IRELAND - September 2023

8/31/2023

For several years we’ve been fans of a musical duo “Moors and McCumber” – James Moors and Kort McCumber.  We were first introduced to them by my high school friend, Bill Zorr at a house concert sponsored by his Music Makes a Difference charity in Madison.  Besides playing house concerts, M&M do tours with their fans (Road Dogs).  Jeff and I did a rafting trip with them in Idaho in 2020, and had been on their waiting list for an Ireland trip since then.  Bill had been booked to go to Ireland with them during COVID, but had to rebook so he’ll be on this trip as well.  Since we hadn’t been to Ireland before, we decided to head over a few days early and explore Dublin before meeting up with the rest of the M&M tour.

Uneventful trip over the pond. We had a late morning departure from Madison which always feels good with the opportunity to workout, shower and have a leisurely breakfast at home before a long day of travel. Ryan dropped us off at MSN, which no doubt will cause us confusion when we return in October and try to remember where we left our car!

Quick flight to Detroit. I got an upgrade from Delta Plus to First Class which means I sat next to a chatty stranger versus JT (he also got a late upgrade after we were on the plane). Anyway, my seat mate was an ER doc working on setting up an Opioid Addiction clinic, which was interesting. He said he never drinks caffeine but he polished off a large frappe as he was sitting down and he talked my ear off. When we landed he rushed off the plane without even saying goodbye, and the women across the aisle said to me “did you know that guy?”

Three hours in Detroit - we had lunch at the Sky Club and walked the concourses. There we ran into Dave who we used to regularly see at our neighborhood gym (before we built the gym in our house). He and his wife were heading to Scotland and we were all on the flight from MSN to Detroit and now are now all boarding the flight to Amsterdam.

We left Detroit about 4pm EST, with an estimated 6 hour flight time to Amsterdam. I didn’t see any movies that interested me, so I just read my book until the meal was served (pretty good pasta dish and a glass of red wine). By then the flight tracker said 4 hours to go, so I put in my ear plugs and eyeshade and tried to pretend it was night time. I did sleep, and soon they were waking us up for a quick egg and cheese sandwich before we landed. It was dark when we landed in Amsterdam (and raining), about 5 am local time. We had just over two hours there. The gate area for our Dublin flight wasn’t even open, so we ventured to find the KLM lounge. Even though we’d been there two years ago on our way to Tanzania, it took us awhile to find it. But that was a nice quiet respite. Had some yogurt, cappuccino, and a chocolate croissant. Also took advantage of the lounge to brush my teeth and comb my hair. Tried really hard to NOT think that it was 1am at home. Took my morning vitamins and tried to convince my body that it’s Thursday and we had the day ahead of us!

We walked to our gate and saw that it was the type where you board a bus and they drive you out to your plane. It wasn’t just raining - it was pouring! Last Sunday, we went to REI to buy JT a new rain jacket, and I talked him into an Arc’Terex Gortex jacket just like mine - he pulled that out of his pack and gave it its first test (I had mine over a year before I actually wore it in the rain). Full KLM flight to Dublin. We shouldn’t have been hungry, but we gobbled down the egg salad sandwiches on yummy bread that they served us on our 75-minute flight to Dublin.

We arrived in Dublin to thick clouds but not actual rain. We cleared immigration and we’re glad to find our bags on the carrousel (we broke Jeff’s stretch of lost/delayed baggage when traveling through Amsterdam!). We opted for taxi versus bus into town - about 30 minutes. Our taxi driver, Darren, was friendly and pointed out sights and gave us lots of tips about what to do and see - worth the extra expense!

We arrived at our hotel for the next 4 nights - Trinity Townhouse. Not surprising that our room wasn’t ready at 10am (wishful thinking!). We left our bags with them and walked through the Grafton Street shopping area and the grounds of nearby Trinity College. We were dead on our feet, so we staggered back to the hotel and sat/dozed in the lobby and our room was ready by noon. We got settled, napped and read, then showered and were on the street by 5pm. We headed a few blocks to a place our taxi driver had recommended: O’Donoghues Pub - where the musical group The Dubliners were formed. The pub was serving ham and cheese sandwiches and a vegetable soup tonight – a perfect light meal to go with our Guinness. I’d heard that Guinness over here was much better than what we drink in the states, but I didn’t taste a difference. Maybe it’s just my unrefined pallet? More research needed!

After dinner, we walked down to the river then along the river towards the Temple Bar area. It was a beautiful night in the 60s and lots of people were out walking and biking. Back in the room by 8pm. Hope to sleep well and wake up refreshed tomorrow!

Friday September 1st

We slept from 8pm last night until about 6am this morning. I got up and did some yoga and showered before breakfast. The hotel breakfast reminded me of the hotel breakfast in Santorini - they bring a basket of pastries (including my favorite chocolate croissants), give you a choice of starter (fruit, yogurt and granola, or porridge) then a choice of 4 different egg entrees. We both had yogurt and the “Irish Breakfast” today which is two eggs, thick bacon, sausage, two different blood sausages (no, thank you), potatoes, and grilled tomato and mushrooms. We ate too much, but it was all good.

We went back to our room and slept for another two hours, then hustled to meet our tour guide for the Book of Kells and Dublin Castle tour. I’d booked this through Viatar which I’d used before - worked out well. Mostly other Americans on our tour, some from a cruise ship that was stopped in Dublin for just a few hours?!

