Ireland, Day Two--Viking Splash Tour, Newgrange, and Breaking into Kilcoobin

We woke up bright and early the next morning.  We were staying in a Holiday Inn Express next to the Dublin airport, and we needed to get in to Dublin for our tour at 10 a.m.

Remembering the last time we were in Dublin, I knew we had to take the Morans on the Viking Splash Tour.  Sarah wanted to do some kind of tour in Dublin, and there's no better way than as a viking :-)

Unfortunately, the Dublin traffic beat us, and we didn't make it to the tour on time.  We got split up as a group, and we ended up parking in different structures.  Fortunately, the next tour wasn't full, so the tour operator let us get on that one.  In the meantime, we headed to St. Stephen's Green to take in a park.

You would think that with Dublin being Irish and all, the streets would be lined with gold, and there would be clover and leprechauns dancing in the streets.  Nope.  It's like any other big city.  Full of homeless people, rude people and busy people, and the streets are a "wee" bit dirty.  And like other cities, there are oases of parks where city people can reconnect with beauty and nature.  We took a few photos.

Emily and Sarah...and an Irish swan

I personally was super excited for the tour.  Back in WWII, the US created vehicles called DUKWs (pronounced "ducks").  There were vehicles for use on the land and in the water, and were created by women.  They were only supposed to last for 6-8 weeks, but thanks in part to Rosie the Riveter, they are still in use 70 years later!  They are made out of steel and are open on all sides and top. We boarded our DUKW ("Loki"), donned our viking hats and were off.



Why the viking hat?  Ireland was originally settled by vikings.  I know, I know--I too thought it was settled by our friendly, neighborhood leprechaun.  Or by someone named St. Patrick.  Nope.  It was the vikings.  And in true viking spirit, we didn't like anyone else in Dublin, all of whom were "celts".  So, occasionally our tour operator would spot some poor victim (Cappuccino Celt, Competition Celt (on rival tour buses), tourist Celts), and in true viking fashion, we would raise our arms above our heads and give a rousing "arrrrrrrgh" out the vehicle at the celts!  While it was great fun to see people jump, or get scared, after a while I started to feel really, really badly for those celts, especially the unsuspecting "asian celts" :-)

Jared and Sarah

Glo and Emily, sporting the "mini" Viking hats

It's a wonderful way to see Dublin, and we learned a few things along the way.  Did you know that St. Patrick wasn't a saint, his name wasn't Patrick, and he didn't actually clear Ireland of snakes?  Yep, it's true.  It felt delightful to feel the sun shining on our backs (after our polar vortext winter) while we toured the streets of Dublin, as well as Dublin Bay (yes, the DUKW actually went into the water!)  After a wee bit over an hour, we ended the tour.

One of my bucket list items has been to eat authentic fish and chips.  My tastes have changed since I refused to eat anything fishy when we visited Dublin back in 2005.  I wanted that darn fish and chips.  We walked quite a ways to find Leo Burdock's fish and chips, supposedly the best fish and chips in Ireland.  It was amazing to me to see people queued up outside the tiny shop, with men even taking taxis up to the shop, getting out to get their food, and then hopping back in the taxi.  Yep, it's that good.

I was not disappointed.  In fact, Hannah and I weren't too sure if we would like it or not, so we shared a helping.  It was fried to pure deliciousness and tasted a bit like Irish heaven, I think.  It was sooooo good.

After this, it was back to the cars, because we had a drive ahead of us as we headed to Northern Ireland.  Along the way, we planned a stop at a UNESCO World Heritage Site, The Newgrange Passage Tomb, a site that Sarah had suggested we see.  Instead of trying to caravan from Dublin, we figured we would all just meet there.

Newgrange had the same feel about it that Stonehenge did.  It was built over 5,000 years ago, and quite honestly, nobody knows why.  Newgrange and several other surrounding tombs in the area, are large hills built into the countryside that are perfectly aligned with the sun and were built as tombs.  There is just a long, skinny passageway into the center where there is a small room.  Nobody knows who was actually buried there nor how many people were originally buried there (there have been many grave robbers through the centuries).   The place felt mystical, and it leaves one to wonder about the people from that time.

