The adventure continues and we are now in Amsterdam after our Ireland trip.
Our first stop this morning was IKEA but that was just to pick up a few essentials.
The first real stop was to visit the best pizza in Europe, La Perla!
La Perla features an authentic wood burning oven where all these tasty pizzas are cooked and they are cooked to perfection.
We don’t have much of an agenda in Amsterdam but to rest after a long trek across Norway and Ireland but we’ll manage to do something fun so stay tuned!
We headed out of Galway this morning for Dublin but not before stopping at Athlone.
We visited a castle and tried to have lunch there but many of the restaurants were closed and did not open till noon witb a 45 minute wait for food.
Athlone Castle
The best feature of the castle was a short movie about the bloody history of the battle held there between the Irish and British/Dutch.
After the castle we stopped at Ireland’s oldest pub according to the Guiness World Book of Records.
The bar is a bit dark and filled with patrons while we were sitting there, it’s a popular place with locals as well as visitors. Sean’s also has it’s own branded whiskey.
Visiting the oldest pub in Ireland was a fitting end to our journey. Athlone isn’t a place we’d recommend you stop, there isn’t much to do there yet but hopefully things will improve over time. We headed to the airport to exit Ireland and start our next leg of our trip.
Started the day driving to Chonamara National Park from Galway. It was the usual drive on a two lane highway with all sorts of perils and tribulations but we made it.
There are THREE hiking trails at the park, Yellow (30m easy), Blue (1 hr, moderate), Red (2+ hrs, hard). We opted for the blue while Dutch went Blue.
Conemara Park (Blue hike)
The views were spectacular and I’m told they are even nicer from higher up but it was raining and we didn’t bring hiking shoes or poles to trek up higher so we headed back down.
There are amazing flowers growing all along the path up and down the park. Well worth a minute to stop and smell & photograph the flowers.
After spending a couple of hours at the park we headed to our next stop Kylemore Abbey.
Kylemore Abbey
Kylemore Abbey has paramount and majestic views of the surrounding mountains and lake.
We visited the interior and weren’t disappointed with the furnishing. The Abbey has a strong odor of wood and a bit smokey and musty.
There is also a gothic church under renovation to the far right of the Abbey.
The gothic church is fairly small and not as impressive as other churches we’ve visited over the years.
The view between the Abbey and church is amazing.
The garden has amazing and giant flowers growing throughout. We didn’t have time to make the botanical garden but you can still find these throughout the Abbey area.
After the Abbey visit we headed back to Galway to spend time in the city and do some shopping.
Galway
Our Dingle entrepreneur told us we had to stop and visit The Quay Pub in Galway so here we are.
Quay Pub
Sadly service was very slow and the staff seemed overworked and indifferent. They literally drive people up the walls here.
Quay Pub Food – nothing extraordinary.
After lunch we visited Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop and picked up some local Irish books and then headed to the cheese shop for some amazing smoked sheep cheese!
After the city visit we headed back to our hotel for some rest. We move on tomorrow.
Tags: Galway
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we left arou d 9 am from Dingle to drive to Galway, it was a long drive however we made a few key stops.
Irish Countryside
Not to be confused with the English countryside, the Irish countryside is spectacular.
Irish countryside & coast
Cliffs of Moher
Before Galway, we stopped at the Cliffs of Moher.
The views are majestic and spectacular and we had fair weather as a nice bonus.
Driving In Ireland
This long drive here also reminded me of a big pet peeve and criticism I have of Ireland: The roads.
Two lane road
Almost all of Ireland outside of Dublin is connected by a single two lane highway. The road is fairly narrow and there are often hedges or rock walls along the road that block views around curves and corners.
I assume the hedges are there to block farm animals from getting into the road but they also impede visual cues while driving.
I wish that were the only problem witb Irish roads but the fact is the roads are used by EVERYBODY. At one point a single bicycist was slowing down a line of cars because there was no way to pass.
At other points, pedestrians were walking along the edge and in order to not run over them, one side of the traffic needed to stop until one could pass by on the other lane.
In another section, road was being repaired which means one lane was shutdown and cars had to queue to give each other time to rotate passing.
There are also large slow moving big rig trucks hauling stuff that move slow and difficult to pass.