Our tour guide, Antonio, was fantastic. He told us all about Trinity College, the Book of Kells, and the long library. Guides aren’t really allowed to “guide” inside, so he prepped us on what we’d be seeing and met us in the library afterwards. I’m still having a hard time wrapping my mind around a book as ancient as that - what went into it to make it, all the symbology, and the fact that it’s just that old!

After that, we walked together through the streets - such dangerous crossings, past the Molly Malone statue (Antonio was impressed that I knew of the Dubliners) to Dublin Castle, which didn’t appear to be much. We went around the side to the garden and Antonio gave us a few more facts and suggestions for other things to see and do.

We had 4pm tickets for the Guinness experience, so we popped into a coffee shop for a coffee and sandwich, and walked about 1km more to Guinness, passing many beautiful old churches and cathedrals. We were early, but we got in anyway and started our tour. We’d learned some things from Antonio earlier, and that helped Jeff win an extra glass of beer (what color is Guinness? Red). We also learned about the criteria for a perfect Guinness pour, and how to find a pub that’s been certified by Guinness (identified by a special red sign). Criteria are: 45 degree tilt, fill ¾ full and let surge settle for 60 seconds. Should not exceed 119.5 seconds total. 12 mm foam top.

The whole tour exceeded my expectations. Guinness has long been one of my favorite beers, but the experience was well laid out from the process of how the beer is made, to the history of making the barrels, their advertising history, etc. There was a man playing a Bodhran (Celtic drum) with a bunch of extra drums. I jumped in and tried to learn and play along - tough on the wrist, but fun to try.

We’d bought the ticket for the “Stoutie” experience, which is having your face magically “printed” into the foam head. Fun, but I “drank” my head before I got a very good photo! We ended our tour on the seventh floor “Gravity Bar” with another pint each. Luckily, I had some almonds in my bag so we could mute our buzz just a bit. Quick stop at the gift shop and we were on our way.

We received a text from Connie and Jeff who will be joining us on the M&M tour in a few days, so we made a plan to meet them at Stag’s Head Pub (walked by it this afternoon and Antonio said it was good). Friday night and things were picking up, so we were lucky to snag the last table for 4! It was good to meet them ahead of time, make it easier to sort out who is who when we meet the whole group in a few days!

We left there about 8pm, and walked through the Friday night crowd back to our hotel. Exhausted after our first full day, and still a bit jet lagged.

Saturday September 2nd

If I hadn’t set an alarm this morning, we would have slept through breakfast! We went down and ate a little less this morning, then back to our room. Jeff went back to sleep again, I researched options for today and tomorrow, then did a yoga session and got ready for the day.

We headed out about 11:30am and found a warm sunny day - so far we haven’t used an umbrella since getting on the plane in Amsterdam! We walked to the river, and verified our coach (bus) pickup spot for Monday morning. We noticed commotion across the river and learned there was a “Liffey Swim” race going on. Unfortunately, we could not stay to watch the swimmers arrive as we had tickets to the “Jeanie Johnston” tour and it was about to start!

I bought 1pm tickets for the Emigrant Museum, and they gave us a noon add on tour of a replica of a 1847 three masted sailing ship - living history museum on 19th century emigration. The Original ship would have been used for trading between Ireland and North America (emigrants to NA, timber back to Europe).

We had the most fantastic guide, telling us the most horrific story of the Potato Famine and “coffin ships.” I’d read enough historical fiction of emigrants crossing from Europe / UK in the 1800’s to know the voyage was gruesome and dangerous. But hearing about it while standing in a replica ship really made it come to life.

Between 1848 and 1855, the Jennie Johnston made 16 voyages to NA, average length of the journey was 47 days. The ship was licensed to carry 40 people, including crew, but the most passengers ever carried was 254! They claim she had a perfect safety record and no passenger or crew member ever died onboard, in contrast to many others known as “coffin ships.” The original ship sunk in 1858 after becoming waterlogged hauling a load of timber - but the crew was rescued by another ship.

Our guide told us the difference was the Donovan family who owned the ship. It was referred to as a “miracle ship,” but they had better sanitation and provided food and clean water to the passengers. They also had a physician on board - he screened passengers before boarding, insisted on toilet buckets to be emptied and washed out frequently, blankets to be aired on deck every day, and passengers were allowed on deck for 30 minutes each day. All that was unusual for those days apparently.

The cost to passengers for passage to North America was 3 pounds (2400 Euros in those days). Most couldn’t pay that as they were already poor when the Potato Blight ruined the potato crop in Ireland. Families would often send one person to get settled, who would send money for others to follow (if they were still alive and if they were healthy enough to travel). She told us of one woman who gave birth to a son onboard, they later settled in St Paul and there is a photo of him in a bar that he owned there when he was a grown man.

Our guide knew a lot, and was delicately choosing her words. She pointed out that the blight impacted potatoes all over the world, but economically, Ireland was the only place that was devastated by it. We stayed and talked with her more after the tour, with our naive questions of why didn’t they plant other crops? What we didn’t understand is that Ireland was under UK rule then and many other crops were grown, but they were all “property” of the crown and exported to England. She said different parts of Ireland were impacted differently - her family was from north of Dublin with little impact, but the west coast where we’re headed was most devastated.

It is estimated that 1.2 million people died and another 1.5 million left Ireland (population number have yet to recover) between 1845 and 1852. There is no word for “Great Famine” in Irish - their word “Gorta Mor,” means the Great Hunger.

The famine was a defining moment in the history of Ireland. The British government provided little aid and made statements that the famine was due to lacking moral character of the Irish. A vicious cycle of mass evictions led to people living in ditches and hedges. One politician had been quoted as saying “let them eat grass.” Soup kitchens were set up for about six months, but then withdrawn to “avoid dependency.” It’s not hard to see how this triggered the eventual fight for independence from the UK.

