Cionn tSaile ... ah, the Irish do have a way with words ...

Cionn tSaile ... Gaelic for Kinsale, where we four have fallen in love with the views ... from every window of the house that we rented and from every window in the car as John drove up and down lanes that were little more than ruts--single track roads. Jean has become the official photographer for the trip ... and thus I'll have pictures for a lifetime once we're home. Her diligent work leaves me with time to soak up the wild beauty that is Ireland on this southern coastal city, where the Vikings invaded and then stayed and where the Jacobites tried to wrench control of Ireland from the English and failed ... the first of many "risings." 

Speaking of freedom from the Brits ... next year will be a banner year for Ireland and, if you can bear the crowds ... the same for the tourists. It was in 1916 that the Easter Rising occurred ... the proclamation that Ireland was to be free from England. Although I need to know more about Ireland's history, I do know that it was bloody one ... over 300 Irish were killed and nearly 20 of the leaders were executed after the cease fire. The execution will be part of the events that will be re-enacted in Dublin. Politics are the lifeblood of any Irishman (or woman), it would appear. All commendable but again, I don't know enough to comment any further ... but plan on doing a lot of reading once home! 

Returning to a more serene topic: the views of Kinsale. Our "walkabout" (in the car!) this morning was eye-opening. We have seen the green of Ireland and understand now why it is so famous. Sheep in the meadows ... cattle in the fields ... and views of the Atlantic Ocean from the headlands of Kinsale that made me want to weep for their beauty! At one point, Jean had pushed our driver once too often about stopping (looking first to see that there no cars around ... until we were on a single-track road, of course!) ... so she said, "For Pete's sake, STOP. This is the Ireland we came to see." To which Rob said: "Is there a Guinness around somewhere?" (Always the witty one our Robert. And a worthy note: as Tammy cautioned us ... here in Kinsale, it is the local craft beers that rule the day ... not Guinness!) 

We also visited Fort Charles, named for King Charles I. A star-shaped fort, it might have been a mere footnote in our travelogue ... but for the gracious woman who made each of us a cup of tea or hot chocolate. She had lived in NYC and missed it ... so she and Rob struck up a conversation. They discussed the prices for real estate ... high. Then she offered that you could have purchased a house "for half of nothing" 20 to 30 years ago. The Irish and their turn of phrase ... it's amazing and wonderful. As a parting gift, she gave us a jar of the homemade jam we'd had with our scones ... and wouldn't take a farthing ...er Euro ... for it. 

In the afternoon, Jean and I begged for a little shopping time. And a little was all that we received. So tomorrow we plan on driving to a local country fair ... about 20 minutes from Kinsale. I have great expectations of perfect gifts for those friends who are helping us out ... including checking our house for water, given the monsoons that Lincoln continues to experience. 

In fact, as our day wound down ... as we sat on the sofas, sipping wine and discussing those weather-related issues, a text message popped up from our neighbor Gloria, offering to check on our house. We jumped at her gracious offer ... and when she returned, she'd met our dear friend Linda, who was also checking out the house. "Dry as a bone," Gloria reported. And thus, within 5 minutes, we were updated on the state of the pond (high, very high) and the lower level of our house (dry, very dry) ... and were grateful for friends like Linda and Gloria and the ability to "talk" in real time via texting!