After much uncertainty we made it to Ireland. We had a connecting flight in Atlanta before continuing on to Dublin. Just before we boarded, the agents were concerned if the flight would leave since the airports on the west coast of Ireland had been closed due to the volcanic cloud. But the flight left and we landed about an hour late due to the flight taking a more southern route. At least we weren't diverted to another airport and we very happy to be in Dublin. We were also extremely pleased to be seated in business class! That enabled us to get about 3 hours of sleep before they woke us up for breakfast.
After making our way through the airport clearing customs, immigration, and getting our bags, we found the ATM machine for money and then the bus to Naas. Alisha and Mark met us at the bus stop at our scheduled time. Even though we were an hour late, we manged to get the bus we had told them we would try to catch.
We enjoyed the bus trip and seeing all of the towns and villages, as well as Ireland's famous "40 shades of green". Mark and Alisha have a beautiful home in the country, and we got to meet their cat, Hishie, and chickens Gertrude and Chickie.
As a way of counteracting jet lag, Mark and Alisha took us to Dunamase - an ancient ruin not far from their house. The weather was on the cool side, with gray skies and wind, but it was beautiful all the same. We were the only ones visiting the ruins, so we got to go all through them at our leisure.
After our outing, we came back home, and Alisha fixed a wonderful roast chicken dinner. I think that we managed to stay awake till 10:00 pm, and believe me, we slept well!
It was wonderful to finally be here, and to see Mark and Alisha in their Irish home.
This is the approach to the Dunamase ruins - isn't it amazing?
Going through the first tower on the way to the ruin
The remains of some of the walls - you can see how thick they are.
The view through one of the openings. You can see the beautiful Irish countryside and the little stone church in the distance
Mark on the top of the hill!
More ruins - I would love to be able to see what it looked like when it was first built - it certainly had a commanding view of the surrounding countryside.
Another view of the church from the top of the hill.
Some of the main building.
Lee, Alisha and Mark and what we think is the main entrance to the fortress.
Mark and Alisha with a very green background!
Mark was peeking though one of the openings, as I was peeking through another.
These are steps that are built into the stone wall. Very clever!
Sheep, crossing the road! You always have to be careful of sheep on the roads - they have the right of way.
Here's a picture of Mark and Hishie, relaxing in the country kitchen. Notice the tomato plants behind Mark - they are about 10 inches taller.
1 comment:
We were so glad you guys were able to make it in spite of the crazy volcano. Great photos!
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