Read, Write, Ramble

 Brian O’Flynn was booked to come and collect us again at 10:30 this morning. It’s very convenient having a taxi driver on tap. He was so friendly and engaging the first time he collected us that we asked for his number so we could book him for other trips, and the relationship is working very well.  He was right on time today and we were confident the timing was right for the 11am train to Cobh.  At 10:50 when we were still stuck in slow moving traffic we all exchanged worried glances, but clearing the traffic, good ole Brian floored it, got us through the next set of lights on green and screeched to a halt outside the station with 7 minutes to spare!  What were we worried about? Once we were back in Cobh, we walked to the Spike Island ferry terminal and redeemed our tickets with plenty of time to spare before its departure, keeping a wary eye on the weather and the on again off again showers that we have become accustomed to and accepted as a daily offering.  ...

 Our favourite taxi driver, Brian O’Flynn was to collect us at midday, so we spent the morning organising and re-packing for a few days away again come Wednesday. When Brian eventually arrived, about 15 minutes late, it was to drive us out to Blarney for an afternoon exploring the castle and gardens.  Our first stop was for a quick lunch, then we purchased our tickets and walked into the most beautiful, colourful and well- maintained gardens I have seen so far. Even the entrance buildings were adorned with amazing hanging baskets overflowing with a profusion of flowers.  Then there were the first glimpses of the impressive castle,  seemingly growing out of the rock face. We all walked up together, but Wallsy and I left Mark and Julie to join the queue to climb up the 8 floors to reach the Blarney Stone.  It was not something we wanted to do; instead, we proceeded to explore the poisons garden, discovering some surprisingly common plants that are quite toxic....

 This morning was a chance for a bit of travel admin as we weren’t rushing off to anything in particular. We had a committee meeting and came up with a plan to get across to the Aran Islands and Cliffs of Moher as an extension to our planned trip back to Dublin later this week. It is much more straightforward to get to Galway from Dublin, than it is from Cork, so we have locked it in, booked the train, two night’s accommodation in Galway and a day tour. Our remaining time here is filling up fast.  After the planning meeting closed, we got ourselves organised and walked down to our local bus stop and jumped the 220 into Cork City Hall. From there we walked along the river to the Marina Market, a real foodie focused market featuring 35 food vendors and a wide selection of international cuisines. We each enjoyed our lunch of choice before walking back towards the city.  Mark became our bridge guide, armed with an interactive walking map on his phone.  We crossed the las...

We have left the Gaeltacht region of Kerry, where the Irish language is the predominant language spoken and in many areas, the only language used on signage.  While we were in Ballyferriter, we met a friendly bunch of Irish College Students from all over the country, who were part of a residential summer school where they were totally immersed in the Irish language for the two week duration of the course. They told us (in English!) that they weren’t allowed to speak English during this time, and would get detention if they did, but they all appeared to be having a wonderful time at the beach, playing sports and holding a Ceili, while all the time speaking Irish.  There seems to be no connection between Irish and English, and although we tried, there were very few words we were able to understand; see the pictured sign.  The morning was quite damp and considerably cooler than the last few days. Before our late morning bus, Julie and I popped into the local Vinnies as I wan...