Month: August 2011

Phew! What a place! Our apartment is on the 4^th floor or 75 stairs for those who like bigger numbers, on Upper Bow and High Street. When sitting on the window seat, we can watch the revelers of the Fringe Festival passing by below and later in the evening can stick our heads out the window and watch the fireworks at the castle. Last night, two bands of pipers from the Tattoo marched down the hill and turned the corner outside our window. In the evening, we wandered the streets of the old town and when we climbed one particularly steep, dark and mostly deserted hill with the silhouetted figure of a man under a distant street lamp, Sharon recalled that Ian Rankin wrote a lot of his murder mystery novels about these particular locations. The security guard under the lamp wished us a good evening.

The Indian in the turban who sold Sharon a tartan and a book about the Gordon Highlanders, said he makes all of his money in these few weeks and really doesn’t have to work for the rest of the year.

Having met the couple from Waterford in Dicky Mack’s pub in Dingle, we couldn’t pass this city by without a stopover. The crystal factory has closed – gone broke – and we didn’t help their museum out by visiting them, but visited the Bishop’s House across the road instead. Richard, the guide, was a passionate local historian so he and I got on well especially when he started to talk about the local Irish revolutionaries who were sent to Van Dieman’s Land. The Granville Hotel here is somewhat grander than its counterpart in Maryborough and we couldn’t resist having a drink and dinner there. Coincidentally, Richard’s Irish revolutionary who ended up in Hobart, was born in this hotel his father owned. He escaped from Tassie and went to America. We escape tomorrow and fly to Edinburgh.

We took a walk in Glengariff before breakfast in an old oak forest following a river for about a kilometre. Once more it was showery but that didn’t deter us from taking a short boat ride past small seals trying to sunbake on rocks to Garinish Island. There were fine examples of plants from around the world – many species from Australia, some eucalypts. I saw a huon pine. An Italian Garden was laid out lined with leptospernums and callistemons and we walked through a walled Victorian garden, much smaller than the one we saw at Kilemore. We drove around the south coast, in the rain, to Kinsale, another picturesque waterside village. The narrow streets led us to a small botique where Sharon bought two dresses! Not to be outdone,I lashed out and bought a Donegal Tweed cap. Can I wear it to the wedding? Kit and I would make a good pair.