Ireland: The Warm Hearth in Late Winter

On our mammoth trip last winter to England, Scotland, Iceland, and Ireland, Ireland was the most green and the most welcoming.  London is always crazy and hectic, Scotland was beautiful but browner, Iceland was a blast but not unlike the Scandinavian countries in Northern Europe in many ways.  Driving in all those countries was crazy for us as Americans, but Ireland was the most challenging especially in rural areas because of how narrow the roads were and the fact that often those roads which were often not even wide enough for two compact cars, would have impassible, potentially damaging stone walls on either side.  Out along the Cliffs of Moher in County Claire, the walls are lower and the land is the greenest we saw while we were there. 

February there was by no means beach weather whatsoever and the fact that one cannot get close to the sea didn't matter much; viewing it from a distance was more suitable anyway.  We found The Island View Bed and Breakfast there at the last minute and our hosts were especially gracious and their breakfast nook overlooked the water and had homey accents like their wedding photos and a full dishware set up for breakfast cereals, and beverages.  She was kind in the reserved, quiet, polite way that everyone there seemed to be.  I think because I have often heard that the Irish like Americans, I expected them to be a louder, more brash, less reserved, you know, like most of us, but they have their own way of being.  Everything natural we saw, from the dark hedges, to Giant's Causeway, to the cliffs was breathtakingly beautiful, even in the off-season.  Many inns featured Irish faire, working fireplaces, and candlelight.  All in all, the food was considerably better than I expected.  I had this seafood pot pie on the coast that was phenomenal and many other meat and potato dishes that exceeded expectations.  I went easy on the beer since I don't like Guinness (but drank some Harp here and there).  We watched the sunrise over the famous Cliffs of Moher and Meg spread her dad's ashes over them into the sea (more details in an earlier Feb 2018 post). That wind was no joke and seriously cold enough to freeze your limbs in winter.

While in Belfast, we took a "troubles" tour.  The guidebooks told us to avoid that subject at all costs, so we, of course, gravitated to it.  It focused on the main walled area in downtown Belfast between the Catholic and Protestant separated neighborhoods.  The Catholic side is filled with murals mainly dedicated to social justice and world politics and the Protestant neighborhood features numerous murals of what our Catholic tour guide categorized as militia men who are considered heroes for having killed Catholics.  Our tour guide came in a black and white cab and looked like a pasty alcoholic.  He was very soft-spoken and personable.  He loved to talk about social divisions, racism, American  history as well and told us he would love to get a tattoo of Harriet Tubman and that Obama should be the next James Bond.  After seeing Meg's social justice pin he became animated telling us we were going to like the next mural so much we would pee our pants.  It was pretty gorgeous, but we kept our bladders in check.  He gave us some pens to leave our own messages on the walls too.  Afterward, he took us to see the Titanic memorial and pointed out all the streets named after the former residents that died on the Titanic. He also pointed us to the lovely Crown Liquor Saloon and had our first Irish pub experience complete with a pot pie, potatoes, and a decadent brownie (see pics in the slideshow).

We stayed in several castle hotels and visited several more between Scotland and Ireland.  In Dublin, we stayed in the most swanky and color coordinated of the castles, Clontarf Castle, we had a lengthy European-paced meal that included pigeon and sea bass in their upscale restaurant with exposed stoned ceilings, stained glass, and hard wood accents.  The lobby was filled with 20-foot purple banners, suits of armor, and a stylish piano lounge area.  We also visited a castle in a hillside park overlooking Belfast, known as Belfast Castle, that had numerous cat paintings and sculptures which is right up our alley.  We had some beef stew, hot chocolate, and baked goods with our tea in the lower level of the castle and checked out the views all over the place.  The third one we went to was Bunratty Castle which we found while driving from County Claire to Dublin.  That castle featured numerous rooms that looked as though they inspired game of thrones with canopy beds, skulls and antlers and tapestries galore.  I bought a high-quality lined wool hat in their gift shop that makes me sweat even in the dead of winter.  They had a large area full of recreated period castle buildings and lots of animals like Irish wolfhounds you could pet, foul, swine etc...

The main attraction for our return will be nightlife in Dublin.  We couldn't park our car anywhere in the bar district and so were unable to easily get out and check out the mass of bars, casinos, music halls, that we saw and coveted through the windows.  It really looks like a blast there, but as with everywhere in the Isles, our having rented a car caused lots of problems.  Have to return and stay on foot and trains...

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