Is London Really Exotic?
As is the case for most couples just starting out, the vacations for those first few years were budget conscious affairs. We made the most of them. We spent many weekends exploring cities in the United States, camped in the mountains and on beaches, as well as driving along and exploring the California coast. However, the first big “exotic” vacation was in the summer of 1987 when we visited the city of Antwerp in Belgium then England, Wales, and Ireland.
People may not consider these locations as “exotic” as, for example, ancient Egyptian ruins, but for us this was going to be the first time either of us was to travel to another country not named Canada. Jeanmarie had just graduated with her Masters in Social Work from Columbia University and I was about to transfer to a new job. We had things to celebrate. What we didn’t know then was that this was going to be the first of three trips to Europe in three consecutive years. Each successive trip built on those that came before it.
This was the most adventurous vacation we had taken up to this date, but it was by no means extravagant in terms of luxury. It was still early in my career. I was making a small but adequate salary for the time, and since Jeanmarie had not yet started her new job, our budget did not allow for any real extravagance. In hindsight, after spending most of whatever savings we had on fixing up the money pit we called home in Jersey City, (in addition to borrowing money from family members), planning to spend almost a month in Europe does not seem financially responsible. However, being young, in love and with a need to celebrate the end of a multi-year anxiety filled academic journey, we put our two American Express cards to use and threw caution to the wind. We made it work.
This was 1987, long before the internet made its appearance, and our source of literature about the places we would visit on the trip came from travel guides, recommendations from friends, the New York Times Travel section, and lots and lots of maps. All proved to be quite necessary.
Jeanmarie’s go-to source was the NY Times Travel section and she saved, (by physically cutting out the articles from the paper), many articles about the places to which we were planning to travel. Recommendations were also a reliable source of information, especially for our stays in Antwerp, Belgium and Cobh, Ireland. However, the sources that turned out to be the most invaluable were Fromer’s Guide to the United Kingdom on $30/day (or was it $35) and our maps. We started the trip staying with friends in Antwerp, and then had made reservations for a place to stay in London. Beyond that we completely relied on the Fromer’s guide to help us book accommodations as we traveled from place to place. It was also a great source for good, affordable restaurants and tourist attractions.
The bulk of the three- and half-week trip took place in England, Wales, and Ireland, however the first stop was Antwerp, Belgium. Normally when you think of European vacation spots, Antwerp is not at the top of that list. However, there was a good reason to start our trip in this historic city. We knew people who lived there, Joyce and Henny.
Jeanmarie met Joyce when they were both pursuing their graduate degrees from Columbia. Joyce’s partner, Henny, was born and raised in Antwerp and after Joyce’s graduation they went to live there. They invited us to begin our vacation by staying with them in their very small city apartment. This worked out well for our diminutive budget. Being very tired from our first ever transatlantic flight, we took a brief nap when we first arrived. We had no definitive plans while staying in Antwerp relying on Joyce and Henny to show us around the city. Once we awakened from out nap, we wanted to take showers before heading out. This ended up being the first of many adventures.
I mentioned that their apartment was small. It was so small that there was no shower or bathtub. Instead, they shared a shower with their upstairs neighbor. Before Joyce brought Jeanmarie up to meet the neighbor and use the shower she warned us that he was “a bit odd,” but she forgot to mention the bird. Jeanmarie has a fear of birds. A true phobia. You can only imagine her reaction when she encountered the free flying cockatoo that reigned as king in the neighbor’s apartment. It was quite a beginning to the trip.
The City of Antwerp has a culturally rich and violent history. The city is located on the River Scheldt and with its access to the North Sea Antwerp has historically been an important port city. According to Wikipedia, Antwerp was a sought-after strategic military port dating back to the first Crusades in the early 11th century. Over its history it was conquered by many different armies because of its strategic importance, including the Nazis during World War II. The fact that Belgium has three official languages: Dutch (Flemish), French and German give evidence as to its many conquerors throughout history. It is still an important port to this day. It is the second largest merchant port in Europe, (second only to Rotterdam in the Netherlands). Antwerp was also a hot bed of Nazi resistance during World War II and references to the “underground” resistance are noted throughout the city. It is also known for its architecture and its beer. Did I mention beer? Belgian beer is world renown and since I was strictly a beer drinker in 1987, I was looking forward to trying Belgian’s best.