We left the ship and headed to the Irish Emigration Museum - very well done, illustrating contributions Irish descendants have had around the world in politics, the arts and history in general.

We grabbed a quick sandwich and began the 30-minute walk to the Jameson Distillery for our 3:30pm reservation. The streets were crowded with people, buses, cars and bikes so it made walking a little more difficult!

We enjoyed the Jameson tour, but they don’t actually make it at that site any longer, so it was more of a talk and tasting. We also did a “Cask draw” from a first use bourbon barrel, added 18 years (2005). It was made from a single pot still - no corn or maize, and was quite good malted barley. In the gift shop, we bought a bottle of Jameson Crested, aged in a sherry barrel from Spain - quite yummy and I thought it’d be fun to share on the M&M tour. Sine metu = without fear (Jameson motto).

We were sitting in the converted warehouse having a Jameson and ginger beer cocktail, when I realized that Guinness and Jameson apparently operated right through the time of the Great Hunger / Famine. Hmmmm? Wonder how that worked?

We’d received a text from Steve, another M&M participant that arrived in Dublin just today. He suggested a pub near his hotel so we walked back across the river and met him there, and Jeff & Connie met us as well. I had a gin & tonic (talking to a couple from Cornwall made me thirsty for gin) and a massive yummy hunk of battered fish, and some so-so “chips.” The bar was really hopping - several different music acts while we were there, made me anxious to get the musical portion of this trip going. We walked back to our hotel along the end of the Temple Bar area, know for its partying - really starting to pick up at 8pm on a Saturday night. We walked along Gaston Street with the high end shops and bought gelato along the way. People watching would be awesome tonight, but we’re exhausted and ready for sleep!

I learned Jimmy Buffett died yesterday. Makes me sad as his music had been such a big part of my life, especially in the days when I needed some “escapism” from my reality. I know that like John Prine, John Denver, Tom Petty and so many others, his music will live on. It was fun to get messages from Regina and Becky and think about what fun we had at those Alpine Valley concerts - one year we made a huge fin out of cardboard and duck taped it to the ski rack on top of my old Saab.

Sunday September 3, 2023

We’ve fallen into a good morning routine of yoga/stretching, shower, and a hearty Irish breakfast. We had a later breakfast this morning, no need to rush into our day. I awoke with a craving for green vegetables, so I started perusing the menus of needby restaurants for tonight … ready for a break from pub food!

We went to the 11am tour at the “Little Museum of Dublin,” which was just down the street. It is an eclectic mix of stuff in an old Georgian style townhome across from St Stevens Green, a large park across the street. One of the interesting artifacts they had was a key to the park, as the park had been locked and only the wealthy neighbors had keys! Most of the staff were likely actors in training and they told amusing stories and anecdotes along with their version of the history of Ireland. We most liked the room dedicated to U2, since we’re not going to make it over to the Rock n Roll museum.

We strolled through the park - very alive with families being a warm beautiful Sunday afternoon! From there we walked down Grafton Street, window shopping and listening to buskers. It was even more crowded that it had been last night. We were on a mission to find “super glue” to repair Jeff’s shoe. We struck out a the pharmacies, then on Google I found “Mary’s Bar and Hardware,” a cute little place with a friendly bartender who suggested we try Dunnes, where we found several different types. Back to the room for some R&R before heading out again. A couple days of this sidewalk / museum strolling pace and I’m ready to get out to the countryside and do some hiking with a fast pace and normal stride!

We had a few more museums we wanted to see, but we were pretty tired, so we bought tickets to the Hop On - Hop Off bus and rode around the city being entertained by our driver Alan. It’s always a different perspective from the top of the bus, and it was a great day to be out on the top deck.

We met our travel partner, Steve, at an Italian restaurant close to our hotel for dinner. We shared a bottle of “Super Tuscan” wine and I had my fill of good vegetables - a nice break from pub food. Early night - tomorrow we travel 3-hours by bus to meet the rest of the group in Bunratty!

Monday September 4, 2023

Transition day. After our normal morning routine at Trinity Townhouse Hotel, we packed up and walked the 0.4 miles to the “coach stop,” where we boarded #300 to Bunratty. Google maps said it was a 1.5 hour drive, but it took us three in the bus with many stops (most interesting was the university in Limerick). The bus was comfortable enough, however the A/C didn’t work and once again we had a warm sunny day in Ireland (not at all what we’d packed for)! I wore my boots on the bus in order to make room for our bottle of Jameson in our shared roller bag!

We were on the bus with Steve, not sure what happened to Jeff and Connie as we thought they were supposed to be with us, but they showed up at the B&B so they caught a different bus, apparently. We arrived at the Bunratty stop just before 1pm, and called our B&B host, Patricia, and she drove the 1 mile to pick us up. Jeff is in the yucky stages of an oncoming cold, so we napped a bit and then walked down to the castle with Steve, Jeff and Connie. Bill had arrived earlier and was staying in a different B&B. Patricia told us another couple from our group had just arrived and they were resting.

We couldn’t tour the inside of the castle, but it was awesome from the outside. Seemed very intact, and had a nice tower and drawbridge - all the elements I think are needed in a castle!

We got back to the B&B just after 5 pm and Patricia was serving wine and biscuits on her back patio. There we met Joel and Calva (her dad’s name was Calvin) from Alexandria VA/Jacksonville FL.

