(Cashel, Co. Tipperary, Ireland)

Today’s main activity was visiting the famous Rock of Cashel.   The Rock is a relatively large limestone outcrop in the otherwise mostly flat plain of Tipperary.  Of course, this meant that the Rock had strategic value…way back in the 5th Century, “the” St. Patrick was in this very place and facilitated the conversion of Irish kings to Christianity here.

Over the centuries, there was much building and re-building on the Rock.  Much of what is left today dates back to the 12th century.  Alas, the complex gradually fell into disrepair and it is now best described as a series of (impressively situated) walled ruins.  I spent a few hours at the site; I started with a guided tour, followed by a movie and some general wandering.  The legendarily rainy Irish climate has played a very large role on the Rock and continues to affect restoration efforts today.  It was sunny all day today but I’ve been told not to get my hopes up.

I also visited the nearby Hoar Abbey.  It too is a ruin and is currently home to a lot of cattle.   It is very peaceful there, although you do have to watch your step.

Dining in Ireland continues to generate surprises.  For lunch, I ordered the daily special of “Bacon and Cabbage with Parsley Sauce”.  I’ve now learned that “bacon” is really more like “baked ham” back home.  I’ve also learned that one should expect (a lot of) mashed potatoes with your meal even if they aren’t listed on the menu.

I decided to try Irish Chinese food for dinner.  In Canada, I often get Lemon Chicken, so I thought it would be interesting to eat it here.   The price seemed high, but I realized why when my plate arrived:  chicken, rather than batter, is the main ingredient.  It was almost like a Wienerschnitzel, so fine was the breading in relation to the meat.  So far, Chinese, Indian and Italian seem to be the main ethnic food options in Ireland.  It will be interesting to see how the Indian food in Ireland compares with the excellent Indian food we had a few years ago in Chester, England.  We liked it so much that we ate it at almost every meal.

Speaking of ethnicity…like a number of Western European countries, Ireland now has a substantial Polish population.  I saw a Polish grocery store today and read in my guidebook that native speakers of Polish in Ireland actually outnumber native speakers of (Irish) Gaelic.  As Ireland is actively supporting the renaissance of Gaelic (all road signs here are printed in both English and Gaelic), the extent of Polish is rather unexpected.  I haven’t seen much in the way of Polish restaurants yet, although it probably is only a matter of time before they start to appear.  I have fond memories of the perogies I ate in Vienna; maybe I will be able to have some here too.

I’ve now moving on from Cashel to the west coast of Ireland.  I am looking forward to what appears to be very dramatic scenery .  Even though it is quite close, as the crow flies, I need to take a complicated bus odyssey of nearly 6 hours to reach my next destination.  Given my experience on Irish buses so far, however, it won’t be anything like the crazy bus ride to Trebinje!  I’ll be able to enjoy the ride as well as my brief stopovers in Cahir and Limerick.

(Cashel, Co. Tipperary, Ireland)

I’m sure that a hundred other travel bloggers have announced their arrival in County Tipperary with such a title.  But it really is a long trip from Kingston to Tipperary and I’m going to keep the cliché in the title.  After all, music is a theme of this trip and that song is probably in your head right now!

Why am I here?  The simple (rather than existential) answer is that there are simply too many places in the world to see…even with an entire year to explore.  Accepting the fact that I’ll have to miss out on a few things, no matter how many trips I cram into my schedule, I decided to let fate dictate where I would go.  Upon returning from Italy a couple of months ago, I took my “short list” (really a rather long list) of places I want to visit and vowed to visit the next one that had a worthwhile seat sale for late May.  Sure enough, Aer Lingus was promoting its direct Toronto-Dublin service and quoted a fare that I could not refuse.  Ireland it is!

My selection of Cashel was similarly whimsical.  Yes, there is a top-flight sight here, but I’m really here because my flight was scheduled to arrive at 5:20 a.m. in Dublin and that’s far too early to stick around (especially with luggage).  Since I would be jetlagged anyway, I chose an initial destination that had relatively mundane scenery en route and still got me close to the highly desirable west coast of Ireland.  All signs pointed to Cashel and I think it was a good choice.  Quiet, yet not totally off the beaten path, it allowed me to make up for the 30 minutes of sleep I had on the overnight flight to Ireland while also letting me see one of Ireland’s most famous attractions.  My next blog entry will undoubtedly feature some content from tomorrow’s visit to the famous Rock of Cashel.

With a mid-day nap obliterating any hope of lunch, I decided to go for a 4-course prix fixe dinner.  I was so hungry by then that I chose the heaviest possible options:  Buffalo chicken wings (yes, in Ireland!), Chicken Roulade with lots of whipped potatoes, and hot apple pie for dessert.  The fourth course was tea, but it too was served in industrial quantities.   I’m now quite ready to sleep, as you can imagine.

During my two weeks here, I will be spending every night in a Bed & Breakfast (B&B).  While some B&Bs are run by offsite owners, I believe that the owners actually live at every B&B that I’ve chosen.  I booked ahead, as this is a bank holiday weekend and early June is also an increasingly popular time to visit Ireland.   As I am relying on public transportation, I also thought it was important to ensure I had a place to stay in each town I visit.  If I had a car, it would be easier to drive on to the next town if there were no vacancies.  Public transportation in Ireland radiates out from Dublin like spokes:  it’s relatively easy to get to/from the capital, but not so easy to travel between different spokes.

I’ve already noticed that there is a lot more interaction between guests at a B&B than at hotels.  Just like in youth hostels, guests are more likely to talk to each other and to exchange tips on places to go and things to do.  I’ve already picked up some new ideas for my next destination after Cashel.   This trip should be a lot of fun!