Mission Blog #48
Food, Sunshine, Friends....
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| Picnic in Fitzgerald Park with Kashapov's and Elders. A great start to the week. |
Peter's birthday is same as mine, Aug 24th. And, Peter has been to Cardston, Alberta - 2 reasons to like him. In South Africa where he is from, he met and became friends with Kent and Donna Pitcher of Cardston. The Pitcher's invited Peter and his then wife to visit in Cardston, which they did. They loved Cardston so much they almost moved there. Didn't do that but the Pitcher's were an inspiration to the Spears in them deciding to serve a senior couple mission which they did twice.
We spend about 4 hours with them and really learned to know them and love them.
Killarney National Park & Muckross House & Ross Castle
The jaunty ride to Torc Falls was a good idea, given the misty weather that was turning to rain. An Irish workhorse did the pulling.
Ross Castle is a 15th century tower house and keep on the edge of Lough Leane in Killarney National Park, County Kerry, Ireland. It is the ancestral home of the Chiefs of the Clan O'Donoghue, later associated with the Brownes of Killarney.
From Killarney we drove east to Mallow to the home of Santhosh and Smitha Prasad - Smitha and the 2 boys having just moved from India to join Santhosh. Mary and Deepak Sharma - long-time childhood friends to Santhosh, joined in preparing a wonderful Indian feast for us four missionaries, and Jayna. The homemade chicken curry and everything else, was terrific.
We began Saturday in Cobh (Cove), formerly Queenstown. Jayna really enjoyed being near the harbor and seeing the historic landmarks, Cathedral, and Titanic Museum.
Next to the White Star Line Building (Titanic Museum), we were able to enjoy these two lads playing some Irish folk tunes.
As you enter the Titanic Museum you are given a ticket with the name of a real passenger who boarded the Titanic here in Cobh back in April 1912. At the end you can find them on a computer database and find out if they survived, or were lost in the tragedy. My passenger perished, but when I looked closer, I found that his final destination was 'Gleichen, Alberta, Canada', about a 45 minute drive east of our home in Calgary. What? Quite a coincidence!
It has been fun to see and explore all the Irish things there are here to see with Jayna, including the 'telefon' booth.
Cruise ships and ferries come in and out of Cobh Harbor on a regular basis. About 1.5million left this port for America/Canada over the years.
We had a steep climb up the narrow street from the harbor, and up to The Rock on which sits the Cathedral. I think the photo says it all.....one step at a time and we might make it.
The view from below... The little house on the left here is for sale, 280,000 Euros. But you might have to pay that much to get anyone to move your furniture in.
We hadn't collapsed yet so we went for a wee drive further east to Ballycotton on the Atlantic coast. The wind was fierce and the waves were really crashing hard onto the rocks.
No amount of money would get me into the water for a dip on this day; we spotted 3 or 4 young men coming out of the water as we looked down on the rocky shore. Didn't seem to be the time nor place.
The coast itself was thrilling, but so was the drive on the narrow country roads to get here. Jayna rode in the front passenger seat to get the full experience.
After a wee rest up at home, we left our flat at 6:45pm and at 7:05pm we met Michelle, our youngest daughter, at the Cork Airport. We've never lived in a place so convenient to the airport.
It has been about 5 years since Michelle has seen her aunt Jayna. It's going to be a fun few days with them staying with us and exploring some sites together.
By 7:30pm we were out for a nice dinner in Ballincollig.
At Church today, President Dayhuls, 2nd Counselor in the Mission Presidency and his wife were the main speakers in Church. They made the 4.5hr drive from Belfast in time for the 11:00am services. At the last minute before he spoke, he sprung a request that 'Sister McMurray' bear her testimony - that was wonderful.
After services the Cork Branch members always linger and visit with one another. In the photo here is someone who hasn't come to Church for quite awhile and who we have been hoping to meet - today was the day. Great to see you Joe.
Blarney Castle is just 20 minutes away, and having Jayna and Michelle visiting provided the incentive to go and make the effort to kiss the stone. The Castle was built nearly 600 years ago by one of Ireland's greatest chieftans, Cormac MacCarthy. Millions have flocked to Blarney in modern times, making it one of Ireland's great treasures.
When I leaned backward, in a death grip on the hand rail to kiss that mysterious Blarney Stone, I felt my back snap, crackle, and pop. But, I still made it back to my feet for the invigorating return trip down the narrow castle steps. Worth it? Ask me in the morning!
The Poison Garden was pretty awesome, with its various deadly plants that came with stern cautions and warnings about the different physical effects.
This is the tallest tree on the 60 acre gardens; 145 feet tall - a Sitka Spruce. They can grow to twice that height.
They grow straight and true, making them a favorite for the lumber industry.
We had a beautiful day for a walk in the gardens that surrounded the old Blarney Castle, and Blarney House built in 1874. This Scottish Baronial mansion was built about 200 metres from the Castle.
What the photo doesn't tell you is that we basically drove through a wind and rainstorm like I've never been in before. The water in that rainstorm could have doused every fire from Hawaii to Canada, and erased every drought-stricken area in North America. Some areas of Cork were flooded, and/or lost power.
Cobh (Cove), formerly Queenstown
The coast itself was thrilling, but so was the drive on the narrow country roads to get here. Jayna rode in the front passenger seat to get the full experience.
Church
Our new friends, the Roths, continue to attend and worship with us. They are just one of the finest families you could want to meet and we love them.
When we were walking by the Cathedral in Cobh yesterday, the tall man in the photo approached us - he saw our name badges. Turns out Brother Richardson was a missionary who served his mission in Cork about 15 years ago. He brought his wife for a tour of the land he learned to love, and to meet some of the amazing people he knew like Brother Bill Quirke.
We also had an older couple who were visiting from Utah, the Findleys. In introductions he learned that we live in Calgary - Brother Findley knows the Cowleys there. I mentioned that my cousin, Bill Sefcik, is married to Sandy Cowley; and then they replied that they know them and both live in the Provo area. Small world huh!? When I mentioned that Edmonton is my hometown he then told me that his father played for the Edmonton Eskimo Football Club in 1953, 1954, 1955, which included two Grey Cup Championships - alongside Rollie Miles, Normie Kwong, Johnie Bright. It was great to reminisce and make these connections.
Blarney Castle & Gardens
It has been an amazing week; making new friends, strengthening existing friendships, and building family ties. We'll have a few more days with family visitors and we plan to make the most of this time together.
God bless,
Elder Eric & Sister Tina McMurray
Scotland-Ireland Mission
what a great week! Enjoy your time with family.
ReplyDeleteIt’s been an amazing experience! Thanks for the memories! Love, Jayna
ReplyDeleteOh Thank you for all your wonderful photos and writings about your Mission in Scotland Please keep them coming. Thank you ever so much for your faithful emails. God Bless you Eric & Tina!
ReplyDelete