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Published: June 22nd 2006
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The Baron and Baroness at Galway Bay
Thanks to Alfie for suggesting and taking this photo! Today is my birthday, but it seems that my husband is not going to do anything to acknowledge that until we reach our destination for today. :-( I think I irritated him by starting off late this morning - I stayed up late last night writing in my travel journal (the kind made of paper, bound in leather - remember those?), so I slept later than usual. By the time I got showered and dressed and we went downstairs, we had missed breakfast. Meanwhile, we did have a tea tray in the room, so Tim had at least had a nice cuppa, which is more than I had. Do I sound whiny and spoiled yet? Well what do you expect from someone who calls herself Baroness?
So we hit the road on an empty stomach. God forbid we should stop first in Tralee and have a leisurely breakfast. This
is our vacation, after all, isn't it? But noooo - the Baron was in a hurry to get on the road. I do have to admit that we had made plans to meet our friend Alfie in the early afternoon, so I understand Tim's focus on making good time. But I
Happy Birthday to Me!
After dinner, no one else was going to have dessert, but I told the waitress that it was my birthday so naturally I thought I should have a treat. I ordered cheesecake, and she was kind enough to serve it with a candle. And not just any candle - this was one of those sparkler kinds that is nearly impossible to blow out. Everyone sang "Happy Birthday" and it was a great end to the evening. also understand that the Irish are generally not as wrapped up with keeping a precise schedule as we tend to be. When we talked to Alfie by telephone, he initially suggested that we meet at 1:00 PM, then as we continued to talk, he said 2:00 then 3:00. I thought perhaps he was worried about getting off from his own job early enough to meet us. Plus, we had told him our starting point, and Alfie had a good idea how long the drive would be. So I think I was counting on Alfie to be understanding since he had not seemed to be trying to rush us, and Tim was trying to be considerate of Alfie's time. I was definitely more concerned about enjoying my birthday than Tim was.
We drove to Tarbert and took the ferry across the Shannon. Our friend Eammon from the University of Limerick had told us that the short ferry trip would cut an hour or more off our driving time. The ferry ride was pleasant, though we were amused to find that French people can be just as irritating when they talk incessantly on their cell phones as Americans can be. When we arrived on the other side, we started looking for a place to eat. I can’t remember where we ended up, so either it was not very impressive, or my brain was not firing on all cylinders because of the lack of breakfast. I actually
do remember the restaurant, as I was disappointed by the menu, especially so because I was thinking "This isn't much of a birthday celebration." Maybe it was the fact that I had only potatoes, carrots, and bread for lunch that has caused me to block out the name of the restaurant and even the town it was in. Tim, meanwhile, was quite pleased with his meal and with the ubiquitous pint of Guinness he enjoyed with it. Needless to say, my hopes for having a great birthday were not very strong at this point.
Finally we made it to Athenry, home of our friends (and possibly distant relation through the Taaffe family) Kitty and Alfie Deehan. They are delightful people! A few years ago, Tim put the Taff family tree online; Alfie found it and contacted Tim. They began an e-mail correspondence, and when we planned our trip to Ireland in 2003, we made plans to meet Alfie. We did, but Kitty was working and unable to join us, so on this trip, we were especially glad to meet Kitty, and we were also delighted to meet their daughter Caroline.
Since we arrived mid-afternoon and Kitty was not yet home from work, Alfie took us on a drive around Galway Bay. We were amazed by all the new construction since our last visit. The economy seems to be booming all over Ireland. Once Kitty made it home, the four of us went to a newly opened hotel in Athenry for drinks and then dinner. The bartender, whose name I’m sorry to say I’ve forgotten, was charming, and Alfie told us that he had won the all-Ireland competition for making the best Irish coffee. And indeed it was delicious - smooth and not the least bit bitter as sometimes happens, with just the right amount of real cream. Mmmmm, I’m licking my lips just remembering. Dinner was delicious, and of course it was made even better by the great company.
Driving back to Kitty and Alfie’s home, we stopped to pick up Caroline, and she was gracious enough to give us a quick tour of her new home, which is practically around the corner from her parents’ home. Then it was back to the Deehans’ home for the night. So after a rocky start, my birthday ended quite well, thank you very much!
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