Announcer: Welcome to "Joseph Rosendo's Travelscope"... Whoo-hoo!

Announcer: where you join us as we accept the world's invitation to visit.

Santé!

All: Yay!

Joseph: Today on "Travelscope," I visit the Irish Isle and travel through the south and north of Ireland, along the Ancient East, and the Wild Atlantic Way.

Whoo!

Do you want a bite?

Announcer: "Joseph Rosendo's Travelscope" is made possible by... Emerald Waterways.

It's been said that if experience is the best teacher, then travel is the best experience.

River cruising seeks to immerse travelers deep within a culture while moving gently through it.

With Emerald Plus, in-depth cultural experiences are included on every European cruise.

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♪ We're on thone road ♪ ♪ Sharing the one load ♪ ♪ We're on the road to God knows where ♪ ♪ We're on the one road ♪ ♪ It may be the wrong road ♪ ♪ But we're together now, who cares?

♪ ♪ Northmen, Southmen, comrades all ♪ Joseph, voice-over: Separate yet equal-- together, Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic offer a mosaic of travel riches.

I began my Irish adventures in the republic's capital, Dublin.

Joseph: Thank you, guys.

Joseph, voice-over: St. James' Gate Brewery, better known as Guinness, is an Irish icon.

In 1759, Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000-year land lease with a yearly rental of 45 pounds, probably one of the great all-time business deals, and began making what has become one of the world's favorite drinks.

Now, the story of that drink is told here in the Guinness Storehouse, which has just recently been named Europe's number-one tourist attraction.

Probably the world's oldest food purity law is the German Reinheitsgebot, which is over 500 years old and deemed that beer could only consist of 4 ingredients: barley, hops, water, and yeast.

Wow.

Hops.

Hops, Joseph.

So, what you get from the hops sort of would be the kind of citrus floral tones.

And hops preserve the beer, Mm-hmm.

but they also add that bitterness and the iconic aroma.

Then we have our beer esters, which is from our yeast.

That's kind of caramel banana.

We have our malted barley-- the sugar source for the yeast.

And then finally is our roasted barley.

So the roasting process we would use is identical to roasting coffee beans or cocoa.

So, Joseph, this is the second part to our tasting room, and you can see it's set to look like the 1700s, which would have been Arthur Guinness' time period, and there is the man himself on the wall.

Ah.

This is where our visitors will learn to taste Guinness.

It's a nitrogenated beer.

That creamy head-- you need to bypass that and get the rich flavors underneath, so what we encourage is use your top lip, block the head, and get a good, generous mouthful underneath.

Let's give it a go.

Joseph, voice-over: Hold on!

You need to learn to pour before you drink.

You're very welcome to our Gravity Bar.

We want to get a 45-degree angle.

Roughly where the name "Guinness" is, you can straighten your glass, and around the middle of the Harp is kind of the widest part, so you can stop it there.

OK.

Pop it down on the bar now.

What's settling?

75% of the beer is nitrogen.

What you're waiting for is the gas-- How long does it take?

About 90 seconds, and this time, push back on the top.

Bring it right to the brim of the glass, pop it down in front of the customer.

No spills.

Sláinte.

Sláinte.

Joseph, voice-over: The view from the Gravity Bar is nice, but the real place to have a beer in Dublin is in one of its 751 pubs, where, more likely than not, a session of traditional music and dancing adds to the good craic-- fun times.

[Music playing] You know, what's nice is that people know about this pub, but when you come here, it's not like coming to a tourist attraction.

It's a real genuine feel.

It's a family-run pub.

I have my son behind the bar, me nephew here, my brother here.

We have a public house here where the music is the main attraction.

It's a place where people can socialize, too.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

No television, so conversation is the main-- the main thing outside of music.

What a--what a quaint idea.

People can actually talk to each other.

What kind of instrument is that, Néillidh?

Well, they're bagpipes around the world, but this is the--the Irish version of it.

And you play it with your elbow?

Yeah.

Two elbows.

Two elbows?

One to pump and one to control the octave.

[Playing bagpipes] I think it's wonderful that here in Ireland, people are so connected to traditional dance, traditional music.

It's a fantastic thing to be the inheritor of.

