Mutkia matkalla / Windy and "squiggly"

Irlanti on kylla mutkaisten teiden luvattu maa. Me saimme osamme naista. Mutta ilman naita mutkateita emme olisi loytaneet kaikkia ihania paikkoja, todellisia aarteita, joissa pysahdyimme matkan varrella.
Irlannin tiet on kaikki numeroitu (pienimmatkin). Tiet on luokiteltu M, N, R ja L. L tiet ovat kaikkein pienimpia. Kirjaimen perassa oli aina numerosarja. Mita enemman numeroita, sita pienempi ja uskomattomampi tie oli. Mieheni keksikin teiden luokitteluille maaritelmat. M: Mostly ok, N: Not so bad, R: Relatively dangerous, L: Leathal.
Mutkatiet ja vaaralla puolella ajaminen (auton liikkeet tuntuvat vierailta takapenkilla) saikin aikaiseksi vanhimman tyttaremme masun kipristelyt. Onneksi ei sentaan ihan oksentamiseksi mennyt.
Kaikkein upeimmat paikat ja nakymat loytyivat naiden pienten mutkateiden varsilta. Vaikkei linnuntieta matkaa hirveasti ollutkaan niin teiden mutkaisuus ja kuinka nopeasti paasi/uskalsi ajaa vaikuttikin siihen kuinka paljon aikaa autossa vietettiin. Ensi kerralla matkan suunnittelussa voi hyodyntaa tata kokemusta.
Tassa vahan kuvia mita naille mutkateilla naimme.

Ireland is really the promised land of windy and "squiggly" (as my daughter said) roads. But without these small and windy roads we wouldn't have found all the beautiful and wonderful places, true treasures, where we stopped along our way.
The Irish roads have all been numbered (even the smallest ones). The roads have been categorised into (from biggest to smallest) M, N, R and L roads. After the letter there was a number. And the more numbers it had the smaller and honestly quite unbelievable the road was. My husband made up definitions for these letters. M: Mostly ok, N: Not so bad, R: Relatively dangerous, L: lethal.
All these squiggly roads added on top of driving on the wrong side of the road (the car movements feel completely different at the back seat) got our oldest to feel squeeze in her tummy. Luckily that was all there ever was.
The most gorgeous places and scenery were found along these small windy roads. Even if the distance didn't feel very long, all the squiggles and then the speed you were able to/or was not afraid to travel in. Next time I'll use this experience to plan things a bit differently.
Here some pictures of things seen on those windy squiggly roads.

Irlannin ovet / Doors of Ireland

Voi kun ovet voisivat kertoa tarinoita. Nailla ovilla olisi varmasti paljon kerrottavaa.

If only doors could tell teir stories. I'm sure these doors would have lots to tell.

Dublin

Emme ole mieheni kanssa kaupunkimatkailijoita. Dublin tuli nahtya ja koettua mutta ensisijainen tarkoitus oli viettaa aikaa mieheni aidin, siskon ja hanen miesystavansa kasnsa. He lensivat Englannista viikonlopuksi meita katsomaan.
Upeaa arkitehtuuria. Historian siipien havinaa. Paljon turisteja. Tekemista pienille lapsille ei hirveasti tuntunut olevan. Kieroajeluita jos jonkinmoisia ja se, joka olisi ollut kiva lapsille olisi maksanut niin paljon koko porukalle, etta jatimme sen suosiolla valiin. Kavelimme paljon, ihmeen hyvin lapsetkin jaksoi. Tai siis pienempihan matkusti selassa. Shoppailjalle varmasti mukava paikka. Paljon kauppoja, isoja ja pienia mutta hintataso on Suomen vertainen.
Pieni sadekuuro yllatti meidat sunnuntaina iltapaivasta mutta muuten saimme nauttia joko auringosta tai puolipilvisesta saasta. Meita varoiteltiin kovasti etta Irlannin saa muuttuu hirmu nopeasti ja saman paivan aikana saattaa niskaansa saada vetta, lunta, rakeita, kovaa tuulta, tai nauttia lempeasta auringosta. Saat suosikin meita koko matkan ajan. Parina yona satoi mutta paivisin saastyimme kuivina.

My husband and I are not really town/city travelers. Dublin has now been seen and experienced but the primary goal was to spend time with my husbands mother, sister and her boyfriend. They all flew from England for the weekend to be with us.
Gorgeous architecture. You could feel the history around you. Lots of tourists. Not very much to do for little children. All kinds of sightseeing tours and the one which would have been great for the children would have costed so much for all of us that we decided to skip it. We walked a lot, and the children managed surprisingly well. The little one of course traveled on my back. Shoppers would like Dublin. Full of big and small shops of all kinds. But the price level is quite high in comparison with US.
A small rain shower surprised us on Sunday afternoon but otherwise we were allowed to stay dry and enjoy clear or partly cloudy clouds. We were warned about the Irish weather: at this time of year you can get anything from snow, rain, hail, wind, and sun within one day. But as mentioned before weather was on our side. It rained during few nights but that was ok.

