It's hard to believe it but, we've already been in our current home for a month, and tomorrow (Saturday June 7) we will pack up our road show and head about 31/2 hours south to the charming town of Kinsale.
Before we leave however, now is a good time to show you what we've been up to while here.
The drive into the farm
The drive into the farm nearing the cottage - about 1/2 mile
Life on the farm has been a nice mixture of days spent chilling and enjoying the peace and quiet in beautiful surroundings. With nothing but the sound of the wind, the birds, and the rain drops to break the quiet, it has been a great place to stay. We could stay here a lot longer but we have places to be.
Looking for the pot of gold
The farm has a group of converted buildings that have all been finished to a high standard with a courtyard in the middle. After a year of renting, the owner decided that she did not want the fuss of dealing with lots of strangers coming and going so now she only rents to a few of us who return, She. like us, enjoy the quiet so we essentially had the place mostly to ourselves and the few workers about.
Looking from our place into the courtyard
One day we took the 30 min drive north to Bray which is about 1/2 way to Dublin. They have a nice seafront and we took the walk from one end to the other and back. A footpath of about 6 miles links Bray to Greystones to the south, but it is closed due to a landslide.
Bray Seafront
Bray Marina
Angela, the owner, has cut numerous paths thru the woods and fields for walking paths. Several miles of nice private walks exist and we took advantage of them.
View from one of the paths back towards our house
A foot bridge across a small stream on the paths
We made a couple of trips from Greystones up to Dublin on the Dart (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) train. It's a scenic route that runs right along the coast for a good part of the trip.
Our nearest bigger sized town is Greystones, which is about 5 miles north of us. Greystones is the end of the line for the Dart Commuter service from Dublin, but the intercity trains to the rest of Ireland would pass thru Greystones heading further afield.
On the Dart looking back south towards Bray
An obligatory stop when visiting Dublin is the Guiness Storeroom. Its a self-guided tour that details the history and process that goes into making the brown elixir.
The Barrel Making exhibit in the background
At the end of the tour we are rewarded with a pint at the rooftop bar that provides a 360° view of Dublin.
The reward - a cool foamy pint of Guiness!
We took the train to Dublin, then a streetcar to the Guiness factory. These modes plus the bus are all part of the local transportation system and are accessed thru a card that I purchased and loaded up with some Euros, I can use the card all over Ireland and reload it thru an app. The fares are subsidized and very inexpensive.
Our tram arrives
We took the tram back to the station and then the Dart back to Greystones. We had left the car at the free park and ride about 1/3 mile from the station.
Back at the train station
Another trip was to the Russborough House, a home from the 1700's built by the 1st Earl of Milltown.
Along the way we drove thru the Wicklow Mountains National Park. We were here in 2023 as well.
Along the way we stopped at the Lough Tay overlook to enjoy the view of Lough.
The Lough is owned by the Guiness family. Interestingly - the end of the lake to the left was the filming location of the fictional village Kattegat from the "Vikings" series.
Lough Tay
Continuing onward over the mountains to the west side, we arrived at our destination.
While Kate took the inside house tour, I took the dogs for a walk around the grounds of the walking paths.
Walking the paths
Walking the paths
Walking the paths
The house remained in family ownership till the 1930 at which point it exchanged hands a few times, eventually coming under the ownership of Sir Alfred Beit. The property was gifted to a historic foundation in the 1950's which opened it up to the public. The Beits remained in residence until the death of Lady Beit in 2005.
Dining room in the house
Drawing room in the house
Driving thru Europe is fun. Lots of small roads take you on excursions to and fro.
In Ireland there are Motorways (Like US Interstates) then below that are the "N" (National roads) which can be bigger or smaller.
Then the "R" (regional) roads which are even smaller and at times can be quite narrow but still 2 lanes,
Finally the "L" (local) roads which are usually 1 lane.
Driving the L roads really require you keep on your toes. You can come around a corner and meet an oncoming car, truck, or farm vehicle. Sometimes you'll need to back up to find a suitably wide place to pass each other. Driving these roads is a "team sport" and cooperation is the order of the day.
Example of an L road
Here is a video of driving on the R road outside of the farm gates. You need to take care coming around a corner as anything could be there including a bycycle rider.
Back at the farm, the dogs have been enjoying having lots and lots of grass to run around on.
One Sunday we went to the Hunters Hotel for a Sunday Lunch. The Hunters Hotel is an old Coaching Inn and has been run by the same family for over 200 years.
