...again, from the travel journal...


Day Eight. Tuesday.

Got an early start from the hostel since we had to move the car by 8:30, but that was a good thing, since we had a good way to go.



We got out of Cork and made it to Blarney, where we had breakfast in a small hotel; potato cakes for Jared and a full Irish breakfast for me, (bacan and rashers, (v-good, as was every sausage I had in Ireland), mushrooms, potato cake, broiled tomato, fried egg, tea and toast. We passed up the Blarney Stone. Not enough time and tons of tourists there already. I called Mary Burns of Ardrahan Farm, got one of the workers on the line, who asked that we call a bit later to talk to Mary. We drove to Mallow and called from there and got some directions that were a bit jumbled; had to stop two times for further clarification. There are few road signs in the city, the country even less, but we finally found the place thanks to a couple of charming older woman at two roadside shops who gave us directions. One old dear put on her cap and scarf and came outside to point us in the right direction. �Is that cheese good?� she asked. I told her it was and that I sold it in the U.S. She was very impressed that we had come so far to see where it was made, after all it was just a local cheese�


...but what a cheese! Ardrahan!



Mary Burns was a hoot, funny and gracious and going a mile a minute. We toured the production areas with the most intense aromas so far. Mary has been making cheese for about 30 years. As with the others that we visited, the cheese making started as a way to make a living in the country. Mary's herd of Frisians goes back to the 20's. The house and grounds are quite grand, old stone barns and a wonderful view of the valleys from in front of the house. We had a coffee and then headed into the extremely scenic town of Kanturk for lunch in a small pub.




Ardrahan Cheese Fritters with Gooseberry Compote were offered on the starters menu (surprise!), and of course, they were ordered for us! They were absolutely wonderful, the warm cheese tasting as good as any washed rind cheese I�ve ever tasted! Mary told us about how people told her and her late husband to give up on a washed rind cheese and just make good cheddar. The washed rind cheese would never sell in Ireland. They stuck to it, and eventually started to sell their cheese in France, where it was well received, although they had to buy a refrigerated truck and deliver it across the channel themselves. Jared and Mary had Plaice and I had a stuffed beef dish. Talk over coffee and the meal was mostly about how we sell cheese in the states and what we could do to sell more Ardrahan, with enough other pleasant subjects to make for a great and memorable meal. We had to get on to the next stop, so we kissed Mary goodbye and she handed us each a bottle of Paddy�s Irish whiskey! (A product of County Cork, of course!)


The Rock of Cashel, another amazing thing I'll have to go back to see!





We headed for Cashel, which was about a ninety minute drive and found Jane and Louis Grupp�s farm without too much trouble. It was yet another grand old Irish farm house set in an incredibly beautiful countryside. It was great to see Louis again; I had met him at the American Cheese Society Convention last summer in SF where he invited me to come and visit. At the time, neither one of us realized it would be this soon!




Louis had grown up on the farm and began as a child by making butter to take into town to sell. When he decided to settle back on the farm about 30 years ago, his wife started making cheese and the Cashel Blue was born. The production here is the largest of the four farms that we visited, and there was a great deal more equipment to make the various steps easier, but it's still a hand made cheese, nothing is automated.



After the tour, we went to the kitchen to meet Jane Grupp, who Louis credits with creating Cashel Blue, and daughter Sarah (who had given us part of the tour) and her husband Sergio. We tasted Cashel at various stages of aging so we could see how that went. Then we had tea and Irish Tea Brake or tea bread; bread made with tea and mixed dried fruits. Once again the conversation around the kitchen table with the Aga nearby was brilliant and funny. One question came up again: was there a future for the niche farmstead cheeses that are being made on these beautiful farms in Ireland, or were they a novelty that people would tire of and move on? I said that I thought they would endure, as people in the states are growing more aware of the Irish cheeses, and that the quality of the cheese that they produce and the care that they put into them must be recognized.

At each of these stops, I told the cheese makers that I would spread the word, that in selling cheese, I liked to have a story and that these visits had given me some potent sales material. Louis gave us an entire wheel of Cashel Blue to take to the cottage our friends are renovating in Abbeyleix, our next destination! Our friends will be amazed at the bounty!