You're keeping the tradition going.

Can you play a tune?

Yeah.

We could try something.

OK. Fabulous.

We'll try a little jig.

I love this place.

[Playing jig] Heel, toe, toe.

Heel, heel, toe, toe.

Tip, tip, bum, bum.

OK. [Music playing] Whoo-hoo!

Instructor: Very nice!

OK. That's mind-boggling.

How long did it take you guys to get this far?

Second week.

Second week?

[Indistinct] Well, that's because you're Irish, see?

It's in your blood, so it doesn't take that long.

I'm Cuban, so... Oh.

I've got--I've got this part.

I just don't have this part.

[Music playing] Joseph: Well, there's clacking going on all over the place.

Yes, there is.

How long have you been teaching people traditional dance?

Well, I've been teaching here in The Cobblestone for about 10 years.

How did you get into it?

Um, my mom is Irish, so, um, she always really wanted us to--to get into Irish stuff.

Everybody stopped!

Keep practicing!

Keep dancing.

Keep practicing!

What made you want to do it?

Because of your heritage?

Yeah.

Pretty much, yeah.

I grew up in Georgia.

The first time I saw Irish dancing was at a St. Patrick's Day party in a church hall, and I just knew, like... "I want to do that"?

"That's for me."

Yeah.

Well, I think it's so great that you're part of the things that goes on here at The Cobblestone... Yeah.

that is keeping Irish traditions alive.

It's mind-boggling, all the steps, but I'm trying to keep up with you.

As long as you keep moving.

[Music playing] Whoo-hoo!

Joseph, voice-over: The music, dancing, and celebrating continues into the wee hours in the pubs and clubs of Dublin, fair city.

[Clapping and cheering] [Music playing] Here we go!

Great!

You're doing great!

[Cheering] Joseph, voice-over: At 45 square miles, Dublin is an easy town to get around.

In the city center, a good pair of walking shoes is the best vehicle.

The public transportation system is a real traveler's friend, from double-decker buses to the Luas and DART rail lines, you can get all throughout Dublin and the country.

And with the Freedom Pass and the Leap Card, it makes it a real bargain.

Joseph, voice-over: A tour around Dublin is a feast for historical, literary, and natural sensibilities.

It boasts more green spaces per area than any other European capital.

Its UNESCO City of Literature status is celebrated by statues of its famous authors in streets, parks, and along canals.

Behind the colorful Georgian doors of Merrion Square, notables such as W.B.

Yeats and Oscar Wilde once dwelled.

With roots that date back to the 10th century, Dublin's spiritual and historic heritage is evident in sites such as St. Patrick's Cathedral, established in 1191, and Trinity College.

Founded by Queen Elizabeth I in 1592, Trinity College has been an intellectual battleground for some of the religious strife that Ireland has endured over the ages.

Catholics weren't allowed until 1793.

Professorships and scholarships were Protestant-only for about the next hundred years.

And until 1970, any Catholic that enrolled was automatically excommunicated.

Thankfully, those days are past, and now Trinity is one of the world's most prestigious and diverse institutes of higher learning.

Contrary to common belief, the official symbol of Ireland is not a pint of Guinness.

It's the Irish harp, and this one, which dates back to 1400, is one of the oldest, and it's on display here in the Long Room, along with more than 200,000 ancient texts, including the 1,200-year-old Book of Kells and the Proclamation of the Irish Republic read by Patrick Pearse at the start of the 1916 Easter Rebellion.

"We declare the right of the people of Ireland "to the ownership of Ireland "and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies, to be sovereign and indefeasible."

Patrick Pearse.

The story of the Irish struggle for independence is a long and bloody one that dates back to the 12th-century Norman invasion.

On April 24, 1916, the Easter Rising was the beginning of the last phase of that struggle, when thousands of Irish men, women, and children worked together, fought together, and died together to cast off the rule of their British masters.

While at first the rebels were reviled by the local population, after the British arrested thousands of people and executed the 16 leaders, the mood changed, and people understood the significance of their efforts as a milestone on Ireland's path to freedom.

The GPO, the bullet-ridden General Post Office, was the headquarters for the battle, and in 2016, they have created a permanent exhibition and visitor center that commemorates the event and Ireland's long road to independence and reconciliation.

