The Gobbins

The Gobbins Cliff Walk is a place I had seen on line a few months back.  Due to winter weather conditions along the Northern Irish coast it is only open for a few good months a year. Intrigued, I signed up for their email notification when to book tickets.  I double checked with Joe & Charlotte to be sure it was something that may interest them, and it did.  It’s so much more than a guided 2.5-hour cliff walk.   “….a good level of fitness is needed. You must be fit enough to climb 50 flights of stairs and walk a very steep 1 in 5 gradient.”

The original Gobbins Path opened in 1902, but was abandoned in the 1960’s.  Then in 2015, an investment of over £7.5 million brought the path back to life as the spectacular tourist attraction it is today with many improvements.  

We gathered at the visitor center at our appointed time.  After a brief safety talk, physical warnings that this ‘walk’ may not be suitable for everyone were bused to the location where we would start our adventure. Once there, the access road that would take us to the start of the walk was one we had to walk down – a very steep long road. My knee was not happy with this! Come to learn, the walk would not be a loop, but one way in and one way out, and damn, back up that same steep long road.  The cliff walk itself was enough of a challenge for this old girl – the access road was homicidal.   

With our safety helmets on we walked rugged staircases carved into the cliff face, along narrow & uneven paths &  Different style bridges that hug the cliff face. We walked into tunnels and caves once used as hiding places for smugglers and watched raucous birds as they flew around and returned to their nests which looked like they were glued to the sides of the cliffs.  I was hoping to see puffins but there were none out and about on this day. It was a spectacular adventure.  One not for the faint of heart, or weak of knee.  They should sell T-Shirts that say, “I survived the Gobbins Walk”.  
 















PHOTO ALBUM

Bushmills

This would be our 4th and final visit to the wonderful location of Bushmills in Northern Ireland.  Always seems strange that it's not the Republic of Ireland, but part of Great Britain.  We have to inform the rental car company each time we intend to go 'out of the country'.  The road speeds change from kilometers to miles-per-hour, British flags fly and euros are no longer accepted.  There are no Garda, but Police. The border between the two countries is considered 'soft' and Great Britain is trying to change that but Northern Ireland does not want a hard border.  So it's easy to come and go between the two right now. Since we've been here before and blogged about it I've keep my dialog short. As always a great place to visit and bring along friends. Be sure to check out the pictures, they are new 😉

At the Bushmill Distillery we saw how whiskey was made and sampled a wee bit of it (yummy) mixed with various fruit juices. My new favorite is whiskey and ginger-ale.

We revisited Dunluce Castle, as well as Giants Causeway.  Dunluce is by far my most favorite castle ruins.  Last time here (in March with my sister Pat) I got a fabulous shot of a rainbow, but there was not a chance of that on this day since the sun shone bright and clear. 

Giants Causeway was the most crowded I have ever seen it.  Solid tourists (yuck).  So rather than hang out with a few hundred of our closest friends, we hiked the mountains and got some spectacular shots of the coastline. 

In the evening we hiked back up another mountain and watched the sunset.  

Joe's shot

Causeway Hotel with a full moon

PHOTO ALBUM - Dunluce Castle

PHOTO ALBUM - Giants Causeway

Stone Fort of Grianan

Our friends, Joe & Charlotte, arrived from the states for a 2-week holiday with us. What a great excuse to plan more touring adventures of Ireland.

Marie

After a wonderfully enlightening tour and shopping spree at Belleek Pottery we headed to our first stop - An Grianan Hotel in Inishowen.  Since the night was still young we decided to hike up a small hill to see what sort of view it may offer up.  We met Marie along the way who invited us into her yard for a clear view of the valley and sea below.  Apparently, she and her husband bought the land and built the house.  She tells us she has been blessed with that view for 50 years. She was a delight, one of those rare treasures of Ireland.

Her View

The next morning, we continued up on that same road (via car this time) to the Stone Fort of Grianán of Aileach which sits about 800 feet above sea level.  Here's the history lesson -  “The origins of the Grianán of Aileach fort are dated back to 1700 BC. It is linked to the Tuatha de Danann who invaded Ireland before the Celts and built stone forts on top of strategic hills. They worshipped Dagda (the Good God) and he too is associated with the origins of Aileach. It was he who ordered the building of a stone fort to act as a burial monument to his dead son.”