Outside the Inn they have a traditional Victorian Garden complete with a Croquet Lawn, as well as an expansive vegetable and herb garden which supplies much of the hotels in-season produce.
Hunters Hotel Gardens
Hunters Hotel Gardens
Taking the Dart back in to Dublin for a stroll around. We started with a walk along the River Liffey.
Then wound our way thru Temple Bar - a trendy section of Dublin with lots of pubs and eateries.
Temple Bar, Dublin
From Temple Bar we wound our way up Grafton St which has some of the highest retail rents in the world. In one shop that Kate visited, they had a blouse that cost over $4,000!
This store would only have one sample of every piece on display, The salespeople would size you up and go fetch your proper size while you sat sipping champagne.
Grafton St
At the end of Grafton St is St Stephen's Gate. One of the many beautiful green spaces in Dublin.
We entered thru the gate and took a nice stroll around the park.
Entry to St Stephen's
Lake in St Stephen's
After strolling the park, we walked over the the nearby Trinity College - The Harvard of Ireland.
Trinity College Dublin
We walked thru the college grounds and looped our way back to the train station for our ride back home.
Trinity College Dublin
On the scenic coastal ride home, I spotted a familiar-looking ship anchored offshore. A quick check on my marine app confirmed it was the MS Renaissance. Interestingly, it used to be called the MS Maasdam and was once part of the Holland America fleet. Over 20 years ago, we had made a winter escape and actually sailed on the Maasdam, cruising from Acapulco through the Panama Canal to Fort Lauderdale.
The last stop prior to Greystones is Bray. The station walls there are lined with a series of Mosaics that detail Irish history thru the railroads from about the mid 1800's thru the present. Originally they were paintings on the wall, but lime seepage degraded them over the years so they commissioned that they be replaced with mosaics that would endure
Back at the shack - more running for the dogs,
Angela has 5 dogs that often make a visit. That, plus farm cats, workers, and birds keep the dogs interesting in what is going on outside.
The mighty hunter - ever vigilant.
From our last trip and this - Greystones is my favorite town. Close to Dublin, this area is rural yet cosmopolitan. We came up a number of times to walk along the seafront. From the park and ride to the marina and back was a nice 3 mile walk with lots of friendly people to talk to.
Greystones South Beach
Greystones Beachfront walk
Greystones Marina
On Saturday there is a craft market along the Greystones Marina area.
Weds night we had a nice dinner at Angela, our host's, house next door.
Yesterday we took a trip down to Wicklow - about 6 miles south of here and visited the Historic Wicklow Gaol. (Pronounced "Jail")
The Gaol has been on this site for 300 years and now tells the story of the people who have been imprisoned here over the centuries.
Gaol Entryway
Thru the prison stories you learn about the periods of Irish History. From persecution and imprisonment of Catholics by the English in the 1700's to the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil war.
"newer" prison cell
Our self-guided tour took us down into the dungeon.
Down into the dungeon
The Gaol is commonly referred as one of the most haunted places in Ireland and has been featured on one of those "ghost hunter" shows on TV.
While in the Dungeon, I heard Kate let out a scream. It turned out one of the cell doors had a sign telling you to lift it to look inside and when Kate lifted the flap - this face was waiting for her... hence the scream.
"BOO!"
Looking down from the 3 level
Spiral Stairs
Our time here was a nice mix of things. We are now getting ready to take a farewell walk along the water in Greystones, then come back to start packing up in prep for our leisurely departure tomorrow.
This is a very easy place to get used to. If we ever do decide to make the move over - this would be high on my list. If not - perhaps just come for the summer. Having options is a good thing.
In our last post, we had just arrived in the UK on Sunday 27 April, settled in to our little cottage on the dairy farm, and on Monday I had taken the train into Hedge End (Near Southampton) to pick up our little VW T-Cross which I have named "The Peanut".
I forgot to mention in our last post that when our "Pet Taxi" picked us up in Calais, our driver had a Romanian Passport. Kate was using her Irish Passport, I used my US, and both of the dogs have Spanish Pet Passports. When we arrived at the UK border and they checked our papers, the border guard was laughing and saying that we were a rolling United Nations. 😎
Fisher Dairy Cottage
We had a very enjoyable time time on the farm, but our stay was only for a week. During that week we first ventured into the nearby City of Chinchester to take care of some business. First on the agenda was to get UK sim cards.
Since Brexit, the whole phone situation is a tad more complicated. Previously my phone worked everywhere. Now - it still works but if you have an EU number, then you are roaming in the UK and vice versa. This usually means less data allowances, charges for phone calls texts etc.
