#History – Rebekah Lyn Books

Cliffs And Castles

Reblogged August 12 from Rebekah Lyn’s Kitchen

Filed under: friends,history,travel — itsrebekahlyn @ 8:15 AM
Tags: Bucket List, Bunratty Castle, Cliffs of Moher, history, Hospitality, Laundry, Misadventures, Wild Atlantic Way

The drive from Kylemore to the town of Barna, just outside Galway City, took about an hour and we arrived at Furrymelia Cottage around 6:00 pm. Pauline, the B&B hostess, was waiting to greet us and hurried to put the kettle on. When she heard we hadn’t eaten dinner she even fixed us some sandwiches and pulled out some cookies to go with our tea.

The kitchen had a cozy seating area with a wood-burning stove for heat. We sat in here getting to know Pauline and found out she had been down in Killarney the previous day and had raced home that morning to make sure she was there for our arrival. Her husband had remained in Killarney for a work project so it ended up being just the three of us in the house for the whole stay.

When we decided to retire for the night, Pauline fixed us hot water bottles. What a wonderful touch! I drifted off with the warmth of that bottle easing the tightness in my lower back from so much walking.

Monday morning we arose and found a continental breakfast laid out for us. Pauline gets up early to go swimming before work but made sure we had a nice selection of options to start the day. There was fruit, yogurt, a couple different jams, bread, cereal, and of course a selection of teas. There was also a small plate with what looked like cubes of cheese.

*Do you see how the butter looked like cheese cubes?*

I had started the keto diet a couple of months before leaving on this trip and tried to keep close to it during the travels so I was excited to see the cheese. I put several cubes on my plate. When I ate the first one it didn’t taste like any cheese I’d had before and slowly it dawned on me that it was butter! Knowing we were going to have a long day I shrugged and ate the rest of my cubes thinking about the wonderful fat content they were providing. Plus, it was some of the best butter I’ve ever tasted.

The skies were cloudy again and I kept hoping it would clear up as we were headed to the Cliffs of Moher. We took the more scenic Wild Atlantic Way rather than the motorway. It provided some excellent views but boy was the road rough. I would like to drive the whole Wild Atlantic Way, though. It meanders through small villages and along beautiful coastline that could take an entire month to explore.

Seascape
Rocky landscape over the sea

We arrived at the Cliffs of Moher and while the sun was shining, there was still a gray haze in the air that made getting good pictures difficult. I’ve seen such vibrant pictures that I felt let down not being able to experience that vibrancy myself. There are pathways along the cliffs outside the official boundaries of the park, but they don’t have any safety features and people get blown off them by the whipping winds every year. We did venture out a few feet and Tricia wanted a picture near the edge, but I wasn’t about to risk going over the side. There was another pair of women out there. I offered to take their picture together but there was one sensible like me who didn’t want to risk it either.

Cliffs of Mohr
Tricia on the edge
Me on the safe side of the cliff.

From the Cliffs we headed back south to Bunratty Castle. We arrived in time for lunch and stopped in a pub called the Creamery Bar.

This was one of the disappointments for me. The service was terrible and the food was just meh. Later we found out we could have gone across the street to Durty Nelly‘s, one of the oldest pubs in Ireland.

Bunratty has been around since the 15th century and is starkly medieval. I don’t know how mothers navigated the narrow stairways carrying children. They are quite treacherous, especially when going down.

It was interesting to see how spartan and rustic some rooms were, but one, the private family dining room was almost elegant.

Bunratty and Ivy
Private Family Dining Room
Private Family Room
Main Hall Guard Quarters
Thatched Cottages

There is also a “village” set up around the castle, with more than 30 buildings representing village life. We didn’t have enough time to fully explore this area or partake in the medieval banquet that was being served that night, but I would recommend it if you are planning to visit the area.

After exploring Bunratty we visited the shops across the street. I finally found a sweater that I really loved, but this shop wanted me to spend 250 euros to get the free shipping and I couldn’t find enough other stuff to make that work so I put the sweater back and only purchased some linen items.