At 6pm Patricia drove us the 1 mile to town where dinner had been arranged for the group at Gallagher’s Restaurant (here it is pronounced GAL-a-hers). A fine dining restaurant that has been mostly closed since COVID, but they share a kitchen with JPClarkes Pub and open for special occasions (like us). There we had another delicious dinner of non-Pub food and were able to meet many of our fellow participants: Bill (of course), friends Sue and Marynelle from Lincoln NB, Christa & Terry also from NB, Wayne and Sue from Florida and Judee from Alabama.

Back to our B&B where I tried to sleep with a full tummy … luckily, I’m reading a great book so I read for a couple of hours.

Tuesday September 5th

Up before 7am as breakfast was going to be served at 7:45am as Patricia’s “help,” her young neighbor boy was back in school. We had a more decent sized “Irish Breakfast,” with very yummy bacon.

Jeff is more congested and heading towards a full-on cold, so I was trying to get him to drink the echinacea tea I’d brought. We didn’t unpack much, but it was still a bit of a struggle zipping up the cases. Looking forward to three nights for the next stop so we can have more relaxed mornings.

It was a pretty decent night for a B&B. It was quiet, and the bed was comfortable but my pillow was like a cement bag. About midnight, I took off the pillow case and stuffed my puffy jacket inside - worked much better!

We waited for the bus to pick us up, and it did about 9:30am. We met our guide, Peter Crann, and driver Fionan Cronin. James and Kort were also on the bus and came out to greet us. Then we were on the motorway heading northwest towards County Sligo.

After about an hour, we stopped at Coole Park. It is a beautiful park setting that had once been the grounds of a large manor, where many of the famous writers of Irish decent had hung out (there was a large old Tess that they’d all signed). We formed a circle and M&M performed their song “Sacred Ground,” which gave me goose bumps being in such a cool place in Ireland with this small group - what a great 10 days it’ll be! We did more in-depth introductions … some a little too rambly! It was good to hear more about our guide Peter’s background. Besides tour guide, he’s also a musician, primarily a drummer. He has guided many times with M&M and they seemed to have good chemistry which is really cool. Our driver, Fionan, has been driving for 16 years and has driven with M&M many times as well. His family owns the bus company. One couple, Janette and Gary, had just arrived this morning, and another couple, Glenn and Anne, had done the medieval buffet dinner at the Folk Park last night, so we just met them today.

We drove another hour or so, with Peter talking now and then about this history of Irish (Gaelic) language and some sites along the way. The scenery was very lush - green fields with cattle and sheep grazing, fences made of rock piles or hedges. We went through many small villages that actually remind me of rural Germany. Many houses looked a lot like the one I’d lived in when we lived in Kindsbach!

We stopped in Claremorris for 90 minutes on our own for lunch. Jeff and I went to a pharmacy where we bought Sudafed, nighttime cough syrup and a few COVID tests just to be sure. With Bill, we checked out a few pubs but didn’t find one that served food. We sat outside at a coffee shop where they had sandwiches and I had an amazing salad. Just as we got our food, Wayne and Sue came out of the pub across the street. They put in a quick order and we had lunch together, then went back across the street for a quick pint before heading back to the bus. The guys in the pub were a lot of fun, and seemed to enjoy having visitors to chat with.

We drove another 10 minutes for a quick stop in the village of Knock in County Mayo. In the 1870’s there was an apparition here that supposedly lasted for two hours and was witnessed by a variety of people. You hear of those now and then, but I’d never heard of building a shrine and massive development on the spot, but that’s what Knock is all about! The grounds were beautiful and it was an interesting spot. I’m open to believing it happened.

Another hour drive, through what felt like dozens of roundabouts (backwards to me). I’m not one to get car sick, but those get to you after awhile when you’re in the back of a bus!

We checked into the Sligo Park Hotel for three nights - nice spacious room. Queen bed to sleep in, and a twin bed on either side for our “stuff!” We had a couple hours to unpack and rest, and then gathered at 6:30pm for group dinner and music.

Dinner was nice, but I guess I was surprised to be having another nice dinner when I expected to be in a pub! We sat with Christa and Terry - retired music teachers from Grand Island, Nebraska. It’s their fourth trip to Ireland, their second with M&M.

We weren’t quite sure how our “special music” was going to happen, but after dinner they told us to go next door to a conference room in the hotel. There we met Cathy Jordan and Rick Epping. They were awaiting the third member of their group, “The Unwanted,” but eventually just started without him. Rick played the harmonica, the concertina (amazing tiny accordion-like thing) and the mouth harp. Cathie sang (incredible voice) and played the bodhran and a tenor guitar. They played a few songs and eventually the door burst open and their third member, Seamie O’Dowd, burst in and unpacked his guitar and fiddle and jumped right in mid-song. They played for over an hour and it was magical.

Jeff had gone back to the room to get our bottle of Jameson Crested, which we shared with Bill, Peter, M&M and a few others … drank half of it, but it was so right listening to Irish music drinking Irish whiskey! The night was like an out of body experience for me - the music just carried me away. M&M played one of their songs, and joined the trio on their last song (as did Peter on the bodhrán). Fantastic night to end the first day of our trip.

Hoping JT gets a good nights sleep and feels better tomorrow!