Being Tourists
It is difficult to anticipate what you will feel like knowing that you are about to see and experience a foreign country for the first time. Any references or impressions that we had regarding what western Europe would be like were certainly going to be influence by what we learned in high school history, fictional stories, TV, and movies. The adrenaline rush of seeing something for the first time cannot be anticipated. Joyce and Henny led us on a tour of this magnificent city. Having someone who grew up in the city as your tour guide is something special. Of course, they took us to tourist locations, but mostly we walked around the city neighborhoods and they would point out significant landmarks. It was thrilling seeing and walking into buildings that were constructed centuries before any European conquerors set foot on North America. The musty smell of the stone, the darkness of the rooms, (despite the relatively new electric lights), and the overall aura of the buildings simply had us awestruck.
More than that, we were taken aback by the juxtaposition of the old vs. the new. We would experience all this a number of times on our future trips, but you tend to remember the first time much clearer. For example, seeing a McDonalds in a building that was probably 300 years old was just mind blowing.
We were in Antwerp for only a few days. In addition to sightseeing, Joyce and Henny took us to their favorite bars and restaurants, within our budget of course. One such place was a tavern called De Vagant. Its specialty was an alcoholic beverage called Genever. Genever is sometimes compared to gin as it is made from juniper berries just like gin, but it also includes grains, so it is more like a cross between gin and whiskey. We tried a few shots of assorted flavors of Genever and liked it. The tavern was a great little place and the server had fun educating the American tourists. We liked her so much we took a picture of her. We also purchased a couple De Vagant shot glasses as souvenirs which we held onto for over 30 years until 2020 when they became part of the purge during our move out of our Maplewood home. I did enjoy Genever, but I enjoyed the Belgian beer much more. The beer I enjoyed the most is called Duvel. Think of it as the Budweiser of Belgium. It is sold everywhere. What was unique, at least to us, was that each brand of beer had its own special drinking glass. That is now more common with the popularity or craft beers, but for us in 1987 it was new.
On a sad note, I performed an internet search looking for De Vagant and it appears that it is a casualty of the Covid pandemic as it closed in 2020.
Off to London
Our next destination was London, England. As our budget did not allow us to fly from Antwerp to London our other choice was to take a ferry across the North Sea. We booked passage on the now defunct Jetfoil Hydrofoil from the Belgian coast city of Zeebruge to the “white cliffs” of Dover, England. (Note: I first heard about the “White Cliffs of Dover” listening to my dad’s big band collection. The song by that name, sung by Vera Lynn in 1942 was a favorite of the British soldiers returning to England from the battles of WWII). From Dover we took a 75-minute train ride to Victoria Station in London.
As I indicated earlier, we made advanced reservations for accommodations in only Antwerp (at Joyce and Henny’s apartment) and in London. Given that London was a big city we wanted to ensure that we had researched places to stay prior to arriving and found a small boutique hotel in the Kensington District in London on a street that look something like the picture to the left.
Booking trips since the introduction of the internet allows us to have the world literally at our fingertips and little is left to the imagination. We can view pictures and videos, get up-to-the-minute reviews of restaurants, hotels, attractions, etc. We can book and manage reservations for anything you can imagine, all on-line. That was not the case in 1987. All this efficiency comes with a price. Our impression of the places we were to visit on these early trips were only influence by pictures in travel books and scenes from movies that may have been filmed in these locations. To actually see these places in person was nothing short of thrilling. This is not to say that we do not have great adventures when we travel today, but there was something romantic about “not knowing”. This trip was all about discovery, not only because of the lesser number of resources, but also because it was our first really big adventure. London would not disappoint.
