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More About Barbara Barbara's Family LifeFamily Update | Photos | Barbara's Home | Charlie's Memorial
Going to Ireland this summer had not been in my plans, but after I met Annie Gourley in July, a lovely young woman from Belfast, Ireland, who bought a condo on the floor below me, and she invited me to visit her when she went back home, I decided I needed a REAL vacation! I flew from Tampa to Newark all night and arrived early morning in Belfast. Annie picked me up, drove me to her lovely home, and we had a champagne breakfast. Then we did a city bus tour on a wonderful red, double-decker bus. It was fascinating to see where all the trouble had been between the Catholics and Protestants. The barbed wire and gates are still there, and even today no one can go through from one section to the other after 6:00 pm. Each apartment was flying its own flag, the buildings were covered with patriotic paintings, and still one single street is the dividing point between the two factions. Even though Annie has lived in Belfast all her life, she said never before had she been able to go to this part of the city! Before the tour, Annie took me to the Crown Bar, the oldest in Belfast, and to Hotel Europa, which had been bombed 53 times! We had lunch there in Cafe Vaudeville. One of the funniest things that happened on the trip was that while we were on the bus, we saw a panhandler on the street, proudly holding his can of Guiness and a sign reading, "HELP! Money for booze!" I got a chuckle out of his honesty! ;-) That night Annie's friend, Peter, made us a typical Irish dinner of sausage, eggs, and chips. The next day we took off in her new black BMW convertible with the top down (I LOVED that car - even discovered there is an attachment to go on the back windshield area to keep your hair from blowing too much!) We drove up the Northwest Ireland coast which is breathtaking. We first stopped at Carrick Fergus castle built by the Normans in the 1200's. It has been beautifully restored, and we were especially fascinated with the hole in the ceiling above the front entrance from which they poured hot boiling oil on the heads of unwanted visitors! Also, we smiled at their ingenious "latrines" - appendages with a hole in them that hung over the edge of the castle to drop into the lake. We had lunch at Bally Gally Castle, overlooking its beautiful gardens, and then proceeded on our way, only to get lost in the countryside. Since I was the "tourist," Annie made me go into the little village pub to get directions. What amazed me was that we were only 10 -12 miles out of our way, and yet the three young people in the pub had never been to the town we were looking for! The country life there is still very insular. After getting back on track again, we drove to Carrick na Rode which is a famous precarious rope bridge from one small "mountain" to another on the coast. Although I do NOT like heights, I surprised even myself and got across it. (Of course, then I realized the only way off was to go back over it again!) It was quite a hike up and down to the bridge, but the scenery was absolutely gorgeous. This turned out to be our only sunny day on the whole trip. Because of our little "detour," in the country, we decided to go on to the Bushmill Inn, the oldest inn in Northern Ireland. It was a lovely setting even though our room was teeny tiny with only one bed! We had drinks (my liver will never be the same again since this trip! ;-), wine, and a spectacular dinner there. In the morning we toured the Bush Mills distillery, the first distillery in Ireland, founded in 1608. The name "whiskey" comes from the words, "Ishque Beatha," meaning the "water of life." We really enjoyed the tour and of course had "samples" in the pub at the end. (I almost volunteered to be a taster in a test, but since I am not fond of whiskey, decided to decline in favor of guiness!) I did buy samples for family and friends, however. We then began our drive back home. On the way we stopped, in the rain, at the famous Giant's Causeway, an amazing rock formation caused by volcanoes and earthquakes. There is a legend about a giant, an unwelcome suitor, and of course, a beautiful woman, and these rocks are supposedly the boulders the giant threw out to get across the water from Scotland to Ireland, the coasts of which are only a few miles apart at this point, to reach the beautiful woman and carry her away. I would have loved to climb, but the basalt was just too slippery in the rain. The next day we'd planned an excursion to the mountains, but because of the rain, we opted for shopping instead! ;-) I got a beautiful beaded cocktail dress and two lovely beaded tops from a store that was closing. Our money does not go very far in Ireland, and Annie tells me that they adore shopping in America for all the bargains. In northern Ireland, they use the British pound ( 1 pound sterling = $1.8 US) and in southern Ireland, they use Euros (1 Euro - $1.3 US). Afterwards we went to the Crawfordsburn Inn, a lovely old place with thatched roofs, for lunch. I tried John Dorey, a very interesting fish we do not have in the US. That night there was a party for the two men friends of Annie's who were being married the next day. On Sunday we cleaned and prepared for the wedding reception Annie was having at her home on Monday. Her friend, Peter, invited us to his home for a traditional Sunday dinner of leg of lamb, mashed potatoes and gravy. Then we talked around the table for several hours, just as my growing-up family in Iowa used to do. That night Annie and I talked and talked - and drank lots of wine! The next day we all met at a pub downtown at 11:30, and at 1:00 went across to the courthouse for the civil ceremony to unite Gavin and Jim in a civil partnership. It was a lovely service. Afterwards we took a double-decker bus to Annie's home, had a barbeque, and the party went on until the wee hours. (Everything in Ireland is called "wee" -- a wee drink, a wee ride, a wee break, a wee nap...) Annie and I took the train to Dublin the next morning. We stayed at the Westbury, an absolutely gorgeous hotel - they even had Waterford crystal glasses in the bathroom! We took a city tour that afternoon in the rain and then met Olivier Sabella and several of his managers for a lovely dinner that night. They were delightful! I learned that C.S. Lewis was born in Ireland and that there are over 1000 pubs in Dublin alone. While in Dublin, I bought some souvenirs for everyone to go with the Bush Mills samples as well as some really cool red boots, just for me! The following day I presented a two hour session for Business Objects on "The Simple Truths of Service." It is a global software company, so most of the employees are young. Of course, it is a different culture as well, so it is always a concern to me to be able to reach them. However, Peter and Annie taught me a couple of Irish expressions to share with them that went over very well. At the end of the session they clapped and clapped - so long it almost embarrassed me! Olivier was delighted since usually in Europe they are very reserved and rarely even applaud. Later I did an interactive action-planning session for all the managers, had lunch, and then we took the train back to Belfast. We had a wonderful dinner at one of Annie's favorite places; then I packed and went to bed. After an awful experience at the Belfast airport the next day, I flew back through New Jersey. They only allowed a tiny box-sized single bag on the plane, no purse, even. Both my purse and my butterfly bag were too big, so I had to open up both my big bags in front of everyone waiting in line and repack. Then they gave me a huge, clear plastic bag, a rubber band to tie it, and I put in my laptop, daytimer, Kleenex, lipstick, and digital camera (all the necessities which would fit in the little box), and trekked through the airport, feeling like a "bag lady!" ;-) When I told them I had just days before gone through Tampa with all the same stuff they would not allow me to take on there, their reply was, "That's why you had 9/11, and we haven't!" I had a most wonderful time exploring northern Ireland; however, it felt really good to get back home. In hindsight, I was surprised at how "westernized" Ireland was, but then realized it was Europe, and most of my recent travel has been to Asia where the culture is very different from ours. Next time I hope to see more of southern Ireland. The people are wonderful, and you will never forget all the pubs!
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