TOUR JOURNAL
Journey to Ireland, alternately titled, “what the hell was I thinking..."
Kahului, Maui => Los Angeles, California (5 hour flight + 3 hour layover) => Toronto, Canada (4.5 hours plus 2.5 hour layover) => London, England (7 hours + 4 hour layover and delay) => Dublin, Ireland (1 hour). 27 fuckin’ hours later, FINALLY IN IRELAND. Passport troubles IN MAUI, herded like cattle in Toronto, bags checked thru London, but people who OWN BAGS only checked through Toronto (Kahului airport sucks), and then delayed in London. Two nights and 1.5 days on various planes and in airports. Got about 3 hours of sleep total. Tired as hell. Passing out wherever possible. Vacation starting out great.
DAY 1: FLYING INTO DUBLIN, ORIENTATION TOUR
First impression: THAT’S IT?! It looks just like a big Molokai. Or upcountry Maui. And what’s up with the 40 shades of green, it’s the SAME green as back home. Surely it gets better once we see castles…
Cosmos bus orientation tour (driver:Mickey; guide: Henry)
Barely awake. Tanya and Missy passing out repeatedly. Bus going in circles, getting slightly dizzy, can’t keep up with what tour guide is saying, possibly because we JUST LANDED 2 hours ago. Bus is bouncy. People have pretty accents. Think we’ve been around the block 4 times now. Feel a headache coming on. Getting mad at Ireland and pretty accents. Keep passing out and hitting head on seat in front of me. Getting mad at the bus. Need about 12 hours of sleep…
Got off bus and went into Natural History Museum (after getting slightly lost first). Nobody happy, but Tanya on slight archaeological high from old, dead, stuffed stuff in Museum. Chris taking photos of non-existent birds. Am fascinated by big ass Irish deer. Definitely need sleep.
Hotel for night 1 in Ireland: Regency Hotel Dublin, which contains the SMALLEST LIFT (ELEVATOR) EVER. Meant for hobbits. Can fit two people in elevator at a time. Seriously. But dinner at hotel pub was awesome, so made up for the elevators…now having problems turning on hot water in showers…in smallest bathroom I’ve ever seen. Would be funny only too tired to laugh or take photos. FAIL.
DAY 2: COUNTY MEATH, SLIGO
Hotel in Sligo: Best Western. Actually pretty nice. Bigger bathrooms. Still having trouble with the shower, tho. Got 11 hours of sleep, despite Chris’ snoring. Feel much better. Had full Irish breakfast at hotel. (Irish breakfast = bacon, eggs, toast, white and black pudding (sausages), canned fruit, hot drinks, cold cereals, and sometimes oatmeal or porridge.) Don’t like the oat bread or “black pudding”, but everything else good. First stop on bus tour: Hill of Tara for photo ops and snacks/souvenirs. Had a good walk around hills (burial mounds). Tanya fascinated by hills. New boots are awesome. Love the little gift shops, bought cute Celtic design leather hair clip for myself. Everybody else gets postcards. This also begins our first days quest through Ireland in search of non-sodium water. (I think 6 grams is the least amount of sodium we could find per bottled water. 45 was the most. Seriously. Be aware of the salt water if you go...)
Second stop: photo ops of Trim Castle (can’t get to it, photos taken across the bridge). Third stop: Carrick-on-Shannon. Stopped at Cistercian abbey ruins for photos from across the street - site under construction (can’t get to that, either. wondering if we'll be able to get to anything) Still cool, tho.Walked around Sligo with Tanya for a bit. Didn’t see much. Was later told by other tour members that we didn’t walk far enough down the road to see/take guided tour of abbey. Damn it. Fail again. Dinner decent, loved the pudding dessert. Chris’ weird ass friend insisted on sitting with us. Lisa is hilarious. Everybody passed out early.
DAY 3: NORTHERN IRELAND (LONDONDERRY), DONEGAL
Got about 4 hours of sleep. Sweet. Headed to Northern Ireland to visit Belleek Pottery Museum. Beautiful building and surrounding area. Took photos. Didn’t buy pretty Irish pottery. Drive is nice. Photo stop at Grianan Ailliagh (old ass citadel) and view from top tier of stone fortress AMAZING.
