The first picture was taken around 8:30 on Sunday morning and the next two were taken today at 7:30.
What a Difference an Hour Makes
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Category Archives: About Me
Westport – The Tidiest Town in Ireland
….2 days away from the hustle and bustle of Dublin
Heuston Station in Dublin. We decided to catch the early train to Westport so that we would have some time to explore when we arrived.
On Thursday, July 18th we booked out of our hotel in Dublin and took a cab to Heuston Station to catch our train to Westport. The train was fantastic. The seats were comfortable and we had a table between us where we could rest our electronic devices, books, magazines and drawing pads. The best part was that we had access to WiFi on the train, so that we could check our emails and write to our family back in Canada.
When we arrived in Westport, 3 1/2 hours later, we walked from the train station into town. Along the way, downhill (thank goodness), we walked past a huge stone wall and growing in between the stones we noticed these lovely flowering plants.
We found our bed and breakfast easily and even thought we were too early for check in, the owners kindly let us drop off our bags so that we could explore the town and get some lunch.
Westport is very much like Niagara on the Lake in Ontario. It’s very touristy and the streets are lined with numerous pubs, restaurants, cafes, and gift shops. All the shops are decked out with flowers and the streets are very clean. It literally did win the Tidiest Town award.
A beautiful small river runs through the town and on the south side, next to the large Catholic church a cozy pub, called the West Pub, advertised their prize winning chowder. Not only did it win once but two years in a row. It sounded like the perfect lunch to me. I wasn’t disappointed.
K had a bowl of mussels and he raved about them; said they were the best mussels he’s ever eaten. High praise coming from someone who is very particular about his mussels.
After lunch we checked into our room. It was very small but they had managed to squeeze a king size bed, a dresser. wardrobe and two night tables into this tight space. It also had a self contained bathroom with a toilet, sink and toilet. It was beautifully finished in tile from floor to ceiling. With the windows closed the room was absolutely sound proof from the street below but because there was no air conditioning we had to open our window. This wasn’t a problem the first night but on the second night (Friday) we were entertained by the sounds coming from the pub across the street. 
We spent the rest of the day checking out all the stores. K purchased a new over the shoulder bag to carry his camera and our lunch and water for the hike we had planned for the next day. I bought myself a cap to keep the sun off my head. It never occurred to me that Ireland would be so warm and sunny when we were packing our bags for this trip. Luckily the cap was only 4 Euro but I could easily have spent 40.
We were in a bit of a quandary as to what to do for dinner. We didn’t want a big fancy meal and we didn’t want fast food or junk food. We came across a small cafe that advertised a cheese board and wine. Perfect! Well almost perfect. Two things that we were really missing on this trip were fruits and vegetables. After our meal we stopped in the local grocery stored and picked up some veggies and dip and a couple of apples.
Our first night in Westport was quiet and relatively uneventful, outside of losing our package of ham from the window sill. To be continued……..
Getting Back to Normal
….with fitness and eating
We did an incredible amount of walking when we were in Ireland but my eating patterns were out of whack for me. I rarely drink beer so when we went to pubs I would have a pint of cider. I would rarely drink more than one glass and half way into the trip I realized that I could order half pints. With most meals I ordered mineral water but occasionally I enjoyed a glass of wine and one evening my husband and I shared a bottle of wine that came with the meal.
We were hoping we would be able to have a few light meals in our hotel room and only eat out once a day. We quickly discovered, however, that our rooms did not come with bar fridges and we couldn’t keep anything cool. One evening in Westport we went into the local grocery store to buy some vegetables and fruit. We also bought a small bottle of salad dressing and some ham to put into our salad.
Earlier in the evening we stopped at a small cafe and enjoyed a platter of cheese and a few crackers and a glass of wine. After we brought our selection of veggies and fruit back to our room we discovered we weren’t as hungry as we thought we would be. We ate the raw vegetables and hummus.
What were we to do with the salad, ham and dressing that we purchased? I think I’ve mentioned this before but Ireland was going through a heat wave while we were there and the hotels don’t have air conditioning. Well it was a few degrees cooler outside the hotel than in the room so I opened the window on the second story and placed the perishable foods on the window ledge.
The next morning the ham was gone. When I looked down to the street I saw the ’empty’ ham container lying on the sidewalk. We’re not sure what got on the ledge but there were a lot of very large blackbirds in the area. Do they eat meat?
Today, before breakfast, my husband, Frances and I started up our usual 5 k walks again. Frances was in a bit of slump since coming home yesterday. I think she was missing her buddy, Lucy. Going for a walk to the lake was just what the doctor ordered. Frances was in a better mood after she had her swim and K and I were energized for the rest of the day.
Churches, Statues and More Churches and Statues
….there certainly is no scarcity of either structure in Ireland
Ireland offers a myriad of church buildings and statues honouring city founders and heroes. One evening and then again the next day, while waiting for a bus I walked up and down the boulevard on O’Connell Street and took photos of the statues that one sees when coming into the city centre.
The churches in Ireland are old and predominately Catholic but one of the most famous churches in downtown Dublin is Anglican; St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
Built in honour of Ireland’s patron saint, Saint Patrick Cathedral stands adjacent to the famous well where tradition has it Saint Patrick baptized converts on his visit to Dublin.
The parish church of Saint Patrick on this site was granted collegiate status in 1191, and raised to cathedral status in 1224. The present building dates from 1220. The Cathedral is today the National Cathedral of the Church of Ireland (a church of the Anglican communion) and also serves as a popular tourist attraction in Ireland.
