Thursday Travels: County Clare, Ireland (and Thoughts on Cork & Waterford)

Last March, my mum and I paid a trip to Ireland. We visited family in Dublin, then managed to squeeze in a road trip around the rest of the country, taking in the beautiful scenery of the countryside as well as visits to three of Ireland's major cities: Galway, Cork and Waterford. I'm kicking myself I didn't take any photos in these last three destinations, but let's just say that I loved Cork and hated Waterford! (Galway I'd lived in for a year when I was 12 and have visited a few times since...and I'd definitely recommend it: it's a very lively, bustling city, but compact and easy to get around). 

I'd never been to either Cork or Waterford though, and that part of the country (the south) felt so different from where I'm more familiar with (the west). The countryside was more lush, the accents different...even the buildings had a different look to them, I thought. I didn't really know what to expect of the city of Cork, but I found myself loving it far more than I thought I would (don't you love when somewhere exceeds your expectations for once?!). While the area around the quays and docks is pretty dark and grimy, the city centre itself is bright, airy, and spacious; totally not what I had in mind. Corkonians will probably hate me for saying this, but something about the city had an English feel to it to me...I can't explain why, exactly, it just reminded me of various places I'd been to in England. So, yes, Cork was a definite love, must-go-back-to, etc. etc. for me. My grandmother's family on my mum's side are actually from County Cork, so what can I say, it's in my genes!

Now Waterford on the other hand... Ugh. Shiver. I think I was just in a bad mood that day, but I really really didn't like the place. My mum (who worked in the city for a while in her 20s and wanted to see it again) thinks I must have been beheaded by Vikings there in a past life or something, which could explain it! But in fairness to Waterford, it isn't really a destination city, and doesn't advertise itself as such, so it's not exactly like I had high hopes that were sadly dashed on visiting it or anything. And it's actually not that bad, I think I just like playing up my dislike of it. We were only there for a few hours, on our way back to Dublin, so didn't have a huge amount of time to do stuff, but there are a few museums and things of interest to see (it's the oldest city in Ireland, after all -- founded by Vikings in 853), so you know, maybe I'm being unjust here. But let's just say I wouldn't be in a mad rush to go back.

Ok, now how about I talk about the place where I actually took photos?! That would be County Clare, the county where both of my parents grew up, where my grandparents used to live, and where some of my happiest memories are from. My mum and I spent a few nights in her hometown of Kilkee, and one sunny afternoon, we decided to go on a mini road trip around the surrounding countryside. 

{And we're off!}

{Ugh that freaking blue bucket obstructing the view >:-(  }

{Cows just chilling}

{Carrigaholt Castle. We really wanted to get up closer to it, but then we saw this sign...}

{Eeeeeeek!!!!!!!!}

{But the bull didn't appear to be in that day, so we took our chances...}

{...and it was worth it for this magical view}

{We paid a trip to the Church of the Little Ark...}

{...so named because it's home to this wooden structure --"the little ark"-- in which a priest would say mass for local Catholics in the 1850s (their landlords wouldn't let them build a proper church). You can read the full story here if you're interested}

{Church grounds}

{The village of Kilbaha, whose local pub claims to be the closest one in Ireland to New York}

{Yeah, I don't know why either}

{Slán!}

Thursday Travels: Portland, Oregon

For the Labour Day weekend last year, Vicky, Claudia and I paid a south-of-the-border trip to Portland. We got the train down from Vancouver, which was fun in and of itself (as soon as we stepped onboard, we already felt like we were in the US thanks to little touches like the garbage bin being labelled "Trash." I feel like Canadians never use the word "trash"?!). 

Aaaanyway, the eight or so hours on the train went by pretty quickly, and we were in Portland by late afternoon. I know it's got a reputation for being one of America's rainiest cities, but for the few days we were there, the weather couldn't have been more perfect: sunny but not oppressively hot. I really think that the weather you have while visiting somewhere new can really cloud your perception of it; had we seen Portland in grey, rainy weather, we might have not liked it so much.

