Enjoying Our First Few Days

Stopping for a view of Lough Owel, en route to Longford

We arrived to Dublin Tuesday morning and were met there by Jim’s cousin Andrea.  In addition to picking us up, she had a bag of groceries to get us settled in.  The house is WONDERFUL.  Lots of space, very comfortable.  A beautiful garden and deck – and backyard includes a 40-year old tortoise.  Across the street is a bus stop with a direct bus into city centre, as well a small shopping area including a grocery store and a restaurant where we treated Andrea to lunch.  Fabulous food, so I suspect we will go back.  Here are some photos of our Dublin "digs":

Before Andrea left to head home, she let us know that tomorrow she would bring us to Longford (where Jim’s mom was born and raised) to cousin Bernadette’s (“Barnie” – Andrea’s sister),  house where two of their siblings, John and Pat, would join for dinner, along with John’s wife Norene.  All sounded great to us.  We had enjoyed Barnie and her wonderful cooking during out last visit, and had not been able to meet John or Pat last time as they were on vacation.  What we DIDN’T pick up on until we arrived there, was that we were spending two nights there.  I guess we were in a complete jet-lag fog!  So it wasn’t until we arrived and Barnie pointed out what room we were staying in, that we realized what the agenda was.  After a few hours of touring around the area, including a walk along the Shannon River,

River Shannon

cousins Andrea and Barnie

we made a quick trip to the store to pick up toothbrushes and a few other items helped to settle us in… but Barnie doesn’t have computer or internet, so we were “screenless” until we returned home today (Friday).

We so enjoyed meeting more of Jim’s mother’s first cousins.  Interesting, full of family stories, travel suggestions for us, questions about our lives, etc.  All fueled by good food and 5 bottles of wine and some Irish Whiskey.  

Jim's mother's first cousins - all sibling- from left: John, Pat, John's wife Norene, Andrea and Barnie

We showed them photos of Jim’s mom (they are younger so only some vague recollections of her by Pat), the Gioia sibs, nieces, nephews, as well as our boys.  They all agreed that Kevin looked very Irish, and even determined that he looked like he would fit right in to a specific soccer team.  Of course, the next morning when I asked again the name of the team so that I could write it down and let Kevin know, none of them could recall the conversation.  Testament to the wine and whiskey…

On Thursday, Barnie and Andrea took us on a picnic at Lough Key. 

They hung out on a picnic bench while Jim and I took a walk through the forest.  Lush vegetation, wildflowers, interesting trees, moss covered branches, wild rhododendrons, stone bridges – all that we expected to find in Ireland.  

From there we took a circuitous route (yes, lost) to an old castle-turned-hotel/spa for coffee.  

Coffee and Scones at the castle

We took them out to dinner in downtown Longford (“The Black Olive” – fabulous dinner) then back to Barnie’s for more wine and conversation.

Today (Friday) Jim had a driving lesson with Barnie – managed to arrive at the destination in one piece, and with Barnie’s compliment and reassurance that he would be fine driving on the other side of the road.  On the way back to Dublin, we stopped in Mullingar to have lunch with Andrea’s daughters in-laws,  Mike and Mary.  They were so gracious and welcoming (a common trait here).  Many of Mary’s relatives had located in San Francisco, opening a bar in Fisherman’s Wharf (probably in the 1940s) but she didn’t know what it was called and has never visited.  Mike is retired from the Bank of Ireland.  They loved talking politics, economics, etc.

Back in Dublin, we have been relaxing at “home”.  Over the past two days, the tortoise has managed to make his way from the back fence to the area in front of the deck.  I guess that we all had a full two days of travel.

Tomorrow we will head out – with Jim driving (probably gripping the steering wheel with terror) and me navigating (while I hold my breath) – and be off to Skerries to spend the weekend at Andrea’s.  Skerries is a charming seaside town north of Dublin – we were there for dinner last visit and are looking forward to returning.

What does this mean???????

Your quiz for the day:  This picture is hanging in the house here.  We have yet to figure out what it means other than it is JFK and Rose Kennedy.  Hope somebody has the answer!