I don’t have any photos of the interior. This was the second church today that charged to walk through the doors. The cost to see both churches would have been 18 Euro for each of us or about $25.00. I understand needing the money for renovations but we found the prices were prohibitive, especially when there were three of us. I would have been happy to make a donation but that wasn’t an option. If you check out the website above you can see some interior shots and get some more history about this magnificent building.
The first church we stopped at was the Christ Church Cathedral. It is the oldest medieval church in Dublin and was founded in 1028 by the Norse King, Sitriuc Silkenbeard and associated with many important figures in Irish History, including the infamous Strongbow (Richard de Clare) and Dublin’s own Patron Saint, Laurence O’Toole.
Here are a few more churches that we came across in our travels throughout Dublin and Westport.
I’m Back Home
….after two glorious weeks in Ireland
We just got off the plane a little over two hours ago. I went through all the mail, threw away things in the fridge that I should have tossed before we left (yuck!!!), picked some vegetables from the garden and charged up my laptop. I’ve really missed the laptop. The iPad was okay but it gave me a lot of grief when I tried to keep up with my blog. I think I will write a critique about using an iPad when on vacation.
I’m anxious to upload the photos from my camera. I wasn’t able to do that with the iPad. I’ve a lot of wonderful moments and photos to share. Give me some time to sort myself out here at home (friends to phone, family to visit, and laundry to do) and I need to organize my thoughts and not repeat things that I have already posted.
First thing I need to do is go to the drug store and see if I can get some over the counter medication for pink eye. My poor husband managed to pick up a nasty case of it on his last day in Ireland; how or where he contacted it we’re not sure but I don’t want it. Poor Mr. Burgerhead. Don’t ask. It’s a name his cousin’s sons came up with after we spent some time with them. K actually loves the nickname and we miss the boys already.
A Word a Week Challenge – Roofs
….. in Ireland I saw some interesting roofs
Trinity College and the Library
……how can a librarian go to Dublin and NOT see the library at Trinity College?
One of the first places our son, B, wanted to see was Trinity College and its famous library. I took a tour of the place the last time we were in Ireland but I was happy to visit it again.
I’ve quickly learned on this trip that B isn’t interested in waiting in line or paying to see historical sites. In this regard he is very much like his father; in fact K didn’t even come with us to the college.
When we walked through the archway that leads to the campus grounds we recognized that the place was very busy and there was a huge line-up to get into the library. We settled for the gift shop, where we could walk right in and in one corner, if you looked up you could get a pretty good feel for the size of the library.
After purchasing a couple of books we made our way back onto the grounds and viewed the numerous statues and the interesting architecture. We discovered the outdoor track that was situated in the middle of an idyllic park setting. . We made ourselves comfortable on one of the many park benches and watched the runners, young and old make their way around the track. As my son said ‘ it was surprisingly relaxing watching other people run’.
National Museum of Art and Dublin Castle
……exploring art and history in Dublin
After visiting the Museum of Natural History, we made our way to the National Gallery of Art. It was surprisingly smaller than I thought it would be but there were numerous areas that were undergoing renovations and were closed off to the public.
We were treated to a variety of paintings from a very diverse group of artists, including Rembrandt, Caravagio, Picasso, Vermeer and Jack Yeats. Yeats, in fact had a large number of pieces on display. Personally I liked his large abstract pieces done with oils the best.
Unfortunately, but not surprising, I was unable to take photos in most of the gallery rooms. The one place I was able to take pictures was in the large, spacious cafeteria on the main floor of the gallery. Our son took the photgraph of me and my husband after we rehydrated with a bottle of water and split a muffin three ways.
Not too far away from the art gallery is Dublin Castle. Neither my husband or my son were very interested in seeing the interior of the castle but they were willing to check out the building, walls and courtyard. The castle itself is over 700 years old and was built by the English to implement the will of British royalty over the Irish people. In 1922 the power was handed over to Michael Collins and the Irish. Today the castle is used for for fancy state and charitable functions.
A tour of the interior is available but even the guide book described it as a boring room by room walk through. It was also the first attraction, today, that charged a fee to enter the building. Later we discovered that most of the historical buildings, including the churches charge an admission fee.
The Museum of Natural History
….a zoological museum, opened in 1857, famous for it’s Victorian cabinets and display cases
I’ve been having some problems with the iPad, especially with the text portion of my posts so I’ve decided to keep the writing to a minimum and focus on sharing the photos that I’ve taken.
After dropping off our laundry today we met up with our son and started on 8k walking tour. Our first stop was the National Museum of Ireland Natural History. It is one of the oldest museums in Ireland, housing over 2 million species of wildlife from Ireland and the four corners of the world. Some of the species still exsist today but many are long extinct.
The Best 10 Euros I’ve Ever Spent
……having someone else do my laundry We knew when we were packing that at some point on our trip we would have to do some laundry. Little did we know how expensive the hotel laundry service would be. We’ve been away for almost a week and tomorrow we’re taking the train to Westport. It was time to do some washing but laundromats are not as common as they are in Canada. We knew that the hotel laundry was not an option. A single pair of under pants would have cost us € 4 to have washed. In the city centre, we saw a cleaners that advertised doing your wash for €10 for a 5kg bag with same day service. It looked like our best option so I separated our dark and light coloured clothes and stuffed them into one of our carry on bags. We had arranged to meet Brendan at 11:00 at Stephen’s Green today so we left a little bit earlier so that we could drop off our laundry at the cleaners. Everything fell into place like a well orchestrated symphony. The distance we had to walk with the bag of laundry was very short, arranging for the wash was painless, the shop owner was very friendly and we could pick it up at the end of the day when we were ready to go back to our hotel. We had a great day with our son and I figured out that we saved ourselves over €120 by not letting the hotel do our laundry. No convenience or service is worth that much money.
Mama Cormier 