A little late posting this week...

A little late posting this week, it's Sunday but there's a good reason.  Last week was our first hosting experience in Dublin and it was just great.  We had a lot of fun with our friends and, unless they are just saying it to make us feel good, they had fun too.  Win, win all around.  Enough, I hope, to encourage all of you who are on the fence about visiting us!

Our friends came on Saturday and we spent the first three days of their visit in Dublin.  The first day we stuck close to home because it's usually the hardest for the jet lag adjustment.  That worked out well. We took a short bus ride to the city center and gave them a general orientation.  The following day they went on their own for a walking tour of the city.  There are walking tours every day and each one is different, depending on the guide.  The guides are usually affiliated with Trinity College, Dublin so they are quite knowledgeable and opinionated.  They know stuff and don't mind inserting their own interests and biases in the tour so there's nothing rote about it.

On the third day we went with them to the Killmainham Gaol (Irish again, it's just pronounced "jail").  This was the place where the British kept Irish 'criminals' in the 19th century and political prisoners in the days of the fight for independence 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilmainham_Gaol.  

They had a lot of records and some of the criminal offenses were quite poignant, "stealing potatoes" for example.  Of course there were also larcenies of all sorts as well as prostitution and buggery.  I'm sure it's quite interesting when Americans bring their children for an Irish history lesson and the kids ask 'What's buggery dad?"  Anyway, the goal was fascinating.  It was a horrible place but apparently during the famine, people were committing crimes to get in, so one can just imagine how horrible it was on the outside during those times.  The film In the Name of the Father was filmed there so if you have seen that, you get the idea.  On a happier note, we also did the Guinness Brewery tour, ending the day in the great pub they have at the top of the building with a wonderful panorama of the city.  That was just great.

On Wednesday we left for Killarney by train.  Killarney is a nice city.  Initially I thought that as guests come we would accompany them on trips to places where we'd not already been, but I could see going back there -- and to Dingle -- again and again.  We had fun in Killarney.  From there we did a horse and trap/boat ride through the Gap of Dunloe 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gap_of_Dunloe

Half the trip was in a very small cart pulled by an overworked horse and the return was an open-topped boat through the lakes of Killarney.  On the following day we did a bus tour of the Ring of Kerry.  Both were very nice, although the Ring of Kerry bus tour was 2 hours too long.  

Following Killarney our friends got a car and we drove to Dingle.  It was pouring rain, the first time we really got a lot of rain during their stay.  I didn't like the car trip much, but took a valium at the start and was asleep most of the way.  The car thing continues and it's pretty much a nuisance but valium works good.  Still, I can't think that any kind of cross country tour in a car would be anything but torture for me, particularly since this trip was only two hours!  

Still, once we got to Dingle and checked into the hotel, Benners (good but expensive), we had a great dinner and then went to a pub in which we had the best music and dance experience we have had in Ireland.  The musicians (just a guitar and squeeze box accordian)  were just great.  We had so much fun, and THEN they started a set dance.  It was just great.  

  

The following day in Dingle was great too although our boat tour to the Blasket Islands was rained out.  We and our friends walked around town (in the rain) in the early morning, then it cleared up.  We stopped in the public library and had a good visit with the librarian who was a font of information, then when the rain stopped we continued our walk to a nearby church where a funeral was in progress.  We waited in the back while the exit procession was going on.  They sang "Lord of the Dance" and right there, I determined that I'm going to learn set dancing here.  It was very moving.

Following that, Rosemary noticed a sign encouraging us to visit an adjoining convent with noteworthy stained glass.  What a great find, the chapel was just beautiful.  I could not have asked for more by way of artistry and spiritual beauty, it more than made up for not seeing dolphins!  So, so beautiful. 

http://www.diseart.ie/visitor/harry2.html

All in all, a great, great week.  We both enjoyed hosting and the new experiences.   Our friends come back to us on Wednesday for one night and then we will rest for a few weeks in preparation of Alan's sister and my favorite outlaw, Tom's visit.  (The outlaws are those who have married Balkemas  -- you know who you are an why this in noteworthy).  Those who really know Alan also know -- the Balkemas are NEVER wrong -- still, we outlaws stick with them and with one another in solidarity.  I'm looking forward to a great visit.