It's a beautiful country, Ireland.
What a fantastic trip! I've just got back and I can't wait to return...
While I was there, I kept a running journal on the PDA and I'll use it here. I did go over what I wrote each day and polished it up a bit. I'll be posting it in installments and adding pics from the over 400 that I took. So here it goes...
Day One. Monday/Tuesday.
After spending around five hours alternately dawdling and packing, last night, and another hour packing this morning, I finally finished and dashed next door to tell Robert that I was ready to go to the aiprort. We stopped on the way at Walgreen's so I could purchase a battery operated beard trimmer. I had carefully let my rechargable one run all the way down last night before putting it in the recharging stand, so it would have a full charge that would hopefully last me the entire trip. Unfortunately, I had neglected to push the switch to off, the recharging position, and the unit was dead this morning. The battery operated one seems sturdy enough and was only 10 bucks plus batteries; hopefully it will do the trick.
The flight to Boston (AA/S80) was a direct flight; so much less travel time than before! Arrived in BOS a few minutes early and picked up my luggage almost immediately, something close to a miracle!I found the correct shuttle and made it over to the International terrminal in about 30 minutes, where I met Jared! Yea, finally! We got in line to check in at Aerlingus, finished that business and got through customs with no trouble. Had a bite to eat and then went to the gate. The plane was late getting in, so we boarded late, and as I sit here now, we just found out that they are beginning to de-ice the plane, which wasn't supposed to happen for 45 minutes or so. Don't know if we'll make our connection in Shannon to Dublin, but I'm sure they'll get us there. //
We'll be landing in Shannon in about twenty minutes, it's now 7:15 AM local time. I suppose that I had about an hour of sleep total; Jared and I are sitting in center seats. While there's plenty of legroom on this plane (A330-300 w/ 2-4-2 seating) the seats are way too small for me, not enough leg support, so I never really got comfortable enough to sleep for long. Still, I can't complain. And I feel fine for now... We'll see what happens later, haha!//
We got to Shannon in time to make connections, customs no problem; flight to Dublin was about 30 minutes. Took quite a while to get the luggage. We went to pick up the rental car, and found out that the quote did not include any kind of insurance at all and that insurance would more than double the cost of the car! Oh well, its only money, yuk, yuk. After going to the lot a getting the car, it was time for Jared to get behind the wheel! He did an admirable job of getting us to Belinda's.
We had tea and then a nap, and then to dinner at Uli and Joan's house and then to bed.
Day Two. Wednesday.
I had a reasonably good nights sleep, I woke up twice, guessed what time it was, and I was correct both times, which means that I have adjusted to the local time quite well. Jared didn't sleep as well, he said, but he was ready to go. We had breakfast and went out to catch the bus downtown.
We wandered about stopping in here and there in the shops. We went through an exhibit called Dublinia that showed the history of Dublin and went to Christchurch cathedral, which was interesting enough, then had a cup of soup and some coffee. We met Belinda at 4 PM in front of Trinity College and did some more exploring, with Belinda pointing out places that we would want to see the next day, and then we had dinner at an Asian place called Mao's. Modern decor with Warhol prints of Mao and Marilyn on the walls, very nice, and very good food. I had a Five Spice Chicken with crispy noodles, nicely balanced, very good. Belinda had fried rice with shrimp and chicken and chilies and Jared had a chicken dish, all very good. We had desserts that were O.K. Then some coffees and then walked a bit, then headed back to Belinda's on the bus. We checked e-mail and sat talking until about eleven, then went to bed. I stayed up reading for an hour; I had been fading a bit around dinnertime, but perversely was not tired at midnight. Did finally get to sleep.
Day Three. Thursday.
Woke up about 9 AM, with the wind whistling in the chimneys. Went downstairs and stepped outside and it was really cold and windy. It was definitely a day for more indoor pursuits. We showered and had breakfast, then spend a bit of time planning the next few days on the road, including making calls to the four cheese makers Got Tuesday set up, Louis Grupp in the morning and Mary Burns of Ardrahan Farms in Kanturk in the afternoon. I'll get through to the other two tomorrow to set up Monday visits. (The order of the visits on Tuesday changed later after we realized how far we were driving�)
Then into town; we took one of the bus tours in order to stay out of the weather. Saw this lovely woman, picturesque, isn't she?