On the way back to the cottage we stopped at a Revolution Laundry. We’ve been traveling for a week now and were getting low on clothes. Like the stores, laundry mats all seem to close early in Ireland too. Revolution Laundries, though, are located in the parking lots of gas stations and consist of two washers and two dryers.

It was raining once again when we dragged our clothes out of the car and dumped them into the washer. Fortunately there is a small overhang that protects the machines from the weather. It took about 45 minutes for the clothes to wash, but when I went to put them in the dryer I noticed they were really wet, like the washer hadn’t run a spin cycle. My fingers were nearly frozen when I finished getting them all moved.

We waited 30 minutes on the dryer only to find the clothes were still soaking wet, as in we could wring water out of them. Tricia came out of the car to help me wring them out and again fingers were like ice when we started the machine for another 45 minutes.

I should mention we hadn’t eaten since lunch, probably six or seven hours earlier. Well, we had some candy from the convenience store but nerves were raw and this wasn’t the best experience. After that second run through the dryer the clothes were still very wet. They weren’t even warm so I don’t know what that dryer was doing. We were frustrated and tired so I suggested we just put them back in the laundry bag and figure something out at the cottage. I knew there was a clothesline out back so I figured we could just hang them out the next day.

While we were putting them in the bag, they were so heavy with water that the bag started to rip in half! We managed to get them all in and get the bag into the car without it completely tearing.

We must have looked like we were moving a body when we returned to the cottage well after dark. Pauline was already in bed so we quietly went about hanging the clothes around the bathroom to air dry as much as possible overnight. The heated towel rack proved an excellent place for socks and underwear to dry. Once we had covered every surface that could possibly allow the clothes to dry we fell into bed cold and exhausted. I really missed the hot water bottle that night.

I don’t know what it is about doing laundry while traveling, but I had a hard time with it years ago when another friend and I were in Paris. We’d been traveling for about a week then, too, and since we were staying at Disneyland Paris we figured that would be a good place to wash clothes. I had no idea a washing machine could be so very different overseas and all the instructions were in French. This was another late night and we were laughing so hard from pure exhaustion and the comedy of how something so simple could become so hard. We worried for a minute that we might disturb anyone who had a room nearby, but since no one came out to complain we just kept laughing. Sometimes that is the only way to deal with difficult situations.

Come back next week to find out if the clothes ever dried out.

Have you ever had a laundry fiasco while on the road? Please share it in the comments, otherwise I might have to believe I’m the only one with this challenge.

The Clouds of History

Reblogged July 8, 2019 from
REBEKAH LYN’S KITCHEN
Come have a cup of coffee

The Clouds Of History July 5, 2019

Filed under: Books,friends,travel — itsrebekahlyn @ 6:59 PM

A gray and weeping sky greeted us Thursday morning, which fit our exhausted spirits. We were thankful to have a slower day planned and dawdled over breakfast in the hotel restaurant before meeting our guide for a taxi tour of Belfast’s iconic murals.

As much as I’ve read about Belfast, it was still startling to see how close together Shankill and Falls Roads are. The physical divide between Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods isn’t much at all. Our guide had a first-hand perspective of the “Troubles” as his grandfather had been a member of the IRA and served time in jail.

Much like we in the U.S. are working to rewrite history by tearing down monuments, some of the historical murals in Belfast have been painted over or modified to alter their meaning. We learned that any mural with a face on it couldn’t be painted over, but could be altered. History should be something that is objective rather than subjective, a statement of facts. If we don’t learn where we come from and the mistakes that were made, how can we learn and avoid repeating those mistakes? I wish now that I’d purchased a book on all the murals.

We had a chance to sign the peace wall that has been signed by presidents and all manner of other folks.

I’m fascinated with the whole Brexit situation, particularly how it will impact the people of Northern Ireland and if this shift will be what leads to the island being reunited. I asked the guide about this and he seemed to agree that reunification was likely, if only for economic reasons. Brexit will likely lead to a hard border with the Republic of Ireland, causing goods being transported from north to south to be subject to border checks. (Some roads cross the border numerous times within a few miles!)

