Remember last summer I took you all with me on holiday (after a fashion)? Remember all the photos and the mystery tour (14 photo posts starting here and ending here and all the links put together in the end here)? Well, this summer it's kind of the other way round...I need your help deciding where to go and what to do.
We're going to go to Ireland...that much I know...and there'll be three of us (2 adults, one girl of 10) and we'll probably go on the ferry and arrive somewhere on the north east coast. I know it will be in our school holidays (that's July and the first half of August) but after that I've not a clue as to what we're going to do and no sign of any inspiration right now. So, can you help with advice? Where would you suggest we absolutely have to go? Know any great places to stay? Want us to come and visit? Want to invite us and then hide behind the sofa when we arrive..?
I have been to Ireland before - details being...
Trip One (1990 or so)
I was about 23 and working in advertising and had a company car (white Ford XR2 – quite flashy). A friend and I (and a really annoying friend of hers) did one of those insane driving round Ireland in a week holidays and we spent a stupid amount of time in the car (the folly of youth...). Highlights of that holiday were staying on my friend's relatives' farm in Fermanagh and milking their cow, getting ridiculously drunk with lots of Dublin civil servants in Dingle (they were all there for an Irish speaking weekend or something...) and eating a very nice curry in Cork. Lowlights were getting the car stereo nicked in Dublin on the first day and hating my friend's friend so much by the end of the week that I wanted to push her off the ferry on the way home.
and Trip Two (2001)
A friend got married in Dublin and off we went (Mark, very small girl child and I) to join in the celebrations. It was a great wedding and we had a few days sunny sightseeing in Dublin. The only lowlight this time was leaving our outfits for the wedding at home (doh! I blame flying nerves...) and so having to spend the first day of our trip shopping for suitable clothes. I got a very cheap and cheerful lilac top and skirt and someone actually said to me at the wedding that I was wearing "last season's colour"! Can you believe that! It really made me laugh (like I knew...like I cared...) but I should point out that this fashion expert was not a local (but an English woman...nae comment).
So, back to the plea for help. Basically I have been to Ireland but at the same time I kind of haven't (because I've either been young and in a rush or just in Dublin and breastfeeding). So – what shall we do? Where shall we go? Help us bloggers, help us...
p.s. Knew I'd forget something - poem up at Ink, Sweat & Tears this week too (it's here).
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20 comments:
Yay... I'll have a think about it, and have a word with Mr VC about possibly putting up strangers from the internet... other than that there's nice bits all over Ireland. I'd recommend - Wicklow mountains, for hillwalking, Fota Wildlife Park in Cork, the magic road in Waterford (there's a road that you park on and the car will seem to roll upwards - I've no idea where exactly it is tho - might have to do more research on that for you). Banna strand in Kerry is glorious, or there's some great beaches in the gaeltacht part of Galway too... plus a much under appreciated watery area in Leitrim... depends what you kind of want to do most. Poetically - You'll also have to read at the Glór sessions, will see what festivals there are on closer to the time...
Hey, and you have a dog! A big draw with our youngest member...
I'll look all those places up in my guide book. Cheers.
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Oh and I'm not on the scrounge...when I say 'come and visit' we don't necessarily need to stay the night! Well, unless you really want us to...
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She doesn't scare easy does she? Ah the dog should be well trained by then, she says optimistically... I could get you on the aul radio show then too maybe...
No, she pretty much loves all dogs.
I won't be doing much poetry stuff...it is family holiday time and I'm not permitted to take the piss...
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If you are landing in the north, the Giant's Causeway is a must-see. Also the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge.
If you then head west, the drive from Mayo down to Conamara in Galway is spectacular - bleak and mountainy. If you come to the midlands (I'm in East Galway), come on over for lunch!
N x
very nice poem! really like the sounds.
Come to Dundalk... :)
I'll have to start putting dots on a map, I see. Maybe we'll need a month away...more likely to be a fortnight though.
Thanks Sorlil. I wrote it last year some time.
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Haven't been but Mom went and the Giant's Causeway was big on her list too!
And you'd BETTER be taking us along for another photo vacation. It's the only decent vacation I get...when my blogger friends go somewhere cool and play show & tell. ;)
I wish I could help but I've never been. I agree with Hope though, wherever you go take lots of photos, I'm relying on blog pals holiday snaps to give me a taste of awayness.
A pint of black in Mulligan's of Poolbeg street,not the nicest bar but the best Guinness in Dublin, The Palace Bar, and also Mrs Flaherty's five legged cow.Kilmainham Jail,IMMA, Collins Barracks,National Gallery,Clifden,Glencar Waterfall, Croagh Patrick,Lissadel House,Ashford Castle,Achill Island,The Father Ted Museum. (I made two of these up)
the drive along the top of the north is great. i wasn't over fussed for the causeway - too mnay people!! and, whisper it, fingal's cave is better.
and then donegal. so lovely that when i was there last, if i ahdn;t a mortgage to pay i'd have upped sticks and moved there in a second. all the way down to sligo where you can indulge in all maner of yeats tomfoolery.
all kinds of loveliness...
I'll try and get some photos Hope...but only if you agree to post some in return. What about some more photos of the area around where you live? I've never been to the US and I'd love to get more of an idea of where you are.
I had quite a few years without any travel (beyond family visits) Eryl so I know what you're talking about there! It feels good to be getting back into getting about.
Eej - I sincerely hope there is a Father Ted museum and that that isn't one of the fictional places!
Swiss...I have been thinking of that route. Just need to get myself organised and make some decisions!
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Connemara is spectacular - Kylemore Abbey and Clifden are both in the area (there's a beautifully restored walled garden in Kylemore and Clifden is a great summer town) and you could continue along the coast to to Westport via Linnane.
West Cork and Kerry are both brilliant - Garinish Island is a lovely spot off West Cork and there's a great boat trip out across a bay full of seals. If you are in Dingle Fungi the Dolphin is worth a boat trip - he swims along the side of the boat and hops up and down in the water. My eight-year-old girl loved it. Only drawback is that it might be a bit jammers in July and August - but you could see that as a plus too.
My one great poetry tour of Ireland took me to Galway (one of the best cities in the world, surely).
Here are some festivals where artifartiness may be in supply at the time concerned: Make sure you pop in to Groggans, the best poetry pub in Dublin, at some point.
fun
mairfun
evenmairfun
Deal! :)
Donegal in North West, very definitely, if you want wildness, sea, originality and an unchanged feel:Glenveagh National Park - castle, lake, walks....history, Marble Hill Beach (stretches for miles), Dunfanagy (village with beach, crab salads, a work house museum, craft shops, swans, sea and horses...) Ards Forest Park (walks, Picnic area...) Enjoy! ; )
I'm starting to get excited about it all now! Getting the maps out...making plans...
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Definitely the Antrim Coast Road and Giant's Causeway if you're with a 10 year old. Off the coast is Rathlin Island, with its bird sanctuary if you like Puffins, and that's also home to the cave (so legend says) where Robert the Bruce watched the famous persistent spider.
I like the bits of history that nobody else goes to see -- like the field where Amelia Earhart landed (Derry is that?).
We're not far from Yeats country in Sligo, and that has lots to see, from his famous Horseman-pass-by gravestone to all his old haunts and plenty of riverside cafes and bookshops in Sligo town.
We'll be in West Virginia those months however! Or at least I'll be.
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