We have finally come to it my friends. The last of my Ireland posts. ☹️
Back in September of last year, after many years of saving, I was finally able to take a “real” vacation, (not just a couple days and not for family reasons). My sister and I had planned years ago to “one day” do this and we purchased a cruise trip around Ireland.
It however did not go according to plan. To begin with the waves were extremely rough with the ship rocking nonstop. But I was willing to put up with that, especially as when we actually were able to get on Ireland all seemed well in Cork.
However, we discovered that the “rough weather” we faced was a lie perpetuated by the Norwegian Cruise Line; it turned out Ireland had been attacked by Hurricane Agnes. The Captain planned to take us up to Belfast to shelter off the coast, but he warned us that we might not be able to get off the ship until we reached Southampton for the final disembarkation
We spent three days stuck on the ship, but we were able to make our stop in the Killybegs’ port. We spent the day climbing Sliabh Liag, visiting Studio Donegal, and hanging out in Killeybegs.
The next day we went to Belfast and spent the day at the Titanic museum.
Our last day in Ireland we had planned to go to Dublin, but as it took us hours to tender to port, we decided to stay in Dún Laoghaire. We walked all over the city, taking a stroll on the Dún Laoghaire Pier.
We managed to finally have some Irish tea in Dun Laoghaire at the historic People’s Park.
But before you knew it, time was over and we were heading back to England to return home. It had rained while we were in Belfast so I was not feeling good that last day, with a headaches from Dun Laoghaire’s sun and very sure of having an ear infection. I stayed the last day mostly in the room, while my sister (who had had terrible seasickness from the hurricane) was feeling better and exploring the ship. Due to my two cats, I am an early riser. My sister, however, sleeps in. She went to lunch much later than I had been and discovered that our cruise ship offered a afternoon tea.
Every day the ship would post in their app (the only thing we could access for free, anything else we needed to pay for wifi) and while it listed out the restaurants it never mentioned offering tea in the Garden Cafè; just breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I also had checked their website before we left and did not see any mention of it. I’m not sure if they did this every day or just on perhaps the last day?
Oh well…
The Garden Café is the buffet that is included with your cruise line price. On the Norwegian Star, our ship, the Garden Café can be accessed from either side of the floor but was shaped strange so you cannot fully circle the cafe without exiting and walking down or up a floor to then enter from the opposite side.
I’m not really a buffet person and did enjoy some food from it, but I also ate a lot from a resturant that was also included in our cruise price.
The Café looked like your standard buffet place. It had these large windows so you could look out, but for most of the trip there was nothing for see due to the fog or rain. It was very difficult to get one of the seats by the window as they were always the first to be taken.
The didn’t after too many choices for tea. Everything was Lipton standard tea; although I did manage to root out some Earl Grey. I was so happy as that is my favorite.
For the tea treats there was current and plain scones with clotted cream, lemon curd, or strawberry jam. They also had some egg salad sandwiches.
When I arrived it was clear the sandwiches had been sitting out and were not in anything to keep their temperature cool, so I decided to skip those and just have the scones.
The scones were very delicious and so was the clotted cream and lemon curd. I found everything enjoyable and had my only wish was that they had either offered tea more on the cruise if this was the only time, or if it was a reoccurring thing they had let us know about it so I could have enjoyed it all those days I was trapped on the boat.
It definitely would have made those days a better experience…but at least it made the last day a better one.
That’s it for our Ireland trip. To read the other posts, click on one of the below links:
I have mentioned in my previous posts, I have been wanting to take a “real” vacation, (not just a couple days and not for family reasons) for a looong time but I haven’t been able to these past few years for various reasons. I was finally able to in September 2023, as my sister and I purchased a cruise trip around Ireland.
It however did not go according to plan. To begin with the waves were extremely rough with the ship rocking nonstop. But I was willing to put up with that, we were on a cruise after all. But when we got on the island all seemed well with us in Cork.
However, we discovered that our “rough weather” we faced was a lie perpetuated by the Norwegian Cruise Line; it turned out Ireland had been attacked by Hurricane Agnes. The Captain planned to take us up to Belfast to shelter off the coast, but he warned us that we might not be able to get off the ship until we reached Southampton for the final disembarkation
We spent three days stuck on the ship, but we were able to make our stop in the Killybegs’ port. We spent the day climbing Sliabh Liag, visiting Studio Donegal, and hanging out in Killeybegs.
