Wines of Ireland

While staying at Castle Dromoland (more on that later) we had the following exceptional wines;
Collioure (France) and Beerenauslese (Austria)

Ireland journal to return

Now that I've completed the Poem a day challenge, I'm posting them here http://melaniethink.blogspot.com/ and will then resume the Ireland trip journal. Just in time to start the Arizona one!

Day 2 (October 20th) Kilkenny/Waterford

A delicious breakfast and we began our quest for a cell phone. The phone was pretty easy to find – the problem was getting someone to take a large bill. The bank that changed our money gave us 500 Euro notes and no store would accept them. Even when spending 100 Euros. Not even the banks in Kilkenny would change it. Eventually we realized we had to let go of the phone idea for the day if we wanted to see anything.

On we went to Kilkenny Castle. We missed the tour and would have waited hours for the next one. But we did walk the grounds and took pictures. It was beautiful! The stonework will probably not come through on the pictures as well as it looked in person.

Then on to Waterford, where we toured the crystal factory. One of the engravers did a demonstration. Truly amazing! He made it look so easy – of course these guys train for 10 years for this job. We bought a number of things and they will ship them home for us.

We checked into the B&B – St. Albans on Cork Road and went to Revolution for dinner.

2 days for 1 and borrowed pictures

IRELAND
October 18 – November 1, 2008


October 18 was not counted as this was a travel day. The flight left O’Hare at 7:15 PM and arrived at 8 AM local time on the 19th.

Day 1 (October 19th) We arrived! Unfortunately the charge in the batteries did not. Not a single battery had any power left in it when we arrived. To make matters worse the car we got from the rental place had a broken cigarette lighter so no car charging for us. We didn’t think to check the power in the car because there were already all sorts of delays getting into the rental car that we were anxious to get on the road. They warned us that there would be a toll on the way out of Dublin. The only good thing about that is that you can pay it ahead of time at the airport. You can also pay the tolls on the internet later!
Finally on our way, we headed to Enniskerry. We had lunch there at a place called Poppies. My first authentic Irish breakfast. Yum! We drove around the town a bit and then headed to Glendalough and the Wicklow Mountains. Driving through the Wicklow mountains was an amazing experience. Truly beautiful scenery, if only we had the camera (of course that would have put us well over 700 pictures I’m sure.)
Glendalough is a 6th century settlement started by St. Kevin (no wonder Kevin wanted to stop here! :-) ) Very striking ruins including a large tower and many tombstones. We walked through the ruins of the church as well. There’s even a building known as St. Kevin’s kitchen – they say it’s because of a structure that looks like a chimney.
For two excellent pictures of the ruins follow this link http://www.wicklowmountainsnationalpark.ie/MonasticCity.html
We made it most of the way to Kilkenny before the GPS battery died. Fortunately we were close enough that we found our way. We stayed at a lovely little Bed and Breakfast called Knockavon (on Dublin Rd.) We settled in early since it had been a long day for us (close to two actually!)

Ireland preview

Cliffs of Moher video should have been first but it's a 10 minute video so it's WAY to big for posting right now. More Ireland stuff to come...

Philadelphia, PA area

The Windsor Suites
1700 Ben Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19103

• cheapest
• walking distance
• charge for parking
• breakfast
• fridge & microwave
  

Sheraton Philadelphia City Center Hotel
17th & Race Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103


Crowne Plaza Hotel PHILADELPHIA-CENTER CITY
1800 MARKET ST., Philadelphia, PA 19103


City Pass and Philadelphia pass available through orbitz
http://www.philadelphiapass.com/
http://www.citypass.com/city/philadelphia.html?id=Eq6sA22B

Hershey - http://www.hersheypa.com/ *museum closing 9/2
Kitchen Kettle Village http://www.kitchenkettle.com/kitchenkettle/iehome07.php
Good N Plenty Restaurant http://www.goodnplenty.com/
Willow Valley Resort http://www.willowvalley.com/
Red Caboose Motel http://www.redcaboosemotel.com/
Strasburg Railroad http://www.strasburgrailroad.com/
Corn Maze and others http://www.amishnews.com/featurearticles/crazycorn.htm
Hershey's chocolate world http://www.hersheys.com/chocolateworld/
Shady Maple Smorgasbord http://www.shady-maple.com/home

Philadelphia http://www.gophila.com/
Lights of Liberty
Independence Hall http://www.nps.gov/inde/
Congress Hall
Liberty Bell
Christ Church (Ben Franklin's Grave)
Betsy Ross House
US Mint
Old City Hall
First Bank of US
Ben Franklin National Memorial
Franklin Institute Science Museum
City Hall
Big Bus Tour

Potential Trips 2008

Where should we go in 2008? Can we fly or drive?

1. Philadelphia, PA is a good possibility. Lots to see...
2. Amish Country in Indiana is also good. They have theater!
3. Missouri has some possibilities but would need to put more of an agenda together to decide where in the state
4. There's always the possibility of visiting family in San Francisco.
5. Return to Tennessee and actually have time to enjoy the visit.
6. Canada - need passports :-(
7. Wait until fall and look at areas further south (ie Georgia, Mississippi, Carolinas)