Still Loving Ireland - Thanks Mom and Dad

One of the great things about having a condo on the Adair Manor Estate was that we could actually cook dinner when we didn't feel like going out to eat. In the picture above, we are eating a great dinner prepared by Ed and Thera out on our back lawn.
After dinner, Brad and I took a walk on the 850 acre estate.
On Sunday we drove to Limerick to see the church where my great, great grandparents were married. Alana and Erin are shown here with my parents in front of this church, St. Michael's Church.

Erin, Alana and Dan were dropped off at the Shannon Airport and the rest of us headed up to the coast of Donegal. The scenery was lovely and the castle at Donegal was open so we toured that for a bit.
One of the most interesting parts of the trip was the time that we spent in Northern Ireland. We spent the night in Londonderry in Northern Ireland, the only walled city in Ireland and one of the best preserved walls in Europe. The four of us are pictured in front of the hotel we stayed in, the Tower Hotel, which has had several car bombs outside of it since "the Troubles" started there on Bloody Sunday in 1972. We walked around the perimeter of the wall, approximately 1.5 kilometers. The British accepted the blame for the deaths during the rally on Bloody Sunday after a lengthy inquiry that ended June 15, 2010.
Here we are shown with a man we hired as a guide to take us around and tell us the history of the city. Garvin explained to us not only the ancient history of this part of Ireland but the recent history with the strife between the Protestants and the Catholics. He had a brother-in-law who was one of the 13 killed on Bloody Sunday.
There are so many shades of green in Ireland that it is no wonder that they say there are a 100 colors of green in the landscape. For the most part, our weather was beautiful and we were avoiding 100 plus degree weather in Los Angeles.
Driving along the coast in Northern Ireland, we would see old abandoned castles right on the cliffs above the ocean.
Helen is shown here at the Giants Causeway, a UNESCO site, made of basalt columns.
Our last stop before heading home was at Bru na Boinne, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, built about 1000 years before Stonehenge. It is on the east coast of Ireland and was a mound built to house the dead. We loved our trip to Ireland and especially enjoyed spending the 60th anniversary trip with our parents.

Cliffs of Moher, High Tea at Adare Manor and Blarney Castle

On Friday, we all drove to the beautiful Cliffs of Moher. The day was lovely and we were able to do some hiking around the area. Alana and Erin also stood in front of a funny sign that we found. That afternoon, the girls got dressed up and went for high tea at the Adare Manor. We are pictured in front of our villa which is adjacent to the Manor on the grounds of the estate. This manor with its 62 bedrooms and 54 fireplaces was purchased by an American in 1987, and then was made into a 5 star resort. The villas were added just 4 years ago. High tea was a lot of fun for the 6 of us. Ian and Brad played golf while we spent two hours at high tea. Last evening, since the guys had not eaten yet, we went to a pub in the village and watched the Women's World Cup for Rugby. Today we went to Blarney Castle and did the obligatory exercise of kissing the Blarney Stone. Erin is shown at the top of the castle with people in the background getting on their backs and leaning over to kiss the stone. Finally today, we drove a bit further down to Cobh, and the picture with Erin and Alana was taken with the harbor in the background at Cobh. This is one of the finest natural harbors in the world and was the last port that the Titanic stopped in before it headed across the Atlantic.

Ireland, The People are the Nicest in the World

The Waterford tour was excellent. I could have done a lot of damage in this store.
While the rest of the family went into the Jameson's brewery, Alana and I decided to try a little something more satisfying - two huge ice cream cones.
Just another beautiful castle dotting the green landscape.
Erin and Alana posing at the Rock of Cashel. The Rock of Cashel was the traditional seat of the kings of Munster for several hundred years prior to theNorman invasion. Few remnants of the early structures survive; the majority of buildings on the current site date from the 12th and 13th centuries. Cashel is reputed to be the site of the conversion of the King of Munster by St. Patrick in the 5th century. The picturesque complex has a character of its own and is one of the most remarkable collections of Celtic art and medieval architecture to be found anywhere in Europe.
When we went to the Rock of Cashel, over near Tipperarry, the old legend goes that if a person can touch their fingers around the whole statue, they will never have to see the dentist. . .looks like Lana didn't quite make it and will have to see a dentist frequently.
One of the best fish and chips place is called Ford's and everybody knows about it.
The next night we decided we had eaten out too much so we made a delicious potato cheese broccoli soup.. . it was excellent.
Here is the whole family just after we had presented Mom and Dad with a crystal pitcher designed specifically for them by Waterford.
This priory on the Manor property is lit every night and is a popular place to visit.

