Ireland -- They're After Me Lucky Charms!

Dateline Ireland, Labor Day weekend, 2009. In search of Lucky Charms, Guinness, U-2, Sinead O'Connor, leprechauns, limericks, wool, and folk music, we set our sites on Ryan Air's homeland, Ireland. With any luck we'd find at least a couple of the Emerald Isle's treasures. Opting to forgo Dublin for the craggy southwest coast, known commonly as the Ring of Kerry and Dingle area, we took to our $20 per person chariot. We brought Andrew's most Irish friend, Patrick. Although Patrick Goetz may not be as Irish as one might think, with a German name and an Asian mother, he still became "Paddy O'Goetz" for the remainder of the trip. Here are the kids getting off the the plane in Kerry:



We took the advice of pathfinders before us and shied from the famously crowded "Ring of Kerry" drive and headed straight to Dingle (of Berry fame?), a small seaside town of wool shops, hotels, pubs and fishermen. We made our first search for Lucky Charms and Bono in a local pub en route. No luck. All we found was pub grub, and a pint of Guinness. Not bad, though!



We went straight to John Pat Long's riding stables for a ride down to the shores. His motto is "Hold your the reins like 2 pints of Guinness!" He runs a family business and his son Sean (10) and Daughter Ceitie (7) helped us along and Rose, the Collie followed along and kept an eye on the horses, too. Here are the newbies, ready to ride like the wind:



The town in the background is Ventry. Dingle is just beyond it, a few miles down the coast. Jena was the cutest of all and rode like a pro (Sinead O'Connor maybe in the backgroud, comparing things to you):



Jeff was the most George Patton-like. He wished he had a pair of pearl-handled six shooters to fire in the air. Notice how he holds the reins like he's holding 2 pints of Guinness? Practice makes perfect!



Here's Jena fording a stream. She would have made a great cowboy in "Lonesome Dove."



Leaving John Pat Long and family behind, we noticed Dingle-berries growing next to the road. The place is COVERED in black berries. Jeff's mom would have loved it. We thought about her when we were eating them. Hopefully she can find some good picking spots in Florida. The blackberries in Dingle were sweet!



Here are Andrew and Paddy O' Goetz on the streets of Dingle. Patrick was a good traveling companion and we enjoyed his company. He did not, however, find a single leprechaun.



A view out of our very fine bed and breakfast. Sheep grazing in the background.



Guinness? We found it again! No Lucky Charms, no Bono, no pot of yellow gold. But Guinness, we found the hell out of it! This sign was posted inside O' Flagherty's bar. Brought to you by the Redundancy Bureau of the Department of Redundancy Department.



Pub crawl night was by far the best experience of our trip. We started out at O' Flagherty's bar. That's him with the white hair and the accordion just right of center. The folks playing music were locals who just showed up, pulled up chairs and joined in making the music more and more complex and rich as pieces added. What a great Friday night. We came early and sat right next to the players.



A little more crowded. Still no sign of U-2.



Listen to the 2 different styles. First is O'Flagherty's, with its folk sounds. Next is a sing-a-long at Murphy's. Both were a great time with very friendly (and tipsy) locals.



We took a drive (on the wrong side of the road) around the Ring of Dingle, stopping at several fortresses and scenic vistas. Here is Dunbeg Fort. You get a good look at the raging sea below. the wind was brutal and driving rain came and went all day...brrrr!




Jeff and Jena approaching Slea Head, the western most point in Europe. We were slowly cutting the peninsula down to a manageable area and were sure to corner the island's leprechaun population on that outcropping.



Apparently, they can swim. We drove them onto the beach (always just out of sight), but by time we got down there, there was nothing but the surf.



Notice Katie's wet pants below the knee. Lesson learned here: watch the surf, not the camera!



Well, in total, it was a short, but memorable trip. Jena got a wool sweater and Katie and Jeff wool hats. The pub scene was our fondest memory, of the many. We' d love to return someday and experience Guinness from the barrel in Dublin and meet more Irish folks. On to other journeys. Still to come: Rouse and Lynn Vallotton visit, Rothenburg, London (again) with the Hahira Crew, Greece, Bologna and Parma/Modeno, Budapest and Istanbul! Stay tuned.

Swiss Alps: Summer Style

Murren Switzerland, August 2009. We took a quick weekend trip, driving down to the Interlaken area of Switzerland. We took along Katie's best friend Mary, who is great to have around. We went with visions of hot chocolate, holey cheese and pocket knives. We were not disappointed! However, we discovered a few other things along the way in what is essentially Europe's outdoor playground.

The first thing we discovered was that to get to the town where our hotel was, we had to leave the car behind and catch a cable car up the side of the mountain to a train which took us into the pedestrian-only town of Murren:


We stayed 2 nights, in 2 different hotels, due to last minute schedule changes. The first place was like a cuckoo clock...which makes Katie and Mary the cuckoos! Ha! (Check out the fog. We couldn't even see the massive Eiger mountain you'll see so prominently later.)

