After we touched down we had to run about 50m outside across the tarmac to the terminal in the pouring rain. Dad said "welcome to Ireland" and we were all were laughing as we ran in the rain. All of us were soaking wet and really excited about seeing our cousin, Colin, on the other side. Jeffrey spotted Colin first and Sammy quickly gave him the first of many hugs. Colin was waiting with four warm jackets and a Manchester United toque for Jeffrey. It was a great way to be welcomed.
After about a half hour drive we arrived at Colin's house. Waiting for us was Ray (Mom's cousin and Colin's Mom), Elaine and Adrian (Colin's sister and her husband), Hanah and Mark (their children). We had our first sausage supper, even though it was 10pm, and spent the evening getting to one another. Rae was just like Grandma. She had brought two hot water bottles for Jeff and Sammy's bed so they would be cozy at night. It was the first time Jeff and Sam used hot water bottles and they loved them!
Saturday morning we woke up to the delicious smell of bacon wafting from the kitchen. Colin was hard at work preparing an Ulster Fry. It included: sausages, bacon, potato bread, soda break, black pudding, white pudding, veggie roll, and eggs. It was the first time Jeff tasted black and white pudding and he was in heaven! Mom thought that Aunt Carol, Amanda, and Grandma would love that breakfast. After gobbling it up we set out for Raes , where the girls and guys split up. Both Elaines, Rae, and Samantha headed into town to go shopping, while the boys toured the town of Ballymena ending up at the bowling club. After shopping the girls met up with the boys at the club and joined Jim, Colin's dad for a drink. We ended the evening at Colins having take out and Jeff was able to try a batter sausage.
Colin really wanted us to see Northern Ireland so he took the next few days off work to show us around. Some of the great places he took us included: Torre Head, Port Stuart, Port Rush, Loch Neigh, Bushmills, The Giant's Causeway, and Belfast to name a few. Some of the highlights from these trips were climbing Torres Head and seeing the spectacular view, being surrounded by sheep on a country road, icecream and "yellow man" at Port Rush, a billy goat wearing a man's vest, the Ulster Museum, and the Belfast open bus tour. At the Ulster transportation museum there was a special section dedicated to the Titanic. There we learned that the Titanic was built in Belfast and later on in our bus tour we saw the dry dock made especially for the historic ship. Jeff and Kevin were confused about why the Northern Irish were so proud of the Titanic; however, later on during our bus tour our guide kindly reminded us that it was not Irish engineering at fault but rather an Englishman at the helm and a Canadian iceberg that sunk the ship. On the day we went to the Giant's Causeway we woke up to a snow storm. Rae and Jim did not think we should go because the driving would be treacherous with the snow. A couple of cm's of snow might scare off the Irish but not Colin and the four Canadians. Upon reaching the Causeway we found most shops and the government tour office closed for the day due to the weather. Even though it was slippery and wet is was still worth the effort because it was awesome. The Giant's Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking hexagonal columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption although there are many legends about the area. Poor Colin was ambushed with snowballs many times during the day by Jeff and Sam because he was such a fun target.
The trip to Ireland was an opportunity for the Misner/Kenny family to get to know many our our Irish relatives. We had a great breakfast and spent a few nights with Aunt Jane, Margaret, Elenor, Bobby, and Wilbur. And Jane is my Grandmother's only surviving siter and she really reminded us of Grandma. Margaret and Bobby are her two children and Wilbur and Eleanor are their spouses. Margaret loves to laugh and likes a good hot toddy. We spent an enjoyable evening at Bryan Haggarty's (Elaine's cousin) beautiful house getting to know additional family members. We spent an afternoon at Uncle Jimmy's (Papa Kenny's brother) house where he told us about growing up in Ireland. There we met his friend Tommy Lormer who had spend 2 ½ years as a POW during the Korean War. He had many interesting stories to tell us.
Mom's cousin, Anne Campbell, picked us up for a morning at her house where we had a great conversation in front of a roaring fire. Her husband had gone to boarding school with Prince Charles. Colin took us to see Tommy Haggarty, one of Grandma's brothers. It was really nice to meet him because we had heard so much about him from Grandma.
There are so many other stories to tell about our stay in Ireland. We are sorry we can't give you all the detail right now. The hospitality we were show was incredible and leaving was very hard to do.
Here's a list highlighting some of the things we enjoyed:
- Food (Soda Bread, battered sausages, potato bread, black pudding, white pudding, sausages, many types of potatoes, chocolate bars, ice-cream, sweets)
