Our trip to Antrim and the Dingle Peninsula, Ireland
April 9-23, 2013
Barbican Gatelodge in County Antrim, Northern Ireland:
I have received many notes from strangers who have read our travelogues and used them to plan their own trips. If you are one of these people, know that we really love hearing from you and are gratified that you enjoy these webpages as much as we do.
Keep in mind, though, that I create these travelogues primarily to help US. They remind us what we did when, who we met, and what we would do differently next time, so they are full of things that most people don’t care about. They are personal, and that personalization might help make your trip a better one, but it makes for some very, very long webpages….
We came home with over 2000 pictures from which almost 500 were finally chosen.
I put these travelogues up as quickly as possible after we get back. I’m SURE there are grammatical and spelling errors all over the place. I correct them as I find them but if YOU find any, please let me know! If you find any broken links, please let me know that, too.
The web page was developed in Google Chrome. If you use a different browser, it will not look as intended.
This travelogue is very long. If you prefer to read it in smaller pieces here are links to daily pages (they are repeated at the end of each page as well). A new window will NOT open.
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Page 02: Wed – Drive from Dublin to Barbican Gatelodge in Antrim.
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Page 03: Thu – Giant’s Causeway.
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Page 04: Fri – Bushmills, Dunluce, Waterfall in Glenarm Forest.
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Page 05: Sat – Drive from Antrim to Dingle, Murphy’s Pub.
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Page 06: Sun – Dingle and Music at Courthouse
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Page 07: Mon – Shopping in Dingle.
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Page 08: Tue – Loch a'Dúin, Doyle’s Restaurant, Music at Courthouse.
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Page 09: Wed – Cottage, An Canteen Restaurant, Michael & John at Mighty Session
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Page 10: Thu – Fenit Pier and Bana Beach
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Page 11: Fri – Inch Strand, Sammy’s Cafe, An Canteen, Music at John Benny’s.
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Page 12: Sat – Dingle, Dinner at Michael & Dara’s, Music at Courthouse.
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Page 13: Sun – Cottage, Global Village Restaurant, Dick Mack’s Pub.
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Page 14: Mon – Dingle, An Canteen Restaurant, Pack and Return Home.
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Page 01: Tue – Prep and Travel to Dublin.
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Original, all-on-one-page version.
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This was our seventh vacation in Dingle!
This was our SEVENTH vacation in Dingle
so I will focus on those things which are unique to this trip.
It amazes me that we have not yet run out of things to do! Every year is different
(and seemingly better than the last) so please read all our travelogues on this wonderful area
to see the many interesting things it has to offer. You will get much more out of them if you read them
in order from the earliest to the latest since I don’t repeat all the little tidbits that will make your visit more enjoyable.
Press here for 2012 Dingle travelogue (a new window will open)
Press here for 2011 Dingle travelogue (a new window will open)
Press here for 2010 Dingle travelogue (a new window will open)
Press here for 2009 Dingle travelogue (a new window will open)
Press here for 2008 Dingle travelogue (a new window will open)
Press here for 2007 Dingle travelogue (a new window will open)
Disclaimer
Again, I apologize for the minutia that most people will find irrelevant; but, because we use these logs to plan our future trips, I record everything that might come in handy later. Everything! A picture might be worth a thousand words but there are some things they can’t convey, like the fact that if you order "bacon" in Ireland you will get what Americans call "ham" or Canadian bacon, which comes from the loin (back) area of the pig, whereas traditional American bacon is made from pork belly and is called "streaky bacon" in Ireland
Another tidbit a photo can’t convey is that if you want half-and-half with your coffee, you will have to ask for "full cream" or you will get milk. If those distinctions aren’t important to you, skip the commentary.
A NOTE ON THE MAPS
Most of the maps I posted here were created using MapQuest, Google and Adobe Photoshop. I found that MapQuest had more detail, especially in the shoreline, than Google. But, neither MapQuest nor Google was detailed enough for our nature hikes so those maps I created by scanning the Ordnance Survey maps we use when we were hiking and then photoshopping the scanned images together. Please do not rely solely on my maps if you travel to this area!
BUY YOUR OWN Discovery Series Ordnance Survey Maps HERE
These maps are also available on Amazon.
