanor was calm but she had us all on schedule everyday. She had a masterful knowledge like that of a well liked history teacher who made our lessons fun and full of local anecdotes.She dressed stylish and possessed a soft, Irish accent.
 The coach was comfortable and in 9 days we never spent more than 2 hours riding without a break. There was a system where we changed rows, skip and move up 2 every morning so as to be fair with views and meet new fellow tour travelers.After a few days of travel I figured that about half of those on the bus were from somewhere other than the US. Australia, New Zealand, Britain, Canada and Ireland made up the rest. Most were Mary and my age or older only a handful were younger than us.It made for an interesting mix.

From here I am going to bullet some trip highlights as we motored around the coast.
* DownPatrick- burial site of Saints Patrick, Brigid and Columcille. Remarkable that we stood in the area that 461 AD St. Patrick was buried.

* Belfast- I got the feeling that this city represented the economic turn around in Ireland since the downturn of the 2000's. Not only has it bounced back from  "The Troubles" which plagued Ireland as recent as the late 1960's it has revitalized itself in tourism, industry and technology, once again becoming a vibrant force in the world as a port city with the Titantic Experience and Game of Thrones exhibits and tours.Northern Ireland as a whole does have a bit of a different feel throughout.

Landmarks-There are so many cemeteries, castles, towers, churches in deteriorating states some with rivers and estates surrounding them each one with a tale of a battle or some historical significance.We would get off the coach sometimes for just a photo op and other times to walk about for a brief respite.

Villages and towns -Of course part of Ireland's charm are the many quaint villages and towns, especially along the sea. Londonderry, Donegal, Galway, Limerick, Dingle and Killarney were a few we spent time in. Each one hundreds of years old with little shops, pubs and restaurants.

Giants Causeway and Cliffs of Moher- Both of these natural seaside sights possess the visual breadth that speak for themselves and we were fortunate to have decent weather to walk among  them and appreciate each one and their own mythology surrounding them.

Since Cliffs of Moher was about half way on our journey I will break off here as Part 1 so as not to throw too much at you in one entry. Part 2 forth coming with Mary's search for roots, Ring of Kerry, and what the Irish version of "craic" means. Thanks for being with us this far.