And as the sun set, (once again, in the most extravagant manner! I haven't processed any of these photos, except to make them the right size for the pages...), we left the Grupps and headed to the cottage near Killarney, eventually finding our way down the narrow unmarked country roads tired as we were after a long journey. Belinda's sister, Deirdre was there to welcome us, the charming 200-year-old cottage glowing with light, candles in the windows, everything so charming, a chicken in the oven with some roasted potatoes, which we ate with Cashel Blue and some Durrus, a lovely little meal by the hearth in a room where people had lived for two centuries. Magic! Then to bed after a long day.//


Next, St. Patrick's Day in the country with our friends and some of the afore-mentioned sheep.



durlx

...from the travel journal...


Day Seven. Monday.

We had breakfast and showered and got out of Rolf's in good time, giving a woman that we met at breakfast a ride into Skibereen. From there we drove to Schull and finally found Gubbeen Farm, although the roads to the old farmhouse were tiny and twisty and the weather was misty.

The Aga cooker in the kitchen of the old farmhouse, site of 5 generations of family meals.



We had tea and talked with Giana Furguson for a while, (she's an amazing woman with an incredible sense of what good food is and what it means!) and then took a tour of the cheese making area...





Jarred and Giana Furguson



...then met husband Tom, for a tour of the barns and a look at all the animals; the cows that provide the milk for the cheese and the pigs who get to eat the whey from the cheese making. Then a walk down the hill to where son, Fingal, a very charming young man, makes Irish bacon and smoked sausages from the pigs.



After that we all met in the big farm house kitchen for a noon time meal at the big wooden table, a wonderful warm place with it's Aga cooker. We had a potato soup, fresh bread, Gubbeen cheese, (of course), sun dried tomatoes and some of Fingal's ham, all totally fabulous. Conversation at the table ranged back and forth between food and politics, lively and intelligent and fun. For afters we had a walnut cream tart made with cream from a neighboring dairy. These people are all very much into the Slow Food movement, and there was a lot of talk about it and the people in Ireland and how they are fighting back against the huge food groups and the paranoid ?health? inspectors and working to produce their own artisan products. Giana told us how the rind of their cheese had been analyzed by one of the local scientists, and how they had found four totally new micro floras. She said it was like discovering a new star. One of them is named after the Gubbeen Farm. As I sat there, I realized that I was in the presence of people who love where they live and what they are doing; people who truly understand what artisan food means to the world around them. It was an honor to have lunch with them.




We then headed up toward Durrus, and up into the mountains through a rather lunar looking landscape to Jeffa Gill's operation, Durrus Farmhouse. (BTW, just take a good look at that pic; the roads we traveled on to visit these farm houses, although incredibly beautiful, were tiny! And very rarely marked in any way! It's a miracle that we found these places really, and I must say here that Jarred's driving was superb! He has my undying gratitude for doing all the driving!!)



She gave us a tour and we talked about raw milk cheeses, since she is one of the few people who still make one in Ireland, (and the only raw milk cheese maker that we visited on this trip), and the various things that must be attended to when making a raw milk cheese. Every time the cheese is touched, a notation is made on a log sheet in order to track what happens as each individual batch is made. The cheese has to be handled with great care to ensure that no nasty micro organisms get in. Over tea in the kitchen, the subject of what would sell better in the states came up, and Jeffa wondered if a pasteurized version of her cheese would sell. I recommended that she have another name for it if she decided to do it, so as not to confuse people, as Durrus is quite well known as a raw milk cheese, and a very good one. Jeffa gave us a cheese to take with, a young Durrus. It was a beautiful thing, this cheese, younger than we could get it in the states. And totally absolutely divine!



We headed to Cork and made good time, but proceeded immediately to get lost in the city, and to repeatedly get bad directions, since we were unable to figure out where we were, as there were few street signs in evidence. We finally did find a hostel, not the one we were looking for and a bit shabby, but it was getting late, so we settled, it was good enough. Went out for a quick bite, and an early night. We had to be on the road by 8:30 AM. as that?s when the street parking changed, but that was a good thing, as we had a way to go to get to Ardrahan Farm!//


There are quite a lot of pics of the various cheese making procedures and quite a bit of info that I collected during our visits. I'm keeping the technical stuff down here a bit; all of it will be in the report I'm doing for my fellow cheese mongers and a lot of it in the article that I'm writing for the national WFM newsletter, but it might seem a bit much for those of you who are not driven totally delerious by cheese, hehe!


durlx

...more from the travel journal...
Day Six. Sunday.