Walking tour with Ronan in Londonderry both informative and hilarious. LOVED. Also got to witness march of the Orangemen (I think. Either that or the Apprentice Boys. It was hard to hear our tour guide sometimes, and I was only half paying attention…it’s that whole Protestant/Catholic turmoil that’s still going on, apparently. Strange and sad at the same time). Something which in the past would have been rather violent, was calm and uneventful. (Note: the very next day there was a bombing in Londonderry by the IRA right outside the Ulster National Bank. No one was hurt, but several business were damaged, including the bank. So much for peaceful)
Donegal was pretty cool, wish we had more time. Weather held up. Props to the Big Guy. Still don’t see the “40 shades of green”, but countryside is pretty, nonetheless. Never seen so many sheep in my life. Also lots of pretty, short Irish horses. Still no castle stop.Food at the Best Western okay. Lobby bathrooms scaled for wee folk. Getting tired of “full Irish breakfast” every day. Can only eat so much eggs and bacon. Starting to hate tomatoes, but loving tea with milk. Soda sucks here, but Guinness is AWESOME in Ireland. Hearing lots of traditional Irish music, heard 3 versions of “Danny Boy” on the bus. Pretty. Enjoying Henry’s commentary and jokes. And history lessons…when awake long enough to hear it. Group power nap ensues at hotel. CLASSIC.
NOTES (alternately titled: random crap I don’t understand about Ireland or Europe in general)
* Roundabouts
* Smallness of bathrooms
* Old American standards being played in hotel lobbys instead of Irish music
* Toilets and flushing
* Showers and TURNING IT ON
* Hobbit sized elevators
* Double yellow lines on the SIDE of the roads
* Parking ON the sidewalks
* Parking in ANY direction in stall
* Hot water and TURNING IT ON
DAY 4: KNOCK, GALWAY, ENNIS
Officially tired of full Irish breakfast. Had 3.5 hours of sleep. Awesome. Naps will be had on the bus by all. More sheep with colored dots. Figured out it’s because you can’t brand wool. And apparently the color of the dot on sheep is the color of the future sweater. Sweet. Passed thru Knock with stop for photo ops. Strange area for tour to stop, Tanya calling it “religious Disneyland”. Appropriate name for place with Virgin Mary postcards and prayer candle/holy water kiosks. Slightly disturbing. Did use fonts in square, tho. Felt bad about wasting holy water. Tanya crossed herself even tho she’s Protestant. Sprinkled some on flowers. Bus still bouncy. Tanya missing out on a lot of the countryside, as she falls asleep as soon as the bouncy bus starts moving. Missy taking inappropriate amounts of photos of sleeping Tanya. Nickname is now officially "Japanese tourist". Harsh. (but still slightly funny. Good thing Missy doesn't have a facebook account...)
Galway very pretty. Again, wish we had more time there instead of at Knock. Had shepherd’s pie for lunch. Not impressed. Neither was Tanya with her lamb stew. Will try again. Still don’t understand the Lilliputian toilets. Looking forward to The Burren and the Cliffs of Moher…
Cliffs of Moher pretty damn impressive. Wished we could have taken cool photos ON the limestone plateau (The Burren). A bit rushed today, but still good. Medieval banquet at Bunratty Castle pretty awesome. LOVED the fiddler and the harpist, glad to have been able to hear them play beautiful, traditional Irish music. Singers have gorgeous voices - tried not to cry when they sang Danny Boy. Finally understand the song. Very sad, but very beautiful when played and sang just right. Back to hotel…Auburn Lodge somewhat sketchy, but we’re only there for one night, so is okay. So tired again today almost mad. No pub again, need sleep.
DAY 5: COUNTY CORK, KERRY, KILLARNEY, RING OF KERRY
9 hours of sleep later, am much better. Stopped in Adare, strolled through park, went to visitor centre and got cards with the “Kelly” name on them from the Heritage Center. Don’t know much about our family’s Irish heritage (not very good records kept back then), but know that was our Irish predecessors’ surname.
Stopped at Red Fox Inn for Bailey’s coffee….with real whipped cream. SO FRICKIN’ GOOD we want to stay. Perfect drink, as it’s raining outside. Tanya ran thru village to take pictures of Irish ponies and big doggie, anyway. Super windy. Umbrella useless at this point. Stayed inside and drank yummy Bailey’s coffee with Chris and Missy and bought little souvenirs instead.
Ring of Kerry drive would have been amazing if we could have seen it. Weather fail. Chris still has all 10 emergency ponchos on hand, since we’re not outside where he can use it. Weather typical for Ireland. Ring of Kerry drive disappointing, as we can’t see much of it due to fog and rain. Very few photo ops. Cleared up enough to see The Burren (limestone plateau, though - very cool looking) Tanya passed out again. More photo taking ensued. Still no poncho for Chris.Checked into hotel while Missy and Tanya visited Muckross House, which apparently is beautiful. Voice chatted with cousin Paul in Greece. Beating us in photo upload. Crap. Had pint of Guinness and French fries in hotel pub with Chris (pre-dinner snack), then dinner and bed. Tired AGAIN.