Joe & Charlotte

It is thought that St Patrick actually visited the site in the 5th century and baptized the local chieftain, Eoghan there.

The fort which was mostly constructed without mortar of any kind was restored to its present state in the 1870’s. There are very narrow, and challenging, stone steps to each of the three levels within the interior.

Once on the top level the panoramas were breathtaking in any direction.  We were very fortunate to have a warm and sunny day.










PHOTO ALBUM

Germany

We took a wonderful trip to Germany this past weekend.  Our connection from London to Hannover was delayed and we didn’t get to our hotel until about 11pm.  Fortunately, the hotel was right across the street and it was such a pleasant surprise. Walking into the main lobby left me awestruck.  The massive interior rises 6 stories and houses 3 life size hang-gliders (with riders). Our room was so comfortable, and the windows opened!  Again, like Ireland no screens – but our room had double windows.  So quiet, we did not hear one plane taking off or landing.  Breakfast was good and very expensive.

In Germany they drive on the right and the car steering wheel is on the left.  Keep in mind I’ve been used to driving in Ireland, completely opposite.  Tom had to keep reminding me to stay in the right and which lane to get into after turning corners.  Driving gave my brain a great workout.  When getting our rental car, Andres behind the counter, tried to get us into a 250HP sporty car – because Germans like to drive fast (I declined) But oh man, they do like to drive fast!!

Our destination was Wolfshagen Im Harz for Walpurgis Night.  You’ll have to read the next blog for more on that.

Our day trip the next day took us to Goslar, again you’ll have to read the next blog.

Time to return to Hannover and we decided to take a scenic route and I’m so glad we did.  Here in Ireland taking the smaller roads we usually find delightful little villages and in Germany it was no different other than trying to pronounce city names; such as – Hohenhameln, Baddeckenstedt or Mittleres Innerstetal mit Kanstein.

One town we drove through has an electric trolley that runs either right down the middle of the main road or alongside it.  Oh baby, that was a challenge – when to avoid the trolley, speed up or slow down- who’s light is who’s, mine or the trolley? Obviously, I gave the trolley the right of way and I was happy to get out of that town.

Rapeseed plant

Spring is in full swing, the countryside was so lush, and there were numerous fields of little yellow flowers.  We did stop and check them out up close and personal, but in all honestly, they appeared to be nothing more than weeds with no smell.  The rising hills presented us with beautiful vista’s.  We drove through forests, dark and cool and apparently with enough frogs crossing the roads to warrant their own signs.

ATTENTION! Toad Hike

There was very little traffic on the roads this entire weekend as it was Worker’s Day on Tuesday giving most a 4-day weekend. The plaza of the old City Hall in Hannover was crowded with tents, workers, politicians, vendors and general public.  This is a day for demonstrations, parades, beer drinking, lots of talking, complaining and general gathering of kindred spirits. We hung out for a wee bit to get the general feel of the events.  We did not understand a word of what was being said, but we did get the sense of the passion in the words being spoken.

 We took a quick trip through the Landesmuseum, but everything is in German (go figure) so it was impossible to fully understand what we were looking at.  It was not the most impressive collection of works, but fascinating to wonder about and speculate.

Our hotel room was great, on the top floor with a great view of the Maschsee lake. This area of Hannover has several parks and abundant bike paths. The lake has a couple of touring boats you can ride, paddle boats to rent along with a small marina which housed numerous sail boats. It was great to watch the many kayakers, runners with and without dogs and bike riders of all ages.  I suppose in the summer this place is hopping with all sorts of activities.




Heathrow Airport Photos
Hannover Arrival Photos
Wolfshagen Im Harz
Hannover Departure Photos

Walpurgis

A few years back I came across a video on YouTube of a group of witches dancing to a German song called ‘shake your bacon’. (Check it out here) The costumes and makeup were remarkable.  After further investigation I discovered this gathering is an annual event for Walpurgis Night. These particular witches (hexen in German) are from Wolfshagan Im Harz, a small village within the Harz mountains just south of Hannover, Germany. Harz mountains is where this all started.  This year, they put on quite an extraordinary show and except for the crowd (2,000 people this year), it was brilliant to see in person.