More about The Unwanted:

https://compassrecords.com/artist/the-unwanted/#:~:text=The%20Unwanted%20is%20a%20group,that%20encircle%20the%20Atlantic%20Ocean

More about a cool project Peter and Cathy are working on https://www.crankieisland.com/

Wednesday September 6, 2023

We dodged it for 44 months, but COVID caught us at an inopportune time - on a tour in Ireland. Jeff started having a sinus headache last Saturday and by Monday he was pretty miserable (we chocked it up to the hot bus ride). He had a long nap when we arrived at the B&B, but rallied for a walk to the castle and the group dinner. The next day we were on the bus all day with our M&M tour. We popped into a pharmacy at lunch that day to buy Sudafed and COVID test kits. The Sudafed gave him immediate relief and he functioned well the rest of Tuesday.

Wednesday morning we got up, felt ok but each did a COVID test. His was immediately positive - similar to when Lori was teaching Ryan and I how to test and he went positive just before Christmas 2020. My test was negative and I felt fine. I went down to breakfast to find our tour leader, Peter, and grab a tray for the now quarantining JT. Since he’s had symptoms for over three days now, we we’re hopeful he’d be able to travel with the group on Friday when we head south to the next hotel.

He insisted I go out for today’s tour, so I did. The tour was several spots around Sligo. We started at Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery. It took me awhile to figure out where we were and what we were seeing, but we had a fantastic guide that led us to different Stone Age tombs built by Neolithic farmers. She was a great combination of historian and archaeologist! A similar story to other places in the world where the farmers came and pushed indigenous people inland. They grew cereal crops and domestic farm animals (cows, sheep and chickens).

They estimate probably 50-55 monuments were originally here, some were likely dismantled over the years. Inside the tombs they found grave artifacts: remains (primarily cremated), quartz crystal, tools and pieces of pottery, jewelry from sea shells, pins made from deer antlers.

The tombs were desecrated in the 1800’s, later part of the 1900’s archeologists came and discovered that these were actually Stone Age monuments. There are 250 tomb monuments in Ireland - 100 in Sligo area

Our guide talked about the surrounding area, and pointed out Benbulben, a flat top mountain across the valley - she said no monuments there as the sun and moon don’t intersect. She also pointed out Knocknarea, the mountain with a very large carin monument on top, which led to her story about Queen Maeve. Legend says she’s buried in the monument standing up. Probably largest passage tomb that’s been left undisturbed.

The coolest passage tomb was the Listoghil chamber. Twice a year, the sun illuminates the perfectly aligned stones - Oct 31st and April 30th. The guide shared a photo from several years ago (see photo). They don’t see it every year because normally, Ireland can go many days without seeing the sun!

Our next stop was the Strandhill Peninsula for a stop at the Atlantic Ocean. We had two hours to walk the beach and have lunch on our own. Supposedly, this is the best place to surf in Ireland, and there were surfers out there but the waves weren’t that great. I walked the beach and dunes for a bit, overlooking a little RV park with Knocknarea in the background. I joined a few others in our group for a panini and a pint and enjoyed the outdoor patio on the beach.

After lunch we drive to another tomb monument - this one with more extensive stonework. It occurred to me that all of these would be more spectacular to be viewed from above! James brought his guitar along and sang two songs for us there … one called “Buried in Stone,” which he wrote after his brother disappeared in Montana.

Our last stop of the day was “Atlantic Sheepdogs,” for a spectacular talk by Martin and a performance of herding by his amazing 4-year old Border Collie, Moe. She was wicked smart and clearly takes her job seriously! The farm has also dedicated itself to conservation of some ancient breeds of sheep that were on the verge of extinction. I was surprised to learn that the value of wool is practically nothing! These sheep are bred primarily for meat these days.

We drove through Sligo and the bus stopped to let people off if they wanted to stay in town. I rode back to the hotel and Jeff was feeling pretty good and ready to get out and get some air. It was just over a mile walk back down to town, a nice walk. We strolled along the river and found a spot we could sit outside and have a burger. We passed on the milk shake, but our waiter convinced us to try the sundae with hot caramel and crumbled biscotti cookies. Yum yum.

We walked back to the hotel and Jeff went back to quarantine in the room and I joined most of the group for a 90 minute M&M show. It was so cool to be sitting right in the front and watch their fingers fly over the guitar strings. Peter joined them for a few tunes with percussion, and even sang an Irish tune for us.

Lots of talent in the room. Several people were headed out to the pubs to find more music, but I was starting scratchy throat and headache so I headed back to the room to try to sleep.

Thursday September 7, 2023

Not a surprise that I tested positive this morning. I didn’t feel too bad - like the start of a cold, stuffy sinuses. I did a yoga session (our room is bigger, but not much room to spread out). We masked up and went to the lobby about 9:50am to catch Peter. We learned that Steve and the other Jeff are positive too. The first time we were all together was in a pub Saturday night - not sure of the source, in fact, we’ll never know.

The dining room had mostly cleared out, so Jeff and I had a late breakfast, then headed out on an adventure. Using Google maps, I mapped out a six-mile walk to an amazing park along the river to downtown Sligo. I’d hoped to find kayak rentals to be able to paddle out to the lake, but crew boats and old fishing boats were all that we saw. We came upon a picnic table and sat and played a couple of games of cribbage and enjoyed the day with nothing we had to do and limited places we could go.

It was a very warm day - everyone we talked to says this is so unusual. Despite the heat, we went into a little cafe in the afternoon and each had a bowl of vegetable soup with yummy homemade bread and butter, and herbal tea. After lunch, we continued walking along the river towards the Atlantic. The beach we were yesterday was 4 miles away and probably not the best roads for walking. We headed through town, back up,to the hotel. We sat at a table outside the bar, I had a pint of Guinness and Jeff had ice cream and coke (tried to get a root beer float). We chatted with a few tour mates as they headed into town (dinner on their own, Kathy Jordon playing at a wine bar at 5p, then more pub music.