Aloitetaan oleellisemmasta / Lets start with the most obvious

Eli keskitytaanpa sitten kasityokauppohin. :) Niita loytyi Irlannista. Ja voi kuinka ihania. Hypistelin villaisia tuotteita ja huokailin ihanien neuleiden, shaalien, ja muiden kasitoiden peraan. Yksi tuote jai erityisesti mieleen. Punainen villaviitta huppuineen. Oli kuin Punahilkan viitta. Sen olisin niin mielellani ostanut itselleni, mutta viitalla oli niin huima hinta etta ihan rupesi heikottamaan. Viitta jai siis kauppaan odottamaan jotakuta toista, joka rakastuisi siihen ja jonka kukkaron nyorit aukeaisivat enemman kuin minun.
Kaikki villatuotteet oli kotimaisia eli kaikissa komeili "Made in Ireland" ja mikas sen sopivampaa tuolla lampaitten luvatussa maassa. (Lampaita nahtiin paljon, siis todellakin paljon.)
Eritoteen mieleen jai Avoca:n kauppa. Se on perheyritys joka keskittyy siihen etta se myy Irlannissa valmistettuja kasitoita laidasta laitaan. Heilla on myos omia Avocan nimea kantavia elintarvikkeita. Olisin voinut jaada asumaan siine putiikkiin. Kaikki oli esilla niin ihanasti. Kuvia otin lahinna villatuotteista.
Yhtaan lankakauppaa ei suureksi harmikseni tielle osunut. Yhdessa kaupassa oli muutama kera esilla myynnissa. Mutta vain todellakin muutama kera.
Korupuoltakin vierailluissa putiikeissa oli hieman. Ja eritoten turisteille suunnattuja kelttilaisia syboloje koristavia koruja. Ostin itselleni yhden hopeisen korun jonka syboliikka puhuu myyjan mukaan syntymasta, elamasta ja jalleensyntymisesta. Itse tutkittuani asiaa tama kyseinen triple spiral (kolmispiraali) katkee sisaansa monenlaisia asioita. Suosituinpana vaikuttaisi olevan kolmen naisen voima: neitsyen, aidin ja vanhan eukon. Kolmispiraali on merkki naisen voimasta ja erityisesti siita voimasta jonka, nainen saa kasvaessaan/kehittyessaan lapi elamansa ja saadessaan uusia rooleja.
Ja pitihan sita tietysti ostaa huivi ja sorruin mina villatakkiinkin. Villatakissa on kivoina yksityiskohtina vetoketjun vetimissa roikkuvat kelttilaiset symboolit.
Olisin voinut koluta kasityolaiskauppoja vaikka kuinka mutta se oli vahan hankalaa kun kannoin selassani pikkuneitia, joka aina esitti kovin aanekkaita vastalauseita menopelinsa pysahdellessa.

PS: Yritan saada kuvat huivista, villatakista ja korusta tanne myohemmin. Nyt niita ei viela ole ja kameran akku on loppuun kulutettu.

In other words, lets concentrate on craft shops. :) There were plenty of them in Ireland. And oh how lovely they all were. I was feeling woollen products and was sighing after gorgeous shawls, knits and other hand made things. There was especially one product that is still in my mind. It was a red woollen cape with a hood. It was gorgeous! I think it belonged to Little Red Riding Hood. I wanted to get it so badly (I mean SOOOOO badly) but the prize tag spoke completely different language from me: I nearly swooned when I saw the numbers on it. So I left the cape in the store waiting for someone else to fall in love with it.
All woollen products I saw boasted a "Made in Ireland" tag. And why not in the promised land of sheep. (We saw a lot of sheep. I mean a A LOT OF sheep.)
From all the shops, there was one that really stayed in my mind. Avoca. It's a family owned company who concentrates on selling craft products made in Ireland. They have their own food label as well. I could have stayed in their shop forever. Everything was displayed in such a beautiful way. I took pictures mainly of the wool products.
I did look at the jewellery in these shops. And those celtic symbols directed to tourists. I did buy one silver necklace with triple spiral on it. The seller told me it was about birth life and rebirth. When I researched a bit more it seems to have several meanings and the most commonly used is the powers of maiden, mother and crone. The triple spiral is a sign of female power and especially power through transition and growth.
And of course I had to buy a scarf, and I did get a cardigan as well. The cardigan has nice small details of celtic symbols hanging on the zipper.
I could have gone into every single one of the craft shops we saw and admire the products and handiwork but it was a bit challenging at times as I was carrying the little miss and she protested quite loudly every time her "vehicle" stopped.

PS: I'll try to get pictures of the scarf, cardigan and the necklace later. At the moment they do not exist and the camera battery is on a "holiday" so to say.;-P