June 10th and June 11th - Althone and the Midlands

Today is my last full day in Ireland and we are back to rain! I like to think that the skies are crying because I am leaving. :) I really don't want to. 

However, it is not a day that will have me accomplishing much. I headed east with the idea of seeing Portuma Castle, Thoor Ballylee , Birr, then heading back to Althone and seeing the cathedral and whatever else came to mind.  

In the case of Thoor Ballylee, a 16th C roundhouse where WB Yeats spent 11 summers, I never found it. It really sounded  interesting but Michelin's directions were no better than the standard Irish directions. On the way to the airport on R66, I saw a sign for it…Next time! 

In the case of Portuma Castle and Garden, which is a restored 17C Castle and gardens, I found it! But although all the signs said it was open, I could not find an open gate anywhere.

 

But I did get pictures

 

It is right on the water and has moorings right there. A storm was coming in and really whipping up the wind so it looked interesting.  Hopefully next time it will be open because it looks awesome.









Along the way, I did find an interesting church ruin.

Then I tried to find Clonmacnoise Church, found the signs for this one but no church.

 

By that time, it was getting too late to go to Birr with its restored Georgian houses if I wanted to see things in Althone, so I headed back to the hotel. Dropped some stuff and headed out to see the castle and town.

 

 

 

Found the Castle, it is closed on Mondays!.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But I got pictures along with the a look inside St.

Peter and Paul Church

 

What I actually accomplished was a lot of driving in the very green and lush midlands area. I also saw lots of ruins but realized that they aren't all castles and churches. That a number were homes. Some just left as one I saw where the curtains still hung in the windows but the glass was missing and there were holes in the roof. Others where a house built right next to it. It reminded me of Bunratty where the Bunratty House had been built because the new owners of Bunratty Castle in the 19th C found the castle to cold and inconvenient, so they just left it to go to ruin while the built their new house on the property. My first encounter with the concept had actually come 2 weeks earlier when I was following the cycling directions the guys had which said 'in the direction of the ruined mansion'. But the real thing is that Ireland keeps growing with the new while not turning its back on the old. Castles from the 15th century, houses from the Georgian period and many more. But what we also noticed and Mike commented on was that there are many old houses that look like new. You can generally tell by the trim on the windows and some other features. The houses are taken care of, the outside stone covered in a stucco like finish that can then be painted and brightened. Ireland is not a throw away society like ours. In the B&B's we stayed in, furniture and accessories had been handed down for generations. In fact, only one of the places we stayed was new, the Kinvara Guest House (and of course, the 2 hotels that were part of chains), the rest were over a hundred years old and some had been in the same families for generations like the Sea Mist. Things were cared for and updated. It was a nice and warm feeling. 

I left the Athlone Sheraton at 8 am to head home. While it lacked the homey l and true feeling of Ireland, it was a very nice hotel with a wonderful bathtub and feather pillows. Because I was using points, I decided to stay for the last 3 nights instead of finding another place closer to the airport. It made for an hour and a half  trip to the airport that was fine. 

The airport experience was both better and worse than the US. I did not hit ANY lines. However, security is much stiffer. They found a pair of scissors in my make up that I didn't know I had with me (I wish I had!) and tossed a water bottle that had about 2 T of water in it. They also wouldn't let the jams I bought at Kylemore Abbey through. I had meant to pack the few things I bought in the suitcase but once I put the quilts in, I had no room. The nice part was that they security guy let me go back to the check in (again no line) to check them. I went to the check in, they told me I had to get a box from the bookstore. The bookstore found me one, gave me tape to seal it. I took it back to check in and she put the fragile stickers on it, then sent me to drop it at another point. It was annoying but at the same time, I can't imagine US security letting me go back and check it in. In Ireland or at least with Aer Lingus, you go through US passport control and Customs before you get on the plane in Ireland. It makes for a lot of checks to go through but it is so much faster, again no lines, that it is much better.  

So I am now home and looking forward to the next time I go. 

I am going to continue this blog because my food experiences in Ireland were wonderful. I brought home a bunch of recipes that I am looking forward to trying and sharing with you.