Churches, Statues and More Churches and Statues

Posted on July 27, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….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.

A Word a Week Challenge – Roofs

Posted on July 24, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….. in Ireland I saw some interesting roofs

National Museum of Art and Dublin Castle

Posted on July 19, 2013 by Mama Cormier

……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

Posted on July 18, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….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.

Walking, Double Decker Buses, Grafton Street, Buskers,

Posted on July 15, 2013 by Mama Cormier

……and another full Irish breakfast and more walking

Today I slept till almost 8:00. I slept for at least nine hours. Heavenly! I might have slept longer but my husband woke me because he wanted to start our morning walk. I quickly got dressed and without a cup of tea or coffee to start my day (K had been up for two hours and was well hydrated) we started our hike to Phoenix Park.

We took a slightly longer route today and headed toward the area where herds of deer are often sighted. We saw signs that deer had been in the area, such as scat and fur that had been shed; however, it was pretty late and the park was already busy with walkers, runners, cyclists, dogs and crews setting up for the afternoon concert.

I was just about to say that we were too late to see deer when all of a sudden we spotted one in the distance. By the time we got our cameras ready the deer had already disappeared into the forest. We also came across a pond with a lot of ducks, many which were unfamiliar to us. One looked like a cross between. a black chicken and a white faced duck. A little girl came by with her grandfather and fed the ducks bread. I’m not sure how healthy it is for the birds but there certainly was a massive feeding frenzy. Ducks from all over the pond ascended on the shore where we stood.

As the morning wore on I started to feel the effects of being dehydrated and the lack of caffeine. I love to walk but I was really dragging myself during the last third of the walk. Just before we got home we picked up some water and bananas from the local Spar Store. That little bit of nourishment helped me to motor on. Once home we saw that we’d gone for close to three hours and we had walked at least 8 k.

I started this post yesterday. I had so many problems with the iPad that I put it aside and went to bed. Anyway I wanted to say that 8 k didn’t seem right when we regularly walk 5 k in one hour. Well sure enough when we went over the map again I discovered that I had missed a huge section of the walk. We had actually walked 9.5 k and with the time spent at the duck pond and stopping at the Spar this made more sense.

Later in the day we took the bus into the city centre and headed toward Grafton Street. This is a pedestrian mall that is always busy. It was particularly crowded yesterday because a football game had just ended and it was Sunday and sunny and warm. A sure fire recipe for swarms of people on this popular street.

We enjoyed numerous street performances but my favourite was a group of bearded musicians who played modern Irish music. Another busker played an electric guitar made out of a Castrol oil can. After enjoying the sights and sounds of Grafton Street we made our way to Bewley’s Cafe, an icon in Dublin, for some much needed refreshments.

All told we walked a total 15k Yesterday. Today we met up with our son B and met his girlfriend. More about that tomorrow.

Canoeing

Posted on July 11, 2013 by Mama Cormier

This is the last of the stories I wrote on the weekend. In hind sight I’m glad I took the time to write then because over the last few days I’ve been very busy getting ready for our trip to Ireland. We leave tonight.

Canoeing to the Northern Most Tip of the Island

….to try our hands at fishing (casting style)

It was hot today but the lake was cool and calm. Perfect for a ‘long’ canoe trip. Well it seemed long for a novice like me. I was placed at the front of the boat and I paddled on my left. D was at the back, in charge of steering and her daughter was in the middle.

We packed the fishing rods, water and kneeling pads into the canoe and I put my trusty little camera into a ziplock back to keep it from getting wet. We all put on our life jackets (we were travelling over very deep water) and tied down the extra paddle, the bailing bucket and all our gear….safety first.

Getting into the canoe was a bit challenging. It was then I realized how tippy this vessel actually is. I started to worry about my camera. If we did tip it would go straight to the bottom of the lake. Once we were all in place the paddling began. There was a slight ripple on the lake on the way to Salt Cove (a name we made up years ago) and D had a bit of trouble keeping the canoe on track. The trip to the point took us over an hour to complete. As we got closer the water became very shallow and we had to look out for rocks sticking out of the water.