The next day we went to Belfast and spent the day at the Titanic museum.
Our last day in Ireland we had planned to go to Dublin, but as it took us hours to tender to port, we decided to stay in Dún Laoghaire. We walked all over the city, taking a stroll on the Dún Laoghaire Pier.
We managed to finally have some Irish tea in Dun Laoghaire at the historic People’s Park.
The other thing we had hoped to achieve, now that we knew the cruise line wouldn’t toss our tea, was to purchase some loose leaf tea. However we couldn’t find a single tea shop, just coffee shops or coffee roaster shops.
Sigh!
Ireland is number two in the world for most tea consumption, but we couldn’t find a tea shop in Killeybegs, Belfast, or Dun Laoghaire. Belfast might have had some, but we had been far too busy with the Titanic Museum we didn’t get to spend a lot of time in the city.
Oh well…
We did ask one of the shopkeepers at the Irish Design Studio and she recommended going to SuperValu in the mall to pick some up or another convenience store. That was something that I found a bit of a culture shock in Ireland, so many malls had grocery stores or thrift stores. We headed over there and were given many choices of tea, but I wanted something that was distinctly Irish or only something I could get in the United Kingdom.
The shopkeeper had suggested either Lyons Tea or Barry’s, Barry’s being her favorite; but as soon as I saw Lyons Tea I decided on it as they mention it in one of my favorite books, The Secret Adversary.
Lyons Tea was started earlier in England, but began their Irish business in 1902 in Dublin. They were also known for their tea shops all over England and Ireland from 1894 to 1981. I was excited to try it out.
According to an article I had read in Teatime Magazine Irish tea is strong; “so strong a cup can stand straight up in the cup”. Most are made with Assam and have a strong taste and are dark in color, often being compared to coffee. It is recommended to be served with sugar and cream/milk.
I have never enjoyed the Irish tea in the states, and was excited for this one. It took a long time but I was able to find a loose leaf version of the original blend. When we were home I tried it and loved it! It is so good and just like how I like my tea.
A few years back I was given a collection of five teas, A World of Teas. As I was about to try them out, I started thinking: which books would best suit these teas? After all, nothing goes together better than a good book and a delicious cup of tea.
Of course I had to pair the tea with the book I always associate with Lyons, The Secret Adversary.
The Secret Adversary (The Adventures of Tommy and Tuppence #1) by Agatha Christie
This book is one of Christie’s mystery/adventure stories/thrillers. It different from her Poirot or Marple stories as there is the mysterious element but with a focus on the adventure side. Tommy and Tuppence are two of my favorite Christie detectives, in fact I wish she had written more stories with them as they are a delight.
Mystery, you say?
The mystery begins with an ill fated sea voyage, (something I can relate to more after my Irish experience and another reason why this tea and book go together); the sinking of the Lusitania in May 1915. When people start moving to the lifeboats, a man approaches Jane Finn, an ordinary American girl who was traveling to become a nurse and assist in WWI. The man asks her to carry some secret papers as she is much more likely to get on a lifeboat than him, and as the USA was a neutral country at the time. Being a patriot for the cause, she agrees and takes the packet; changing her life forever.
Five years pass and we are introduced to our main characters, old friends Lt. Thomas “Tommy” Beresford and Miss Prudence “Tuppence” Cowley. The two haven’t seen each other in three due to WWI. Both are down in the dumps as they have no work, have not been successful in finding any, and are growing near to their last coin. They decide to treat themselves to tea at Lyons, where they share their WWI adventures and Tommy mentions how he overheard two men mention a name “Jane Finn” the other day, he remembers the name as he finds it very odd.
Tuppence decides they need to find a way to make money as the two have no hope of inheriting it or marrying into it.
She comes up with the idea that the two could start their own business- The Young Adventures, Ltd.-and that they should run an advertisement.
Two young adventurers for hire.
Willing to do anything, go anywhere.
Pay must be good.
No reasonable offer refused.