DAY 6: KILLARNEY, DINGLE PENNINSULA
Day 6 ROCKED. Slept good the night before, rained a bit in the morning on the ride, but the scenery around the Dingle Peninsula was gorgeous. Paid to have pancakes for breakfast instead of free traditional Irish breakfast at hotel. Worth every penny. Took jaunting car (horse draw cart) ride around part of Killarney town into park and Ross Castle while sitting next to cute Irish driver named Mark. View and ride were awesome. Driver even more so. Slightly wet and cold from rain, can’t feel face, don’t care…still sitting next to cute Irish driver with pretty Irish lilt. LOVE.Chris finally got to wear emergency poncho. Only took him 15 minutes to get it on. Still got wet. Hard to decide if win or fail.
Cute Irish driver also making comments about the Irish bamboo, which is the favorite food of the "elusive Irish Panda". You can't see him because he's green and blends right in. Did I say love? LOVE.
Ride around Dingle Peninsula pretty and very similar to the drive around Kahakuloa…just with powerful waves and dangerous beaches. Bought Irish pennywhistle….will drive friends crazy with it later.
Liam O’Connor show at Avenue Hotel pretty good. Musicians awesome. Note: Liam O'Connor (accordion, pennywhistle and piano player extraordinaire) holds the Guinness Book of World Record for the "fastest fingers in the world" - 11.2 notes per second on the accordion. Now THAT'S fast!
Also? Step dancers fascinating! (real Irish step dancing IN Ireland = HUGE WIN for De!) Cute male step-dancer also named Mark. Is official - love any Irish boy named Mark.
Raining again. But at least weather held out for Blarney Castle and town visit. Got nice souvenirs, had BEST lunch at the Mills Restaurant for 9 euro. Blarney Castle very cool, took tons of photos, walked up to the top to see Blarney stone. DID NOT kiss stone. Eww. But saw someone else do it. Stairs and stairwell also hobbit sized. Murder hole = awesome defense. Had more Bailey’s coffee. Am addicted. No time to visit Druidic settlement ruins or witches’ stone on castle grounds, which would have been worth the journey itself. Sight-seeing fail. But castle win, so even score.
Waterford Crystal Factory not that impressive but certain pieces beautiful, like Cinderella’s coach for 40,000 euro. Not taking that one home. Would have preferred more time in Blarney, instead.
DAY 8: GLENLADOUGH, AVOCA, DUBLIN
Avoca Weaving Mill was pretty cool - so much work goes into making just one scarf! I now know why it costs what it does…beautiful stuff. The monastery ruins (St. Kevin) in Glenladough was nice - half standing churches and old graveyards plus a round tower, which apparently is only found in Ireland, with the exception of 3 or so in Scotland. Got lots of pictures of Celtic crosses, old stones and sheep. Drive into and around the “better” part of Dublin pretty. Jury’s Inn hotel perfect location for walking the city - right across the footbridge over the river. Small but nice. Not much doing today, but a good relaxing pace. Guinness Storehouse private tour and supper was wonderful. Guinness stew awesome. Nowhere else makes Guinness like its homeland of Ireland. Attempted to do Oktoberfest right next to the hotel with Chris. Not impressive. Cold as hell, too. Left early with Chris, who was too unimpressed and broke to stay…also too full to drink. Slightly mad at beer. Not affecting Lisa, Tanya and Missy who stayed to drink more.
DAY 9: DUBLIN ON OUR OWN
Saw Trinity College - the Book of Kells exhibit and the Long Room (library). Lots of old books and maps! (can't take pictures inside, of course). Worth the price of admission. Skipped Dublin Castle, but walked around the Famine Monument….sad but important to see. Did a quick geo cache trip with Chris to the monument to look up info I later realized I already HAD, as I took photos of the plaque he needed. whoops. Also realized we missed seeing the National Museum. crap.
Loved the Irish music, entertainment, friendly people, and beautiful little towns like Killarney. Am not entirely sad to be leaving Ireland as a whole, but will sort of miss the big tour group, the funny driver (Mick), and Henry and his soothing, lovely Irish lilt as he told us about the history of the people and places we visited.
1 comment:
ahhhhh, i LOVED the recap! your list of stuff you don't get was hilarious! i don't get roundabouts, small bathrooms or parking on the sidewalks either! LOL
Post a Comment