We got up, showered, had breakfast, packed and said our goodbyes to the warden, (which is the official title for the person who runs a hostel.) She was a woman from New Zealand, fabulous and a lot of fun to talk to. The stay at The Rainbow Hostel was most enjoyable. It's a an old farm house with lots of funky charm; sheep in the fields around, cats and chickens in the yard. It was my first hostel experience and I think the best so far.



We went into town, mailed post cards and did some shopping; found a few good reasonably priced things at a shop. It was off-season so some things were on sale.



We passed by the pub where Jarred had been the two nights before to hear traditional Irish music sessions, which he reported to be excellent, although a bit frustrating since he wasn't able to bring his instrument, ( it just doesn't fit in the overhead rack on the plane!) . Traditional music in the pubs is played by those who show up and people just join in when they are ready. I know it sounds a bit impromtu, but the tradition is incredibly rich and so is the music.



In town, I took this pic of a poster for the Irish Examiner, a newspaper. I think I mentioned earlier that English is the second langauge in these parts.



Then we drove towards Kilarney.





Near the southern base of the Dingle peninsula is the Inch, a spit of land with a huge beach that sticks out into the bay. It's a tidal beach and the waves roll in for hundreds of meters, and there were lots of waves since the wind was blowing at forty or fifty miles an hour. We could barely stand up. It is though, one of the most visually striking shore vistas I've ever seen.


After Inch we got onto the mainland again at passed through Kilarney were we stopped for a quick fish and chips take-away. Very touristy, Kilarney. Then we drove through Kilarney national park, which was stunning in every respect. We stopped here and there to take pics; one notable spot was The Ladies View...

Jarred getting ready for The Ladies View, hehe.






... said to have delighted Queen Victoria?s Ladies In Waiting when they visited. There were spectacular views of the mountains, valley and several lakes, fabulous!

We continued on to Bantry, the narrow roads twisting and turning the whole way. We stopped in Bantry for a few supplies and then headed to Skibbereen, which was not all that far away. It took us longer than we expected, though, since someone had turned the sign around and we ended up going in a circle for a bit. This wouldn't have been so bad, but there were a fairly large group of men playing a game of "road bowling", a rather obscure sport native to the country side and rather rare to run across. We defied the odds and unfortunately interrupted their game...twice! Finally got to Skibbereen and then out to Baltimore a small fishing town on another little spit of land, where we checked in at Ralf's Holiday Hostel, a rather modern place with nice rooms and a restaurant were we had dinner. I had seafood pasta, (we were in a fishing town after all) with salmon, mussels and some whitefish, v-good and garlicky. Jared had pasta with salmon and a creamy dill sauce. Jared had an apple almond tart for dessert and I had a perfect Cr?me Caramel, (it?s rare to find a perfect one you know). Once again, a lovely meal.

We tucked in for the night, beds comfortable, a good nights sleep.

Tomorrow, we go to Gubbeen in the morning and Durrus in the afternoon. Yea!!! Cheese!//

Day Five. Saturday.



From the journal.


The place we are staying is called the Rainbow Hostel and it's just outside of the town of Dingle, amidst the sheep fields, chickens pecking around, cats in the yard, very pleasant.

We made breakfast in the kitchen, had showers and went into town for a look around. Will return to the town tomorrow for a few giftie things.

The Town of Dingle.







Then, we took the Slea Head road along the coast; totally breath taking views! We stopped at the Beehive huts, little ancient dwellings on a steep hill. The coastline got more and more incredible with each turn.




We had lunch at a little pub in Ballyferriter, a little town in a beautiful setting.