We were able to beach the canoe relatively easily and we walked over the stoney shoreline to an area where we thought the fish might bite. We were using casting rods today and artificial bait. I had never used either. The actual fly fishing was very relaxing and I can see why people like it so much. A few times I thought that something was nibbling on my fake worm but I think that most of the time I was getting caught up on the rocks. Both D and her daughter swear they saw fish in the water but all I saw were the reflections off the water made by the sun.

After almost two hours, we called it a day and got back into the canoe. By this time the water was as still as glass and the paddle home took only an hour. Empty handed and exhausted we pulled ashore and were greeted by D’s family. Funny how the fish stories of the ‘one that got away’ start.

No fish for dinner tonight but I was famished. It was almost 9:00 o’clock before I ate. I had a huge kale and cabbage salad with cold chicken. It was no fresh bass, pickerel or lake trout but it did the trick. Maybe we’ll have better luck tomorrow. D wants to go to the lighthouse side tomorrow and cast a few lines there. Hmmmm, isn’t that where the bears were last seen?

Happy Canada Day!

Posted on July 1, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..what am I doing today?

I’ll probably start my day with a long walk with my husband and our dog. On Sunday we walked for 5.1k, and the day before 4.9 k. Here are a few photos from Saturday’s hike through Col. Sam Smith Park.

I’m not sure what else the day holds for me. I had thought of driving to the cottage but I might wait until Tuesday when I can stop and pick up a few groceries on the way. Everything is pretty much closed today. Anyway it’s one in the morning and if I want to get up early for that walk I’d better be off to bed. Till later. Good Night!

It’s morning now and my post didn’t publish. Don’t know why. This is another problem that I frequently encounter. I’ll try again. By the way I think my husband went for the walk without me. Sigh!!!!!

Weber’s: A Cottager’s Delight

Posted on June 30, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..or is it?

On this Canada Day weekend many cottagers who are heading north to Orillia and beyond will be making a pit stop at Weber’s, an Ontario landmark. All the years that I’ve been going to my cottage on Georgian Bay I’ve never been to Weber’s, mostly because it’s not on the way for me.

Last weekend I passed Weber’s on the way to a friends place and on the way home I decided I needed to stop at Weber’s, just to say that I’ve been there and experienced one of their ‘legendary’ burgers.

Weber’s is a family run business that Paul Weber started in 1963. The burger hut became so popular that the Ministry of Transportation put up barriers between the south and north bound lanes on Highway 11 to keep people from crossing the busy highway. It was becoming a serious safety hazard. The barrier, unfortunately, seriously affected Weber’s business so they purchased a section of bridge from the CN Tower in Toronto and were given permission to erect it over the highway in 1983. To this day this is the only privately owned bridge, anywhere in Ontario, that spans a provincial highway.

Travellers now can park on either side of the highway and have easy and safe access to Weber’s. Over the years the business has been passed on to Paul Weber Jr. and many new additions have been made to the property. There are two separate entrances and two separate grilling stations to reduce the line-ups and picnic tables have been set up in well kept park like settings. There is also a diner style car on the property if you want to eat indoors.

I thought the line-ups would a problem for me but they have a very efficient system that gets you in and out very quickly. The burgers were good but I didn’t think they were any better than a Harvey’s burger or Southside burger. In fact these places have more options when it comes to toppings and choice of buns.

The organization has become so large that refrigerated box cars are on the property to store the meat and over 400 stores across Canada now sell Weber burgers. The weekend I went was before the long weekend in July, when the really busy summer traffic begins. I can only imagine that the line-ups will be considerably longer and the wait times as well. Would I stop there again? Maybe but I certainly wouldn’t go out of my way for a Weber’s burger. I know there are people out there that would disagree with me but a least I can say that I’ve been there, done that.

For more information about the history of Weber’s you can check out this link.

Cheers!

Ireland, here we come!