They part ways, but then Tuppence is approached by a man with a job offer. They meet the next day and he offers £100 for her (he doesn’t want Tommy) to travel to Paris, speak in an American accent, and pretend to be Edward Whittington’s ward. Tuppence is cautious about it and decides to give a fake name (as she doesn’t want to cause a scandal for her parents), deciding on “Jane Finn”. As soon as she utters them name, everything changes. Mr. Whittington is angry, accuses her of trying to play him, and questions who could have squealed-Rita? Tuppence “blackmails” £50 out of him, hears him talk to a “Mr. Brown” and agrees to meet him the next day for further payment. However, when she returns with Tommy, Mr. Whittington has disappeared.
Tuppence is not about to lose this big fish and the opportunity and has Tommy to put in a new advertisement:
WANTED:
Any information respecting Jane Finn
Apply Young Adventurers, Ltd.
They end up receiving two replies. The first is Mr. Carter who Tommy recognizes as a member of the OSS, who reveals to them how they had an operative on the Lusitania with the draft of a secret agreement, by various countries. When the boat was sinking the operative passed the documents to a young girl-Jane Finn-and he did not survive, but no one knows what happened to the girl or the documents. The girl was listed as a survivor, but she has completely disappeared. They need the documents as if they were to go public today in 1920, it would be disastrous. Agreements made in war do not always do well in times of peace and lately there have been unrest, lead by the elusive and villainous mastermind, “Mr. Brown”.
Tuppence is able to put the pieces together and concludes that Mr. Whittington wanted her to pretend to be Jane Finn, that is until it seemed she knew all about their plan. The call from “Mr. Brown” was probably one of warning and that is why the group vanished.
Mr. Carter hires them and the two start investigating. They begin by meeting the second person who answered their advertisement: Julius P. Hersheimmer. Julius is Jane’s cousin and a millionaire, who has been searching for her. He brought a picture to give to Scotland Yard but it turns out “Mr. Brown” tricked him out of it.
The three team up together as this case takes ups and downs and twists and turns. Kidnapping, imprisonments, mistaken identities, red herrings, Bolshevisks, amnesia, spy games, etc.
This is one of my favorite books and one I often reread. I love the story, the characters, the pacing, the reveal, etc.
I think it goes perfect with the tea as the characters are strong and I enjoy both of them the more I have them.
Now why for Jane Austen fans?
I recommend it for Jane Austen fans as first of all Tuppence reminds me a lot of Emma Woodhouse. She’s a strong character who believes she knows best, and while most of the time her intuition is correct she also has a hard time listening to other people. Besides being a strong capable person; she also loves adventure and watching/reading adventure stories. This reminds me of Catherine Morland, especially how she enjoys how quickly things are moving, along with not taking the consequences as seriously; believing it is all like a book and will work out.
Tommy has his own imaginative tendencies, like Henry Tilney, but tends to spend most of his life as calm collected and trying to keep Tuppence from going overboard; very similar to Mr. Knightley. Like Knightley, Tommy has to rein in some of Tuppence’s more extreme ideas.
The characters completely balance each other out; just like Catherine Morland and Henry Tilney and Emma Woodhouse and Mr. Knightley. The started off as friends so they have a more joking relationship similar to Knightly and Emma; or much like how Tilney and Catherine started. Also like Knightley and Emma it’s obvious to many that the two have feelings for each other; but it takes time for them to realize it.
Julius is a genial guy but had been raised rich, believing he can just use money to take care of anything. He doesn’t always think, but reacts; his blunt and charge ahead attitude reminds me of Frank Churchill and Mr. Willoughby; this young men who have always lived wealthy lives with little responsibilities. Although Julius is nicer than them, like Frank he too doesn’t see the harm in a mild flirtation.
Like the Austen novels, our characters fall victim to trusting someone they shouldn’t because they appear to be someone who is good and strong, but secretly rotten, and luckily they discover the truth before something too terrible happens.
As I have mentioned in my previous posts, I have been wanting to take a “real” vacation, (not just a couple days and not for family reasons) for a looong time but I haven’t been able to these past few years for various reasons. I was finally able to in September 2023, as my sister and I had purchased a cruise trip around Ireland.