Where’s my Guinness?
Upon arriving in Victoria Station, we were extremely glad it was an English-speaking country since we immediately became overwhelmed by the hustling and bustling of this commuter hub. It gave me a sense of empathy for tourists arriving in Penn Station, NY for the first time. However, Penn Station looks nothing like Victoria Station. Victoria Station was built in 1860 and Penn Station while it was considered a beautiful landmark when it was first built in 1910, was tragically torn down and replaced with a building that was universally considered deplorable. In fact, it was this travesty that prompted the architectural preservation movement in the United States. Victoria Station looks unchanged from its original design of 1860, as do a lot of London’s centuries old architecture.
After retrieving our luggage and before finding one of London’s famous Black Cabs, I wanted to experience a proper English pub and taste a pint of Guinness Stout. We set off on foot and went into the first pub we found. I don’t remember its name or exact location, but I do remember that I was disappointed. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I was not expecting Guinness to be served warm. Oh, well! Live and learn.
Being Tourists, again
After arriving at our hotel, we were excited to begin our first adventure in London. We were only in London for 4 days, so we didn’t waste any time. We immediately set out to see as many of the main tourist attractions as we could. We visited Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, the Parliament, Piccadilly Circus, the Tower Bridge and Trafalgar Square. We went into the Museum at the Tower or London to see the Crown Jewels and were awestruck by the displays of artifacts from medieval London including an actual suit of armor worn by a Knight. We even went to the cheesy Dungeons of London attraction and Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum where I said hello to Bob Geldof from the pop music group Boomtown Rats and the organizer of the famous Live Aid concerts.
Of course, you cannot visit London without going to Buckingham Palace and witnessing the changing of the guards.
While we were at Buckingham Palace, we had a big thrill as we saw a large official looking brown sedan leaving the palace grounds. We were close enough to see inside and it was Queen Elizabeth and Princess Diana. Jeanmarie quickly took this picture and while it is difficult to see inside, you can make out their silhouettes.
Bloody Yank
Our hotel was very small and quite lovely. However, since it was so cheap there were no extra amenities. For breakfast, every morning I would walk to a local shop and get pastries and coffee/tea. On one of those mornings, I noticed someone attempting to parallel park her car without much success. When she saw me walking towards her, she desperately asked if I could please help her. I had never driven a car with the steering wheel on the right side, but I thought, “How hard could it be?” After all I lived in Jersey City, NJ and since we always had to parallel park, I considered myself a master parallel parker. When I responded, “Sure. No problem,” in my very NJ accent her demeanor went from relief to despondent. “Great, a bloody yank.” Well, this “bloody yank” parked her car with ease.
Driving
Our biggest adventure in London came when it was time to leave the city. Since the next leg of our journey was to drive through the southern English countryside it required us to rent a car. We had arranged to rent a car while in London which in hindsight was not a great idea, as the first place we were to drive on the other side of the road was the major metropolitan city of London. It was hard enough walking in London and remembering to “look right” when crossing the street, never mind navigating the streets in a car. I was a bit nervous, but I did just fine. Once we found our way out of the city and onto a major motor way I began to relax. On to southern England and Exbury Gardens.
Exbury Gardens
Jeanmarie chose Exbury Gardens in Southampton as part of our itinerary from an article she read in the NY Times Travel section. In addition to the beautiful gardens the article also mentioned that there were wild ponies that roamed the countryside. The ponies, the gardens and even the extremely large rhododendron bushes/trees that lined the country roads all exceeded expectations.
As would be the case for the remainder of our trip we used the Fromer’s guide to find places to stay and restaurants to visit. We found lovely B & B near the gardens. After settling in we set out to visit the gardens, however prior to arriving at the gardens we stopped and purchased some bread, cheese and fruit. We enjoyed a lovely picnic lunch while in the gardens. We found a nice spot near a flowering tree and literally broke bread with chunks of cheese and fruit while sitting on a tree stump. The serene setting including the multiple variety of flowers and trees coupled with a beautiful late summer day in southern England made for quite the romantic experience. Plus, it was an inexpensive lunch which, on our budget, was key.