This year we were travelling alone
Booking our travel
Once again, we planned our trip to avoid the Easter holiday. KC wanted to go for a full two weeks this year so we settled on April 9-23.
As usual, we booked our seats in coach and requested system upgrades for Business class.
We like starting the trip by visiting a new part of Ireland so, this year, we researched the properties managed by the Irish Landmark Trust and decided on the Barbican Gatelodge in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.
We chose this property primarily because I’ve always wanted to see
1. the Giant’s Causeway
2. the Bushmills Distillery , a state-of-the-art working distillery
3. Dunluce Castle,
all of which are near the Gatelodge AND
4. we have never visited Northern Ireland.
We booked three nights in the Gatelodge and the remainder in the the best cottage on earth .
Pre-Travel Preparations
If you have read our other travelogues, you know that food figures prominently in them, partially because we’re foodies, and partially because I am unable to eat many things due to my sensitivity to MSG. I get migraines often and have found that managing my diet reduces their frequency significantly. This makes travelling difficult because restaurants rarely take food sensitivities into account and most of them do not avoid packaged ingredients, which are rife with MSG. (Yes, it’s rough being a foodie with so many limitations.)
I am now following the Genotype Diet – the last diet I will ever follow because it has been scientifically proven(*), it makes sense, and it works. It’s extremely hard to manage away from home, though, because the rules are impossible to categorize: Fresh, organic, gluten-free, sugar-free, MSG-free and GMO-free would be as close as I can come to describing how I’m supposed to eat. I am an O positive non-secretor, a GT1 Hunter, and I should not eat corn (including cornstarch), soy, potatoes, apples, vinegar, or pork. I follow the diet close to 100% when I’m at home.
Unlike many people, who use vacations as an excuse to cheat, I resent being put in a position where I can’t follow my diet because I feel better when stick to it: I get fewer migraines, I have more energy and mental clarity, and I’m able to control my weight. Nothing tastes as good as healthy feels! I realized that if I hoped to eat right for my blood type on this trip, I was going to have to bring food with me.
Throughout this blog, things I’m not supposed to eat are referred to as AVOIDS.
This year I planned ahead to minimize the last-minute thrashing that always precedes our trips. Because sugar and gluten are verboten for me, I prepared lots of snacky things, the hardest food item to find on vacation. They’re the hardest food item even at home, because nothing purchased is avoid-free, so I have to make every snack I eat. Nuts, which are a superfood for me, are one of my staples.
Two weeks before we left, I made 2 pounds of chili-walnuts using New Mexico chili and pepitas using aji amarillo; the week before, I made almond butter; and three days before, walnut-cranberry fudge. I use mesquite instead of sugar in the fudge. Mesquite is a low-glycemic fruit pod that tastes a little like maple. It’s a member of the pea family, and peas are a superfood for me, so this is a dessert I can enjoy and know that it’s also good for me.
Chili-walnuts and aji-amarillo-pepitas:
Making almond butter and walnut-cranberry-fudge:
Four days before we left, I started packing. I intended to have everything packed by Sunday which would give me Monday to acquire/clean anything that wasn’t trip-ready. This year, we planned to take three hard cases: one large, one medium, and my carry-on. These bags are made by Heys of Canada and hook together in such a way that one person can pull all three of them with one hand. They’re lightweight but strong (except for the zipper, which I’m sure is going to fail) and I love them except for the fact that the biggest one is so big it’s hard to manage and it exceeds the weight limit easily. (KC, who doesn’t love things, agrees that they were a very useful purchase.)
We usually don’t take the biggest bag but we needed two large bags this year because I packed additional shoes and coats to avoid being cold and wet, as I was last year, and I brought more foods and supplements than in the past. In addition to my snacks, I brought my favorite spices, coffee, and sugar.
Coffee is especially high in pesticides and organic is hard to find in Dingle so I always bring our favorite coffee with us. I brought 1.5 pounds and we only used 1 because we were travelling alone. In the future, figure ¼ pound per person per week. This year Ré Nua,the health food store, did have organic ground coffee for sale. Garvey’s Market , the biggest conventional grocery store in Dingle, sells mostly instant and no organic.
When packing, I usually distribute our clothes between the two checked bags so that our vacation isn’t ruined if one bag is lost or stolen; but, this time, I put everything we needed for Antrim in the bigger bag so that I’d only have to repack one bag after our three days there. I hate packing.