We headed to our room for showers and snacked for dinner; neither of us have much of an appetite! We heard from Peter that they’ve arranged a mini-bus for the five of us, and the next hotel is okay with us coming there (the tour company spent the day working on options for us), this is a good plan. I believe they even found a driver who is just recently over COVID himself!

September 8-10, 2023 Clifden

We were so relieved that the hotel in Clifden was willing to have the COVID positive tour members, and Peter arranged a van to transport us there separately. We learned that Gary had also tested positive, so he joined the “Dublin Five” in the quarantine van. Our driver was Rory, and he was hell-bent on getting us to Clifden in record time. I had researched some sights along the way, but was only able to get little glimpses of Westport and Killery Fjord as we flew past in the van.

We arrived at the hotel several hours ahead of our bus (with our luggage). It was another unbelievably hot and sunny day. Jeff and I sat in the chairs out front and played a few games of cribbage, until we finally had to go inside. The room was nice, and the best amenity was a fan in the closet! It would be unusual to need AC in Ireland, so we’re doing our best trying to catch a breeze through open windows.

We were both feeling pretty good - I had some sinus congestion, and Jeff still had a bit of a cough. It seems like the meds we got in two trips to the pharmacy will see us through this.

It was a “group dinner at the hotel” night, so Peter texted us the menu and said our meals would be delivered to our rooms. It was a beautiful evening, so the Dublin Five carried our meals to the front patio and ate out there. JT and I polished off our bottle of Jameson Crested. It felt odd to have people from the group come out to say hello (from a distance). We learned that several other members had fallen ill, including Bill.

After dinner, JT and I walked around the town. The hotel is in a great location just a block from the Main Street. We walked a circle and found many shops and restaurants. At least we have a great location to have to be sequestered!

Saturday

I woke about 7a feeling pretty good. By rearranging some furniture, I was able to create enough space to do yoga. We put masks on and went down to the breakfast buffet. It felt very odd to be serving ourselves. We took our plates outside and ate our breakfast on the patio with Steve. The tour today was a hike guided by a local archeologist and it was painful to watch half of our group climb on the bus and drive off without us.

I was reminded of the disappointment I’d felt last Summer when our Yukon trip was cancelled and we had to “make the best of it” by enjoying the trip to Banff that I’d pulled together instead. We’re always good at making the best of it, but having to sit out this tour was really bugging me. I think it was because after all this time, this tour company didn’t have a plan for how to handle this. We bought our own COVID tests and confessed that we’d tested positive. There are others on our tour that are exhibiting symptoms, yet claim they’re testing negative, or haven’t said anything at all. Three couples only one is positive, which is a little unbelievable given they’re sharing hotel rooms. We’ve agreed with Peter that quarantine should be for 5 days after symptoms start, but someone at the company is now declaring it’s 5 days after the positive test, which makes no sense. I shared with Peter that the Backroads Tour policy is that anyone with symptoms or a positive test needs to wear a mask when on the bus and can’t participate in group dinners - nothing about having to quarantine in the hotel. We’re trying to be careful with Peter as he’s in the middle here and I’m sure the company is thinking about liability. However, with over half of us showing symptoms, I think they should act as if we all have it and just institute required masking and allow anyone with mild symptoms to continue. Ethically, Jeff and I felt we had to report our positive results to him. But it was so frustrating to see people getting on the bus that morning that were likely positive too (including 3 people whose spouses were positive and reportedly quite ill).

I’d found several interesting looking hikes, but it was too hard to find a way to the trailhead and back. We made a plan with Steve to take a taxi up to the Sky Road lookout and walk back. Our cab driver was “Daniel Ryan,” who said he was the great-great-grandson of the “Dan Ryan” for which the expressway in Chicago is named after. It was foggy when he dropped us at the lookout, but he said it’d clear up in thirty minutes. We stood around as the fog swirled, taking photos of the fog and the flowering hillsides - heather, yellow gorse and wild fuchsia. A cyclist came along and Jeff enjoyed chatting with him. While we had some glimpses of the Atlantic and some houses down below, it never cleared completely so we started our walk down the hill.

Walking downhill felt so different on my shins after my main focus for the last eight weeks was hiking up hill. I snapped lots of photos as we descended: flowers, cattle, sheep and the Clifden Castle gate and wall (and ruins).

We got back to the village square and decided to grab a pint and a snack. Bill texted he was ready to meet up and he came down to the square to join us. At 2:30pm Ireland was playing Romania in the World Cup Rugby match and the atmosphere inside the pub was fun (craic without the music). We watched for a bit, and it seemed it was a blowout! Back to the hotel, I had a solid two hour nap, then got up to shower. We heard from Steve that Peter was ready to meet with the Dublin Five to discuss our plan for rejoining the tour. We met him on the back deck of the restaurant that’s across the parking lot in the old train station. We agreed on five days after start of symptoms, so Jeff and Steve were in the clear. I said day number five for me was tomorrow and could I go on the tour? Peter didn’t say no, so I took this as a yes.

M&M were playing at 8:30p at Mallarkey’s Pub. We headed there after dinner and sat at a table to the side away from the rest of the tour mates (we just waved to them). Fantastic music as always, and Peter joined the for a few songs. We all had a pint of Guinness and Bill bought a round of whiskey to help with our slight coughs. We stayed while the next band got set up and started - a kind of comical overweight Irishman with a keyboardist (younger girl), drummer and electric bass player. He did 3 American songs before we left, not at all the kind of music we expected!

