Costa Brava

Ryan Air offer fantastic deals in September, departing from Shannon and Cork, to entice people to visit Europe when the peak summer season is pretty much over. The weather is still lovely and warm at that time, and the crowds are gone, so it's a perfect time to go and the price at 29 Euros each is just right.
Someone I met in Dave's bike shop recommended the Costa Brava and since the flight left from Shannon, only an hour from Nenagh, it sounded like our best option. The region is situated on the North-East coast of Spain and has a lot to offer, being close to France and Barcelona, with beautiful beaches and countryside. The first thing we noticed about Spain is how child-friendly it is. There are well-equipped playgrounds in abundance and families all take to pedestrian-only streets in the evening which come to life with the sound of kids playing.
We visited the ancient city of Girona with its Arab bath house and Jewish quarter. The narrow cobbled streets amble up the steep hills and there were many fascinating hidden paths and archways to explore. The kids managed well with all the walking, and there was always the promise of a play at yet another playground, to encourage them to walk further on.
Figueres is only a short comfortable drive north on the A7, and features the Dali Theatre Museum. We weren't sure how well the kids would cope with an art gallery, but we needn't have worried, Sophia in particular loved every strange and quirky display, especially the Mae West installation. She was even willing to wait in line for about 10 minutes to climb the stairs to view the 'sculpture' through the special viewing glass which distorts the imagery to form the face of Mae West. She surprised us all with her appreciativeness.
Our day trip to Perpignon in France was a little disappointing in that it took us so long to find a park and somewhere to eat, that there was little time for any exploring of the historic sites there. I really wanted to visit perpignon train station, mostly to see why dali called it the centre of the world. It was daunting to be in a place where we had a three word vocabulary, and we were surprised that few people spoke Spanish, being so close to the border.
One moment I'll always treasure is seeing the delight on Sophia's face the first time we ate at a restaurant in Spain, as she listened to Brian order in Spanish. She was chuckling with pleasure as she said, "I didn't know you could speak Spanish, Dad". It was nice to be able to use my Spanish too, it certainly makes things easier, being able to ask for help and understand the responses. The region is Catalunya, where the language is different, but the locals understand Spanish, and don't mind using it with tourists.
We ate a lot of Spanish tortilla, and the meals we made at our cabin in San Feliu de Guixols consisted mostly of tuna melts and pico de gallo. It was nice to eat simply, and also a treat to eat out in the evening, around 8 pm, (this is early for locals) and people watch from al fresco cafes. My favourite dish was Bacalao con samfraino, which was cod lightly dusted with flour, fried in a clay dish with a delicious tomato based sauce. The dish was very hot and the sauce was slightly caramelised on the bottom. Yum!
A week in the Costa Brava is definitely not long enough. I guess we'll just have to come back!

Guinness is Good For You

A big element of this journey, has been the returning to places that we have known and loved. This is my third visit to Ireland in 15 years, though for Brian and the kids it is their first. Of course there is the expectation that going back will recreate those fond memories once again, and in that there is the risk of being disappointed. So far on this journey there hasn't been any great disappointment, just a realization that a shift in focus for us means some places no longer seem ideal.
I'm not ashamed to admit that the first time I came here, I could quite easily manage to consume several pints of Guinness and get up the next day and climb a mountain or cycle for 6 hours and do it all over again the next night. Pubs were the best environment in which to conduct this busy lifestyle and I spent many hours inside the best and worst of them.
Now 15 years on, with two kids in tow, even the cleaner no-smoking environment fails to draw me inside, and on the rare occasion that we have ventured inside a pub, a glass of the black stuff has been about my limit.
Anyway, apart from smok-free pubs, Ireland seems really different, and it's not just my perspective that's changed. It is busier, more built-up, it seems there's a lot more money around, more opportunity for work, more traffic on the roads. Even the little town of Nenagh which we're staying in has a huge supermarket on the outskirts of town, a by-pass offering easy access to the main motorway and housing developments going up all around.
There's been a huge influx of people from other parts of Europe, mostly eastern Europeans and they fill the local factories with willing workers, whereas before, the only foreigners that ventured here were German or Dutch tourists traipsing around in quaint, brightly painted and very touristy horse-drawn wagons.(excuse the stereotypical exaggeration)
The infrastructure here does not seem to be coping well with this great growth in population, because the roads have become choked with traffic, making it very hard to get around and see even nearby places of interest. It must be hard to make any great changes to the roads here, because many are very narrow, often barely wide enough for two lanes, and on either side are farms surrounded by thick stone walls. Farm land would have to be resumed and many miles of stone wall demolished, not an easy task, I'd imagine.
What do I love about Ireland this time around?
The history. We have seen beautiful castles, churches, ring forts and mounds thousands of years old and admired many houses hundreds of years old. The house we are staying in, belonging to Dave and Pete Moynan and their families, including my aunt Jay Fletcher, is 200 years old, a beautiful stone Georgian detached with a gorgeous, tower-shaped section to the back of the house, complete with turret roof.
It still has the kitchen in the basement where the cooks worked, and the attics where the servants lived. Little brass and enamel handles on the walls of the living rooms were used to call the servants up from the bottom of the house, and different tones to the chimes indicated where the servants were required to be. Actually the basement is rather spooky, something about the cold stone walls and floors and the smell of damp soil adds to that effect.
I thought I heard a ghost here on my very first visit all those years ago. I was sleeping in front of the fire in the living room, and was just drifting off to sleep, when a strange mumbling, yet unintelligible sound right in my ear, woke me up. It was so loud, and seemed to be of human origin, yet noone was in the room. Dave tried to reassure me it was the sound of the fireplace, but it had me spooked. I haven't encountered anything too strange here this time, although the kids will not go to the toilet or into the room at night alone, even with all the lights on.
I love the orchard and the coach-house and the beautiful garden. It's very special, and I imagine people in period dress bustling about working with the horses in the stable or in the garden. I feel like if I closed my eyes, and was very quiet, I could begin to hear the sounds of yesteryear in this place.
The other thing I love about this place is the people. The Moynan family are great people. They are well-traveled, taking advantage of their proximity to the rest of Europe by making regular trips there, as well as Asia and many trips to Australia. They are adventurous, love new experiences and have encouraged their kids to do the same. Of all my relatives, they are the most liberal, educated and broad-minded and are loads of fun. I have really treasured our time with them. They have opened up their home to us and have treated us with their generosity.