It however did not go according to plan. To begin with the waves were extremely rough with the ship rocking nonstop. That we could have dealt with, however the “rough weather” turned out to be a lie perpetuated by the Norwegian Cruise line, as Ireland had been attacked by Hurricane Agnes. The Captain planned to take us up to Belfast to shelter off the coast, but he warned us that we might not be able to get off the ship until we reached Southampton for the final disembarkation
As soon as we got off the ship we saw a rainbow, and felt like maybe our luck was finally turning around.
Afterwards we had tea at the Tí Linn Café, hiked the Sliabh League, and enjoyed the town of Killeybegs.
At the Sliabh League
The following day was our stop in Belfast, one of the places I really, really wanted to visit. Belfast was one of the must sees on my list We ended up spending the entire day at the Titanic museum.
Our last and final day had us in Dún Laoghaire, right outside Dublin. The original plan was for us to go to Dún Laoghaire and then take the train into Dublin to look at several things there. I know I had planned to stop at several filming locations for Northanger Abbey (2007).
But plans had to change as it took hours for us to get on a tender to the mainland. And I’m not exaggerating, we arrived at 8 but we couldn’t get off the ship until after 11. I have to say for the first time I felt like a lower class passenger.
When we finally got onto mainland we decided to just stay in Dún Laoghaire. Since we didn’t really plan to stay and had no internet on the ship to plan we ended up walking around trying to see what Dún Laoghaire had.
We started at the Wharf and headed down to the National Maritime Museum, although my sister had had enough of Museums so we only visited the gift shop. Next to it is the Royal Marine Hotel that offers a High Tea. We stopped to see if we could participate but they only take reservations, which have to be put in at least a day before. We tried to explain why we couldn’t have made reservations, but no dice.
From The Wolf Man (1941)
From there we visited the dlr Lexlcon library, you know me I always find a library wherever I go.
Afterwards, we went to the Irish Design Gallery and viewed items for purchase, my sister finished up buying gifts. The thing we spent most of our time, the thing to do there, is walking the Dún Laoghaire Pier.
This photo is from the end of the pier. You can’t even fit the beginning in the photo.
The Dún Laoghaire pier was began in 1817, with the construction of the West pier being started in 1820 to add extra support. The pier is built like two large arms reaching out and welcoming ships. In 1842, the Dún Laoghaire pier was completed and considered to be the largest man made pier in the world. During the Victorian Era Dún Laoghaire exploded as a seaside beach resort and with many promenading up and down the pier.
This photo is from the halfway point.
They recommend having a cup of cocoa as you walk the pier, but it was too hot. All weather reports had been wrong-it was windy but hot, hot, hot.
We walked the East pier which is 2.6 kilometers, or 1.616 miles (round trip). While being on the pier, it made me think of the miniseries The Forsyte Saga when Soames travels to invest in seaside town and walks the pier with his future bride. But even more so it made me think of Persuasion.
Persuasion is a story that spans over several years. When Anne Elliot and Fredrick Wentworth are young they become engaged, and Anne is persuaded to turn him down as he could die, she could be left with nothing, they are young, he is leaving for the Navy, her family won’t approve, etc. He thinks it is solely because she from a rich distinguished family, and he is not. He becomes angry, takes a lot of chances in the war and increases his wealth and stature. He returns to find Anne unmarried and her family has had a reversal of fortune, letting their mansion out to Fredrick’s sister and brother-in-law. Anne has never gotten over Fredrick and is shocked to see him enter her life again. Intrigue happens as some women are striving for Frederick’s heart, a woman has a ploy to snag Anne’s father Sir Walter Elliot, and an estranged relative reappears planning to go after his inheritance and cousin. Will the two get their happy ending together? Or has too much time passed?
In Persuasion, Captain Wentworth goes to visit some friends in Lyme Regis and takes Anne Elliot, Charles Musgrove, Mary Musgrove (Anne’s sister), Louisa Musgrove and Henrietta Musgrove (Charles’ sisters). While there they go walking on the Cobb sea wall and Louisa jumps from the sea wall (trying to bring back their flirty game they played in the countryside), having Captain Wentworth catch her. Louisa wants to continue but Captain Wentworth doesn’t as he is worried she might injure herself. However, no one can persuade Louisa as she is determined! She jumps again and gets seriously injured.