Sunday

Up for breakfast - feeling well enough now to stay in the dining room to eat, but masking up as we travel throughout the hotel. Felt great to board the bus again for the short drive to Cleggan where we caught the ferry for the 40-minute ride to Inishbofen. Only 14 of us plus Peter made the trip - combination of COVID and too much partying last night thinned the crowd.

Inishbofen is the westernmost part of Ireland. In Irish, it means the land of white cows. As we entered the harbor, there were dramatic ruins of a fort that had been built by Oliver Cromwell who had a base here 1649. Peter said it’s not taught in history class in the UK, but he was a psychopath that pulverized Ireland - burning villages and forests and killing thousands of people.

Peter said about 200 people live on the island, and there are many holiday homes. It’s a peaceful, laid back place to visit. There wasn’t much commerce on the island, but shops and cafes have been established with an old airstream trailer, an old double-decker bus, and by adding on to houses. It was possible to rent bicycles which I thought we’d do, but the roads on the island don’t go too far. Peter said it was best to walk around the south side - 40 minutes to get to a dramatically scenic cliff. We took off with Wayne and Sue, knowing it’d be too painful to walk with the rest of that group. They’re the youngest people of this trip (53) and we enjoyed spending the day with them. Other than Bill, we haven’t really clicked with anyone else, or found much common interest other than love for music.

It felt great to walk at a good pace and physically we both felt fantastic. We walked out to the point, and then back to the hotel that had an outdoor cafe. There we found our group - only made it that far and few ventured any further even after we told them how beautiful it was!

We sat at a picnic table overlooking the sea and ordered pints of Guinness and lunch. It started misting and we donned our rain gear, but by the time lunch came it was gorgeous and sunny! We relaxed there for about an hour, watching dogs, people and staring out to sea.

The boat ride back was uneventful and we got a text from Bill suggesting dinner at a French restaurant in town. We cleaned up and met him out front. He’d just heard from Peter that the boss man said all the remaining COVID + people have to stay in Clifden until the last night! We brainstormed different approaches he could take to get Peter to relax that a bit, then enjoyed a nice dinner and bottle of wine without talking of COVID anymore!

Back to the hotel, music tonight was provided by Pauline Scanlon - a renowned Irish singer with two members of her band (The Unquiet) and also her husband on the bodhran (he’s part of a famous Irish band that we hadn’t heard of as well). It was a lot of folk and traditional Irish music - fantastic performers. Pauline sang a ballad that she said she’d had the honor of singing at Sinead O’Conner’s funeral recently (what? Holy cow … Bill had missed that Sinead died). Another great night of music - JT and I headed up to sleep while others steered toward the bar. Tomorrow we’ll move to County Clare.

Monday September 11, 2023

Transfer day. At 10am the bus left Clifden, leaving six of our members there. It was drizzly when we left the hotel - first real day of rain in ten days.

We drove about an hour and took a three hour break in the city of Galway. Peter said it’s the fastest growing city in Ireland, and it had a cosmopolitan feel. I finally got to wear my boot and I was glad I had them along! We donned our rain coats and we’re also happy we had umbrellas. We walked the pedestrian zone and followed some canals to where the met the river and ran to the sea. Later we learned the canals had been built in the 1850’s to divert water for the mills. I bought a beautiful scarf, and a “sweater” for my teapot. We found a quiet spot in a coffee shop and spent the rest of our time chilling out there.

Back in the bus, we drove awhile and took another break in the town of Ennis. The sun was out and we enjoyed the stroll around the beautiful downtown area. Jeff bought a new hat which he’ll have to wear as we transition to the next parts of our adventure!

Because of the rain, we drove a different route than what we’d have normally taken. They said the coastal road wouldn’t have been any fun today.

We arrived at the Falls Hotel in Ennistymon, our last three nights here. James made dinner reservations at a place in town for anyone interested. It’s an adorable little town and I can wait to walk and explore it more.

We got settled in our room, changed for dinner and walked the few blocks to the main drag. We had a wonderful dinner. Wayne and Sue came in later, they’d stopped at Eugene’s Whiskey Bar first and said it was hysterical. We skipped dessert and went to Eugene’s instead. What a guy, and what a place!

Eugene is a recovered alcoholic, and opened this eclectic whiskey bar as part of his recovery. We were the only patrons and learned so much about how to drink whiskey! We each tried two different single malts - gave us a nice after dinner buzz.

We walked back to the hotel and grabbed a Guinness before our evening concert. Tonight was Luka Bloom - a wonderfully talented musician and singer. The evening music truly has been the highlight of this trip.

Tuesday September 12, 2023

Another sunny day! Wow, we’ve been blessed with the weather so far on this trip. We had a lazy morning, room yoga and the usual breakfast buffet. This is the largest hotel we’ve been in so far, so breakfast was chaotic with lots of people. I’ve already been sick, but buffets still make me nervous.

We met the gang at the bus at ten am for the short drive to the Cliffs of Moher. We drove along some beautiful coastal scenery on the way. The cliffs were beautiful but overrun with an international tourist scene. We had two hours there to explore. Jeff and I walked for several miles along the coastal path, to the point where we were no longer in the park. The cliffs weren’t as large there, but still quite tall and sharp, yet some idiots were sitting on the ledge with their feet dangling. The other Jeff said we were maybe watching the “Darwin Laws” at play.

From the cliffs, we drove along the coastal road heading north through a region known as The Burren. We stopped to walk along the lava-looking rocks - they’re actually mostly limestone. I read a lot on how it was formed on Wikipedia … but retained very little. Sea and glaciers working together over eons. One women in our group commented “now I don’t have to visit the moon.”