The gardens were stunning.
We selected a quaint Inn for dinner. The New Forest Inn is a traditional 18th century pub. Given that it was near Exbury Gardens and the New Forest National Park there was bound to be a mixture of locals and tourists. They were very welcoming. We selected a table out on their back patio, and we had a lovely view of the back garden filled with growing herbs and vegetables. There was also a quaint little duck pond. I’ve mentioned Jeanmarie’s fear of birds, but the pond was far enough away from the patio for her to feal comfortable, or so we thought.
While this was a proper English pub, the menu offered more than standard pub fare. I don’t recall what I ordered, but Jeanmarie’s selection was unforgettable. She ordered the duck breast. When the food was brought to the table, she was excited to dig in as she loves duck. Just as she was about to begin, she noticed a couple of small feathers and panic began to set in. We called the server over and Jeanmarie asked, “Is this one of those?” She pointed to the duck pond. “Yes, fresh killed.” He said proudly and then walked away. Jeanmarie pushed her plate away and sighed, “I’m done.”
The next day we left Southampton to travel north to visit Bath, England and the famous Stonehenge.
Bath and Stonehenge
Many of the roads on which we traveled during this trip were narrow country roads, barely wide enough for two small cars to pass going in opposite directions. In the open countryside, which was very common in Ireland and Wales, this was fine. The road out of Southampton was lined with high grass and bushes which made seeing around curves difficult. On more than one occasion we encountered an oncoming vehicle as we went around bends in the road. We didn’t really come close to any accidents, but I do recall being a bit nervous. Especially since my instincts were to swerve in the wrong direction. I drove very slowly until we made it to the main road, much to the chagrin of any vehicles behind me. Once we did make it to the main road it was a straight shot north on route A36 right up to Bath. It was about a 2-hour drive.
Bath is located in the county of Somerset in the valley of the River Avon. It got its name from the historic Roman baths which were built around 60 AD from nearby hot springs. The baths still exist today (although they are unsafe to use). As we got closer to our destination route A36 brings you over a small mountain and the city of Bath is presented to you down in the valley. It is a magnificent view of old medieval buildings on the side of mountain. These buildings do not lose their magnificence even up close. This was a very interesting city to visit. The history is fascinating and the fact that the “baths” still exist is really amazing since they were first used almost 2000 years ago.
We stayed one night in Bath at an Inn up the hill from the main town. In addition to the great views of the town we got in some great exercise climbing the hill to the Inn. The following day we went to see the famous stone formation, Stonehenge.
From Wikipedia.com: “Archaeologists believe that Stonehenge was constructed from 3000 BC to 2000 BC. The surrounding circular earth bank and ditch, which constitute the earliest phase of the monument, have been dated to about 3100 BC. Radiocarbon dating suggests that the first bluestones were raised between 2400 and 2200 BC, although they may have been at the site as early as 3000 BC.” This ancient stone structure has been the source of many mystical theories. It is amazing to think that structures like the pyramids in Egypt, Machu Pichu in Peru, Tikal in Guatemala and Stonehenge were built so long ago with crude instruments. They are bound to generate interesting theories.
We were going to visit Stonehenge on our way to our next destination, Cardiff, Wales. As we left Bath it began to rain. It was a hard rain. The kind that wins the battle with the windshield wipers. We took it slow and made it without issue. However, it was still raining pretty hard when we arrived so we stayed inside the car in the parking lot to see if it would let up. It didn’t, so we got our very small umbrella and rushed across the street to see the monument. It was like the Grand Canyon scene in the movie National Lampoon’s Vacation. We stayed long enough to take a couple of pictures, looked at each other and said, “Let’s go!” Then ran back to the car.
