Fast Forward, Tape I

Oh my god am I behind! The last time I left you, we had just arrived
in Bunratty, Ireland and had a very animated conversation with a very
talkative teenage girl. Since I now have about 3 months of time to cover
in a blog or two, I'm going to do this in fast forward style.......

Rolling tape I:

We woke up the next morning in Bunratty, and went to Bunratty castle.
It was a lovely castle with replicas of old farm houses and farms
within the castle walls. That night we had a castle dinner complete with
folk dance and song and a beautiful harpist and violinist. As we entered
the castle for dinner we were each handed a glass of honey wine.
Mmmmmmmm..... as we sipped we were informed that honey wine is suppose to make a woman more fertile, and a man more verile. Ohhhhhhhhhhhh..........:) In the old days, when a couple was newly married, they drank honey wine for the first month of their marriage, or at least until the
next moon. That's how we got the term "honeymoon!" After that sweet
story, the men were guided in how to be perfect gentlemen of the court and
warned that if they were caught ogling any woman other than the lady at
thier side they would have thier eyes gouged out. And if they should
"drop some bread" and "accidentally" brush up against another woman,
they would be boiled in hot oil. Of course no gentleman at this event
would be so crass as to need such punishments, but they do keep the
caldron of oil ready just in case....


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Driving the Irish countryside was gorgeous and we finally arrived at
the famous Cliffs of Mohr. They are as stunning as we'd been told. They
are sedimentary cliffs topped by a lush layer of green. So you can
see the history of the earth in the cliffs. Snap, snap...we took some
pictures and took a leisurely walk along the cliffs while enjoying the
sounds of the ocean waves below us.


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Another day of driving in beautiful Ireland. We decided to visit the
Canamara today. The oceanside drive was grueling. The roads are so
skinny, the cliffs are steep, and it was raining. On the way back I had a
white knuckle grip on the door handle. It was pitch black with no
lights on the streets. It was a Friday night so the drinking had already
begun in the local pubs, and people were on the road going from pub to
pub. It was raining hard, and Dave was driving a stick-shift on a side
of the road he was not used to driving on while other cars zipped by
at seemingly break-neck speeds on these skinny country roads. Deep
breathes I kept whispering to myself. But suddenly a sharp turn appeared
out of the dark and I screamed. Dave smiled. "Relax Sweetie," he said
calmly "this is nothing. At least there is no fog." And as soon as he
said it, it's like someone had heard him, whooshh...a whispy fog
appeared. Dave paused, I was stunned, and Dave commented "well this isn't so
bad. It's a baby fog really." I had to laugh. He is really amazing.
And he had cracked himself up so much that he was grinning the rest
of the way home. As soon as he parked I practically jumped out of the
car and felt like falling to the ground and kissing it. But I was too
dignified for that, of course. But Dave knew what I was thinking and
winked. "Yes, I'm sure the ground would appreciate that kiss," he
commented. And I just grinned. "I'm just so happy to be ALIVE!!!! You're my hero!!!!!" I grabbed him and laid a big kiss on him. "Um...yes, I actually appreciated that kiss too!"

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We arrive at Portrush. It's raining today and we can't see street
signs. The directions Dave got from the B&B owner we will be staying with
said something about "just keep going straight and you can't miss our
road..." Um....is that how everyone in Europe gives directions? We've
heard that before, and it NEVER works! But, being trusting Americans,
we just decide to follow directions. We go through Portrush and keep
driving. Soon we're on the edge of some cliff somewhere, in the rain,
wondering where the hell we are. Okay, figured! We see a hotel on
another nearby cliff and head over there to get directions. It turns out
the woman Dave talks to knows the owner of the B&B we are headed to and
gives impeccable directions.

We are driving along the road our b&b is on and we miss our turn....or
so we think. It looks like the right turn, but there is no sign for
the B&B on the corner, where it is supposed to be. We turn around
anyways and head back. As we pull onto the street, we see a lady with
frazzled red hair, in a housewife get up straight from an old movie, running
up to cars turning off the street and leaning in to talk to them.
"Quick," I tell Dave. "Looks like she's asking for money. If we turn
quickly she won't be be able to catch us!" We turn quickly onto the street
and then duck into the first driveway on the left, as instructed by our
directions. The crazy lady approaches us.... "Mr. and Mrs. Sawyer?"
she askes. "Yes...." "Oh thank goodness you made it. The other hotel
called to say you were lost so I was trying to help by asking all the
cars coming down my street if they were lost. I'm so glad you found us!"
Dave and I look at each other and burst out laughing. She grins
broadly, "I guess I must have looked like a crazy woman to you." She had no
idea!

The next day we drove to "the giant's causeway," which is why we came
to Northern Ireland in the first place. It was fascinating and
gorgeous. There were thousands of hexagonal shaped pillar like rocks standing
next to each other in fomrations. It's like people had laid them out
they were so perfectly arranged. But they were placed by the loving
hands of mother earth, and no one has been able to figure out how it all
actually happened. See the pictures on the link. You'll be amazed.


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We arrive in Copenhagen. Dave spent the whole last night trying to
book a hotel, but to no avail. There was a fashion expo in Copenhagen
that week, and everything was booked. So, he booked a place in Malmoa,
Sweden. We take a train...yes a train over the sound between Copenhagen
and Sweden. They recently finished an incredible bridge that spans the
sound. It is one of the longest spans of bridge in the world. The
train runs very high speed and arrives in 20 minutes. Cool!!!!!!! After
breakfast the next morning, I start my "Nordic Cruise" blog....which I
never have time to finish and have not yet posted....But here is how
it starts:

We started our stay in copenhagen (actually Malmoa) with a breakfast of pate, caviar, and 5 types of herring. Organic coffee with organic milk, swedish pancakes, organic fruit yogurt, and fresh squeezed orange juice. When I went to the "sugar bar" to sweeten my organic coffee they offered unrefined sugar. Well, with a breakfast of pate and caviar I just couldn't put anything "unrefined" into my coffee, so I dunked in several refined sugar cubes. OMG!!! Are these guys for real?!!! I've never had a breakfast like this. Who eats a breakfast like this?!!! Ummmmmm......well, I guess we do :) And this is the cheap place in town! Our room only cost us about $100/night, including breakfast. I wonder what kinda breakfast the "nice" places serve. More than loving eating this stuff, we loved the look of it all, and just the idea that for the first time in our lives, we just had pate and caviar for breakfast. How bizarre!

End Tape I.......