On Monday, I packed my supplements and smoothie ingredients into individual ziploc bags. I then packed everything into three larger bags, to avoid making a mess in the suitcase if one of the seals failed. One bag went into each suitcase. I had purchased a 220v stick blender but it didn’t arrive before we left so I resigned myself to mixing my smoothie in a glass and packed some vegetable glycerin to improve the taste.
Smoothie packets, one for each day:
Supplements:
My purse, a large A-La-Carte tote bag made by Baggallini, is the best carry-on I’ve ever found. There are three large open pockets in the front and a zippered pocket in the back. There are slip pockets and an additional zippered pocket inside, and the top zips closed. The black one looks much better than the red one but the red one is easier to spot if someone tries to walk off with it.
My purse fits inside a Tumi Just-In-Case bag which has a sleeve on one side that slides over the pull-handle of my rolling bag. It gives me a place to store tickets, maps, and directions as well as an extra zip-top bag if I buy something in the duty-free store.
I brought two reusable grocery bags and remembered to pack them in my tote for our trips to Garvey’s. I also brought a larger Herve Chapelier tote for shopping in Dingle. I was really trying to avoid all the things I’d done wrong in previous years!
When I researched the Giant’s Causeway, looking for advice on how difficult the climb was going to be, I found several warnings about the rocks being slippery.
According to their website:
• Come prepared for a long/intense walk (it would be recommended to wear waterproof clothing and comfortable flat foot wear).
• Keep your distance from the edge of the water and be aware of large waves, especially when exploring the stones. The stones are uneven and can be very difficult to walk on, especially if wet, and they can become very slippery.
Remembering the trouble I had last year fording that stream in Coumaloghig, I bought a new pair of SLIP-RESISTANT SHOES, women’s Alpine from SAS Shoes. They’re really ugly but they are made in the US (and correspondingly expensive) and were the only ones recommended on the various sites I visited.
They aren’t tall enough to be wading around in water so I have let the company know they need to make a taller boot (it would be better looking, too, if it were taller) but these will be fine for the Causeway.
Monday night, while I was lying in bed making sure I hadn’t forgotten anything, I realized that I really wanted to bring my laptop. It would make putting up this webpage much easier if I could update each day’s activities directly into the code AND it would give me something to do while we were relaxing in the cottage.
Since I couldn’t check it, I either had to persuade KC to carry it (along with his laptop, his iPad his MP3 player, his phone, both cameras, etc…) or I had carry it myself. He refused, understandably, so I removed some of the snacks in my rolling bag and managed to fit it in. This was a miracle – it is a very large laptop!
Travel to Dublin
Tuesday, April 09
I woke up with a migraine again today. I’ve had one for three days now so I hope it’s winding down but it means the trip will be difficult because the medication I take, which masks the pain most of the time, makes me run to the bathroom every hour. But, if I have to choose between pain and incontinence, I’ll take incontinence every time. I take the pill and hope for the best.
We arranged to have the car pick us up at 3:45 again this year, even though we got there very early last year, because I wasn’t sure how long the extra laptop would delay our passage through TSA screening. Before we left, I was able to get 6 hours sleep AND tidy the house AND have my hair cut and blow-dried. Starting early and having a checklist to work from made a huge difference.
We left the house at 3:48 (a little late because I couldn’t find my front door key and had to exit through the garage), we arrived at O’Hare at 4:15, and used curbside check-in. There was almost no-one in the line at security; and, although they did rifle through my bag, as they do EVERY year because it’s full of foods that look like liquids (chocolate, breakfast bars, etc…), we were on our way to the gate at 4:35, earlier than last year and with over an hour to kill.
So glad to be finally on our way:
In the Flagship Lounge, KC had veggies and humus and I had some delicious smoked salmon with wasabi. They also served sushi, which I love, but it didn’t look fresh and sushi frequently has soy in it which is an avoid for me. I had a Jargon Pinot Noir, KC had a Seven Sisters Odelia white from South Africa.
The chairs in this lounge are really uncomfortable – too big, the backs are too low to lean back comfortably, and they’re so slippery you practically have to lie down in them.
At 5:45 we walked down to the gate. I wanted to board early to insure that we’d get space in an overhead bin on the outside of the cabin since last year my hard case didn’t fit in the bin over the center seats. Lo-and-behold my case did fit over the middle seats! It will fit sideways. Right after take-off, the sun set on the left side of the plane so I understand why that side filled up first.