Posted on June 3, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..we bought our tickets yesterday

We’re really hoping that our son will be able to meet the Irish side of the family. Maybe we should have checked with the family before we booked our flight but we had to coordinate our time in Ireland with our son’s conference in Dublin. Well actually it’s his girlfriend’s conference but that’s neither here nor there. They will be arriving on the 14th of July and leaving the 21st and 22nd. Our son is staying one extra day to spend a little more time with us.

We will land in Dublin on the 12th and will be leaving on the 25th. We’re not sure where we’re staying but our son and his girlfriend have booked a room at a hotel. We don’t want to burden anyone so we’re in the process of checking out AirBnB.

We’re hoping to take in some art galleries. Maybe some of my Irish followers can suggest a gallery or two. We’re definitely going to check out the Royal Hibernian Academy, the National Gallery of Ireland, the Museum of Natural History and the Irish Museum of Modern Art.

It doesn’t look like we’re going to get over to Germany on this trip. Sorry Philipp. My family will have to wait until next year before we can visit. We’re looking forward to catching up with the Irish cousins. Hopefully some of them will be in town when we’re there.

Cheers!

Birds of Prey and Our First Farmers’ Market of the Season

Posted on May 25, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..a very spontaneous day

My husband and I rarely plan our weekends in advance. This morning when we woke up we decided to get an early start for our daily walk/run to the park. It was sunny but quite cool this morning so we layered up and put on cotton gloves. When we got about half a kilometre from the house we realized that we forgot to bring the poop bags so my husband headed back to the house and I tried to continue the walk with Frances. She would have none of it. She kept pulling back on the leash so I finally gave in and started walking back until we met up with K.

When we finally got to the rugby pitch there were people on the field, setting up for a game so we decided not to do our run and changed our route. Frances is great off leash when we run around the pitch because she just runs back and forth between the two of us. When we’re on the path she’s better on the leash which makes it more difficult for running so we both walked today.

Just before the pitch we came across this beautiful flowering tree in the middle of this very green patch of land. I loved the contrast of the mauve blossoms with the bright spring greens.

The route was a little longer and different from the one we normally take when we head out to the point. Today we had an unexpected surprise because a Spring Bird Festival was taking place along the route. There were dozens of bird watchers and numerous displays under canopies. One of the displays featured raptor birds prominently perched on the arms of their handlers. They were absolutely beautiful.

Once we were far away from the Bird Festival we let Frances off the leash so that she could go for a swim in the lake. After retrieving her tennis ball out of the lake several times she ran and ran and ran. She must have checked out every last little path along the route and went back into the water at different points for more swims.

On the way home our noses were assaulted by a very bad odour coming from Frances. We realized that somewhere on the walk she must have rolled in something disgusting. Once we got to the house K took her immediately to the backyard while I went inside and prepared buckets of warm water with doggy shampoo. She let us rub her down with the sudsy water and then stood perfectly still while we rinsed her with warm clear water. She was cooperative but you could tell she wasn’t happy.Our walk covered 6k.

Today was also the first day for the Junction Farmers’ Market. We were debating whether to ride our bikes or drive the car. After our walk K made us a wonderful breakfast of bacon and eggs and by the time we finished eating we didn’t have a lot of time left before the market was scheduled to close. Consequently we drove but we parked a fair distance from the market and we managed to add another kilometre to our walking distance.

The market was small but the vendors were very friendly and we picked up some fresh baby greens, honey, radishes and more plants for the garden. We’ve already lost one tomato plant. It was dug up and destroyed. We’re thinking it was a racoon. We’re replacing it with a zebra tomato plant and we’ve bought a couple of Jerusalem artichoke plants. A couple of vendors suggested spraying the plants with pepper. We’ll have to give it a try.

Later in the afternoon I went to Curry’s Art Store to buy a Gelli plate to try a new type of mono printing. I had checked out two different art stores when we were in the Junction this morning but neither store had heard of them. I’m looking forward to trying this technique and sharing my results with you.

Cheers!