Here's another shot outside the hotel. The owner of the hotel was very cordial and had medals and trophies in the common area showing she (like everyone else around here) was a serious outdoor competitor. These guys hold the annual Inferno, which is over 100 miles of running and biking and mountain biking in the giant, steep Alps. You have got to be kidding. Oh yeah, they start in the valley and end at the top...not vice versa.

After a great Swiss dinner with a fondue (how cliche'!) and some of the best schnitzel and veal dishes we've had, followed by a good night's sleep, we headed up the Shilthorn, via cable cars. We knew that the evil Blofeld's hideout had been blown up in the climax of James Bond's "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," so we came lightly armed, with no demolition equipment at all. Well, imagine our surprise when we got to the top and there it was: Blofeld's secret mountain lair, completely in tact. Jena and Andrew snuck around the north face for some reconnaissance:

Finding no weaknesses there, we set up base camp a half mile away and came up with a plan to storm the compound, kill the evil Dr. Blofeld, send his cat to the SPCA, and save the world. First we needed to rest as it's hard to breath up there. Unfortunately we were getting hungry:

It turns out Dr. Blofeld had already been evicted by the "James Bond Movie was Filmed Here Restaurant." Of course with our lack of assault gear and hunger situation, this worked out well in the end. Note the "007" on the glass. In the background you can see the Monk and Jungfrau peaks. The Eiger is off camera to the left.

What to do after (nearly) saving the world from domination by a mad doctor? That's right, seesaw! This is back in town at the beginning of our all day hiking adventure. Serious hiking. In the Alps, it is no "puss" game! (Except for the seesawing.)

Clark and Rusty, oops I mean Andrew and Jeff on the trail at the edge of a nice meadow with the Jungfrau in the background. It looks like the Sound of Music...(cue music)The hills are alive with the sound of...STOP THAT! THERE WILL BE NO SINGING IN THIS BLOG! Sorry. Anyway, the lack of sweat will easily demonstrate that this is early in the day:

More action on the mountain! This cable car needed rescuing, so Jena made herself 200 feet tall and gently scoped it up and lowered it to the ground. Take that James Bond.

It is just hard to show in photos what it looks like standing in the middle of the Alps. Try the video below. It is of Jena laying out enjoying the view. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day.

Just when you think you're safe from cows...BAM, you come around a mountain bend and it's on! Man versus cow, the eternal struggle. Here, Jena talks the cows into letting us pass. You know, they were actually quite nice, although the one on the right had a bell on her neck saying "Bossy." Well we sat around and chewed the cud for a bit, (literally for some of us) and were off.

Don't let the smile fool you. She's glad part of the ordeal is over, sure, but here's the back-story. See the green meadow below? That's where the renegade cows were hanging around. See the village on the far left, way down there? THAT is where we THOUGHT we were heading. So about halfway up this peak, we let the rest of the crew sit and wait while Katie and Jeff climbed over what looked like a small peak to see if the trail "went around and back down." Well, here are the TWO PROBLEMS with that statement: 1. "Small peak" when compared to an ALP is extremely relative! 2. The trail DID NOT go "around and back down." Doh! (Of note, this is a nice back-drop with the 3 peaks shown, left to right, the Eiger, Monk and Jungfrau.)

This picture included for perspective. Doesn't that little peak behind Jeff look small? Well look back at Katie's pic, she's on top of it. Jeff is standing in the valley of the renegade cows. The trail was nearly straight up with switchbacks every 50 feet or so. Rocky, dusty and narrow. There's the sweat!

We finally got Operation Fugawee back on track and found the waterfall we'd been searching for before the renegade cows gave us bad directions. Never trust a cow. Anyway, the waterfall was beautiful, as was the view all day.

It was time to head out the next morning. We took the train to the cable car, back to the car and drove a few miles into Interlaken. Here's a little taste of the train:

Jeff and Andrew got Swiss Army knives. We had reservations for white water rafting, and the water was running! This is pure glacier melt. The glaciers sit on top of a chalky deposit and the minerals make the water a wild, nearly fluorescent blue-green. We had a group of Canadian wilderness girls with us in the raft. As seated in the boat, Andrew is second from the front on the right rail; Mary is in front of him, lead of the right-side rowers; Katie is lead of the left side rowers in the front; Jeff is behind her; Jena is behind Jeff:

The river wasn't too rough, but it had its moments. This is one of them!

Floating down after the big rapids, we had an easy stretch out into the lake. So we all hoped over the side into 35 degree water to float! Another mistake for Jeff, who broke his tailbone while relaxing next to the boat floating on his back--WHAM! Submerged rock beats tailbone every time in a game of submerged-rock, paper, scissors, tailbone. He sucked it up and finished the ride. Here's our victory photo.

All in all, for a short trip, it sure was memorable. We wish we had spent more time in Switzerland's rugged nature, but like all of our travels here, there is only so much time and so much money. A little piece of Switzerland will have to do for now!