Overall, driving has been unpleasant as there are also imparient speed demons that ignore all speed limits and traffic rules.
Parking
Parking is also a major problem as it simply doesnt exist in most places around Ireland.
I would have prefered NOT to drive entirely bus there is no train system as far as I could tell and only ONE major road between cities.
A large cemetary surrounds this place given the violent history.
Muckross Friary
After the friary, we went to see Torc waterfall however we misread signs and ended up at the small waterfall not the larger one!
Small Waterfall
The right waterfall…
After the Waterfall we drove to Dingle for dinner and had some amazing seafood chowder and Hake fish.
Walking around Dingle is fun, lots of shops, restaurants and bars featuring Irish folk music. It wasnt always this nice or popular. It took a few courageous bar owners to bring in musicians and them it became popular so more replicated the success.
After dinner we went to an Irish Folk music event at a nearby church and we found the history of James Goodman salvaging IRISH songs before and during the Irish famine intriguing.
It has been a long day so we are off to bed….the adventure continues….
Tags: Dingle
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We left Dublin this morning and headed out to Cork Ireland. Our hotel was near this cathedral so we walked over to take a look. It is an impressive building called St Fin Barre Cathedral.
Entry St Fin Barre Cathedral
St Fin Barre Cathedral
After the Cathedral we headed out to Blarney Castle. This site has many stories to tell from Druids to Witches to Kings and invasions.
Blarney Castle
The site encompasses 60 acres and is impossoble to see in one day so we split up and optimized our photo shoots.
There is a ledgend that kissing the Blarney Stone at the top of the tower grants “the ability to deceive without offending”. Unfotunately, there was a 90 minute wait to climb the tower with the sheer number of people wanting to kiss the stone.
While wife was kissing the stone, I walked the grounds, gardens and rock formations eaxh with their own lore and history.
Road to Blarney Lake
Garden pathway
There are many interesting and beautiful plants in the garden including many of these giant plants.
Giant plantBeautiful fire flowers
There is also a bee keeper on the premises that while I didnt get to see, I did see plenty of bees.
Bee on flower
There is a rich history and mythology around the castle grounds.
The WitchWitch’s KitchenDruid Cave
We spent three hours on site and sadly had to depart as it shuts down at 6 pm.
The site is well worth the visit for the history, lore, mythology and beauty of the grounds.
We left Norway and landed in Dublin late yesterday.
This morning we had a lunch meeting with some very dear friends at a great Irish eatery called Fallon & Byrne.
The food was absolutely amazing. We had scallops, smoked salmon and Hoke.
We then did a walking tour with a student from Trinity College.
The campus is home to an amazing library which will be shutdown for renovations next year for a decade. The image below shows most of the books removed.
The university has many unique buildings including the building below where geology is taught that feature Connemara Green Marble – a rare Unesco protected stone.
There are two museums on campus dedicated to the Book of Kells and the modern museum features a very impressive and immwrsive 3D presentation that is worth visiting.
After departing the university we headed to see the Dublin Castle. An impressive structure featuring an amazing interior and exterior.
We will be leaving Dublin for the west coast of Ireland.
Tags: Dublin
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Today we started the day in Honningsvag and took a bus ride to the North Cape at 71 degrees, 10 minutes, 21 seconds.
North Cape – 71° 10’ 21”71° 10’ 21”North CapeReindeer
Kjollefjord
After leaving the top of Norway we headed to Kjolleford where we met an amazing Sami family that talked about their life in Norway.
The sign says “kissing bench.”
Kjollefjord Sami houseSami house (interior)
Our Sami hosts started by offering us jerky made from Reindeer meat. the Sami survive in the remote arctic by herding Reindeer and fishing.
The Sami traditionally lived entirely off the land using every resource in their environment such as using the bark of willow trees to water proof shoes and leather created from reindeer skins.
The willow tree bark also has medicinal properties.
Grass is used to pad and insulate shoes, as it absorbs moisture from feet.
Feb 6 is celebration day for the Sami as that’s when the tribes in Norway, Finland and Sweden created a unified front.
Sami have 300 words for snow and a similar number to describe deer.
The Sami were never concerned or interested in climate change until they started seeing and experiencing changes to their own environment.