An interesting side note: The parking lot in which we were parked closed down in 2013 because human bones were discovered underneath the pavement. As a result, archeologists have determined that it was an ancient burial grounds as the age of the bones match that of the monument lending further evidence to the theory that Stonehenge had some religious significance.
Wales
Wales is one of the 6 Celtic regions. The other five are Ireland, Scotland, Isle of Man, Brittany and Cornwall. Like the other Celtic regions Wales has its own language, Welsh. English is the predominant language, but Welsh is still spoken. Even when English is spoken by the Welsh people it is heavily influence by their ancestral tongue. Sometimes it was very hard for us to understand and made for some interesting conversations. We stayed in Wales for a few days as our travels started in Cardiff in southern Wales and we made our way up to the Port of Hollyhead in the north, with a stopover in Liverpool and Blackpool back in England.
Jeanmarie had read about a small castle that was giving tours. We don’t recall the name, but it turned out to be someone’s home. It was not unusual for inhabitants of these old castles to offer tours as a way to earn money to help with the upkeep of the property. When we arrived it looked like the place was abandoned and the only way to get to the front door was to walk through a gate into a yard that was filled with different kinds of fowl. There were chickens, roosters, ducks and even a few peacocks. Jeanmarie was not pleased. We quickly made our way through the yard and began to bang on the door as Jeanmarie muttered “come on, come on, open the door, open the door”. We began to pull on the door frantically to try to pull it open. Someone did come to the door and opened it inward. All we had to do was push the door and it would have opened. It was quite comical. We then proceeded to tour the castle on our own. I took a picture (a rather blurry one) of the yard as we were leaving, but there was only one peacock still there. The other birds were no longer in the yard.
The remainder of our stay in Wales was uneventful except for the incredibly beautiful countryside. As we did in England, we would eat bread and cheese for lunch and find B & B’s to stay each night as we made our way up to northern Wales. We finished our visit to Wales by exploring the historic 13th century Caernarfon Castle. Of all the places we visited in the United Kingdom and Ireland over the years Caernarfon Castle is the setting that most evokes the romanticized history of the knights of the Middle Ages, and with good reason. Here is a brief description of its genesis as per Wikipedia.com;
“War broke out between England and Wales on 22 March 1282,…[and] in 1283 Edward I was victorious. Edward marched through northern Wales, capturing castles such as that at Dolwyddelan, and establishing his own at Conwy. War finally drew to a close in May 1283 when Dolbadarn Castle… was captured. Shortly afterwards, Edward began building castles at Harlech and Caernarfon. The castles of Caernarfon, Conwy and Harlech were the most impressive of their time in Wales, and their construction—along with other Edwardian castles in the country—helped establish English rule.”
Our travels also took us through beautiful Snowdonia National Park. The weather was not ideal, misty and overcast, so the pictures do not do it justice.
Blackpool and Liverpool
Liverpool is about an hour from Snowdonia National Park and Blackpool is an hour beyond that. We were visiting Liverpool because of the Beatles, of course, but we were more interested in finding out about Blackpool, as it is, according to Jeanmarie’s dad, where her Hargrave ancestors lived.
In 1987 Blackpool was a very blue collar, lower middle-class city. Its claim to fame is that it is a seaside resort city complete with amusement piers not unlike Atlantic City. Also, like Atlantic City it had seen better times. It was quite rundown. When I looked up current reviews of the city it appears that it may have improved over the last 35 years, but not by much. Regardless we enjoyed our stay, and it was a thrill for Jeanmarie to be in the city where her ancestors lived. We even went into a phone booth and looked up Hargrave in the phone book. There were pages of them.
We were a bit surprised by Liverpool. We thought there would have been more references to the Beatles history than there was. We did find one statue of the Fab Four. Now, in 2022, there are many references, statues, etc, but in 1987 we only found the one. We also found a statue honoring Bob Geldoff and Live Aid.
Our next destination was Ireland.
