Home!

We made it home, tired after a 23 hour day, but we made it. The trip was a wonderful success and we enjoyed it. But it sure is always good to be home. Smokey is especially glad - I'm having a bit of trouble using my computer as she thinks she should be in my lap instead!

Ireland, green green Ireland

' Luke got into the Irish spirit right away, sporting a new woolen Irish cap.  It is warm for Luke and I like it!

Very jaunty.

Typically European, the streets are narrow, often leading up to a beautiful church.

Castles, castles everywhere.  Some are painfully restored

And many are simply ruins

Ireland's history is evident in the very old church statues, this one from the 1200's.

This Gothic cross is even older.

Sheep everywhere, inside walled pastures, outside in the road. Most are marked with spray paint for identification of the farmer that they belong to. I am guess that these are not "wool" sheep, but rather for their meat.

Yesterday was sunny and glorious, as we drove the Ring of Kerrry, along the pensulia on the southwestern coast.

But even in paradise, one has to watch for thieves.

Just look at the water.

We also saw the ring forts, ancient stone structures that were used for both housing and defense.

These two views are apparently the artist favorites  - we saw a lot of photographs and paintings of them for sale.

Ireland lived up to the leprechaun's promise of a rainbow, but no lot of gold.  Poo.

I wanted to kiss the Blarney Stone but after reading Rick Steve's description, we decided to pass....

"Blarney is only famous as the place of tourist pilgrimage were  busloads line up to kiss the stone and get the gift of gab. The best thing about this lame site is the opportunity to watch a cranky man lower lemming tourists over the ledge, belly up and head back, to kiss the stone while an automated camera snaps the photo which will be available for purchase at the parking lot. After a day of tour groups mindlessly climbing  up there to perform this ritual, The stone can be literally slathered with spit and lipstick."  

Ugh.

Today it rained off and on. Mostly on,

More sheep, this time in the road.

Even in a fog and rain, Ireland is beautiful.

The pastures of sheep are lush and green, each pasture separated by stonewalls, creating a patchwork quilt appearance.

Oh, and the roads… Let me tell you about the roads...THIS Is a 2 way road, with the speed limit of over 60 mph.  There are wee pull over areas, but most of the passing is done in the road.  Luke did a great job driving, but they are NOT fun...

Tomorrow we got back to Dubin, with a little sightseeing on route. We fly home on Tuesday!

Little internet in little towns

As we feared, even the B&B's that promise wifi can't always live up to it.  It has been spotty and weak at best.  Not blog capable.

One picture .....Our room last night overlooked the port that the titanic left from.

But we are enjoying ourselves in the small SW coastal towns. Heavy rain today and tonight as we wait patiently (and dryly) in today's B&B.

Art in Amsterdam

Ok, we've seen the red light district and racy ads! Let's not forget Europe's version of Ronald McDonald...

NOW onward to beautiful art – today we spent the entire opening hours, from 9 AM to 5 PM, at the world-famous Rijksmuseum, home of the biggest Dutch art collection, including "The Masters".

The outside of the museum is impressive.

The inside is completely enclosed, with 3 floors devoted to art and artifacts.

Stained glass windows honor The Masters

At the end of a long Honor Hall hangs the focal painting by Rembrandt, The Night Watch.  As many of these masterpieces, the size is overwhelming, often 20 x 40 feet or so. Asking it's worth, we are told that as it has never been on the market, it is impossible to set a value on it.

Vermeer's The Milkmaid is on display.

Adam and Eve are here, too, of course, in much larger than life.

Napoleon's portrait, certainly larger than he was.

His box with his personal pistols is on display.

Monet is here, too, but only 1 piece of artwork.

And one of my favorites, Van Gogh's self portrait. 

The artwork is amazing and valued beyond comprehension. And there are a few watchful folks around a few pieces.  But for the most part, these masterpieces are within a 2 foot reach of the viewer. And unprotected. OK, the 36 caret diamond has a wired glass box around it, but the majority of Rembrandt's, Vermeer's and van Gogh's work is basically unprotected. Very surprising.

Tomorrow we fly to Dublin! A few days in Ireland before our return home.

Amsterdam

I love this hotel....how many medium priced hotels still give you soap, a sewing kit, a shoe polish cloth, and a shower cap in little boxes?  Ones that they arrange to make the little panorama???!!!!

Of course, Amsterdam isn't bad either, with bus stop ads like this one....

We took a boat ride this morning through the canals of Amsterdam.

Beautiful buildings

Amsterdam is a blend of the old

And the new

Lucky Luke found the Scheepvaartmuseum - a maritime museum.

A replica of an old Dutch East India Company trading ship, from around 1800. Over 300 men sailed on this ship at together, for months.

There was also a lot of original artwork from the old Dutch masters from the late 1600's. No picture of them.

One last picture of a canal.

Tomorrow we'll see the art museums.

Europe

  I don't kmow how I will ever catch up but here goes....

Our wonderful cousins Paul and Mia  in Belgium had full itinaries for us, in addition to to our time together in the evenings.  No time for blogging!

Lots of magnificent churches with awe Inspiring artwork. 

The interiors of the cathedrals were beautiful..

The city center of Antwerp is bustling.

Just the place for a Flemish beer in the city's oldest bar. 

We also visited the church where Luke's dad played the organ prior to the familie's immigration to the USA.  

How about a pair of artistic shoes?  Note the price....

We toured the historic town of Bruge and took a nice boat ride through one of the canals.

Also, a visit with cousins Jan and his wife Hilda at their home at the seashore. 

Next, Gent, another old tourist town. 

We had a great family luncheon with the cousins and Luke's only remaining sibling of his mother, Tante Julienne. 

A couple of days in The Ardins, the mountain region of Belgium, where the historic Battle of the Bulge during WW11 was fought. We stayed in a nice B&B with Paul and Mia.  The view out of our window...

Another small town...no, it is the "smallest CITY" in Belgium. This is the storefront of a butcher shop....

Today, we left the cousins behind and took the train to Amsterdam.  It is a large city with large buildings

And a few of those streets are the Red Light District.  Yes, there is a very scantily clad woman in each window, awaiting customers..  When she has a "client", the drape is drawn until it is time to peddle her wares again.

A lot of things are expensive in Europe, but groceries and hotels are cheap. To have cream with my hotel room coffee each morning, I bought this pack of 10 of Individual creamers...the whole pack cost about $0.40!

Hope to have time to blog most evenings from now on!