College of the Mainland Singers, piano player and one whistler (me) leave for Ireland tomorrow. We arrive at Shannon Thursday morning 8:40 am their time. We will stay two days in Killarney with numerous bus touring. Saturday June 21 we bus to Garryvoe Hotel at Cork. We will perform a joint concert with Cor Cois Farriage (Seaside Chores). I do not know what time yet or who will be singing first or second.
We will stay two days in Cork before bussing to Dublin for three days. We will perform a joint concert with Kill Choir at St Johns Church, Dublin June 24. Again I do not know the time or sequence.
The tour guide and bus picked us up at the Shannon airport today. Then drove us to the Cliffs of Moher where we stayed for two hours. Beautiful and awesome view. Then we drove many seaside towns and across the Shannon river on a ferry boat to check into our first hotel. It was about a five or six hour ride. Had supper at the hotel and went to ''Courtneys of Killarney. They advertise live music and impromptu sessions. a group called Tim Oshea and friends were setting up to play and sell CDs. Stayed there about two hours giving a good listen and our group bought four CD’s.
Tomorrow we take off on another drive around in the bus.
Good they brought you on a detour through West Clare, better than being whisked off to Killarney via Limerick. Shame though your touroperator didn’t arrange for some tailored music related stops like The Music Makers of West Clare and make a stop off to have your picture taken with Willie Clancy. You must have driven right by on your way from the Cliffs to the Killimer ferry. It was a good day for the Cliffs though so glad you enjoyed that.
I have begun seeing some of “that” which a person on a bus tour might experience. I am glad that we are here now and not the peak of bus tour season around June, July, August. Yes there are some pros and cons of the ‘‘bus tour’’.
The big pro is a lot can be seen and you just sit as someone else drives… and drives and drives. Beautiful landscape on the Ring of Kerry drive than to short of stops here and there with other tour buses coming and going. Waiting in lines at the WC/toilets. Especially for the women sometimes there is only one throne. Get back to the bus on time and the same people are always late.
I did see a nice statue of a famous squeeze box player last night as I was walking around Killarney. To dark to take a picture though. We left Killarney today and are at the Garryvoe Hotel @ Cork. I was in the heated pool within thirty minutes Some americans may not care for waiting to order supper at 7:30 then not receiving the food till 8pm. Then it also depends on how many other bus tour loads are at the same hotel. I did not like waiting at the first hotel till 8am to order breakfast. We are on own for lunch each day. Betty and I are having a contest to see where we find the best seafood chowder. So far the contenders are @ Waterville, and the Cobh heritage Centre.
Our fist concert has been moved from tonight to tomorrow night but still the Garryvoe hotel.
We are in the Cork area today and tomorrow, then off to Dublin till the 28th. We will have free time most of Wednesday. We are opting out of the tour guide selection.
Would you have any suggestions?
So you saw the Johnny Leary statue. Killarney is actually nice to walk around in, just ignore the touristy tackiness and enjoy the rest. It’s a spectacularly beautiful area. They make nice whistles there too!
I hate tourbuses with a vengeance, they drive like they own the road (just had a close shave with a few of them this morning while heading to the Burren for a long walk over a few mountains).
Can’t recommend much about Cork or Dublin, my visits there are rare and usually strictly on a need to do something specific there basis (had things to do in Dublin last week but saw very little of it for example, other than traveling across the city in the car). So I lack up to date practical knowledge of what’s going on there. For a first visit to Ireland I would always recommend to just take things in as you find them and play it by ear. I don’t think there’s shame in going on the tourist trail, there are things you just need to see and do on a first visit. Just don’t waste your time and money on the Guinness storehouse, go see the National Museum in Collins’ Barracks or their archeology department in Kildare st instead, if you’re into that sort of thing And maybe the Book of Kells and the Library’s Long room in Trinity. And there’s ITMA, the Irish Traditional Music Archive in Merrion Square. Other than that, just take in the city in all it’s glorious awfulness and beauty.
The concert went very well. The directors agreed to perform alternately instead of one going first then ending and the other going second and ending. They seemed to both have equal sing time and the acoustics in the hotel were good.
No carpet and the high ceilings seem to enhance the music.
The Gunnies brewery is on our list for Wednesday. Yesterday at breakfast Betty and I recruited a few more rebels to opt out of that. Tuesday we will go to the Book of Kells and if like the other stops just pop in and back out to catch the bus. So Wednesday our plan is to return to the book of Kells and see more. Betty is a social studies/history teacher and our son just received his degree in lititure. He is not here on the tour but has an interest the Book of Kells. So we hope to turn this into a functional learning experience as opposed to just a sight seeing stop.
The main tour went to a place called fishey fishey in Kinsale for lunch yesterday but we wondered off to find ‘‘The Spaniard’’ so I could experience fresh muscles. The girls there had good amusement in watching me eat them the way I learned many years ago in France. Using a set of shells as a tweezer to pull the meat out from another. The butter here in Ireland is fantastic and adds to all the food it touches. We have seen hundreds of holstein cows here in the country side. Betty grew up on a dairy farm and comments that the holstein cows seem well fed and happy. Many of the roads here are a bit narrow and our driver did a job in avoiding collision with the milk tank trucks. Some city folk on our tour wanted to know why so many milk trucks on Sunday. Well cows make milk 24/7.
Leaving Cork today off to Dublin with several stops along the way.
Many of the roads here are a bit narrow and our driver did a job in avoiding collision with the milk tank trucks. Some city folk on our tour wanted to know why so many milk trucks on Sunday. Well cows make milk 24/7.
