8-15-15

Today we take a coach tour of the Ring of Kerry which is a scenic loop to the west and south of Killarney.

 today was this couples 62nd wedding anniversary

so we had a champagne toast at the side of the road

 a pint of Guinness was enjoyed here outside Dan Murphy's Door

8-14-15

This morning was a visit to the Blarney Castle, the home of the famous Stone of Eloquence.  Our hotel for the night is in Killarney where we had a ride on one of the jaunting cars with our jarvie (driver) to the Killarney castle.  The evening was enjoyed by a program of Celtic Steps.

Blarney Castle

 beginning the climb to the top

 view of Jo (on the left) from the top

 the awkward position for the kiss

 

Castle and grounds

 

Our Jaunting car

 killarney castle

 our horse Judy resting for the ride back to town

8-13-15

We departed Dublin and drive to Kildare for a visit to one of the country's main racehorse breeding centres.  Then it was a stop in Waterford for a tour of the famous crystal factory before ending the day in Cork on the River Lee.

 stalls with horse's details

 Highest earning stud at this farm

 2nd highest earner

 the mating chamber

 gardens at the farm

 Mares and colts

 miniture

 sculpture

 America's BCS college trophy

 countryside near Cork

A look back with pictures 8-12-15

After two days of travel (losing 6 hours in time zones) we arrived at our hotel in Dublin on Tuesday evening.  Wednesday morning we joined the remainder of our tour group for a tour of Dublin's fair city.with a visit to the Trinity College old library to see the 9th century Book of Kell with its delicate paintings, no pictures allowed.  Also the Long Room where 200,000 of the Library's oldest books are housed.  Then it was a tour of the Guinness brewery with a sampling.  That evening we were taken to an Irish Cabaret show with Irish music and dancing.

Our tour group (picture taken in Edinburgh)

on the extreme right is our tour director

 Our tour coach

 The Long Room

 Alec Guinness signed a 9,000 year lease for the brewery property

 top level of visitors center

 Irish goodness

 views of Dublin from the visitors center

In the US of A

 Landed a little before noon NY time at JFK.  Went through customs which took almost an hour and now waiting for our flight to Pittsburg and then STL with an arrival time of 7:00.

To catch our flight from Edinburgh we had to set our alarm clocks for 4:00 am (bummer) to catch a shuttle to the airport at 5:30.  This was after our farewell dinner with the group that didn't end until after 10:00 pm.

4:00 am Edinburgh time Monday = 10:00 pm Missouri time Sunday

From 10:00 pm Sunday to 7:00 pm Monday makes for a 21 hour trip with another hour and a half drive on to the Martin Manor.  There is a good chance we will spend the night in St Charles, take our time getting up Tuesday morning and then head to the house.

It's been a wonderful adventure and I will get some pictures posted soon.

Stay tuned

Edinburgh

This morning we had a tour of the city of Edinburgh with a kilted guide.  It was a drive through the city with good historical commentary that ended at the Edinburgh castle with a walking tour there.  This afternoon was on our own for whatever we wanted to do.  I took a walk for some pictures and a pint of brew while Jo had a nice rest from this mornings walk.  In the castle there was quite a bit of uphill then  downhill walking on cobblestone walkways which taxed her strength.

This evening we have our farewell dinner before our return to the US tomorrow.  It will be a very early alarm clock as our flight leaves around 9:30 local time with 6 time zones to cross before our arrival in St Louis.

back to the Lowlands

Our trip today took us back south to the Lowlands of Scotland and Edinburgh.  Our lunch stop was at St Andrews, the home of the game of golf.  I took a few pictures of the clubhouse, 1st tee, and 18th green.

The group is going to an outdoor activity this evening but Jo and I have decided to rest in and after looking at the weather forecast showing a 90% chance of rain we think that was a good decision.  Our tour director passed out some plastic bag type rain parkas but for us the big shower in our bathroom will be all the rain we want.

Tomorrow we have a tour of the city and then it will be our farewell dinner before flying out Monday morning.

interesting day

This morning we took the coach to a working sheep farm that also was a breeder and trainer for border collies.  We first had a demonstration of how the dogs worked the sheep and what a show it was.  The herder picked out one sheep that hadn't been sheared and proceeded to do that as we watched.  He used hand shears and the sheep calmly just lay back against his legs while the wool came off in one pelt.  He then took us to his kennel where folks got to hold and pet a litter of pups only twenty three days old.

This afternoon we boarded a ship on the Loch Ness for a nice ride up and back looking for Nessie.

Tomorrow we head for Edinburgh.

Into the Highlands

Today we left Glasgow and headed northeast into the Highlands along the Loch Lomond and a couple other lochs all connected by a canal dug to provide water access across the north of Scotland.  We visited the Ben Nevis distillery for a tour and a wee dram sample.  Nearby is Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in all of Britain that still had a spot of snow.  Our guide said that this peak is only visible 60 day a year and we were fortunate today.

We drove the length of Loch Ness without a sighting of Nessie and are now in Inverness which is at the very north end of Loch Ness.  Tomorrow we have a boat tour of the famous loch as part of the days schedule.  Perhaps there will be a sighting tomorrow.

Our tour guide keeps telling us the history of the areas we pass through.  One site today was in Glencoe where the McDonald clan was massacred by Campbell clansmen.

Glasgow

Tonight we are in Glasgow, Scotland.  The ferry ride was a little over two hours and then  a drive up the west coast to a town called Alloway, Scotland where we stopped at Robert Burns birth place and museum.  Near there I got a picture of the bridge "Brig O' Doone."  We are going out to a casino for dinner this evening and back on the bus in the morning.  Each morning we have a full breakfast buffet for the whole trip.

Some more information about the roadways:  There are very few traffic control (stop) lights but throughout the countryside at all crossroads is a roundabout.  There are a few what they call motorways that are similar to our interstates being multi-lane divided highways.

Around all airports our driver is always watching for rental cars (yes there is Enterprise here too) because he is afraid that tourist drivers might forget to drive on the correct side of the road.