Ireland, Home of Our Ancestors

We arrived here in Ireland the other day, and immediately went to Limerick. Alana and Erin are shown here by the river in downtown Limerick, where their great great grandparents were married in St. Johns Cathedral.
We then went to Bunratty Castle and took a tour of the castle and the village buildings on the grounds of the castle. The present castle, last of a series on the same site was built around 1425. During the 16th and 17th centuries it was an important stronghold of the O'Briens-kings and later earls, of Thomond or North Munster. It is furnished with mainly 15th and 16th century furnishings in the style of the period of the Great Earl. The main block has three floors, each consisting of a single great room, or hall. The four towers each have six stories. The castle is entered by a drawbridge to the Main Guard.
We climbed to the top of the castle and had a great view of the surrounding countryside.
Alana and Sue are shown here climbing out of the dungeon.
Mom, Dad and Brad are shown here in front of one of the thatched houses on the castle property.
Here are the 2 townhouses that we are staying in. . .3 bedroom, 4 bath, a den, office, kitchen, dining room and living room with fireplace in each townhouse. Really a great set up!
We are shown here having Happy Hour while planning our next days activities.
We toured the Dingle Peninsula today and ended up here on the Inch Strand. This was where the 1969 movie, Ryan's Daughter, was filmed. We drove our car on the beach for a long way. We have two 12 passenger vans for our group.
Here we are having our first meal of fish and chips in the local pub in Killarney.
We hiked the four miles up the Gap at Dunloe. It was a great hike and we enjoyed the beautiful scenery.

Fenton's and Fun in NorCal

We had a great trip to Northern California thanks to the Crumps. . .but what is a trip to the Bay Area without a trip to Fenton's Ice Cream Parlor (made famous in the movie Up). Pictured above is Ethan (aka Little Buddy and Fums) staring across the table at what he hopes will be his dessert.
Elise was just happy to be able to ride on the little cars outside of Fenton's (and was concerned that they didn't move). Only we knew that it took fuel consisting of 25 cents to do that.
Ellie and Gavin could hardly wait to dig into their sundae. . .what a treat!
Allison and Alana smiled as they started on their sundae, protesting that they would never be able to eat it all. . .they did.
The two aunties posed with the kids in one of the trees near Point Reyes.
Elise was pretty happy to be going on a hike with Mom.
Ethan was happier that he was getting a ride. . .good thing Ster is in good shape from training for the marathon.
Ethan sees a cowboy in his future. He seemed to know just what to do on the saddle and started rocking back and forth.

Evan in Argentina

Evan just sent this picture and is showing one of his favorite drinks. He wrote "This picture is of me using maracuyá. It is so good." Fortunately, he is still wearing his Finlay for City Council shirt. . .hope there are some voters down there.

Northern California Trip

This past week, we drove to Northern California - and of course one of the first stops was Ghirardelli Square for some hot fudge sundaes.
We hiked down to the lighthouse at Point Bonita. Here part of our group is shown with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.
We also went up to Point Reyes and hiked to the steps down to the lighthouse. It wasn't open so we will have to make the trip again when it is open.
We stayed at a Youth Hostel at the Marin Headlands. This house where we stayed was one of the homes occupied by the officers at this former military facility.
Here we are enjoying breakfast in the dining room. They had a full kitchen where we could prepare our meals.
Here is Coco at the Marine Mammal Rescue Center at the Marin Headlands. She thought this was a real otter and offered her blanket (or bullah as she calls it) to it. Below are the two Megans with their children at the Marine Mammal Center. We had a great trip, thanks to Helen's great planning skills.