Jack and I went to Ireland about 20 yrs ago in the month of February. We always wanted to go off-tourist season when we went on vacations so as to not be bothered by the crowds. I have to say Ireland is a delightful country. The people are warm and friendly and it is as green as everything you've ever heard or read about! And it rains - A LOT! That didn't bother us at all. We loved it. However, Ireland may not be the same! (She says laughingly!)At one hotel (old castle) we stayed at, I blew their electrical system. Of course, I didn't say it was ME. Ya know those "universal" plugs they sell for travelers so that your shaver, curling iron or dryer will fit. They lied!! Mine got stuck in the electrical outlet and blew it. Hey, I was innocent, I tell ya! Well, when we got to the thatched cottage I didn't have an adapter to fit and they only allowed certain electrical things anyway. So I had to improvise.
I'm a girl that washes my hair everyday. Only get it done at the beauty shop for cut and perms. So I washed it every day in Ireland but what do you do when you can't plug in your hair dryer or curling iron? You turn the electric blanket on high (theses were allowed in thatched homes), jump under the blanket and use your fingers to "tossle" your hair until it is dried. It worked!! I usually have that tossled look anyway so no problem. I just went "natural" that day.
Blarney was an experience. Just a tiny little village actually. But let me tell you that castle is HIGH. I'm not a "height" person. I hugged that wall all the way up. It's kind of open so you are climbing up and watching the ground below slowing getting smaller and smaller. Jack wanted to kiss the Blarney Stone. You lie down on your back, a guy up there holds your legs and you scoot out on your bum. You are hanging upside down on the outside of the castle kissing the stone - probably 5 stories!! Jack, of course, didn't want to pay the guy $2 to have his picture taken while kissing the stone as we had just purchased a brand new high tech camera (not digital at that time) and thought I could take the picture. Well, when we got back to the next place on our itinerary we noticed that the film wasn't on the roller and completely lost that roll of film!
Dublin was lovely. Just as you would imagine a very old european town. There are a couple of things I noticed about it that stick in my mind: the windows are always being washed, even in the rain(!) and sparkled, almost all windows had gorgeous lace curtains on them, just about all men wore sport/suit coats - even the street cleaners and construction workers, just about everyone over the age of 10 smoked and candy was sold in any and every store we went into. I have since learned that Ireland has the biggest consumption of sugar per capita than any other country.
This is long enough for today. More tomorrow...........