I think the roof of the GPO might be on fire.

I think I smell some smoke coming down the stairs.

It's only a matter of time.

Only a thousand people have turned up, and we were expecting 6,000.

The people generally are in a pretty bad way here in Dublin.

26,000 families living in tenement housing.

Well, that kind of poverty is certainly enough to foment a rebellion.

We want freedom, and we're fighting for the freedom of Ireland.

Well, how do you say "good luck" in Irish?

Go n-éirí an t-ádh leat.

Go n-éirí an t-ádh leat.

Go n-éirí an t-ádh leat.

So here you have a beautiful Heritage building that now houses something that tells the story from every viewpoint-- the GPO workers, the rebels, the Crown forces, the women that participated.

The 40 children that lost their lives in the rising are actually acknowledged as well.

And right behind me we have "The tale of two Irelands."

Two Irelands.

Exactly.

Is--is there any conversation that someday the Irish island will all be one?

One of the things about this topic is that it is so complex, and it's very personal to people, and this here in the Center-- it's making it accessible to everybody.

Joseph, voice-over: Paying my respects at the Garden of Remembrance, dedicated to all who gave their lives in the cause of Irish freedom, and attending an Evensong service at Christ Church Cathedral offers a peaceful end to my GPO visit and Dublin stay.

Congregation: ♪ Amen ♪ Joseph, voice-over: Ireland's Ancient East encompasses 17 counties rich in history, myths, and legends.

Less than 30 miles north of Dublin, Trim Castle played an important role in Ireland's 5,000-year-old story.

Built in 1200, Trim Castle is Ireland's largest and best preserved Norman castle.

Located on the Boyne River on the edge of the Pale, a beachhead of Anglo-Norman power in Ireland, it secured the western boundary.

To go beyond the Pale was to enter the territory of the ferocious Gaelic Irish.

Not far from here, the Battle of the Boyne was fought and established the foundation on which Protestant dominance and more than 700 years of Anglo rule was built.

2,000 years older than the pyramids, Loughcrew is a megalithic Neolithic burial ground built at around 4000 B.C.

It's an Irish Stonehenge.

Whose they are is still a mystery.

This is the stone... Ooh.

that the sun hits on the mornings of the equinox.

The sun shines down the passage, and it hits the corner.

But then it begins to move in a diagonal direction, capturing these beautiful symbols.

Yeah, look at those.

And then it finally sets.

Do we know what these symbols mean?

There are lots of theories and ideas.

This one in particular looks like the sun.

Yeah, it does.

These people were our first farmers.

Spring equinox is planting season.

Autumn equinox is harvest time.

And these are called passage tombs?

Passage tombs because of the passage that leads into a burial chamber.

There must be some great myths and legends.

Yeah.

These hills are called Slieve na Cailleach, which means the Hills of the Witch, and there is a carved stone outside that's called the Hag's Chair, or the Witch's Seat, and the legend states that if you sit on it and make a wish, the Cailleach will grant your wish for you.

Joseph, voice-over: Created in 1921 by an act of the British Parliament, Northern Ireland encompasses the island's 6 northeast counties.

With a population of Protestant unionists, many descendants of 17th-century British colonialists, and Catholic nationalists, it is a blending of the Irish and British cultures.

While the clash of cultures was responsible for 3 decades of troubles where more than 3,500 people died, life has improved for all since the 1998 Good Friday agreement.

Today its capital, Belfast, attracts visitors from around the world.

One of several tourism quarters, in its Titanic Quarter, Belfast's shipbuilding past is illustrated by Titanic Belfast, the world's largest Titanic exhibition devoted to the reality and legends surrounding the ill-fated vessel, which was built on Belfast's historic Docklands.

The foodie scene in Belfast is also booming, with restaurants like the Michelin-starred Eipic, promoting farm-to-table ingredients, such as hand-crafted butter from Abernethy Butter in County Down, where they churn it the old-fashioned way.

Voilà!

You can see my teeth in it.

Joseph, voice-over: And free-range lamb... [Lambs bleating] raised on the grasslands of the Mourne Mountains by generational farmers like Alan and Heather Newell.