Additionally, the Catholic population is growing; the demographic that has most wanted reunification all along. Where they once were a significant minority, they are forecast to be the majority within the next couple of years. If you live in the UK, particularly Northern Ireland, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Our guide dropped us off at Belfast City Hall so we could do a little more exploring. It’s the most impressive City Hall I’ve ever been in! The rain was only a light sprinkle by this time and we enjoyed our walk back to the hotel. The train ride back to Dublin went quickly and we were greeted by Tricia’s friend, Dan. He guided us to our hotel on the River Liffey to drop off our bags and we walked to Trinity College, just a few minutes away. Trinity is a beautiful campus.

Belfast City Hall

City Hall Lobby

An Astronaut in Belfast?

Trinity College

We had tickets to see the Book of Kells, a 9th century manuscript, created around 800 AD, that documents the four Gospels of the life of Jesus Christ. We reached the exhibit and flowed from one informational wall to another, learning about the art of illumination, until we reached the actual book in a glass case.

When we finally reached the Book, I experienced a feeling of deflation, much like I felt upon seeing the Mona Lisa in the Louvre. Both are much smaller than I expected and the colors of the Book weren’t as vibrant as I anticipated. It’s beautiful, for sure, and it’s obvious the work to create it must have been painstaking. I was so deflated I forgot to take a picture of the actual thing, but I did have a photo of a copy housed at the Dublin Writer’s Museum, which is a pretty good replication. Sometimes we build things up in our mind so much we are bound to be let down when we do finally experience them.

Copy of the Book of Kells

Dan was going to take us to a fish & chip shop, but after wandering for close to an hour, stumbling on icons such as Molly Malone, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral, and Dublin Castle, we stopped at the Bull & Castle. Dan was brave and ordered an appetizer of bone marrow. It was strange in every way, but the taste wasn’t bad. The steak I ordered was one of the best I’ve ever had.

Molly Malone Statue

Dublin Castle

Architecture

I just love the architecture!

Dublin definitely comes alive at night. The streets were crowded as we walked back to our hotel and music poured out of many pubs we passed. We had a good chuckle at the line of American franchises- Kentucky Fried Chicken, Papa John Pizza, TGIFriday’s, Subway, Burger King, and McDonalds- practically on top of each other. I admit we did enter the McDonalds, but only so Tricia could use the facilities. Don’t worry, I purchased a coffee.

Come back next week as Tricia and I pick up our rental car and hit the road!

The Palmetto House.. a Memoir

A note from Onisha

I enjoy reading novels based on family histories. It probably comes from my insatiable curiosity about how and why people make their life decisions. Author Fred Wascura. my husband’s cousin wrote Winds from the Mountains which tells the story of his family and their emigration to America from the Rusyn village of Osturna by the Tatra Mountains. Even though I have known Fred for decades, I had no idea of his family history, so I really enjoyed reading the book and look forward to reading the next installment, Gosenhoppen

When my friend and fellow blogger, DiVoran Lites, recently told me about a short book her husband’s cousin Gerry Lites Watkins had written about her life in rural Arkansas during the Depression, I had to check it out. Its title, The Palmetto House, intrigued me so I took a look at it on Amazon and decided instantly to download it. I was not familiar with life in Arkansas during the Depression years and I was pleased to learn of it, especially how families coped under trying conditions.

I wanted to know more about the author and asked DiVoran to request an interview and Gerry, graciously agreed. DiVoran asked some excellent questions. I hope you enjoy the interview as much as I did.

What inspired you to write The Palmetto House?

My younger brother was born in Arkansas two years before we moved away. Over the years he heard us mention events from this period and he would always ask us what it was like to live there. “I don’t remember living there,” he would say. “Why don’t you all tell me what it was like?” We heard this so often I began to write down some of the things that happened while we lived there, and what the climate and surroundings were like. He liked to read them so much I decided to put them all in a book. It was only this year that I decided to publish them.

