Now it's Thursday at 11 am in the beautiful town of Dingle on the west side of the island, Peggy and I have taken a short walk from our bed and breakfast on our way to a 5 mile walk, and coming upon this internet cafe realized it's time to get you up to speed on the last few days. Quick update...the credit card company responded with an a okay and won't shut down my card. We spent Tuesday driving throughout the south coast of Ireland, with our first stop being the "midleton experience". Middleton is the town where Jameson Irish Whiskey is manufactured. 
the front door and below are the colors and levels of the whiskey as it ages from 4 to 6 to 12 to 18 years...
The reason it's called an experience is that after the tour, a few volunteers are invited to explore their palate's ability to discern between, Scotch (Johnnie Walker), Bourbon (Jack Daniels) and true Jameson Irish Whiskey. Peggy and Jon both were invited to that tasting panel. 
Fun times...all this by 11am. On to Cabh or (cove) on the southern coast, known for being the launching point for the Titanic's last/first voyage as well as where the Lusitania was sunk AND where nearly 1 million Irish departed to the US during the great immigration in the mid 1800s. From there we drove to Kinsale, a tiny beach town know to be like Carmel; many amazing shops and great restaurants. It was lovely, once you were deafened by the sound of all the road construction and dizzied by the one way traffic detours. We did finally arrive at our eatery; fishy fishy, for superb fish and chips and an irish coffee. Returning to Cork, we found a local pub that had classic irish music; a group of volunteers just wander into the bar and start jamming...glorious! Wednesday was our check out of Cork and head to Dingle day. Jon's laptop problem with the wifi was finally discovered to be a broken keyboard not putting in the letters for the password becasue his right side was typing numbers instead of letters. This should partially excuse us for the delay between posts....partially...Leaving the lovely Fernroyd House (with their key oops) we headed straight for Blarney Castle to "kiss" the Blarney Stone. A beautiful park, lovely climb up to the top of the castle and after an hour line, we bent over backwards, dipped our heads and came within an inch of kissing the foulest, slimiest, most putrid piece of rock in all of Ireland. FUN!
We then took a 2 hour drive to the west, and arrived in Dingle at the lovely Milestone House. The proprietor, Michael, supplied us with tea and a 45 minute amazing explanation of the surroundings, along with prioritized pubs, restaurants, sports bar (to watch the soccer championship...Barcelona beat Manchester United 2-0) and great spots to drive and see the lovely ring of Dingle. 
A fish and chips, smoked haddock, shepherd's pie and goat cheese risotto meal prepared us for the soccer match, and the post game irish music was just the perfect evening to help us enjoy pints of Guinness.
the front door and below are the colors and levels of the whiskey as it ages from 4 to 6 to 12 to 18 years...The reason it's called an experience is that after the tour, a few volunteers are invited to explore their palate's ability to discern between, Scotch (Johnnie Walker), Bourbon (Jack Daniels) and true Jameson Irish Whiskey. Peggy and Jon both were invited to that tasting panel. Fun times...all this by 11am. On to Cabh or (cove) on the southern coast, known for being the launching point for the Titanic's last/first voyage as well as where the Lusitania was sunk AND where nearly 1 million Irish departed to the US during the great immigration in the mid 1800s. From there we drove to Kinsale, a tiny beach town know to be like Carmel; many amazing shops and great restaurants. It was lovely, once you were deafened by the sound of all the road construction and dizzied by the one way traffic detours. We did finally arrive at our eatery; fishy fishy, for superb fish and chips and an irish coffee. Returning to Cork, we found a local pub that had classic irish music; a group of volunteers just wander into the bar and start jamming...glorious! Wednesday was our check out of Cork and head to Dingle day. Jon's laptop problem with the wifi was finally discovered to be a broken keyboard not putting in the letters for the password becasue his right side was typing numbers instead of letters. This should partially excuse us for the delay between posts....partially...Leaving the lovely Fernroyd House (with their key oops) we headed straight for Blarney Castle to "kiss" the Blarney Stone. A beautiful park, lovely climb up to the top of the castle and after an hour line, we bent over backwards, dipped our heads and came within an inch of kissing the foulest, slimiest, most putrid piece of rock in all of Ireland. FUN! We then took a 2 hour drive to the west, and arrived in Dingle at the lovely Milestone House. The proprietor, Michael, supplied us with tea and a 45 minute amazing explanation of the surroundings, along with prioritized pubs, restaurants, sports bar (to watch the soccer championship...Barcelona beat Manchester United 2-0) and great spots to drive and see the lovely ring of Dingle. A fish and chips, smoked haddock, shepherd's pie and goat cheese risotto meal prepared us for the soccer match, and the post game irish music was just the perfect evening to help us enjoy pints of Guinness.Which brings us back to this morning...a great breakfast just prior to this hike into town...and now we are off for a longer 5 mile trek to the lighthouse and then back into town. Should be a lovely day, with such a lovely breakfast...
Signing off with Peggy...while Jon and Ann wander and shop...we're off to hike! Bless you all...
G$
ReplyDeleteWhat a shocker! I can not believe that YOU actually kissed the Blarney Stone. Thoought that would be too super touristy for you. We did it too.
Now I would have bet money on your being selected as the Jamieson taster!
Lift a pint for us in Dingle.
Don't forget the Skelligs.
How much sun have you seen?
What were the results of the tasting panel? How did you and Peggy do?
ReplyDeleteNeed more food pictures! Where's that risotto. I need a good photo of a pint!
ReplyDelete