Do you eat lamb?

No.

I may never eat lamb again.

Ha ha ha!

Joseph, voice-over: At St. George's Market, which has served the Belfast community for more than 100 years, vendor stalls feature an array of homegrown products, as well as foods with a cultural heritage.

This is a Belfast Bap?

These are the famous Belfast Baps, yes.

Baps actually date back to 1804.

1804?

Whenever they were created for the famine.

So they were baked very hard on the outside...

Right.

And very soft on the inside.

Ah.

The reason-- because they stay fresher for longer.

So this is famine food.

Famine food.

Yep.

We do them on a hot griddle because back in the old days, it was easier to cook off a turf fire.

This is like the Northern Ireland traditional heritage food stall.

Exactly.

North and South.

And there we are, guys.

One filled Belfast Bap.

Now, that's a sandwich.

Good afternoon, sir.

Good afternoon.

How are you?

Good.

You are the local fishmonger, are you?

That's right.

Yeah.

That's the correct term, right?

That would be, yeah.

What do you have here that's from Northern Ireland?

The hake.

The hake.

You call it a hake?

Or haddock, as you call it.

The Irish sea cod.

The clue there would be the Irish in the name.

That nearly gives it away, doesn't it?

It pretty much does.

And the langoustines.

Langoustines.

The mussels.

How long have you guys been here in the market?

We've been here now 4 years.

Do you enjoy being here?

Certainly we do.

Yeah.

You meet--we meet loads of--just like yourself coming in here.

People from California?

Yeah.

Unfortunately, yeah.

Ha ha!

Ha ha ha!

Well, thanks for speaking to me, sir.

Not at all.

Have a good day.

Joseph, voice-over: At more than 1,500 miles, the Wild Atlantic Way is said to be the world's longest coastal touring route.

The winding road unites the northern and southern reaches of the Irish Republic and runs the length of the island's remote western edge, delivering wind and sea-sculpted landscapes, and offers unique natural and cultural adventures.

Woman: So we're just gonna go right over as far out as we can before the tide starts.

Joseph: It's just a beautiful setting here in Sligo.

So are we on time?

Did we miss anything?

We're just about in time to see this, Joseph.

Look at the big, big deep-water kelp.

That's fabulous.

How many varieties of seaweed do you have here in Ireland?

Over 600.

And right here in the vicinity?

Oh, we pick up maybe 24.

This is like nature's supermarket here.

It is.

So we'll take a little piece, and we can make some crisps out of it, or we can make soup.

Can you eat it raw?

You can.

Will I snip you a little bit?

No.

I'll take a bite.

You're gonna bite?

It's a little tough, but it's edible.

It's tough.

Yeah.

It's good.

But great flavor.

What else do we have down there underwater?

Well, we've got that beautiful little bit of sugar kelp.

Is it sweet?

It's sweet.

It has a beautiful mannitol, which dries on it-- a beautiful white sugar, and the children in the Hebrides used to call it sweeties.

So nature even gives you a little bit of candy here.

A little bit of sea candy.

That's a good name for it.

Would you like to taste a little bit?

I would.

Mmm.

It's sweeter.

It's completely different than the other one.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So far that's my favorite.

I can see one of my favorites over here, which is the iridescent tips of the true Chondrus crispus.

So this is the one that people talk about the world over-- Irish moss-- and you can see it there with its little blue tips... Oh, look at that!

yeah--catching the sunlight.

Beautiful.

Absolutely beautiful.

Now, what do you use this for?

Well, this one is for shifting a very bad cough.

Ah.

So for example, every Irish grandmother has a recipe, a medicinal recipe.

What--what happened to the blue tips?

Well, they're just in the water with the sunlight.

Once you harvest it, they're gone.

Ha ha ha!

It's like magic.

It is magic.

You know, I said earlier this is like nature's supermarket.

It's really nature's garden.

Nature's garden, and what a wonderful gift.

Joseph: I've got it.

Oh, look, Joseph!

Look.

Sea spaghetti.

Joseph: Ooh!

Prannie: Sea spaghetti.

This is worth looking at.

It looks like spaghetti.

Mmm.

That's delicious.

Yeah.

It's so good.

Whoo!

