Day 5
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Woke up to sunshine. After the usual breakfast we were on the road to Kenmare by about 10:30.
Jill and Kristen hit the weekly market while Dave went into a music store. The guy running the store reminded me a bit of Mr. Habild. He had a very comprehensive selection of CDs of trad (traditional) Irish music, and a selection of musical instruments - guitars, fiddles, Blues harps (!), of varying qualities. I was in search of a Bodhran for me and a flute of some kind for Kristen. The Bodhran is a hand held drum use by trad Irish musicians. He had some hand made ones that were very attractive and of course expensive. But seeing how this was my one souvenir, I splurged 180€. for one. I'll get maybe 25€. back in VAT if I remember to file for forms. It's a real Bodhran that can be tuned and sounds like a real drum. I got Kristen a small flute used in trad Irish music. She can play some of her recorder tunes on it, now let's hear her play some Irish tunes! |
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The guy was very nice and I have his email address. The maker is from the area and supposedly goes to NY sometimes to play. I'll email him for a schedule. The drum sounds great.
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The girls didn't find a lot of interest at he market. Kind of like lots of the other markets we've been to in various countries, except not much bread & cheese, and they don't grow olives in Ireland (though they do sell them.)
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Had lunch in a pub - mediocre. I wasn't too hungry. Jill and I split a pita pizza and Kristen devoured a burger and fries. Too much money again.
Then on to Molly Gallivan's which we had passed yesterday. We had seen it on some travel show but were too tired yesterday. It's the actual farm where this woman and her 7 kids lived in the 1800's, doing whatever they needed to do to survive. Molly seems like a superwoman, milking cows, baking bread, growing potatoes, rye, barley, and making Poteen, the local moonshine. And running a bar. The girls went on a walk thru the farm while I napped on a moss-covered wall. Afterwards, we went inside where Jill had a Diet Coke and Kristen & Dave split a pot of tea. |
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Cruised around the mountains and went back to photograph some of them, given the fact that it was now 75 degrees and sunny! Then back down the mountain to Kenmare, where we went to a 5000 year old stone circle. Very nicely kept and pretty intriguing, given the fact that the stones were hauled from several miles away. Kristen and I both made believe we were being sacrificed on the center stone.
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Kristen got an ice cream, then it was back to Sneem. Not as much driving as the past several days, but still plenty for me. Came home, Mom & Dad napped for an hour or so while Kristen watched a DVD on the PC.
Back to town for a drink at O'Shea's. Pink building, looked a little intimidating, but once we went inside it was really nice. great decor, plenty of locals and some tourists too. The usual Guinness for me, Jill had wine and Kristen her usual Club Orange, but this time she broke the glass with half of the soda still in it, which attracted a little attention. We had planned to dine at the chippie since their fries were so good last nite. But O'Shea's menu looked really good and much more reasonably priced than the Blue Bull. So we ended up with a couple more drinks and Thai Chicken Curry for Jill, Sausage & Chips for Kristen, and a great sausage and mash in an onion sauce for me. Prepared by a real chef, obviously. Talked briefly to a guy at the next table with 5 boys, who had a The Who t-shirt on. He saw them in Dublin recently and gave a rave review of the show. Back home before the sun set, so I could see in front of me when driving up our 2 mile shared driveway. Gorgeous weather all day, and warm. How fortunate! I even began tonight's diary outside, before it got too chilly. Hope we get more of the same tomorrow! |
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