Peat Farm
The Wicklow Mountains
To get to Ireland we took a 3 and 1/2 hour ferry ride from Hollyhead, Wales to Dublin, Ireland. For some reason we decided not to stay in Dublin. Instead, we rented a car and drove down to a town right below Dublin called Bray. It was late and we only stayed for the one night and set out early the next morning and traveled over the Wicklow mountains on our way to our next destination, Cashel. We did stop at some point while going over the mountains and learned about peat farming. Peat, not to be confused with peat moss, is a source of fuel for heating and cooking, among other uses, and is a thick growth of vegetation. Traditionally once it was harvested it was cut into bricks for sale.
Driving through Wicklow we saw many peat farms and the Wicklow mountains were stunning.
Cashel and John Powers, Three Swallows
From Wicklow we were going to stay in Cashel in county Tipperary in south central Ireland. We checked into a lovely Inn with an immaculate front garden and from the front porch you had a great view of the Irish countryside. The countryside around Cashel, besides being beautiful was also the location where the John Wayne/Maureen O’Hara movie, “The Quiet Man”, was filmed. It was evening when we arrived. The Inn had a shared living room space where we could enjoy some tea and snacks where we met 2 couples who were from Connecticut. One of the men had his own traveling bar with him. It was an elaborate suitcase that included a space for multiple bottles of liquor, a shaker, stirrers and two scotch glasses. It was quite impressive.
The next day we toured Cashel. The Rock of Cashel is a 12th century Gothic Church/Castle and sits atop a large hill and below it is the town of Cashel. We didn’t visit the Castle as, if I recall correctly, it was not open to visitors. It is open now and has become one of Ireland’s most popular destinations. The Town of Cashel is a lovely town made up of old, restored medieval structures as well as more modern buildings.
We were planning on having dinner at the famous Castle Hotel, but when we entered the dining room it was a very formal and expensive restaurant. We opted to eat at their pub which was down below ground. We were quite happy with that. As we finished up our meal the bar tender, who was also our server, asked if we would like to have an Irish coffee. I was still enjoying my Murphy’s stout, which I enjoyed much more than the Guinness I drank in London. However, Jeanmarie said she was game to try it. She told the gentleman that she had never had Irish coffee before and in the thickest of brogues he told her, “You must have it with John Powers whiskey. Not that Jameson crap. Not just any John Powers, mind you, it must be ‘Three Swallows’.” “Three swallows, like this” Jeanmarie asked and then made gulping sounds. “No, three swallows, like the bird” and then he proceeded to flap his arms like a bird. We all laughed at the silliness. He showed us the label which sported a picture of three birds. Jeanmarie liked her Irish coffee so much we make sure that we have John Powers in the house 35 years later in case she gets a craving. After dinner we went back to the Inn.
Unfortunately, Jeanmarie had another negative experience with Irish fare and got a bit sick from, we believe, the bits of ham that were in her tomato soup that she had for dinner. We stayed at the Inn one more night and then after she recovered, we set out for Cobh (pronounced Cove) in County Cork. On our way we stopped in Waterford to purchase a small piece of famous Waterford Crystal as a gift for my mom.
Earlier I mentioned that there were two places where we relied on recommendations from others. Antwerp was one and Cobh was the other.
Cobh
Jeanmarie’s cousins, the DeMatos, are friends with a family named King who live in Cobh. The Kings invited us to call on them once we arrived in town and offered to show us around. When we arrived, we used the Fromer’s Guide and found Mrs. Brown’s B&B. Mrs. Brown met us at the door to check us in. She was not very friendly and, in fact, when I told her my name and spelled it for her, she said quite curtly, “You spell it wrong!” I was taken aback, and she followed that up with, “I bet you don’t know where you’re from.” I answered her that I believed we were from County Mayo. “Wrong” she exclaimed. “The Kearns clan, spelled with an “a”, is from the Wicklow mountains”. Jeanmarie and I just looked at each other, took our key, and went up to our room. We were about 2 1/2 weeks into our 3 1/2 week trip and Jeanmarie was beginning to get a bit homesick. Neither one of us had ever been away for so long and it was starting to get to her. Mrs. Brown’s caustic attitude did not help. The B&B’s in which we stayed sometimes had access to a TV. As we were getting settled into our room, we heard the theme song from the popular American TV show Family Ties coming from somewhere downstairs. This cheered up Jeanmarie as it was a sound from home, and we went to find the TV. Unfortunately, it was Mrs. Brown’s private TV and there was no TV for guests. So much for cheering up. However, the Kings hospitality was just the elixir that was needed.
