Flags of the Realm
In case you haven’t been paying attention, we are in Ireland for a few weeks. The length of a vacation is a tricky thing. It seems like the biggest risk is to under-book and leave yourself wishing you had a few more days wherever you are off to. That is certainly less than ideal since fulfillment versus being left wanting does help soothe the demons within. I went a lot to Bermuda in my youth and almost always booked for five days and thought I had found the secret to eternal happiness in that equation. Four days felt like too little and thus no vacation at all, while a full week felt boring and caused me to suffer diminishing returns on my vacation dollars. Let’s not forget that weather during a vacation does a lot to influence this perfection of timing. Weather can be rationalized in many ways, but it’s hard not to want sunny skies if you’re on vacation. Expectations management in the weather department is key. Expect perfect weather and you are bound for disappointment. Nothing worse than a disappointing holiday. Much better to have modest expectations and be joyous if the weather is better than expected. A stinking week of downpour rain is hard to overcome, but a few days of drizzle is easy enough to cause you to appreciate the other dryer days. Vacation psychology is quite tricky as you can see.
We have come to Ireland and I have learned that the first thing everyone thinks when you come to Ireland is that you must have ancestors from here to want to come here. Since 1 million Irish did emigrate to the U.S. due to the potato famine, in the 100 years since then, that suggests that perhaps 25% of the country has Irish bloodlines running through them. Why, there is even an Irish Potato Famine Monument in lower Manhattan, pointing towards Ellis Island. It is a literal slice of the rocky grassy hillside that is so common here in County Kerry, transplanted as it were onto a concrete pedestal, looking both out of place on the streets of the City that never sleeps and yet strangely fitting in its contrast. I think it symbolizes how America has a slice of Ireland in it no matter how much ethnic blending has gone on over the decades. Personally, I’ve never thought about it one way or another.
We have not seen all of Ireland on this trip, but have restricted ourselves mostly to County Kerry. That wasn’t the plan, we had expected to drive far and wide to see Dingle on the north peninsula and Cork and the Blarney Stone on the South Shore. But one day of the narrow winding roads and adjusting to the left-hand-drive was all it took to convince us that looking for local attractions within an hour’s drive was the way to go. What we didn’t initially realize was how much there is to see and do right here on the peninsula, and it is mostly only a stone’s throw from our home-away-from-home. After a week here I am happy to declare that I want another week to see all the local things I missed during the first week.
One of the more recent attractions to find its way to The Ring of Kerry is Star Wars as filmed on Skellig Michael. The island, which is the Western-most spot of land in Europe (excluding Iceland), is a 54-acre crag of grassy rock that rises 714 feet from the Atlantic Ocean and was used as a dramatic finale location for Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Star Wars: The Last Jedi. This alone expands the Ring of Kerry’s appeal to the millions of young to aging Star Wars fans and make the five hour boat trip out and back to this remote and uninhabited island a must for all the youngsters (11 – 40 years-old) in the group. The history of the island pre-George Lucas was as a monastic retreat due to its isolation and severe landscape. The natural stone stairs that serpentine up the steep cliffs are vertigo-inducing, not so much on the way up, but certainly on the way down.
On the Western end of the peninsula everything is called Skellig now. There is Skellig Chocolates, Skellig Gelato, Skellig Cafe and the Skellig Gift Shop. My son-in-law asked specifically that we go to the top of this hill overlooking the Ocean and the distant Skellig Isles. He had read about the Skellig Shop as a place for Star Wars aficionados to find all manner of Star Wars merchandise, so it was a must-do. As he and his daughters rummaged around in the store, I sat out in the warmth of the rare Irish sun on a lovely sheepskin. As I sat there I noticed that there were four flagpoles along the road in front of the store. They told the tale of the modern Ring of Kerry.
The first two were to be expected. The green, white and orange of the Republic of Ireland flew front and center. That was paired with the blue field and yellow stars in the circle of the European Union. Ireland is a proud member of the EU and especially happy in that differentiated posture versus the mess that Boris Johnson has foisted on the people of England with their Brexit program, or more accurately, the non-program.
The third flag of the realm is none other than the Stars and Stripes, which to a Yank like me is a totally justified bow to the benefits Ireland has received from the United States, whether in taking in its emigrants, enabling transfer payments home to Mum, or traveling back to the Old Country to spend tourist dollars. TheAmerican flag fits nicely with the first two.
It was the fourth flag that sent me into a fit of laughter and then a deep pondering of what it all meant. The fourth flag of the realm was none other than the Trip Advisor flag. I was unaware that Trip Advisor had attained sovereign status and would deserve to be flown alongside these other great symbols of Irish pride. But then I thought about where I was and how the women who care for and service the house we are staying in say that they have a happy life on The Ring of Kerry the eight months there is good tourist trade. The other four months are a mini potato famine for them. So it is understandable how this rocky and nutrient-deficient land that cannot support much commercial agriculture can turn to tourism as its lifeblood. And the lifeblood of modern tourism may not be the sole province of Trip Advisor, but it surely does symbolize how modern tourist dollars get allocated. All hail Ireland, all hail The Ring of Kerry, all hail Trip Advisor (and please don’t hesitate to give us five stars.)