Did you have any special techniques that helped you remember events you remember from these seven years you wrote about?

Only the questions he asked that stirred memories of those years. The more I wrote the more I remembered.

How much and what kind of research did you do for the book?

None. The memories were so clear I didn’t feel a need to do further research.

Did it take a long time to write it or did it seem to write itself?

I wrote the memoir over a period of years. Months or years would pass before I wrote another chapter until I decided to publish it.

What did you enjoy most about writing The Palmetto House?

Oh, the memories…the memories!

Would you tell us some of the things you had to overcome in order to get the book written?

I am a 92 year old woman, a recent cancer survivor and my heart doesn’t always want to act right, so my strength is limited. Some days I didn’t feel like writing at all. Other days I wanted to keep writing, but my body said no you can’t.

Did you start to write when you were a child or did it come later?

I started writing early. In middle school I published a newsletter (hand written) about my classmates. In college I edited and published a Baptist Student Union newspaper. I continued to write privately, but it was in the 1980s that I began my travel writing career. That lasted 27 years. Since we’ve lived in a retirement center, I have written speeches that I’ve given on the subject of my travels.

What other kinds of writing do you like to do?

I love writing about history and unusual places and people.

What kinds of publications and authors do you like to read now?

I like mysteries. The Jewish writer, Daniel Silva, is one of my favorites. James Lee Burke is a great writer, but I wish he would leave out some of the words he uses. He could still write well without them. He writes about South Louisiana and since I have spent so much time there, he makes the scenes live for me. Ann Perry is another favorite. I especially liked her William Monk series and her little Christmas mysteries.

10. How do your spiritual practices aid in your writing and in your life?

My faith is a daily walk. It influences every action, decision and goal. I pray that my writing will encourage others, allow them to escape problems they face, enjoy a few moments of entertainment, and inspire them spiritually.

Remember, I mentioned my curiosity issues? After reading the interview, I had to know if Gerry ever returned to the Palmetto House.

Gerry

I was never available most times when my parents went back. I did go with them to visit our other family in Arkansas but we didn’t go to The Homestead. The one time I went there we couldn’t get in because of the muddy road. My sister and father walked in, but at that time my mother had Alzheimer’s and some other health problems. She couldn’t walk that far so I stayed with her while they went in. Actually, by that time there was nothing to see, but I have always regretted that I didn’t see it again.

The Palmetto House is available on Amazon in Kindle and Paperback.

Bio

Gerry Watkins is an award winning writer, and with her photographer husband, George, they have published hundreds of stories and photographs during the past twenty-four years. They have edited and photographed two on-line travel magazines, Travel Destinations and Trails West. The magazines attracted more than 350,000 surfers per month during the time the Watkins edited them. The Watkins are founding members of North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA). Both have held various offices in the organization.

Army of Worn Soles~Cover Reveal

I’ve been fascinated with Russian history since I was a teenager and have read a variety of historical accounts as well as a range of Russian literature. When I first heard about Scott Bury’s new release, Army of Worn Soles, I immediately put it on my to-be-read list.

1941: Soldiers retreat across Ukraine even when their boots wear out.

Three months after drafting him, the Soviet Red Army throws Maurice Bury, along with millions of other under-trained men, against the juggernaut of the biggest invasion in the history of warfare: Nazi Germany’s Operation Barbarossa, the assault on the USSR.

Maurice sees that his job as Lieutenant is to keep his “boys”—the men of his anti-tank unit—alive as they retreat from the unstoppable Panzers and German infantry. When they’re captured, survival becomes impossible. Their captors starve them.

Then a miracle: Maurice gets a chance to escape. He cannot leave his boys to starve. But how can twelve Red Army soldiers cross German-occupied Ukraine without being shot?

Army of Worn Soles publishes on June 22. To follow the blog tour visit author Scott Bury’s blog, Written Words at http://scottswrittenwords.blogspot.com.