Sean and Eileen King were friends of the DeMatos for years and each family would stay with the other when they visited. We met with Eileen King and her 17-year-old son Michael at their house. Sean was up in Dublin on a business trip. We stayed for a few hours and Eileen regaled us with funny and amazing stories told in a way that only the Irish can. It was much needed laughter. Michael then offered to take us to a local pub and show us around Cobh.
Cobh is a historic seaport town. The town starts down at the water and progresses up the steep side of a mountain which leads to some pretty intense cardio exercise. In 1987 it was a town in decline. A major source of employment was a nearby chemical plant that had recently shut down leaving many people unemployed. The Kings were lucky because Sean worked for the Irish postal service, so his job was secure. Since that time, the town rebuilt its economy around tourism and today it is doing much better. Besides it being a seaside town a number of historic events had taken place in the Cobh harbor. It was the last port of call for the Titanic before it set off for its fatal voyage, and there was another shipping disaster associated with Cobh. The passenger liner RMS Lusitania was sunk by a German U-boat during World War I off the coast of Cobh while traveling from the US to Liverpool on May 7, 1915. Many people perished and this flagrant act of murder was instrumental in turning opinion against Germany and ultimately leading to the United States to join the war. The Lusitania Peace Memorial is located in Casement Square, opposite the arched building housing the Cobh Library and Courthouse.
Annie Moore Statue
Cobh was also an important port during the migration of the Irish to America during the terrible famine years. There is a statue commemorating the first immigrant to pass through the gates of Ellis Island in NY Harbor. On January 1, 1892 18 year old Cobh resident Annie Moore and her two brothers are documented to be the first immigrants to be processed through Ellis Island. Two identical statues were erected to honor them. One is in Cobh and the other on Ellis Island.
Another attraction is the Cathedral Church of St. Colman. This Roman Catholic church is the tallest in Ireland. We stayed in Cobh for a couple of nights and visited the nearby city of Cork where we found a place to do some laundry.
After Cobh we set out for the Dingle Peninsula. Of all the amazing places we visited on this trip none of it compares to the beauty of the Dingle Peninsula and the Cliffs of Moher.
The Dingle Peninsula, the Cliffs of Moher and the banshees
The Dingle Peninsula is one of Ireland’s most popular destinations. Besides the beautiful scenery the town of Dingle is known for its Bohemian lifestyle and sports many pubs. Jeanmarie had read about one of the pubs on the peninsula called the James Ashe Pub. As we entered the peninsula, we saw the pub immediately and stopped in. It was a very old stucco building with a slate roof. Inside it was dark and its cement floor was a bit sticky and smelled of spilled beer. There were musical instruments about the place including a fiddle and traditional Irish bodhran drum. All signs of a great time from the previous night. All of this made us regret that it was early in the day and the pub only had a few patrons. Unfortunately, our schedule did not allow for us to come back. Although we did have a great pub experience during our last night in Ireland a few nights later.
As I mentioned earlier, the scenery of Dingle Peninsula is among the prettiest we’ve ever seen.
We had dinner in O’Flaherty’s pub in the town of Dingle. We had many, many adventures and saw some incredible sights on this trip, and, as I said before, the sights of Dingle still stand out as truly amazing even 35 years later.
Outside of Dingle, and on our way to the Cliffs of Moher, we stayed in another B&B. This one was memorable. Once again, it turned out to be someone’s home in which the owner would rent a bedroom.
