July 23-27 2012 Ireland week 2

After leaving Dublin we headed west and stopped at Cahir Castle.It is one of Ireland's largest and best preserved castle.Our next stop was the Rock of Cashel.This castle sits high on a hill and overlooks a beautiful valley.It was the seat of ancient kings of Munster.This rock was fought over by clans for hundreds of years.The chapel is undergoing some restoration so they have some scaffolding.There is also a Celtic cross graveyard.Continuing on we drove over the beautiful Glen of Aherlow valley.

The next day we went to  Cobh,if your of Irish decent there's a good chance your ancesters left from this port.The first steam-powered ship made a transatlantic crossing from Cobh.

After visiting Cobh we arrived in Kinsdale and wanted to see Charles Fort.this fort is a star shaped one and was occupied by the British until the civil war in 1922.In 1923 the interior buildings were torched by the IRA to keep it from being used  by the free state during the Irish Civil War.After visiting the fort it was getting late so we spent the night in a parking lot at the church in Kinsdale.

July 17-23 2012 Ireland 1

Due to the fact that I don't have internet that often I will try and post once a week.I'll give my best shot.We arrived in Ireland on the 17th July.The next day I needed a Sim card for my phone so we went and got one that would work in Ireland.Then we needed to find someone that would fill one of our propane bottles.Ireland is the only one that we have found that will service other countries bottles.Every country has a different bottle and when you use the propane up you take that bottle back and they give you another already filled.This has posed a problem for us as we have one from Netherland,one from Germany and one from Italy.But at least they filled one of our German bottles. Here's some of the things we have done since we arrived in Ireland.The first place we visited was Glendalough Monolith site.This site was founded in the 6th century by St.Kevins. The best ruins are of a 10ft. round tower that has a high door.They had a ladder to climb into the tower in case of attack.Our next stop was Powerscourt Gardens and Mansion.The mansion had a fire in 1974 so they didn't have it open but you could go through the gardens.Sam decided to stay in RV so went without him.The gardens were beautifully done and they call them The Grand Finale of Europe's gardening tradition.Next we drove the Military road to Sally Gap.We saw some nice waterfalls,beautiful scenery,and bogs.The people still use the peat from the bogs to heat their homes.

 The next day we went into to Dublin ad the first place we went was to Trinity College.The students give you about a 30 minute tour of the college and a little bit of history.We also got to go into the old library that holds the Book of Kells. These are manuscripts made before the Dark Ages. Next we took the hop on hop off bus and stopped at Guiness Brewery.Guiness began in 1759 by Arthur Guiness and by1868 it was the biggest brewery in the world.It brews 10 million pints a day.On the top floor they have a gravity bar that has a 360 degree view.The tour is overpriced and we don't even like Guiness.Our next stop was at the Kilmainham Gaol.This jail opened in 1796 as a model prison.They incarcerated men women and children .It was frequently used by the British as a political prison and for the Irish who were fighting for Independence.Many were held here and executed during the civil war.The next day we went back into Dublin and went to the Temple Bar area.This place came on hard times in the 19th century and with the Government's help it has become a cultural hot spot with pubs and music.We loved the area and went to a few of the pubs and had a few drinks and listened to the good ole Irish music.

July 17,2012 Ferry to Ireland

While in Wales we met a couple that were from the US but have lived and taught school in Germany for many years.While in Brecon we walked into town and they had a nice market going on where you could shop and sit and listen to the music.There was also a beer festival going on and the 4 of us stopped for a beer and a bite to eat.Here's Ed and Michele.

The next day Sam and I went to Pembroke Cadtle and St. David's Cathedral.Pembroke Castle is one of Wales restored ancient castle and also went to St.David's Cathedral.After seeing the castle and cathedral we went looking for a place to stay for the night.We are leaving tomorrow on the ferry to Ireland.We spent the night at amarna overlooking the water.It was pouring rain.Hope this weather gets better when we get to Ireland.

July 12,2012 St. Fagan's

After leaving camp today we wanted to see St. Fagan's open air museum.The is not like a museum in that it is all outside.They have 40 different buildings they moved here to show how the Welsh people worked and lived.There is also a Manor house and gardens and in a very nice setting.Because it started to pour down rain so we didn't get to visit all of the buildings.The weather here is awful.If you want to see things you have to just get out and go.They tell us that this isn't normally like this in July and August.We hope we'll get sunshine soon.

July 9,2012 Bath

Today we came to Bath one of our favorite places in England.We took a 2 hour tour of Bath given by the heritage volunteers.He told of the History and Architecture of Bath and we walked around to see the Bath house ,Circus,Crescent and Bath Abbey.This was all free and very informative.Bath Abbey is last Gothic Church in England.It has beautiful stained glass windows, columns of honey gold stone and a great fan ceiling.The Crescent was built As a semi-circle and was made for very wealthy.After we left Bath we went to Bristol and tomorrow we will be entering Wales.

July 8,2012 Update Cheddar Gorge

After we left Wells Carthedral and continued on to Cheddar Gorge.This is a nature reserve and is world famous for it's dramatic cliffs reaching to 450 ft and beautiful gorge.There were lots of people climbing and having picnics in this area.We were able to stop overnight along the gorge and enjoy the beauty of this great place.

July 8 2012 Abbey,Cathedral

Our first stop today was Glastonbury Abbey.It was a monastery founded in the 7 th century had a fire in 1184 and rebuilt in the 14th century.It was the richest and most powerful monasteries in England.It is said to be founded by Joseph of Arimathea in the 1st century.It has also been associated by the legend of King Arthur.

Our next stop was in Wells to see the Wells Cathedral.It was built between 1175 and 1490.Everything over here is old.The ceiling is an inverted arch.Scissors arches were made to brace and stabilize the piers so they wouldn't start falling.They have a astonical clock that chimes every quarter hour and the jousting knights going around.This is quite a large church and very nice inside.