Newgrange from the outside.

These petroglyphs are found around the tomb.  Again, no one is sure why they were created.

Photographs aren't allowed inside the tomb.  However, there's nothing like a sneaky purse shot, right?

We love the Irish countryside!

I LOVE the signs in the UK!

It was rather lovely there too, and it made me think that when I die, it wouldn't be a bad place to be buried :-)

Thanks goodness for
iPhone flashlights!

We left the place at the close and left for Northern Ireland.  We had grand plans to stop in Antrim for a bite to eat, but we got separated along the way.  It was a crazy mess, and in our own car, there was fighting and bad feelings, involving a McDonald's and thinking that we had missed stopping there with the Morans, but we eventually made it.  At least, our family did.

When we finally found Kilcoobin, our cottage home for the week, it was dark and rather chilly.  I had been given the code for the lockbox for the key to the place.  John pulled out his flashlight, and no matter how we tried to put the combination in, it just wouldn't open. Despite everything we tried, no coaxing of that box was going to open it.  In desperation, John put Glo on the roof of the house to see if any of the windows were open.  Yep, we were desperate.  We spent close to an hour, trying anything to get into the cottage.

You can see Glo on the roof, and you can just see John down in the right corner, telling her what to do.  This is what we do, BABY!

The problem (and this is always a problem when we leave the US) was that we didn't have any access to a phone, or to the internet.  We couldn't call the leasing office anyway because it was closed.  We imagined that we would be sleeping in the car that night, bundling up, and just wait for morning.   However, John had a different plan (he always does, you know?)

We drove the two miles into town, and John stopped at The Bushmills Inn, a country inn and restaurant.  I didn't expect much and didn't even want to go in, but once John convinced me too, I was happier than rainbows (Irish ones, at that).  This restaurant was more than just a country stopover--it was a shi-shi kind of place, but reeking of Irish charm.  In fact, there were small rooms in the front of the establishment, each with a few chairs surrounding a fireplace.  Yes, fireplaces.  We sat our frozen bodies down and began to thaw.



Meanwhile, John had convinced one of the staff to look up our leasing office on the internet, and she had discovered a cell phone number for emergencies.  She called it for us and left a message to call us back at the Inn.

What else could we do while waiting?  Yep, that's right.  We were treated to delicious Irish food and even more delicious Irish hospitality.  Too bad the bill wasn't in Irish Euro instead of British Sterling! It was nice for a moment to put aside all the fighting and bad feelings, and the frustration with the lock box, and just relax.

The waiter took our order while still sitting around the fire, and not until our food was ready at the table, did he escort us back to our table.  I ordered a peppercorn steak, John ordered sea trout, and the girls wanted to split "saddle of rabbit".  Yep, my girls are completely OWNING the Irish experience, and I couldn't be prouder.

The food literally melted in our mouths.  It was so crazy delicious.  In true Irish fashion, we had family style servings of potatoes on the table too, and John allowed us to order off the dessert menu.  Needless to say, all the worries of the house being locked, and fighting in the car,  and losing the Morans evaporated while we ate that delicious food.  It was so perfect.

Glo and Hannah's "Saddle of Rabbit" which they LOVED!

For dessert, Glo actually chose a plate of Irish cheese (accompanied by a printed explanation of each).  Aside from the cheese that smelled like poop (yep, everyone agreed on that), she loved them all.  The frozen grapes were perfect too!

What are the chances an Irish restaurant would serve Hannah's favorite dessert, cheesecake?  Yep, they did.

As we were leaving, John got a call from Keith, one of the leasing agents.  Turns out, he had given us the wrong combination.  Don't even get me started on what I think about situations like this.....

And Jared was at the entrance to the restaurant when we were walking out!  Reunited!  We headed back to the house, plugged in the new numbers, got our stuff inside....and realized that the heat had not been turned on for a while.  We began doing everything we could to bring the temperature into the normal realm.

Meanwhile, we sat down for a few moments.  Turns out the Morans hadn't had an easy time of it either.  They had thought that we had just left them on the M1.  I felt terrible, but thankfully they forgave us.  We all went to bed, hoping that the morning would bring good feelings again...along with some heat.