Ireland, Part 2: Lakes & Sheepdogs

I did not know that Ireland has more than 12,000 lakes. We stayed two nights in County Cavan, known as the Lake County and containing 365 of them. Robin and his brother Paul took several fishing trips to this area when they were young, so he was keen to see it again. It's off the beaten path and the weather was rainy, but I was totally charmed by a chance encounter with Clough Oughter Castle. Built around 1200, it's been in ruins since 1643. But this island stronghold still stirs the imagination.

Need a boat....

Zoom lens helps

area of many lakes

loch fishermen

A rowboat would have come in handy, but alas, we could only see the castle from the shore and dream of its life long ago. As you can see from the map above, there are many lakes in the area (and more north of the maroon line, which is the border with Northern Ireland). The water is cold year round and there isn't much development along those shores.

From Cavan, we drove to another inland water body, Loch Conn. We loved our lakeside retreat where we enjoyed the views, the serenity, and a beautiful wooded trail for walking. It was also a great base for excursions in this northwest corner of Ireland.

fab AirBnB

early morning up high

Loch Conn

lovely path up hill

As dog lovers we wanted to avail ourselves of one of the working sheepdog demonstrations offered at various farms around the country. Joyce Country Sheepdogs was so much fun! The gorgeous setting for this farm was on a mountain overlooking a scenic loch. Sheep have no problem climbing up high to graze. But as the farmer explained, "I could never get my sheep down off the mountain [for shearing etc.] without the dogs."

nice spot for a farm

Spot the sheep dog

Spot at work

Border collie puppies

We enjoyed meeting the farm dogs, all border collies. Now as you will see in the video at the end, Spot wasn't exactly the most obedient farmhand you'd ever meet. Maybe he was distracted by the loads of puppies frolicking around. But in the end, he seemed to get the job done.

By the way, do you see the farmer dressed in his sturdy coat and hat? We were there on the 9th of August, which some of you may think is summer. Ha! In Ireland we've had temperatures in the 60's every day and quite a bit of wind and rain. I am NOT complaining!

I leave you with a few miscellaneous photos from our travels so far. There is only one food shot and that one is a fail - it can't all be great can it? We're still looking for our memorable Irish meal, although we've had lots of good provisions.

Rosebay Willowherb everywhere

Heather

A Fail of a Caesar salad

Toormakeady church built 1852

And now, your video:

Next up: we take a bike ride along the Great Western Greenway, then head south.

Ireland, Part 1: Dublin

Dearest Readers,

I've never been to Ireland before, so I'm excited to be writing to you from the Emerald Isle. It's the final voyage of our sabbatical year. (Once we return to Oxfordshire, the remaining days of August will consist mostly of preparing for our move back home.)

I think I'll be ready to return to New England. As they say, "It's nice to go away, but it's nice to come home." I know I will miss many aspects of this incredible year in the UK, but our calendars for the Fall are already filling up. It will be nice to see friends and family again.

But you came here to read about Ireland! So - on August 3rd we drove to Wales and took the 3.5-hour car/passenger ferry from Holyhead to Dublin. (Our dogs are once again traveling with us.) We're staying a few days in the capital city, then heading to the Irish countryside and coast (more on those later).

We decided to see Dublin, Ireland's capital, from a Hop-On-Hop-Off bus tour, which gave us a good overview. With only one full day to spend in the central city, we decided to skip the museums. But I'd happily come back for a future visit and take more time getting to know its attractions. Meanwhile here are a few photos from our rainy afternoon visit:

pretty corner from bus

high speed tram

Trinity College

pointy momument to ??

Irish Coffee - a winner!

Dublin's River Liffey

The next day we drove a little ways north of Dublin to the historic site of Newgrange. Here visitors can enter a gigantic 5,000-year-old burial mound which, with a little restoration work, has survived pretty much intact over the centuries. Their website points out that the term "Ancient Temple" is a more fitting classification of Newgrange, a place of astrological, spiritual, and ceremonial importance.

It was cool to go inside and see how the winter solstice sunrise shone directly into the center chambers. As we've seen also at Stonehenge and other places, these early civilizations were very attuned to the sun, moon, and stars. We've really enjoyed the ancient history sites in Great Britain this year.

takes up a full acre!

of course it was raining

standing stones outside

No visit to Dublin could be complete without a walk in the city's enormous Phoenix Park (1750 acres, compare to Central Park's 843 acres); and a game at the Dublin Bridge Club. There luck smiled upon us as we encountered some (mostly) friendly Irish players who play a system very similar to Standard American bridge. We concluded our Dublin experience with a quick trip to Howth, a pretty fishing village on a peninsula with nice views looking back towards the city.

Phoenix Park

Dublin Bridge Club

Howth Cliff path

colorful moors above Howth

We have another full week in our Ireland trip and look forward to exploring some other parts of the country. Next: Beautiful Lakes of Ireland.

Bridge in Biarritz 🇫🇷

Dearest Readers,

Robin and I had the privilege of spending 7 days in the coastal city of Biarritz last week, in southern France near the Spanish border. We flew from London's Gatwick Airport for a weeklong bridge tournament. Two of our US bridge partners traveled over to play with us on a team of four.

But instead of bridge stories, how about some photos of this lovely beach town! With the bridge games taking place only from 4:00 - 8:00 PM each day, we had plenty of time to explore, sample the food, and just enjoy being on the French coast for the week.

"Espace Bellevue" bridge site

Espace Bellevue from beach

Biarritz beach early morning

same beach not so empty!

charming building

watched thousands of runners

our Biarritz neighborhood

evening in Biarritz

church near the market

We loved the July weather: mostly in the low 70's and the ocean warm enough for swimming! I sipped coffee at a beachside cafe one morning, watching about 10,000 runners go by for an annual 15K road race. Another aspect that did not disappoint was the delicious food. Supposedly known for its cuisine reflecting the Basque region (part of both France and Spain), I personally enjoyed everything that was straight-up French, from the fries and crepes, to the sweetest market strawberries and pastries.

Fries always so good!

Excellent Basque cider

a hearty stew

sweetest berries

raspberry tart ooh-la-la!

plain crepe - Robin's fave!

can't go wrong with ice cream

As for the bridge playing: I have little experience with European tournaments, so I don't have much basis for comparison. It was bigger than any game we've attended in England, with around 100 tables in play. Our competitors were mostly French, but we met players from Spain and other European countries too. For the most part they were friendly, and their English was usually better than our French (!), so communication was no problem. I think however that to travel all that way and only play one session a day was, in the end, disappointing to our team. It was nice to have free time for beach-going, etc., but after the first few days, we got a little antsy to get to the card tables.

The hall where we played

My fellow bridge devotees can relate, can't you? Meanwhile, I'm happy to say Robin and I have diversified our interests this year and haven't spent TOO much time playing bridge!

But I look forward to the games back home, and to resuming my bridge teaching job in September. I already have plans to play at the North American Bridge Championships in Las Vegas in December. Meanwhile, for those interested in my Fall bridge classes, the schedule is ready! Click here for all the details.

I hope you are staying cool wherever you are! Here at our place in Somerton, Oxfordshire, it's sunny and mild, the laundry is wafting in the breeze outside, and we're resting up for our next adventure. Coming in August: Ireland!

♦️ ♣ ♥️ ♠