Our US T-Mobile plan is allowing full usage all over here, but they state its for vacation, not extended use. Since we'll be here 6 months, I have a feeling that at some point they might cut me off.
Downtown Chinchester has a lovely pedestrian area, and I found a decent car park just steps away, so we had the keys to the city. Vodafone was right on the pedestrian mall steps away from the car park, and in half an hour, Kate and I both had UK Phone numbers. I've kept my French number as well since that would not be roaming in Ireland (the EU) so I still would have my unlimited data should we need to do some streaming.
So now we are rolling with 2 US Passports, 1 Irish, 2 Spanish Pet Passports, 2 US phone numbers, 2 UK numbers, and one French.
Chinchester Pedestrian Mall.
While here we took a drive over the the seaside resort community of Brighton. Evidence of occupation has been found dating back to the bronze age but the real development of the area took off in the Georgian Era and then expanded further in the Victorian Era. It is easy to see the architectural influences of each period all along the seafront.
One example of the Victorian influence is the Madeira Terrace which runs along much of the waterfront. Over half a mile long and constructed from Cast Iron, it has suffered over the years from the effects of the marine environment. It is currently undergoing a multi-year refurbishment which will cost millions of pounds.
Built below the upper terrace, the Madeira Terrace had an open air walkway on top. Stairs and a lift provided access to this level from the terrace above. Below the open air walkway, (under the arches in the photo below) was a covered walkway.
You can see some of the stairways from the upper terrace below.
Not quite sure about this house. Maybe Dorothy from the Wizzard of Oz stopped by.
Brighton Beach Bandstand
We parked at the far eastern end of the seafront and walked way down to the other end, stopping for lunch along the way, and eventually retracing our steps back to the peanut. By the end of the day we had put about 4 miles on the dogs feet and the ride home was a quiet one as they slept all the way home.
One of our outings was to the nearby Kingley Vale National Nature Reserve. One of the first Nature Reserves in Britain, it boasts an ancient grove of Yew Trees that are considered some of the oldest living things in Britain (myself excluded). Some of the trees here are around 2,000 years old.
The fact that this ancient stand exists is impressive in that the Yew Tree was prized for the construction of English longbows and during the 1400's a "Yew Tax" on imported wine resulted in a rush that decimated the existing stands of this ancient tree.
A Yew Tree
The trees craggly appearance looks like something out of Game of Thrones.
Another Yew Tree
It was (another) warm and beautiful day. We have had non-stop perfect weather. Tomorrow (weds) will be 6 weeks since we arrived in Paris and so far we've only had 2 days with measurable rain.
Another outing took us to the nearby quant village of Bosham. The street in the photo below floods at every high tide. If you leave your car parked there, you are in for an unpleasant surprise. Our last trip over here in 2023, our first stop was an AirBnb in this town but our trip was delayed when the QM2 cancelled on us and we had to scramble to arrange a plan B. We wound up missing this stop and picked up at stop #2 in London after we flew over to Paris instead.
The Holy Trinity Church in Bosham is an ancient church, parts of which date back to Saxon Times (before 1066). Bosham was the home of Harold Godwinson, King of England in 1066. The Bayeux Tapestry shows him and his entourage riding to Bosham prior to his sailing to Normandy.
Holy Trinity Church
For such a small church, the inside was very impressive. It's just hard to get a photo to do these church interiors justice.
We had an ice cream cone with locally made ice cream, then walked down to the park to enjoy the view and warm sea breeze.
Another outing was to Portsmouth Harbor to visit the historic docks. Unfortunately, the docks do not allow dogs at all - not even outside - so I had to make this trip solo. My ultimate goal was to go and see the HMS Victory. I had built a scale model of Victory over several years during covid, and was looking forward to finally visiting the real thing. By this time I could have walked the real decks blindfolded and likely not get lost.
My first stop was the Victorian Era Battleship the HMS Warrior. Built in 1861 it was at the time the largest Naval Vessel in the world. An armour plated, Iron Clad warship - it was part of an arms race between the UK and France. The UK became concerned when France built their first Iron-clad warship, The Gloire in 1859. As soon as she was launched, she pretty much made all of the ships in the English Navy obsolete.
HMS Warrior
It had both sails and coal powered steam reciprocating engines.
HMS Warrior Deck
It was a pretty impressive vessel and I spent a couple of hours touring all its nooks and crannies all the way down into the engine and boiler rooms.
