Photos by Nanci Blog

Ireland 2016 CIE Tour-Irish Pubs and Folklore March 19-26, 2016 Wednesday March 23-Killarney, Cliffs of Moher, Galway Walking Tour and Westport We're on vacation correct? So why an alarm at 5:30 a.m.? We have to catch a ferry across the River Shannon and unlike our coach, the ferry doesn't wait for late comers. We pass my new mother ship- Kerry Gold Butter . I'll admit, I'm hooked and it's probably why I gained so much weight on this vacation! Thank you cows of Kerry! We leave County Kerry and make our way into County Clare.  We pass the old rail bed of the notoriously late West Clare Railway . So notorious that a song was written about it:  http://www.irish-folk-songs.com/are-ye-right-there-michael-are-ye-right-lyrics-and-guitar.html  Unfortunately for our tour we received bad news-our boat trip out of Doolin for the Cliffs of Moher has been cancelled because of rough seas. DANG! This was one of the reason we booked this trip. We traveled to ...

Ireland 2016 CIE Tour-Irish Pubs and Folklore March 19-26, 2016 Tuesday March 22-Killarney, Dingle Peninsula, Sheep Dogs and Kate Kearney's Cottage Our coach heads to Killarney; we'll be staying at The International for two nights, room 220. Dennis tells us he'll be leaving us because his Gran had passed away so Michael will be driving us the rest of the week. Our dinner will be at 6:45 p.m., Breakfast at 7:30 a.m. and we'll be leaving at 8:45 a.m. for our Dingle Peninsula adventure. At dinner I try Tyrconnell Whiskey . A whiskey from the 1900s that was named after a horse that won a legendary race after being given 100 to 1 odds. The whiskey is made from 100% malted barley and fermented in copper pot stills. For dinner Jay and I both shoose the Irsh Salmon for our app.. Barley stew for Jay, pasta and herb sauce for me. For dessert I go BIG with the chocolate gateau and Jay tries the profiteroles (little cream puffs.) Back up stairs, our hallway is f...

Weathersfield News March 30, 2016 Nancy Nutile-McMenemy photosbynanci@comcast.net I'm just back from a glorious week in Ireland . The Republic of Ireland is celebrating their centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising (Éirí Amach na Cásca), a rebellion against British rule,  lead by the Irish Republican Brotherhood: Patrick Pearse, Joseph Plunkett, Thomas Clarke, James Connolly, Seán MacDermott, Thomas MacDonagh and Éamonn Ceannt. This began their break from Britian. In April 1917, Sinn Féin was formed and in January 1919 the Irish declared their Independence and began a war with England . Everywhere we traveled, the Tri-Color (their flag of Orange , White and Green) was being flown proudly. (There are still six counties in Northern Ireland, they remain allied with the United Kingdom .)  I'll be posting pictures on my website https://photosbynanci.smugmug.com/Ireland-2016 if you'd like to see a little of what I experienced on this trip to the Emeral...

Ireland 2016 CIE Tour-Irish Pubs and Folklore March 19-26, 2016 Monday March 21-Kilkenny to Waterford, Blarney Castle and Killarney Slept like a log but Monday morning came too early at 6 a.m. A quick shower and our bags are outside our room at 7 a.m.. Breakfast at Savour 's in the Ormonde and YES they had black and white pudding . Call me crazy but I really like black pudding. And we're off at 8 a.m.. Our first stop is 45 minutes away, the town of Waterford and the obligatory stop at  House of Waterford Crystal . I'm not really a shopper, so I'm not super thrilled about this tour but... Waterford is the 5th largest city in Ireland with a population of about 50,000. It's also the oldest city. It was one of the Viking Cities along with Dublin, Wexford, Limmerick and Cork. The coach drops us off in front of the House of Waterford; our tour of the famous glassware facility isn't scheduled for a half hour so Dennis, our guide/driver suggests s...

Ireland 2016 CIE Tour-Irish Pubs and Folklore March 19-26, 2016 Sunday March 20 Dublin to Kilkenny During the night Saturday, we woke up around 10 p.m. Jay went down to the bar for a beer, he said it was hugely crowded but the hallways were extremely quiet. We finally got back to sleep and slept like the dead! Up at 6 a.m., breakfast at 7 a.m. Nice breakfast in the Ballsbridge: fried tomatoes, mushrooms, eggs, toast, wild bacon (almost like Canadian bacon) cheeses, fruit but no black or white pudding :-{ Not much a view at this hotel but the room was quiet and comfortable-double bed with a single. The shower was good and very hot. A lot of the hotels that popped up during the Celtic Tiger boom are being torn down and apartments are being built in their place. The locals say (about the Great Recession of 2008) "when America caught a cold, Ireland got pneumonia." Our bags are packed and out the door at 7:15 a.m., we are to be on the bus for 8:45 a.m. We g...