“There was too much wind to make the high part of the new Cobb pleasant for the ladies, and they agreed to get down the steps to the lower, and all were contented to pass quietly and carefully down the steep flight, excepting Louisa; she must be jumped down them by Captain Wentworth. In all their walks, he had had to jump her from the stiles; the sensation was delightful to her. The hardness of the pavement for her feet, made him less willing upon the present occasion; he did it, however. She was safely down, and instantly, to show her enjoyment, ran up the steps to be jumped down again. He advised her against it, thought the jar too great; but no, he reasoned and talked in vain, she smiled and said, “I am determined I will:” he put out his hands; she was too precipitate by half a second, she fell on the pavement on the Lower Cobb, and was taken up lifeless! There was no wound, no blood, no visible bruise; but her eyes were closed, she breathed not, her face was like death. The horror of the moment to all who stood around!
Persuasion
In this photo you can kind of see the wall with the high area on the wall and the low one for walking right next to the water. Like Persuasion, it was windy and we walked on the lower level. There was a staircase you used to go up and down the levels that also reminded me of the one that Louisa leaps from in the 1971 film.
Just like in Persuasion (1971), it was rather difficult to get down the stairs, us having to walk sideways. I wish they had put a railing on both sides instead of just the walled side.
And like Persuasion, there were a lot of kids jumping from the top of the sea wall and leaping to the ground just like Louisa. Thankfully I did not witness anyone getting injured, but both my sister and I commented on it and how accurate Persuasion was. I’m sure someone has tried the same thing with their crush/beau.
The pier was very pretty and an excellent walk. Unlike the US they only had vendors at the very beginning of the pier and at the end where the lighthouses are, so there is little trash, bird excrement, or anything like that. However, be sure to bring your own water as there is no place to purchase one if halfway through you grow hot and tired.
But it was a beautiful walk and walking it does feel a little like being out of a regency or Victorian novel/period drama.
I hope you all had a wonderful day. I made Irish Soda Bread last night and enjoyed it this morning with a pot of Lyons tea I bought in Ireland.
Party time!
I have mentioned in my previous posts, I have been wanting to take a “real” vacation, (not just a couple days and not for family reasons) for a looong time but I haven’t been able to these past few years for various reasons. I was finally able to in September 2023, as my sister and I had purchased a cruise trip around Ireland.
It however did not go according to plan. To begin with the waves were extremely rough with the ship rocking nonstop. But I was willing to put up with that, we were on a cruise after all.
However, we discovered that the “rough weather” was a lie perpetuated by the Norwegian Cruise line, it turned out Ireland had been attacked by Hurricane Agnes. The Captain planned to take us up to Belfast to shelter off the coast, but he warned us that we might not be able to get off the ship until we reached Southampton for the final disembarkation
We were up bright and early, ready to get off the ship ASAP! As soon as we got off the ship we saw a rainbow, and felt like maybe our luck was finally turning around.
The following day was our stop in Belfast, one of the places I really, really wanted to visit. Belfast was one of the must sees on my list and the top thing of what I wanted to do while I was in Ireland was to visit the Titanic museum as I have always been fascinated by the Titanic.
We had originally planned to have high tea at the museum, but unfortunately they only do it on certain days, which sadly turned out to not be the day we were there. We hoped to try and have High Tea after our day at the museum or possibly have tea together at the cafe in the museum itself. That was our plan, but plans change.
My life motto right there…
The Titanic museum is amazing! Everything was carefully constructed to reference many things about the Titanic and the tragedy that occurred. We started off the tour with a visit to the Harland and Wolff offices; (known to us as we watched Titanic: Blood and Steel); once deserted but has now been renovated into a hotel. Upstairs they had remade the office to look just like the it did back in the day.
In the offices every decision was made and discussed at length; except the number of life boats. Ironically, that was a something they had decided on fairly quickly.
Due to rain we were unable to go out into the former shipyard, but had to have that portion of the tour inside.
After our “outside” tour we headed over to the SS Normadic, the ship used to taxi the first and second class passengers to the Titanic from the port in Cherbourg.