We had a long lunch stop at Ballyvaughan Pier, where JT and I went with too large of a group to a seafood restaurant called Monks. Good food, but they were not happy to have a group of nine drop in on them without a reservation.

Back in the bus, we drove a bit and then stopped at Hazel Mountain Chocolate, where we had a brief presentation and sampling of local made (Central American sourced) milk and dark chocolate - yum. Bought enough to last us these next few weeks of the trip!

Back on the bus, JT kept falling asleep and then we’d make the next stop! This last stop was at Poulnabrone Portal Tomb, situated in a karst limestone plateau 150 meters above sea level. I was delighted to get out and walk in the strange rocky landscape, dotted with wildflowers. James and Kort brought their instruments down to the monument and gathered a small excited crowd there to hear them do two songs. It was a neat moment. The crowd was invited to the pub for tonight’s concert.

Back to the hotel for naps and showers. The second group of quarantine tour-mates arrived at this hotel this afternoon, so we’re all together for the finale. We met Bill, Wayne and Sue on the front lawn for a drink, then got back on the bus with most of the gang for the short trip to Lahinch where “the lads” were performing at Kenny’s Bar tonight.

The bus dropped us at the beach where we enjoyed a beautiful sunset - a rarity in Ireland! There were about a dozen people swimming, but I didn’t go close enough to feel the temperature of the water.

The show at the pub was amazing. Tara Howley, a talented young lady from a local musical family, joined M&M (and Peter) for several songs and sang one on her own. She played the fiddle, the “long whistle,” which was like a recorder, and the Uilleann pipes (which are different than the Scottish bagpipes as she squeezed the bag under her arm to inflate it). She is incredibly talented. She toured internationally playing with Riverdance, and has played with James and Kort many times. I’m just in awe of the music we’ve been able to hear during this trip. We were back at the hotel about 10pm, and JT and I were smart enough to bypass the bar and head back to our room - we’ve still got several weeks of this trip to go!

Wednesday September 13, 2023

A 100% rain day - we knew it had to happen and we were ready for it. We had another leisurely morning, which was good for some as they stayed in the bar quite late I heard. Also, the other three “spouses” are positive and sick with COVID, so that makes everyone other than MaryNelle and Sue, who have been diligent about mask wearing, and M&M, and Peter and Fionan.

We left the hotel at 11am for a noon boat ride to see the Cliffs of Moher from the sea. It was drizzly / rainy, but since we’ve got 10 days of hiking in the UK coming up, we were well prepared with our GoreTex jackets and rain pants, umbrellas and my secret weapon: XtraTuf boots!

Along the drive, Peter played more M&M musical selections and also talked more about “session” music that occurs in pubs across Ireland. People show up with a musical instrument and hope to get noticed and invited to play for a song or two. We saw examples of that with the music groups we’ve seen this far. It’s really cool to see how tempo/key changes are signaled by the leader and I notice M&M doing that sometimes.

I’d never thought about it, but Peter said that SONGS have words - TUNES are just music. He told us about Jigs - three count and the Reel - which is 4/4 rhythm. It was raining harder when we arrived at the boat dock and we had 20 minutes to spare on the bus. Peter taught us a “lilt,” where we sang an Irish tale (a digression) and the different sides of the bus sand the “dideley-do” refrains. Fits right in with my making the best of a rainy day philosophy!

The boat ride to view the Cliffs of Moher from the water was amazing. It didn’t rain hard, and about six of us enjoyed the view from the top deck with another six hearty older Germans. Despite the weather, the sea was very calm.

Back in the van, we had a short drive to a stop at Saint Brigid’s Well. According to Peter, Brigid was the Pagan goddess of fertility; unique to Ireland and not an actual Saint. At the time of the revolution she was changed from fertility to chastity. Clearly, it is a much visited site where people leave tributes to their loved ones.

We drove back to Lahinch for a couple of hours to explore. We joined Sue and Wayne for Fish & Chips at Spooney’s, then we window shopped while they went off to find whiskey. We walked down to the beach, and the waves were huge - tide was in too I guess as the water came right up to the rocks, none of the massive sandy beach we were on last night was showing!

Back to the hotel for R&R and the last night group dinner. Before dinner, Peter invited us to the conference room to view samples of his “Crankie Island” project with Cathy Jordon. It’s hard to explain, but Peter obtained this 1930’s cinema box where an illustrated scroll is cracked through the device, which uses mirrors to project the show. They started this project during COVID lockdown, with Peter doing the illustrations and Cathy is providing the music. Their plan is to have a traditional song illustrated from each county in Ireland. They have a website in progress - www.crankieisland.com and their completed projects are best viewed on YouTube.

We had our last group dinner in a private room off the breakfast room. Jeff, Bill and I sat with Kort and Fionan - a relief of have a real conversation with people we could connect with. Kort told us more about meeting James and their decision to work as a duo and the ups and downs that go with that. We also got to talk about their business model and how it works for them to lead the lifestyle they want - even though there are sacrifices too (mainly time away from their families).

Our table, Wayne and Sue, and Judee went into town for a couple of whiskies at Eugene’s. We stayed about 90 minutes and had such a fun time! He added our business cards to the collection he had stapled to his ceiling. Fun night and end to the trip.

Thursday morning Fionan drove about the last 10 of us to the Shannon airport. The others had early morning flights and had already left by taxi. We arrived at 10am, 4 hours before we could even check into our flight for Heathrow and on to Edinburgh Scotland. Found a comfortable place to pass the time playing cribbage and catching up on email.