Saturday June 11th, 2011: Ironbridge Gorge Area: Blist Hill, Tar Tunnel & Enginuity



The thief & the Bobby- Blist Hill


This morning we drove to the Ironbridge Gorge area to visit the living museum, Blist Hill.It was great. We got there on Horses in Harness weekend. We got to see the people in their respective roles. In fact, we even witnessed a burglary- a man stole a bike from outside the grocerers shop. The bobby came out and chased him down the street. It turned out that it was the police officers bike. It was a great performance. Alexandra really got into it. We had fish and chips for lunch and visited the town- most of it before it started to rain. I really loved this museum. It was everything I thought it would be. Adam also liked it. He had very low expectations and was very happily surprised. 

Blist Hill

The Tar Tunnel



After Blist Hill, we visited the Tar Tunnel. It was okay, but we all agreed that we would have been annoyed to pay to enter because it was just a tunnel where that oozed tar. Fortunatly it was part of our pass.

Then we drove by the Ironbridge. Ironbridge was built in 1779 entirely out of iron. Abraham Darby's bridge was to be the first in the world to use Cast Iron structurally and artists and writers, spies and engineers came from all over the world to marvel at "That most incomparable piece of architecture".

 

Enginuity



Enginuity

Then we grabbed a snack for Alexandra and Brian at the café of the iron museum. Then headed over to Engenuity museum. It was a hands on science museum. The kids really loved this one.

Sugar Pig- Victorian candy

Finnally we went to stay the night with Marios, Isu and Angelica in Brimingham. We arrived around 6 pm. We had dinner and the kids played. Brian ran a fever throughout the night. We had a delightful time. 

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Saturday, June 4th, 2011: Dublin

We took the bus into Dublin and waited for the Book of Kells to open at Trinity College. AMAZING!!!! Alexandra and I took our time and enjoyed learning all about how the history of the book and how it was made. I liked how they would prick the lines on the vellum so that the scribe could feel the line so that he wrote in a straight line but it didn’t diminish the look of the page.

Next stop shopping and then the Museum Archeology & History, lunch at Spar and then Natural History Museum. The kids liked both of these and so did we. Next Temple Bar area for a pint and some ice cream. Then we walked up to O’Connell Street. Then looped back toward the castle and then stopped for dinner and to watch the football match in a pub. Then we took the bus home to prep for tomorrow.

Something to note: Alexandra saw beggars for the first time that she was able to read the signs for ‘donations’. It was heartbreaking to see her face when she turned back around. Just then a college student came out of a shop and place a penny on a barrier. I pointed it out to Alexandra and she was very excited to find money. Very soon we came across another person writing a sign in chalk telling his story and asking for assistance. She walked up and dropped her money in his cup. It was very touching.

Friday, June 3rd, 2011: Bushmills, Dunluce Castle, andKnoth & Newgrange



Bushmill's



We hoped to see Bushmill’s distillery, but they wouldn’t let the kids in because of health and safety. So we visited the gift shop and headed off to see Dunluce Castle. Another ruin- but what a view. WOW!!! It fell into disuse before Cromwell’s agents ravaged it because the Duchess (owner) didn’t like the sea. She claimed that parts of the castle feel into the sea one night while she was there. She packed up her things and sent them to England to be held. Eventually Cromwell’s agents got to those as well and sold them off. But archeologists say the wall didn’t fall into the sea until much later. Under the castle was a cave, in which the Irish could hide 3 boats from the invading Vikings.

Another long drive. This time down to Knoth and Newgrange. These are more megalithic tombs from around 3,000 BC. We didn’t have time to make it to Hill of Tara before it closed.



Dunluce Castle



Dunluce Caste

  



The view from the Dunluce Castle




Adam's dream lawn mower

 

Knoth Megalithic Tomb- w/Adam's lawn mower on it



Inside the tomb



Thursday, June 2nd, 2011: Giant's Causeway

It was a long drive to the Giant’s Causeway. We arrived at the causeway around 8 pm. The causeway is actually a result of volcanic ash erupting and being cooled by the sea in the last ice age into hexagonal columns. It was absolutely amazing! Adam took over 200 pictures of the causeway. We waited to watch the sun set. It was beautiful!!!! It was also very late, as the sun doesn’t set until at least 10 pm. We all made it to bed around midnight. The fable says that Fionn MacCumhaill- the Irish Giant- put the causeway in so that he could reach his girlfriend in Scotland.

 

Thursday, June 2nd, 2011: Sligo and Marble Arch Caves

We started with the hotel that we stayed in. It was the Clarion Hotel in Sligo. It was a former mental hospital- built in the 1800's. It was very progressive for its time, as before this patients were sent to the “goal”/prisons. This administrator of this hospital felt that patients were prosper if they were not tied down or kept away from each other. Additionally he felt that if they had a chore- like working in the garden it would help them adjust to normal life. The hospital closed in the early 1900’s and was gutted and turned into this spa/hotel around 1996.

Next stop Sligo Abbey. It was in ruins but very pretty.

Then over to the Megalithic stones/burial grounds (similar but smaller to Newgrange).

3rd stop was the Marble Arch Cave where we took a boat trip inside the cave.

Tuesday June 1st, 2011: Athenry

After the Aran Islands we hoped in the car to see The Cliffs of Morh. Only when we got there, it was foggy cloudy, rainy and cost 5 euro each. So we took a pass since we wouldn’t be able to see anything.

On our way to Sligo via Athenry The drive took us through the Burren, which was very pretty but not picturesque because of the weather. We arrived 15 min. too late to see the Athenry Castle and Friary. So we walked around a bit and let the kids play in the playground while we took turns peaking into the Domenic Friary. Finally to the hotel in Sligo. The Clarion was a beautiful hotel in an old castle looking building. I will have to learn more about it tomorrow morning.

Wednesday June 1st, 2011: Aran Islands

Our boat

It was a cold and cloudy day. Got up early and headed toward the Aran Island. We decided to go to the closest and smallest island- Inis Oirr. It was only a 35 minute boat ride over very choppy water (verse 95 minutes to the large island). I managed not to get sick. I did abandon Adam with the kids. Alexandra got sick all over her mitten.

It was cold and windy on the island and we were stalked by a “guide”. We ended up jumping in for a quick ride around part of the island for 10 euro. We saw an old ship that was crashed in the sea in 1960 and left to rot. We learned about the 250 families on the island. Every person has a plot of land. If it has already been cleared then great, otherwise it has to stay as it is. Also there are very few gates, so if you want to get your animal/machine in or out then they just remove the stones from a portion of the wall and build it back when they are done. Their current main income is tourism but before it was farming/cattle. We also visited several other sites, including a grave yard, ruined fort and saw a “lepercon house”. Before heading to the playground and deciding to head home.  Fortunately we all kept our lunch down. Upon returning, we saw more dolphins and a man took a swim for fun. Yikes cold water.



Before the ride started



Dolphin





a guide



The destroyed ship

The Lepercon's house

 

The walls of each family's plot



The Swimmer