Leaving on A Jet Plane ...

All my bags are packed
Im ready to go....
But the dawn is breakin
Its early morn
The taxis waitin
Hes blowin his horn

My Brazilian visa has processed
the passport is ready to go
(but it is almost full!)
My fellow fever vaccine was a fantastic shot in the arm
a small backpack of cards, a book, and my iPod
big pack with everything else ...

Hold me like youll never let me go
cause Im leavin on a jet plane
know when I should be back again..

Taking the Next Plunge

THE BIG TRIP 2009:

Begins on February 2nd! It is a brand new continent for me, I have never been to South America before. I am flying into Salvador, Brazil (which is towards the northern part) and heading south. If you're not too familiar with Brazil, you can get a good overview map by clicking here. I plan to get sucked into the hype of a few world wonders on my trip and hope to have some fun in the Rain forest.

I am lucky enough to once again be traveling with my companion Mike. Mike has diligently researched and created this fabulous map (to the left) of a tentative route and things that we might do along the way. CARNAVAL, beaches, hiking, paragliding, hot springs, caving, vineyards, sand dunes, markets, volcanoes, and more are all possibilities for this trip. We don't have every detail planned out just yet, but we will find our way like we've done before.
(Note: I tried to stretch the image larger but blogger didn't want to upload it as a high resolution image. I can email it to anyone interested in seeing all the detail.)

To prepare for a trip to South America, there was not too much for me to do. (My first trip to New Zealand required a lot of preparation.) I have booked my plane ticket and already have a majority of my gear. I got to go shopping at REI and buy some new pants ~ yippie! and decided to buy a new travel towel to conserve space in my pack. I only had 2 major tasks: a yellow fever vaccine (for the rain forest) and a visa. Brazil is one of a select few countries that Americans need to apply for travel visas, which has been an annoying and tedious process. The first time I applied, my visa was rejected. I lost $32 in postage to find out that I hadn't filled out the correct form. It has been received in Chicago and I am eagerly awaiting its approval. Now, I get to focus on packing and getting all my stuff slimed down.

The Land of Our Ancestors

I'm half Irish. My mother is 1/2 Irish ~ her maiden name is Kelly. My father is also 1/2 Irish ~ with relatives from Tipperary I believe. While I'm not a 100% Irish decent, it was still exciting to be in Ireland where I am descended from. My mother's side of the family has some very defined roots in Lawrencetown, which is in East Galway.

First we headed to the Milk Market in Limerick, which is on our way to the north. (We went through Limerick everyday except once to head north.) It's a traditional country type market. There was fresh cheese, breads, chocolates, fish, and so on. The weather was lovely ~ cold, rainy, and cloudy. We enjoyed the narrow streets, difficulty navigating my mother in the wheelchair, and the weather that was working on getting us sick. We bought cheese. I love cheese. Uncle Dan bought some lovely veggies ~ which would later become our meal on Monday evening.

After we chaotically ran around town, we ended up heading north to Lawrentown. We found the road to our ancestors by reading our way through the map... it was a bit tricky, but we got there all right.

There is one major attraction for the twelve Kellys in tow. The Church! We're all god fearing people, and clearly in need of a church. He he he. There is a very special window that was dedicated to my great-great-grandfather and great-great-grandmother. It's a beautiful stained glass scene with a small plaque commerating them. In addition, there is an offertory stand asking you to pray for the donor ~ Mamie Maldoune Kelly.

After getting busted by the local priest for our raid of the church and our continual picture snapping, we did the logical thing a group of Kelly's should do. We went to the local pub. The barmaid was friendly, a "football" game was on, and we got complimentary "chips," popcorn chicken, and mini sausages. Delicious.

Bunratty Castle & Folk Park

After a rigorous day of driving on Thursday, we opted for a more relaxed start to our day on Friday. We soaked up breakfast at the Manor House. They are over-the-top with service and I ordered some yummy crepes. The Manor House breakfast was a definite step up from the Carriage House. You're able to customize your hot breakfast as well as choose from a buffet of baked goods ~ our favorite was the croissant ~, fresh fruit, smoked meat, salmon, cereals, and yogurt. They have a variety of freshly squeezed juices, miserable offering of coffee (I'm told), and just about anything else you can want to drink. I ordered some yummy hot chocolate.

In late afternoon, we headed to the Bunratty Castle and Folk Park. The main attraction is the 15th century castle that was restored in the 1960s. The restoration of the old castle includes some fantastic views from the tall towers. We had a lovely guide give us information about the castle and was dressed in a period appropriate outfit. She was a wealth of knowledge and pointed out spy holes in the main room that the Lord used to gather information. She also told us that there are no records of how much it actually cost to restore the castle, just that it was a lot of money. There is also an extensive collection of antiques from this time period in the castle (they don't have any originals that survived and thus they have a collection from the 15 and 16th centuries).

After the castle, we wondered around the "folk park." In Aunt carol's words, we paid full-admission in the off-season for an off-peak experience. I believe that there are supposed to be characters in period dress with info, but besides the guide at the castle, we saw no one else. With the steep admission price of 14 euro, almost 20 USD, it just wasn't worth it.

After Bunratty, we went to the Durty Nellys. It claims to be the oldest pub in Ireland. As typical, we settled in for a pint and soaked up the atmosphere. Durty Nellys was very grungy and appeared to have that ancient feel to it. It almost reminded me of "the wick" ~ the wickaden pub in Providence, RI.

Ring of Kerry

I forgot to bring my camera to the first stop of the day ~ the Catholic service here in Adare. I think we'll be going back into town tomorrow and I'll be able to snap some shots of it then. Besides a few Celtic prayers, it was business as usual.

After church, we got a slow start south towards the Ring of Kerry. It is a popular scenic drive in Southern Ireland. It is a peninsula and had really amazing views.

It took us a bit of navigating to get there, but we did arrive after what seemed like a really long time. We landed at the Muckross House and Gardens. It is a victorian house located on an immense estate. We missed the tour but peeped around for a bit and watched a movie about the state park.

Killarney National Park was the take off point for the gorgeous scenery. The windy roads were difficult to maneuver, but I wasn't driving so I had that going for me. My dear Aunt Carol, Uncle Dave, and Dad had that weighty task. It is impossible to describe the breathtaking views, but I will say that all the while my eyes were open and soaking it all up. (Uncle Rob, on the other hand, took a snooze when the sky was clear and the sun was shinning.)

We were unable to complete the 117 mile loop before the sun went down, it was merely the cliff notes tour. What we saw, we enjoyed throughly.

On our way back, we stopped off and had the best meal we've eaten in Ireland. I ate traditional Irish boiled bacon and licked my plate clean. It was an extremely hearty dish topped with a creamy parsley sauce. I also tried a bite of the prime rib, mom's pasta, stickey toffee, and the apple crumble. All were yummy .. and our drinks were the most reasonably priced I've seen. The exchange rate is really killing us over here.

The rest of the ride home went smoothly and I look forward to our last full day in Ireland tomorrow.

ps. i do need to catch up on some posting, but i'm tired... so not just yet.