Thursday April 28, 2016

Log time, Wednesday 2030

We are back! We left Sunday the 17th for Ireland and returned last night the 26th.

We had a great time, Ireland is beautiful. Despite being 600 miles north of GR Ireland's Spring was in full bloom.

We were on a C.I. E. Tour. The tour took us around the circumference of the island.

Twenty six other folks accompanied us on the tour. Helping make the tour successful was a great tour guide.

The guide was a lover of all things American, country music, pickup trucks and Walmart.

We visited all the normal tourist stops including kissing the Blarney Stone.

We had lectures on the Potato Famine and the political problems with the English. Irish history is very sad and I can see why so many folks immigrated to North America.

Observations on Ireland:

I liked the rural areas with the green fields and all the livestock especially the sheep. It was springtime so we saw new born lambs everywhere.

All the farms were small. We passed through many small villages and every village had several small pubs. The pubs we visited were great.

I especially liked the Irish coastline. I was surprised that surfing is becoming popular. I doubt the water ever gets to 65.

Northern Ireland looks more prosperous.

In Wexford I purchased a history on the Hughes family. My Grandfather Hughes's family came from Ireland. However family lore has the Hughes family originally from Wales and then immigrated to Ireland for several generations. The Hughes history seems to substantiate this.

Blog continues Thursday April 28 at 1600:

Ruins of castles from the Norman era are everywhere.

I read the Irish newspapers and found that Ireland has the same problems as the USA. I was surprised that the Irish and EU politicians are dumber than ours. Is that possible? I think we handled the recession much better than the EU.

The food was good and very basic. I liked lamb stew and of course Guinness beer. We did tour a Guinness plant and a Waterford Crystal facility.

The Irish are hung up on the Titanic. We visited Cobh the last port of call for the ship before it went down. We also visited a museum in Belfast where the ship was built.

We were in Ireland on the 100th anniversary of the Easter Sunday uprising. This event started the Irish on their road to independence.

We took the Ring of Kerry drive, saw the Cliffs of Moher and Giant's Causeway.

We had major delays and plane changes getting to Ireland but the return trip went smooth. We both agreed that we will fly business class on our next overseas trip.

Arrived home on Tuesday at 1900. I woke early Wednesday, jet lag, so I went to Breakfast Club.

We both spent most of Wed catching up.

Thursday April 28. Busy day:

I walked to Y in heavy rain. For first time in two weeks I did some calisthenics. I did my routine at 50%.

Spent rest of day catching up and scheduling Vet, Dentist and various repairmen appointments. I also booked a room in Alpena for my 60th AHS reunion.

Got a call from my sister and she might stop by tomorrow morning for breakfast. She and Don are heading to Gaylord after spending the winter in AZ.

Nancy and I are headed to Panera for a bowl of soup tonight.

I would be remiss if I did not mention an unusual event on our trip. On our first day we stopped for lunch in a small Irish village. As we were getting off the bus I asked the driver where we were. He said Ferns, Ireland. I commented that I thought my Dad's cousin, Col Robert Rayburn, retired to a farm near Ferns. The woman who greeted us said she knew the Col. He had lunch at this pub nearly every day. She also took me to meet the bar tender who was good friends with the Col. The bar tender knew the Col was from Alpena. The Col was a legend in Ferns.

Robert Rayburn was a year younger than Dad. Dad and Mom graduated from AHS in 24 and Robert in 25. Robert Rayburn attended West Point and was a career Army officer. He retired to Ferns and raised jumping horses. Small world.