The normal dry coldness for weeks and months are gone.
It now rains more during winter, rain turns to ice which covers grasses reindeer use to eat and makes them unable to get food from under ice. This has caused the Sami to have to provide food for them to eat which then makes the reindeer dependent on the Sami for food.
Many stories about how the Norway government and church did not allow the Sami to play their traditional drums or speak their traditional language. Fortunately things have been turning around for the Sami in recent years.
After our stay we headed back to the ship to get some rest. Tomorrow is our last day in Norway, it’s been quite an adventure.
Tags: Norway,Sami
Categories: Norway Comments Off on Honningsvag & Kjollefjord
We started the day with a lecture at the conference room about the history of the long sea routes across the Norwegian coast. Our host Howard was funny and entertaining. He gave us the history of how the cruise line industry came to be in Norway and how the two cruise lines, Hurtigurten and Havila came to be. Here is a quote from one of his stories, “When I was a kid, we were told that if we studied hard and did well in school, someday we could get a job on a Hurtigruten ship but today kids are told that if they don’t do well in school they may end up working on a Hurtigruten ship, how times change.”
Another interesting point and a core issue we’ll discuss in our final review of the ship, is the ongoing labor shortage for skilled sailors on these cruises. We’ll tell you how this impacted our experience on the cruise in our final review.
Lunch
After the lecture we headed over to the fine dining restaurant for lunch.
Prawns & Crispy PotatoesJerusalem Artichoke Soup
I asked our attendant if she and the crew ate the same food we were being served but said they had a different menu consisting of items such as burgers, pizza and salad bars.
Our first excursion was a bus ride to the gondola station and a climb up to the mountain overlooking the entire city of Tromsø. It has an impressive view of the city and there be trolls here.
Trolls?
Arctic Church
Our second excursion stop was the Arctic Cathedral which features a unique triangular shape.
Arctic Church (Interior)
Full Steam Museum
Our third and final stop on our excursion was the Full Steam museum which features the history of the fishing industry in Tromsø.
As usual fish are hung out to dry here after the harvest which runs from January through March.
We also learned about the Sami people of Northern Norway. An indigenous group of people that have been left marginalized by the broader Norway community. This group of people have tens of thousands but have no representation in Norway’s parliament. Sad.
Dinner
For dinner, we skipped the fine dining and ate at the regular restaurant and I was a bit disappointed with the steak below. Havila Pro Tip: Stick to seafood dishes for optimum culinary satisfaction.
Veggie plate served with our entrees.
Jacuzzi
After dinner, we spent most of the evening in our Jacuzzi as we sailed from Tromsø to our next stop. We should be reaching our final destination tomorrow and it’s been a great trip in Norway.
We had a late start today and our first real stop on the ship was the dining hall to eat fabulous meals.
Lunch consisted of lamb sausage, Norwegian fish soup and tomato salad (image below).
Dinner – A three course meal with the usual seafood theme. The bowl has some type of mushroom soup.
Baked Cod (image below) – main course
Veggies
Our ship dropped us off in Stamsund and we took a bus to Lofoten and stopped at a small town along the way called Torvdalshalser where we took the photo below overlooking the whole valley.
Our next bus stop was Lofoten which features a museum and an art gallery of a local resident, Kaare Espolin Johnson. The photo below is right outside the museum.
Kaare Espolin Johnson
Local artist famous for artwork in books and magazines. Wikipedia page here.
Art exhibit in museum
After the art gallery we headed over to the Lofoten museum. The museum tells the story of how the family which owned most of the land in the area was built as a “company town” and the family that owned the land also owned the general store, the houses fishermen would live in when they came in to fish. The owners would eventually also buy all the fish from the fisherman.
The working and living conditions of the fisherman were abysmal.
There were tens of thousands of pounds of fish processed each fishing season. Image below shows fish being hung to dry, much like the fishermen.
Typical living conditions except there would be 14 or so people packing into a room like the one below.
After our site visit, the bus took us to the next port over called Svolvaer which is considered the “capital” city of Lofoten but our tour guide insisted that was a lie because it’s not a capital, just the biggest city in the area.
We got back late and the ship had porridge treat along with some type of exotic hot drink.