Whoo-hoo!

Ha ha!

That was beautiful.

What an experience.

This is wonderful!

Ha ha!

This is pretty magical.

There you go.

This is--this is a side of Ireland that not everybody gets to see.

No.

No, definitely, because you have to be here at the right time because this will be completely covered with water in a very short time.

And you've got to have a good guide.

Yeah.

Ha ha!

You've got to have a good guide to go shopping with you.

Thank you for lunch!

Oh, my pleasure.

And it's free, too.

Ha ha!

Joseph, voice-over: Ireland is a country of myths, legends, and stories and has a tradition of sharing them that goes back to, as they say, the mists of time.

So it's not surprising that Dublin is a UNESCO City of Literature and Ireland has 4 Nobel winners of literature.

The first was William Butler Yeats, who grew up in County Sligo on Ireland's Wild Atlantic Way.

His Land of Heart's Desire shaped him, and his genius as a writer of prose, poetry, and plays is widely celebrated.

Yeats memorials, festivals, and events abound.

At Damien Brennan's Yeats Experience, the author's life and work is complemented by County Sligo's stunning landscape, down-home Irish cooking, and a gathering that's good craic-- a good time.

As they say, there are no strangers here-- only friends you haven't yet met.

Sláinte!

All: Sláinte!

Oh, look at that.

That's amazing.

Now, um, what inspired you to do this Yeats Experience?

Well, you can see the view, and I grew up with that view, and if you fell upon Yeats and you knew his words and then you knew this landscape, where we had 4 of the very first poems written in this landscape, sure, it was kind of a no-brainer.

How many people have you given a chance to experience Yeats?

Well, we've been doing this since 2012.

5,000 people, maybe.

So you've been able to exercise your passion for Yeats, your passion for food, and your passion for this beautiful County Sligo... landscape that I'm so proud of and so--so close to.

Woman: You all got so quiet.

I think the food must be terrific.

Joseph: Ha ha ha!

"I will arise and go now, "and go to Innisfree, "and a small cabin build there, "of clay and wattles made, "Nine bean-rows will I have there, "a hive for the honeybee, "And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

"And I shall have some peace there, "for peace comes dropping slow.

"Dropping from the veils of the morning "to where the cricket sings; "There midnight's all a glimmer, "and noon a purple glow, "And evening full of the linnet's wings.

"I will arise and go now, "for always night and day "I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore; "While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey, I hear it in the deep heart's core."

Thank you for joining me on my Irish adventure.

Ireland.

From end to end, it is filled with wonders.

From Dublin to the Ancient East, from Belfast to the Wild Atlantic Way, from stately homes to historic castles, there is always something to please and surprise you.

Ireland--two countries, one people who, in spite of struggles and troubles, have a joy of life which proves that the human spirit knows no borders or boundaries.

For wherever you go, one thing is constant: a warmhearted Irish welcome.

Author James Joyce said it best: "I feel more strongly with every recurring year "that our country has no tradition "which does it so much honor "and which it should guard so jealously as its hospitality."

North or south, east or west, wherever you are in Ireland, it's the best.

Until next time, this is Joseph Rosendo, reminding you of the words of Mark Twain: "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness."

Happy traveling!

Announcer: "Joseph Rosendo's Travelscope" is made possible by... Emerald Waterways.

It's been said that if experience is the best teacher, then travel is the best experience.

River cruising seeks to immerse travelers deep within a culture while moving gently through it.

With Emerald Plus, in-depth cultural experiences are included on every European cruise.

Emerald Waterways.

And No-Jet-Lag, jet lag prevention.

For a DVD of today's show or any of Joseph's "Travelscope" adventures, call 888-876-3399 or order online at Travelscope.net.

You can also email us at TV@Travelscope.net or write us at the address on your screen.

Joseph: Now that we've traveled Ireland together, learn more at Travelscope.net, where you can follow my worldwide adventures through my eMagazine, blog, podcast, and on Facebook.

Stay in touch.

888-876-3399 or TV@Travelscope.net.

Just so you know it's a real stone.

Oh, I never doubted you, Alan.

It's a real stone.

Here.

You can have it back.

But thank you so much.

[Traditional music playing] Ahh.