We left 20 minutes late, but KC told me that the 767 is the fastest jet in the air now that the SST has been retired, so I was confident we’d make up the time. There was turbulence right after takeoff which delayed dinner service. They were offering filet this year, and Forrest had loved it two years ago when he had it, so both KC and I opted for it this year. Big mistake.
AA Business Class Dinner menu for outbound flight between Chicago and Dublin:
The food on American has deteriorated. The nuts, which used to be warm and mixed, were cold almonds, pecans and cashews (no pistachios or walnuts); the salad was tiny and anemic looking; and the filet was so overcooked I gave up after two bites. The shrimp appetizer was good – I should have had KC’s when he offered it – but I thought it would be too much food with the filet. This year we only got two shrimp whereas last year there were three. What a shame. I wish I had remembered to take pictures.
We both ordered the Malbec, Fabre Montmayou Reserva, but I asked for mine with my meal. They never brought it. I wasn’t about to share KC’s because he was recovering from a cold. Yes, I could have reminded the flight attendants to bring it but, in the past, I wouldn’t have had to. We both asked for the small breakfast and they never brought that, either.
In addition to the bad service, the announcements were poorly worded and delivered with large pauses while the speaker decided what she was going to say. She couldn’t even read the standard UNICEF Coins for Kids spiel properly. I was not impressed. I wonder if these are Continental flight attendants in AA uniforms. That is bad news for AA customers if they were.
In-flight entertainment:
On to the in-flight entertainment: There were a lot more movie selections this year but none of them appealed to me. I started watching Hyde Park on the Hudson with Bill Murray, thinking it was a comedy, but it was maudlin and boring. Then, I stepped through Les Miserables to see how they interpreted my favorite tunes and while I thought the movie was very well done it dragged on. I thought about watching Life of Pi or The Hobbit but decided sleep was more important. My migraine was coming back so I took another Maxalt and fell right asleep. KC watched Django Unchained and then he fell asleep, too.
KC trying to sleep:
The next thing I knew, it was morning. I’d slept 4 hours straight and didn’t even wake up when they served breakfast. No loss – all I wanted was fruit – and the time had passed quickly. KC was asleep and had also missed breakfast but said he had not slept well, probably due to the lingering effects of the cold he caught the week before we left. He was still sniffling, coughing, and not eating much although he DID have a sundae after last night’s dinner.
I could barely get my hiking boots back on. Have my feet grown?
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To continue to the next page, please use the links below.
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Page 02: Wed – Drive from Dublin to Barbican Gatelodge in Antrim.
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Page 03: Thu – Giant’s Causeway.
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Page 04: Fri – Bushmills, Dunluce, Waterfall in Glenarm Forest.
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Page 05: Sat – Drive from Antrim to Dingle, Murphy’s Pub.
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Page 06: Sun – Dingle and Music at Courthouse
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Page 07: Mon – Shopping in Dingle.
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Page 08: Tue – Loch a'Dúin, Doyle’s Restaurant, Music at Courthouse.
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Page 09: Wed – Cottage, An Canteen Restaurant, Michael & John at Mighty Session
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Page 10: Thu – Fenit Pier and Bana Beach
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Page 11: Fri – Inch Strand, Sammy’s Cafe, An Canteen, Music at John Benny’s.
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Page 12: Sat – Dingle, Dinner at Michael & Dara’s, Music at Courthouse.
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Page 13: Sun – Cottage, Global Village Restaurant, Dick Mack’s Pub.
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Page 14: Mon – Dingle, An Canteen Restaurant, Pack and Return Home.
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Page 01: Tue – Prep and Travel to Dublin.
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Original, all-on-one-page version.
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Press here for 2012 Dingle travelogue (a new window will open)
Press here for 2011 Dingle travelogue (a new window will open)
Press here for 2010 Dingle travelogue (a new window will open)
Press here for 2009 Dingle travelogue (a new window will open)
Press here for 2008 Dingle travelogue (a new window will open)
Press here for 2007 Dingle travelogue (a new window will open)
OOAKFolk, Inc., and artist Barbara Healy are not affiliated in any way with the original manufacturers of
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Last Revised: May 27, 2013
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