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Day 11 - Travel to US

Published: June 18th 2013Europe » Ireland » County Clare » Shannon
Summer on Ice icon
Summer on Ice
June 18th 2013

Well today started with a rude wake-up. Kirsten went to turn off her alarm and glanced at her e-mail. There were 3 notices saying our United flight to Chicago was CANCELLED!!! Yes lovely. She quickly got on the phone to United who told her we were all rebooked for the next day. Obviously this was not acceptable. 45 min later we were rebooked on US Air with connections in Philadelphia and Phoenix. Not the quickest route home but still get home today. We arrived at the airport with no problems (a first for our driving). As suspected when we got there the line to United customer services was HUGE (hundreds) with 1 person helping them. Most would miss any option for another flight as they would still be in line. Thank goodness we could go to ... read more




Summer on Ice icon
Summer on Ice
June 17th 2013

Today was our last full day in Ireland. We spent it driving around a lot, again. Kirsten is doing a great job driving on these “death roads” as we like to call the street from our lodging to the main road. One wouldn’t think 2 cars could pass each other on these winding S curves in the roads that have about a 10 foot flush green hedges and walls on both sides of the road. Today’s journey took us west and a little north. We were headed to the Cliffs of Moher. We drove straight across from our Irish home to Ennis and then we headed north along the coast to the cliffs. We actually did well with directions to the cliffs. The numbers, not names, of the roads are very confusing, and there were a ... read more




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Summer on Ice
June 16th 2013

We had another early start for sight-seeing today. We went to see some Abbeys, Castles and the city of Galeway. The main issue is getting anywhere. Judy tells Kirsten what she wants to see and then Kirsten has to try and figure out how to get there and if we have the time to fit everything in. It gets interesting. First stop was Quinn Abbey, a century or two old Abbey with a cemetery inside and outside the Abbey. We toured the grounds and it had very scenic surroundings. Judy was climbing all over and into it. There was no one there to tell you couldn’t so she did. Including hopping a fence. After the Abby we were on our way to Galway. While driving we saw a castle or abbey and decide to stop and ... read more




Summer on Ice icon
Summer on Ice
June 15th 2013

Our first full day in Ireland started with a bang, a cold one. Judy was the only one who got a warm shower, Chester got the second shower and it went cold about 4 minutes in. Gene and Kirsten had nothing and did not like it. This was not good start for the driver of the trip. We got over the cold showers and headed for the day’s activities. Kirsten did a great job yesterday driving from the airport to our lodging and this is quite a feat since the roads are crazy narrow and sometimes they are not even wide enough for two cars to pass each other. It gets a little scary coming around blind turns. Gene rode shot gun and as everyone knows, if you are shot gun, you are the navigator and ... read more




Ireland Day 11

Published: June 19th 2013Europe » Ireland » County Donegal » Donegal
Lizzy77 icon
Lizzy77
June 15th 2013

Hello!Today we left Sligo and headed for Donegal. When we got to Donegal we had a walking tour. We learned about the history of the town. That was pretty interesting. It was a fairly small town. The tour did not take long. We saw a couple of churches, a castle, and an old school. The school had one class downstairs and the teacher lived upstairs. When the tour was over we went to the castle and looked around. That was cool. It was small, so it didn't take long to go through it. After the castle we went to lunch and then shopped for a little bit before we had to go to our next place. We went to these beautiful cliffs called Slieve League Cliffs. The walk up to the cliffs was brutal but the ... read more




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Summer on Ice icon
Summer on Ice
June 14th 2013

Today started with a 4AM wake-up. The Guesthouse owner was supposed to leave us some sandwiches for breakfast in the fridge but they weren’t there. So we made ourselves at home and made our own breakfast. Let’s just say we were not that quiet and when she got up to see what was going on, she was not happy. She had made our breakfast, but left it in our fridge, not the one in the kitchen. Oops. She’ll get over it. But the sandwiches did come in handy for lunch. We had a 5 AM pickup with a 45 minute drive to the airport. We checked in with no problem in about 10 minutes and as predicted, we had 90 minutes to spare before our flight departed. This drives Kirsten nuts. That is another 60 minutes ... read more




Ireland Day 10

Published: June 19th 2013Europe » Ireland » County Sligo » Sligo
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Lizzy77
June 14th 2013

Hello! Today was a travel day. We left Galway this morning and headed to Sligo. We made one stop and that was at Kylemore Abbey. We got to see the Abbey, the Gothic church, and the garden. It was pretty cool. The Benedictine Nuns purchased the Abbey after Mr. Kylemore passed away and no one else wanted to maintain the grounds. They turned it into a boarding school. The school remained open until 2010 when they had to shut down due to structural reasons. In 1994 they began restoring the garden. They finished restoring it in 1999. It is gorgeous! After the garden we went to the Gothic church. There was suppose to be a choir but they did not show up. We waited for a little bit, then we went to the gift shop and ... read more




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roamingfox
June 13th 2013

Days 10, 11 & 12 After we stayed overnight in Galway, it was decided that in order to fit in as many sights as possible before we had to get back to Dublin to drop Dale off at the airport for her flight, we would skip seeing the Cliffs of Moher, as it would take us a while to drive there and back and see as much as we were planning to. Onward march to Limerick where we stopped for a quick look and some tea. The castle was being renovated so we couldn't go inside but we admired the lovely bridge and scattered with plants growing out of it, it looked quite beautiful - an effect a landscape designer tries to recreate often in a garden and here it is growing naturally! Then we headed ... read more




Ireland Day 9

Published: June 13th 2013Europe » Ireland » County Galway » Galway
Lizzy77 icon
Lizzy77
June 13th 2013

Hi again! Today was a fun day! We had a lecture on abortion this morning and it was very interesting. Ireland is very strict when it comes to abortions. It is illegal to have an abortion unless the mother's life is in danger medically or she is at risk off suicide. This bill was just past. There has been a lot of controversy when it comes to abortion. Many women go to the UK to have an abortion if they want to have one. One of the main cases dealing with abortion in Ireland was the X case. This case involved a 14 year old girl who was raped and her parents took her to England for an abortion. The Irish government stopped her and brought her family back before anything happened. They were put under ... read more




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Col and Lyn
June 12th 2013

After nearly 3 weeks in and round the northern half of Ireland we have formed a few impressions we thought you might like to reflect on. Ireland is a beautiful and hospitable country with magnificent scenery and an absorbing past. We have met some wonderful people and are having a great time but it is flying past too quickly. Next week we head across to Galway. In country areas every second person has a sister, brother, cousin, auntie or uncle who has lived in Australia for one year, many years or even generations and they all want to visit their relatives and our country. However in Belfast and Dublin everyone we met has just returned from Oz after doing the 2 years as a backpacker or else they are planning to go and want to know ... read more









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