My latest tour is with the lovely Archibeck family, all the way from New Mexico. I took this really nice photo on our arrival in the Killarney Plaza Hotel.
From the left , Grace, Dad Michael, on the stairs behind, (kinda hard to make him out as he seems to blend in with the colours in the background)Then we have Erin, Jane, Claire and Mom Janine.
We had a brief stop off in the lovely little town of Adare on the way down to Killarney.
Our afternoon was spent in the grounds of the majestic Muckross House in Killarney. This was where Queen Victoria had stayed during her visit to Killarney in the eighteen hundreds. A fortune was spent on preparing the house and grounds for her visit, and the gardens here are really lovely.
My happy family, pictured here in the Muckross grounds, with the lakes and mountains of Killarney in the background.
This majestic oak tree in the grounds is one of my favourite trees, and must be at least a hundred years old.
The four beautiful Archibeck daughters, pictured together at Torc Waterfall in Killarney.
From the left, Claire, Jane, Grace and Erin.
All together at Torc, with one addition, yours truly. This family are all keen athletes, and a five to eight mile jog every morning is nothing to them. I may join them when they progress to my ten mile usual.
A visit to Ladies View in the mountains above Killarney, is a must. It was here that Queen Victoria, on taking in the view, declared it to be "The most beautiful View in the Kingdom"
This is a full view of Ladies View, with the long chain of the lakes of Killarney far below in the valley.
From the left. Janine, Grace, Dad Mike, Erin, Jane and Claire. What a lovely picture of a lovely family.
St Mary's Cathedral in Killarney, always amazes me, as the stonework here is comprised of hundreds of thousands of small stone fragments, which are holding up this gigantic structure, with its vast roof. The stone masons in those times, were master craftsmen. The stonework here, for me, is symbolic of the power of large numbers of people, working, and united, together for a common cause.
Pictured together here in the main Isle of the cathedral. The family that prays together, stays together?
Micro breweries, producing local craft beers, have become extremely common in the USA, and are now springing up all over Ireland. There is a new one now in Killarney, and Janine, Mike and i, visited there, and took part in the tour, which was really interesting.
Not only was the tour interesting Mike and Janine also enjoyed the sampling afterwards. Mike reckoned that this was the best craft beer he has sampled, and he is a fan of craft beers. I am not telling how much sampling they had, but their behavior was exemplary. What more can i say.
Mike, our tour guide Pat, Janine, and a sober me, pictured together after the tour.
If my family from New Mexico are enjoying themselves as much as i am enjoying being with them, then they are having a ball. We have been having some great food sessions together, with me, desperately defending my plate from their invading forks from all sides. Will i ever get used to the American way of eating? Or will i have to concede, and attack their plates. We shall see.
More to follow as out tour continues.
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