Jared had a quiche and I had a Steak and Kidney pie that was v-good. The food was really good, something that we found everywhere we went in Ireland; they just don�t do bad food. We are in an area where the Irish language is spoken and most of the signs are in Gaelic only. Sometimes it's a bit confusing but mostly not. (In the grocery store in the town of Dingle, the announcements made over the store system are done in Gaelic, and then in English, but apparently only if someone in the store might need a translation).

We saw a few more ruins; a thousand year old stone building, the Gallarus Oratory.





While we were there it started to rain, so we ducked into this ancient structure, which although it was only made out of individually carved stones carefully stacked up, was totally dry, and had been for over 900 years. Just after we ducked in, two guys in their early twenties came in behind us. They were speaking Gaelic, the Irish language and it was kind of a magic moment. These two rather attractive young men speaking the old speech in a building that some of their antecedents might have built.



After that we visited a Norman church from the twelfth century, roof gone, walls weathered, cemetery with very old graves and some much more recent; families here go way back.




The view from the churchyard as the sun was getting to set was amazing.







Then we headed back to Dingle and to the hostel.

We bought some local fresh haddock and a bottled Indian sauce to cook it in, which turned out quite well over some basmati rice. I also bought a white and a black pudding, which I tried, but didn't find all that great. (Jarred was horrified by the black pudding, which is a blood sausage, which also tends to horrify any health inspector in the U.S.! I told Jarred that I had to try it, I remember my grandfather eating it when I was very young, (my uncle, who was a butcher had made some, but we weren't to mention it to anybody, as it was not legal.) I had to try some, but as I said, it was dissappointing. I found out later that the commercial varieties are not good and that I had to get a hand made local product, which I will do next trip.)

We ate and chatted with the other people staying at the hostel in the big farm house kitchen, then did the washing up, read the paper. Jared went back into town for some more music at a pub called O�Flaherties, (he reported that the sessions there were quite good. Looking back, I wish I had gone, but then again, I guess I'll do that next time!) I read a bit and went to bed.

It was a stunning day! It's really hard to pick the best pics to show; there's was so much beauty. I'll do a gallery after a bit.


Next, sheep and cheese and more incredibly beautiful countryside...



durlx

It's a beautiful country, Ireland.

What a fantastic trip! I've just got back and I can't wait to return...

While I was there, I kept a running journal on the PDA and I'll use it here. I did go over what I wrote each day and polished it up a bit. I'll be posting it in installments and adding pics from the over 400 that I took. So here it goes...




Day One. Monday/Tuesday.

After spending around five hours alternately dawdling and packing, last night, and another hour packing this morning, I finally finished and dashed next door to tell Robert that I was ready to go to the aiprort. We stopped on the way at Walgreen's so I could purchase a battery operated beard trimmer. I had carefully let my rechargable one run all the way down last night before putting it in the recharging stand, so it would have a full charge that would hopefully last me the entire trip. Unfortunately, I had neglected to push the switch to off, the recharging position, and the unit was dead this morning. The battery operated one seems sturdy enough and was only 10 bucks plus batteries; hopefully it will do the trick.

The flight to Boston (AA/S80) was a direct flight; so much less travel time than before! Arrived in BOS a few minutes early and picked up my luggage almost immediately, something close to a miracle!I found the correct shuttle and made it over to the International terrminal in about 30 minutes, where I met Jared! Yea, finally! We got in line to check in at Aerlingus, finished that business and got through customs with no trouble. Had a bite to eat and then went to the gate. The plane was late getting in, so we boarded late, and as I sit here now, we just found out that they are beginning to de-ice the plane, which wasn't supposed to happen for 45 minutes or so. Don't know if we'll make our connection in Shannon to Dublin, but I'm sure they'll get us there. //

We'll be landing in Shannon in about twenty minutes, it's now 7:15 AM local time. I suppose that I had about an hour of sleep total; Jared and I are sitting in center seats. While there's plenty of legroom on this plane (A330-300 w/ 2-4-2 seating) the seats are way too small for me, not enough leg support, so I never really got comfortable enough to sleep for long. Still, I can't complain. And I feel fine for now... We'll see what happens later, haha!//

We got to Shannon in time to make connections, customs no problem; flight to Dublin was about 30 minutes. Took quite a while to get the luggage. We went to pick up the rental car, and found out that the quote did not include any kind of insurance at all and that insurance would more than double the cost of the car! Oh well, its only money, yuk, yuk. After going to the lot a getting the car, it was time for Jared to get behind the wheel! He did an admirable job of getting us to Belinda's.