They arrive via motorcycles, do synchronized dancing, dance with the devil and have a magnificent bonfire all in these spectacular costumes. It’s all very paganistic and took place under a full moon this year.  The town & event have become very popular over the past few years mainly due to that YouTube video.

  

The entire town embraces their hexen history with stuffed witches on almost every front yard, porch and hanging from trees. The street lights even have wooden witches on them. Like our Halloween of getting dress up, little girls dress as hexen and boys the devil. There are NO OTHER costumes, not for this tradition. At least for one night a year (maybe more, who knows….) housewives become hexen and dance with the devil. 

  

PHOTO ALBUM

Goslar Germany

We had anticipated spending our entire second day in Wolfshagen exploring but in all actuality, it’s such a small town we did that in one afternoon. So, we hit the road and drove a few miles south and found the town of Goslar to explore. I’m so glad we did because this town was the icing on the cake of our trip to Germany.

Street after little winding street in this town screams Germany, with it’s beautifully carved, hand painted half-timbered houses and slate roofs and siding. Let’s not forget the stone streets, hard on the feet, but so quaint. I read that Goslar has the largest number of old houses in Germany, 1800 of them! This was such a wealthy silver mining town some 900 years ago that many folks settled here.  They have a center market place with fountain. One of the oldest hotels still stands on the same corner, the Kaiserworth Hotel 500 years old – decorated with numerous carved characters – some more interesting than others.

After having our second breakfast, served by witches of course, we continued to wander the streets, found a great waterway lined in wood and more intricate hand-painted roof-lines, archways and doors.

As we returned to the Market we noticed everyone looking up at a building. Whoa – Glockenspiel, a clock tower with full size figures that come out 4 times a day.  The mechanical figures that appear re-enact the history of Goslar starting with the king as he feeds his horse an apple. The clock is surrounded by bells that also play on the hour.  It was noon, so we were treated to the music and procession in and out of the clock.

The final experience was walking along the same path that thousands of Germans have in the past 900 years, even Hitler himself when we visited the Kaiserpfalz; Imperial Palace of Goslar.

PHOTO ALBUM

Pat & Mike

I read this morning that Ireland has experienced only 6% of the sun they should have by now.  SIX PERCENT!!!! WOW, it’s no wonder we’ve been hankered indoors for so long.  So when I’m on my face book page and I get excited to see sun shine you’ll understand why.  According to the locals winter was long, very cold and wet; spring coming to Ireland continues to be a very slow process this year.  Lucky us  L . I find myself searching for any signs of spring I can – daily (in between the rain drops).

We did have two wonderfully sunny days that shown down on my sister, Pat, and her hubby, Mike, when they visited from California last month.  I was worried knowing we’ve not had great weather, but coming from the high desert I was assured the clouds & rain would be a great relief to them.  They came with just a few places in mind that they wanted to visit which took us from one end of the country to the other.  

Ogham Stone at Kilmalkader Church on the Dingle Peninsula

There were a few other places I had chosen for them to see too, so we did lots of driving and saw a great deal of the beautiful Irish countryside & coastline.  I enjoyed revisiting a few places we’ve been to this past year, but also discovering a few new treasures they wanted to see. Finding a couple of the locations was a challenge, but so worth the accomplishment in the end.

Mike at the Nolan Castle

Tom and I discovered whiskey at the Jameson Distillery in Midleton and found Mikes roots at the Nolan Castle in Enniscrone.  Pat and I strolled the halls & grounds together of our own Butler family castle in Kilkenny.

Butler Castle, Kilkenny

Unfortunately, Pat picked up an Irish bug somewhere along the way and their 7 day visit turned into 12 – not in a good way.  This was not the ending to our visit that we all had hoped for since Tom & I also got the bug. Once Pat started to feel better and was ready to go home I was so sick I could not drive them back to the airport.  So they took a cab.  I know this will be one trip none of us will ever forget - for so many reasons.  Pat and Mike experienced the good, the bad and the ugly of Ireland.  Hopefully, by now, we are all getting back to our healthy selves.  In time for the delightful spring season. 

PHOTO ALBUM, Day 1

PHOTO ALBUM, Day 2

PHOTO ALBUM, Day 3

PHOTO ALBUM, Day 4

PHOTO ALBUM, Day 5

PHOTO ALBUM, Day 6

PHOTO ALBUM, Day 7

PHOTO ALBUM, Day 8