When we arrived and knocked on the front door, we were greeted by a woman who looked like she was on her way out and seemed a bit annoyed. After we introduced ourselves as the couple who reserved a room her demeanor quickly and completely changed. She informed us that her mother was gravely ill, and she was going to visit her. Of course, we didn’t want to disturb the family at such a time, but she insisted that we come in and that her daughter would tend to our needs. Her daughter, who was about 12 years old, took us to our room. We felt a bit awkward and really did not know what to do, but the girl suggested that we sit with her and watch TV. She was very precocious and talked non-stop. At one point she said excitedly, “I heard the banshees howling last night in the woods. I knew they were coming for my grandmother.” She explained that banshees come and take the souls of the dead away. She was quite animated. Then, out of the blue, she asked, “Are you Catholic?” We explained to her that we were raised Catholic, but no longer practiced the religion. Her response was hilarious, “Oh, we call that Protestant.”
The next day we set out for the Cliffs of Moher and then on to one more B&B for our last memorable night on this amazing trip.
The Cliffs of Moher are famous cliffs on the western shores of Ireland. There is nothing really to say about them except that they are absolutely stunning and among the most amazing seaside sights you will ever see. The tall, jagged cliffs get a constant pounding from the waves of the Atlantic Ocean in some places and have serene beaches in other areas. We visited the cliffs on another misty overcast day, so the pictures do not do them justice, but in my mind’s eye I recall stunning pictures. I was a bit nervous, however. I was absolutely taken aback that there were no fences at the edge of these cliffs and Jeanmarie tended to walk a bit too close to the edge for my comfort.
Durty Nelly’s and Guinness
For our last night in Ireland and on this amazing trip we booked a room at an Inn near the Bunratty Castle in County Clare. It is a 15th century castle that saw its share of violent history. It is still a working castle in which you can book parties, overnight stays or simply enjoy a tour and learn about its history. We did none of these, which was fine by us. At his point we were a bit tired of the traveling from place to place and were anxious to get on the flight home the following day. However, we did have one more night of excitement ahead of us.
Our Inn was walking distance from the castle and right near the castle was a famous pub called Durty Nelly’s. It looked like as good a place as any to eat our last pub meal in Ireland. Inside was a large open restaurant with communal picnic tables. I recall that it was standard pub fare and as we were enjoying out dinner the place began to fill up. Bunratty Castle is a major tourist attraction so there were many tourists, such as us, that came in to eat. However, a large contingent of locals also came in, some of them with fiddles, guitars, wooden Irish flutes, bodhram drums, etc. Spontaneous music and dancing erupted. As this was happening a family came in and sat at the table with us. They were from Northern Ireland. It was hard not to notice that the mom was very, very tall. As we got to talking with them, she told us they were from Londonderry and she was a member of the Olympic Women’s basketball team from Northern Ireland. They were a lovely family, and we had a great time. At one point the mom said, in a thick brogue, “This is great crack.” We were confused (remember this was in the 80’s), but she explained that “great crack” means “great fun” or “a great time.”
We stayed for quite a while and enjoyed a number of drinks. Jeanmarie had her white wine while I enjoyed my Murphy’s stout. As I was ordering another Murphy’s at the bar the bar tender asked me why I didn’t drink Guinness. “I had Guinness before and prefer Murphy’s.” I said, to which he asked, “Where did you have your Guineess?” “In London.” I replied. “That’s why you don’t like Guinness”, he exclaimed! “They serve it warm over there. You have a Guinness on me!” He ordered, and then proceeded to draw me a pint. He put the partially filled glass on the bar and when I went to grab it, he literally slapped my hand away. “You let that settle!” he admonished. After a few minutes he took back the glass and filled the pint and told me to not drink it until the new foam settled. He was having a bit of fun with the American tourist. It was a great last night of an amazing, adventure filled, fun trip.
The next day we made our way to Shannon Airport to fly home and get ready for the new adventures that were about to begin.