The boat had been used in WWII, turned into a resturant in France (located by the Effiel Tower), and was finally brought home in time for the Centennial celebration of the Titanic. Harland and Wolff and Belfast had been famous for shipbuilding, the Titanic’s failure besmirching both reputations. After the film Titanic came out in the ‘90s, a resurgence of interest in the Titanic came about along with a rise in people traveling to Belfast to see the birthplace of the Titanic. This inspired Belfast to reinvent themselves to be more tourist friendly, to no longer pretend the Titanic never happened, create a museum, and fight for the Normadic to be brought home. It was really interesting being inside and seeing the difference between first and second class passenger waiting areas. Since we couldn’t have real tea at the Titanic, we pretended to with a cute tea display.
It was an amazing experience and worth every penny, I highly recommend it! After the Normadic we went back to the museum and took our tour of the actual building.
It is incredible the way every single piece of it was carefully constructed to have meaning and represent a part of the tragedy. It started with the the history of Belfast prior to the Titanic and had exhibits on everything that went into building the ship. It was incredibly thought provoking, emotional, and worth the time and price. It was simply amazing and I absolutely loved it.
We also discovered that not only did we have the same amount of passengers as the Titanic did, but that our cruise went everywhere the Titanic went except Cherbourg, France. My sister said that should be our next sisters trip to complete the full Titanic trip.
One of my favorite exhibits was seeing the Titanic memorabilia that was created, but unfortunately none were for sale in the gift shop. I really wanted a Teatanic but have been unable to find one yet, but I’ll keep searching until I can have my own.
Instead I had to console myself with a Titanic teabag holder.
After the tour we planned to eat in the cafe, but unfortunately we had taken too long (we spent like 5 hours touring), and the cafe closed. Our fake tea was the only tea we had that day.
It was fantastic and I would love to go back one day and spend more time in Belfast. What little I saw of the city was beautiful and looked to be gun.
I have mentioned in my previous posts, I have been wanting to take a “real” vacation, (not just a couple days and not for family reasons) for a looong time but I haven’t been able to these past few years for various reasons. I was finally able to in September 2023, as my sister and I purchased a cruise trip around Ireland.
It however did not go according to plan. To begin with the waves were extremely rough with the ship rocking nonstop. But I was willing to put up with that, we were on a cruise after all.
However, we discovered that the “rough weather” was a lie perpetuated by the Norwegian Cruise line, it turned out Ireland had been attacked by Hurricane Agnes. The Captain planned to take us up to Belfast to shelter off the coast, but he warned us that we might not be able to get off the ship until we reached Southampton for the final disembarkation
We were up bright and early, ready to get off the ship ASAP! As soon as we got off the ship we saw a rainbow, and felt like maybe our luck was finally turning around.
After spending about 45 minutes in town we headed back to the ship to board our bus for our Sliabh Liag (pronounced Sleeve League) tour. The roads are small and tight and we had to switch to smaller buses before we headed up to the cliffside. Before going to the cliffs part of our package included stopping at the Tí Linn Cafe & Craft Shop.
After our hike, we headed back down the cliffside and stopped at Studio Donegal. It is a super cute craft shop that careies on started in the 1960s to preserve the Donegal cultural tradition of hand weaving. All items are homemade, handwoven, and use 100% Irish wool. We stopped by and said hello to some seamstresses and saw a little bit of a presentation by a weaver. I bought I few things but afterwards had wished I bought more as everything in there was so cute and so nice. A definite must visit!
After we returned to Killeybegs we walked around the city following a historic walking tour, visiting the church, my sister stopped to try a Guinness in a local pub, spotted a cat that looked just like Gareth in Time Cat, and we did a lot of shopping (just in case we weren’t able to stop anywhere else). After spending the whole day in Killeybegs we decided to head back and try and eat at the Asian Resturant that did not take reservations. As we headed back to the ship I spotted the tea cart On our walk back we stopped at a tea cart An Capall Mara (The Seahorse).
An Capall Mara is a converted coffee horsebox, and has been serving coffee, tea, and baked goods since May 2020.
All their products are locally sourced and they are located in Killeybegs Bay.
Besides baked goods and drinks, they also serve cute postcards designed by the owner’s 14-year old son.
I was craving a matcha latte as the ship only had bagged tea or you could pay $5 for a chai latte. I stopped and ordered one on our walk back and it was delicious, perfectly blended and definitely high grade matcha.
Delicious tea, friendly staff, a great place to get a nice cup of tea as you stroll the bay.
janeaustenrunsmylife 