We had tea and then a nap, and then to dinner at Uli and Joan's house and then to bed.






Day Two. Wednesday.

I had a reasonably good nights sleep, I woke up twice, guessed what time it was, and I was correct both times, which means that I have adjusted to the local time quite well. Jared didn't sleep as well, he said, but he was ready to go. We had breakfast and went out to catch the bus downtown.


We wandered about stopping in here and there in the shops. We went through an exhibit called Dublinia that showed the history of Dublin and went to Christchurch cathedral, which was interesting enough, then had a cup of soup and some coffee. We met Belinda at 4 PM in front of Trinity College and did some more exploring, with Belinda pointing out places that we would want to see the next day, and then we had dinner at an Asian place called Mao's. Modern decor with Warhol prints of Mao and Marilyn on the walls, very nice, and very good food. I had a Five Spice Chicken with crispy noodles, nicely balanced, very good. Belinda had fried rice with shrimp and chicken and chilies and Jared had a chicken dish, all very good. We had desserts that were O.K. Then some coffees and then walked a bit, then headed back to Belinda's on the bus. We checked e-mail and sat talking until about eleven, then went to bed. I stayed up reading for an hour; I had been fading a bit around dinnertime, but perversely was not tired at midnight. Did finally get to sleep.



Day Three. Thursday.

Woke up about 9 AM, with the wind whistling in the chimneys. Went downstairs and stepped outside and it was really cold and windy. It was definitely a day for more indoor pursuits. We showered and had breakfast, then spend a bit of time planning the next few days on the road, including making calls to the four cheese makers Got Tuesday set up, Louis Grupp in the morning and Mary Burns of Ardrahan Farms in Kanturk in the afternoon. I'll get through to the other two tomorrow to set up Monday visits. (The order of the visits on Tuesday changed later after we realized how far we were driving�)

Then into town; we took one of the bus tours in order to stay out of the weather. Saw this lovely woman, picturesque, isn't she?


You can get on and off of the bus, we got off at the Guinness Brewery, the St. James Gate Brewery, the first and oldest...


...and took the tour which was really very good, had lunch there at the cafe and had a free pint of Guinness at the Gravity Bar seven stories up, 360 glass walls with a great view. (People say they can taste the difference in a pint that is not brewed at this venerable brewery started in the 18th century. All I can say is that it tasted fine right there where it all started.)


We finished the tour bus ride, this time with a very eccentric individual driving the bus and muttering to himself, and also us over his microphone about the traffic and anything else that came to mind...("I supoose will be getting back SOMETIME today..as soon as the lovely traffic dies dune!") and then did a little walking and shopping right around Trinity College, but it was bitterly cold and wet, so we decided to head back.

We came back to Belinda's, stopping at SuperQuinn for some pasta and cheese first. and had a bit to eat. (The three cheeses that we had were all a lait cru and all under 60 days, yea! There was a fresh goat cheese, a Cooleeeny Camembert and French raw milk Brie.)

We had intended to go back downtown to see some nightlife later and stop at one or two of the gay pubs, but it was really cold with freezing rain. We'll try to do that when we return on Thursday.

Tomorrow, we head across the country and to the south. //




Day Four. Friday.


We got up about 8:30 and had breakfast and talked with Belinda, who had the day off. We got packed and got on the road about 11:30. We drove across the country and south. Stopped in a little town called Adare for lunch and a bit of shopping. Jared found a traditional music store and we got some stamps at the post office. All very quaint and charming.

There always seems to be a fabulous sunset in Irleland.



We drove on through Limerick and then on to Tralee, where we thought we might stay for the night at a hostel, but it was full and the town was crowded, so we headed on to the Dingle Penisula and the town of Dingle, where we stayed at The Rainbow Hostel. Tomorrow we will explore the peninsula.




The visuals get really interesting from here!






....more in the next installment. There's over 400 pictures, and a lot of story... and cheese!



durlx