As a city, it's definitely got that very West Coast vibe going on. It reminded us of Seattle, but I think I probably even preferred it to Seattle...it was obviously more compact, and I found the attractions there more enjoyable (I thought Seattle's Pike Place Market was incredibly overrated, and I could take or leave the Space Needle).  

We got a 2-day pass on a hop-on, hop-off Big Pink sightseeing trolley, which worked out perfectly, allowing us to see 12 of the city's major sights at our leisure.

{This may be very basic of me, but I actually love visiting different Starbucks around the world, and this one in Pioneer Square might be one of my favourites (alongside the one adjacent to Canterbury Cathedral in England)}

{On the trolley!}

{View of the city from one of our stops...can't remember which one}

{One of our favourite stops was the International Rose Test Garden at Washington Park...}

{...they don't call Portland the City of Roses for nothing!}

{We also loved the leafy streets of the Alphabet District (where all the street names progress alphabetically)...}

{...and don't even get me started on my love for Powell's Books: 68, 000 square feet of book heaven}

{We paid a trip to the Saturday Market...}

{...and we had a look at Voodoo Donuts (but didn't have the patience to line up. Ditto the city's famous Stumptown Coffee)}

All in all, we loved our time in Portland. Now that we're living apart, it's rare for us all to be able to take a trip together, and Portland just happened to be the perfect backdrop for spending some quality sister time :-)

Thursday Travels: London

Our Thursday Travels of Europe 2011 may be finished now (you can see a recap of all those posts here), but we've still got a few posts planned from various other trips, starting with our adventures in London (from two years ago if you must know, but hey, who's counting?!). 

We (Vicky, our mum and I) were there in June, around the time of the Queen's Jubilee (and a month before the Olympics), and the city was brimming with national pride: lots of Union Jack bunting and special British-themed window displays everywhere. I had been to London a few times before, but the levels of patriotism were definitely higher than usual.

Vicky and I both really loved London---she loved it way more than Paris, but I think I'm a fan of them both in equal measure. While Paris has that certain je ne sais quoi that makes it just so charming and enchanting, London, for me, is a far more liveable kind of place (chiefly due to the fact that it's English-speaking, I guess). When it comes to big cities, it's the one place I've visited  that I'd actually want to live in at some point. I probably shouldn't say this on the anniversary of 9/11, but I'm not the hugest fan of New York; it just didn't do it for me as a city, much to my disappointment. I found it dark and dingy and strangely depressing...but London?! London I loved. 

Here's a little recap of what we got up to in our few days there:

{We went to the Natural History Museum...}

{...where we saw lots of dinosaurs...}

{...and birds!...}

{...before taking a break to re-fuel.}

{And then it was on to Harrod's; the Food Hall, specifically...}

{...where I nearly got thrown out for taking these illegal photographs.}

{And then we wandered into a souvenir shop where we saw the ghost of Princess Diana!}

{We paid a trip to Kensington Palace...}

{...and saw Queen Victoria's dolls' house...}

{...and these beautiful gardens...}

{...this was before Vicky dropped a tray of china cups on my foot at the cafe (I still have the scar to this day)...}

{We visited my favourite museum in London, the V & A, and fell in love with this 15th-century Islamic minbar. (Of course I misread it as "minibar" and got really excited that not only did the Islamic world have minibars in the 15th century, but that they were of such magnificence!)}

{And then the following day we went to the Ritz...}

{...for a spot of Afternoon Tea...}

{...we're so fancy, you already kno-ow...}

{We hit the shops on Carnaby Street...}

{...and the stalls of Portobello...}

{...where we stopped for a Hummingbird Bakery cupcake break.}

{Please can I live in this pink house?...}

{...or any of these little gems, I'm not fussy.}

{Last random outing: the Leighton House in Kensington. A bit off the beaten tourist path, but worth a visit if you like that whole Victorian Aesthetic thing.}