HMS Warrior Gun Deck
Officer sleeping quarters. Note the rocking hammocks
Next on the list was the Victory. Arriving at the ship I was met with a disturbing sight....
All the masts were gone and the ship was completely covered by a weather proof enclosure. It turned out that the ship was undergoing a 10 year long, and very overdue refurbishment. The ship was degrading and collapsing under its own weight and these repairs are critical to save it.
The photo below was from the web, before the ship masts were removed.
HMS Victory
HMS Victory, commissioned in 1178, made it's greatest contribution to the UK in 1805 at the Battle of Trafalgar where the British Navy defeated the combined French & Spanish fleets, forever ending Napoleon's plan to invade Britain. Captained by Thomas Hardy, it was from the Victory that Admiral Nelson planned and directed the British Fleets attack. During the Battle Admiral Nelson was shot by a French Sharpshooter and gravely wounded. He was carried below decks and survived long enough to be informed by Capt Hardy that the British Fleet had won a great victory.
Below as what standing on the top deck looked like. All the cannons and deck hardware was gone.
HMS Victory Top Deck
Below decks were also under refurbishment, but the situation was a little bit better. While large sections were blocked off - I was still able to see some sections as they would have looked in years gone by.
Below is the Admirals Cabin and Head.
A head with a view
Rear Gallery - this room was where the Admiral would hold meetings
Galley on the middle gun deck. Food was prepared here, and you ate at your station.
A table between each gun
Fully rigged 24lb cannon
Below - the lamp marks the spot where Admiral Nelson died.
Although it was disapointing to have the ship in such condition - I understand the need for the conservation and it still was nice to finally see the ship. It would have been a nice touch if they knocked a few pounds off of the expensive ticket price, but no such luck.
Our last night in Chichester was spent back on the pedestrian mall. We visited the impressive Chichester Cathedral and again I struggled to obtain a photo that would do it justice.
Back at the farm, I took thise photos of some of new new born calfs. The nursing calf was only a few days old.
Time to move on. I had to learn how to pack the new car. There are 3 suitcases and then the rest of the stuff is just daily living stuff that was acquired here and will not make the trip back to the US. The bags are filled with things like food, coffee, dog food, sheets to cover furniture etc etc. All the things that you need for day to day self catered travel.
15 lbs stuffed into a 10 lb box
A 350 mile drive on Sunday took us to Holyhead Wales and our next stop for 3 nights. Here we will give the dogs baths, and visit a vet to get them the required worming treatment for travel into Ireland.
Our house was super nice. Clean, new, and open floorplan. Smart TV with superfast WiFi. Off street parking... It checked all the boxes. This was a cottage on the owners property and the owners were super nice and friendly.
Annie gets a bath
Phoebe gets a bath
Kate gets to wave to everyone passing by
Weds May 7 we are lined up for our 0930 ferry. It's a 3.5 hr crossing to Ireland and the dogs will remain in the car.
Its a busy crossing and lots of ships going back and forth.
Soon, Ireland is dead ahead and growing larger as the minutes pass.
Before we know it we are entering the busy Port of Dublin.
Our house is a converted barn unit on a working farm. It was finished to a very high standard with features such as underfloor geo-thermal heating. Smart TV and fast WiFi complete the picture. We stayed here last time in July 2023 for about 10 days and loved the place.
We are located about 30 miles south of Dublin and about 3/4 up a long tree-lined drive off of the main road.
Our house is part of a big square of buildings. We are one corner of that square forming an "L"
From kitchen looking towards living area
From living area looking back towards kitchen. Our sheets cover the furniture to keep dirty dog paws from making a mess.
From living area looking towards bath and bedroom
Huge Master Bedroom
We have 4 doors leading outside, and lots of opening windows to let the fresh Irish breezes in.
Our back patio
We are going to stay here for a month, departing on June 7
Huge bathroom
Tree-lined driveway
Near to the house flowering shrubs along the driveway
Our backyard
Looking back to our house (on the right) The owners house is on the left
A few sprinkles yesterday brought out a nice rainbow. We had to take care however that no Leprechauns were going to get me Lucky Charms.
While here we will leisurely enjoy all that the area has to offer. I purchased transport cards to day that will make transport to/from and in Dublin a breeze. We will see the sights, relax, and let you know about our adventures in this area next time.
Thanks for riding along.
PS. One note for people leaving comments.....
If your name is listed as Anonymous when you leave a comment - if you dont leave your name in the message... First name, or some other identifying info - I don't know who left the message and its hard for me to reply. It's not a requirement - but it helps.