You can get on and off of the bus, we got off at the Guinness Brewery, the St. James Gate Brewery, the first and oldest...
...and took the tour which was really very good, had lunch there at the cafe and had a free pint of Guinness at the Gravity Bar seven stories up, 360 glass walls with a great view. (People say they can taste the difference in a pint that is not brewed at this venerable brewery started in the 18th century. All I can say is that it tasted fine right there where it all started.)
We finished the tour bus ride, this time with a very eccentric individual driving the bus and muttering to himself, and also us over his microphone about the traffic and anything else that came to mind...("I supoose will be getting back SOMETIME today..as soon as the lovely traffic dies dune!") and then did a little walking and shopping right around Trinity College, but it was bitterly cold and wet, so we decided to head back.
We came back to Belinda's, stopping at SuperQuinn for some pasta and cheese first. and had a bit to eat. (The three cheeses that we had were all a lait cru and all under 60 days, yea! There was a fresh goat cheese, a Cooleeeny Camembert and French raw milk Brie.)
We had intended to go back downtown to see some nightlife later and stop at one or two of the gay pubs, but it was really cold with freezing rain. We'll try to do that when we return on Thursday.
Tomorrow, we head across the country and to the south. //
Day Four. Friday.
We got up about 8:30 and had breakfast and talked with Belinda, who had the day off. We got packed and got on the road about 11:30. We drove across the country and south. Stopped in a little town called Adare for lunch and a bit of shopping. Jared found a traditional music store and we got some stamps at the post office. All very quaint and charming.
There always seems to be a fabulous sunset in Irleland.
We drove on through Limerick and then on to Tralee, where we thought we might stay for the night at a hostel, but it was full and the town was crowded, so we headed on to the Dingle Penisula and the town of Dingle, where we stayed at The Rainbow Hostel. Tomorrow we will explore the peninsula.
The visuals get really interesting from here!
....more in the next installment. There's over 400 pictures, and a lot of story... and cheese!
durlx
What a fantastic trip! I've just got back and I can't wait to return...
While I was there, I kept a running journal on the PDA and I'll use it here. I did go over what I wrote each day and polished it up a bit. I'll be posting it in installments and adding pics from the over 400 that I took. So here it goes...
Day One. Monday/Tuesday.
After spending around five hours alternately dawdling and packing, last night, and another hour packing this morning, I finally finished and dashed next door to tell Robert that I was ready to go to the aiprort. We stopped on the way at Walgreen's so I could purchase a battery operated beard trimmer. I had carefully let my rechargable one run all the way down last night before putting it in the recharging stand, so it would have a full charge that would hopefully last me the entire trip. Unfortunately, I had neglected to push the switch to off, the recharging position, and the unit was dead this morning. The battery operated one seems sturdy enough and was only 10 bucks plus batteries; hopefully it will do the trick.
The flight to Boston (AA/S80) was a direct flight; so much less travel time than before! Arrived in BOS a few minutes early and picked up my luggage almost immediately, something close to a miracle!I found the correct shuttle and made it over to the International terrminal in about 30 minutes, where I met Jared! Yea, finally! We got in line to check in at Aerlingus, finished that business and got through customs with no trouble. Had a bite to eat and then went to the gate. The plane was late getting in, so we boarded late, and as I sit here now, we just found out that they are beginning to de-ice the plane, which wasn't supposed to happen for 45 minutes or so. Don't know if we'll make our connection in Shannon to Dublin, but I'm sure they'll get us there. //
We'll be landing in Shannon in about twenty minutes, it's now 7:15 AM local time. I suppose that I had about an hour of sleep total; Jared and I are sitting in center seats. While there's plenty of legroom on this plane (A330-300 w/ 2-4-2 seating) the seats are way too small for me, not enough leg support, so I never really got comfortable enough to sleep for long. Still, I can't complain. And I feel fine for now... We'll see what happens later, haha!//
We got to Shannon in time to make connections, customs no problem; flight to Dublin was about 30 minutes. Took quite a while to get the luggage. We went to pick up the rental car, and found out that the quote did not include any kind of insurance at all and that insurance would more than double the cost of the car! Oh well, its only money, yuk, yuk. After going to the lot a getting the car, it was time for Jared to get behind the wheel! He did an admirable job of getting us to Belinda's.
We had tea and then a nap, and then to dinner at Uli and Joan's house and then to bed.
Day Two. Wednesday.
I had a reasonably good nights sleep, I woke up twice, guessed what time it was, and I was correct both times, which means that I have adjusted to the local time quite well. Jared didn't sleep as well, he said, but he was ready to go. We had breakfast and went out to catch the bus downtown.
We wandered about stopping in here and there in the shops. We went through an exhibit called Dublinia that showed the history of Dublin and went to Christchurch cathedral, which was interesting enough, then had a cup of soup and some coffee. We met Belinda at 4 PM in front of Trinity College and did some more exploring, with Belinda pointing out places that we would want to see the next day, and then we had dinner at an Asian place called Mao's. Modern decor with Warhol prints of Mao and Marilyn on the walls, very nice, and very good food. I had a Five Spice Chicken with crispy noodles, nicely balanced, very good. Belinda had fried rice with shrimp and chicken and chilies and Jared had a chicken dish, all very good. We had desserts that were O.K. Then some coffees and then walked a bit, then headed back to Belinda's on the bus. We checked e-mail and sat talking until about eleven, then went to bed. I stayed up reading for an hour; I had been fading a bit around dinnertime, but perversely was not tired at midnight. Did finally get to sleep.
Day Three. Thursday.
Woke up about 9 AM, with the wind whistling in the chimneys. Went downstairs and stepped outside and it was really cold and windy. It was definitely a day for more indoor pursuits. We showered and had breakfast, then spend a bit of time planning the next few days on the road, including making calls to the four cheese makers Got Tuesday set up, Louis Grupp in the morning and Mary Burns of Ardrahan Farms in Kanturk in the afternoon. I'll get through to the other two tomorrow to set up Monday visits. (The order of the visits on Tuesday changed later after we realized how far we were driving�)
Then into town; we took one of the bus tours in order to stay out of the weather. Saw this lovely woman, picturesque, isn't she?
You can get on and off of the bus, we got off at the Guinness Brewery, the St. James Gate Brewery, the first and oldest...
...and took the tour which was really very good, had lunch there at the cafe and had a free pint of Guinness at the Gravity Bar seven stories up, 360 glass walls with a great view. (People say they can taste the difference in a pint that is not brewed at this venerable brewery started in the 18th century. All I can say is that it tasted fine right there where it all started.)
We finished the tour bus ride, this time with a very eccentric individual driving the bus and muttering to himself, and also us over his microphone about the traffic and anything else that came to mind...("I supoose will be getting back SOMETIME today..as soon as the lovely traffic dies dune!") and then did a little walking and shopping right around Trinity College, but it was bitterly cold and wet, so we decided to head back.
We came back to Belinda's, stopping at SuperQuinn for some pasta and cheese first. and had a bit to eat. (The three cheeses that we had were all a lait cru and all under 60 days, yea! There was a fresh goat cheese, a Cooleeeny Camembert and French raw milk Brie.)
We had intended to go back downtown to see some nightlife later and stop at one or two of the gay pubs, but it was really cold with freezing rain. We'll try to do that when we return on Thursday.
Tomorrow, we head across the country and to the south. //
Day Four. Friday.
We got up about 8:30 and had breakfast and talked with Belinda, who had the day off. We got packed and got on the road about 11:30. We drove across the country and south. Stopped in a little town called Adare for lunch and a bit of shopping. Jared found a traditional music store and we got some stamps at the post office. All very quaint and charming.
There always seems to be a fabulous sunset in Irleland.
We drove on through Limerick and then on to Tralee, where we thought we might stay for the night at a hostel, but it was full and the town was crowded, so we headed on to the Dingle Penisula and the town of Dingle, where we stayed at The Rainbow Hostel. Tomorrow we will explore the peninsula.
The visuals get really interesting from here!
....more in the next installment. There's over 400 pictures, and a lot of story... and cheese!
durlx
posted by durlx at 3/23/2004 12:17:00 AM
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