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Published: December 18th 2007
Eric, Shaun, and I finally arrived in Shannon on Monday morning, after another 5 hour flight, from Newfoundland to Ireland. We of course, still had no luggage, so going through customs was A PIECE OF IRISH CAKE. After checking in at the Dan Dooley Rental Car desk, we sat down to coffee in the arrivals lobby awaiting Lisa's flight. Relieved that she made the flight, she had text messaged us the minute she got aboard, and again when she landed in Shannon. After only 10 minutes, she was through customs WITH luggage, and joined us. We collected the car and the GPS system for it, and were on our way. The sun does not rise to meet you in Ireland in December until after 8am, which meant 4 jet-lagged, weary travelers were on the streets of Ireland, driving on the "wrong side of the road" in a car with the steering wheel on the "wrong" side of the car, in the dark. Good times! Shaun was nominated as designated driver, and provided much amusement before our arrival at Bunratty Castle. We determined we will only drive when the sun is shining; otherwise, we will walk, take a taxi, or a train. More good news: our luggage arrived within 2 hours of our arrival at Bunratty. Our townhouse is actually quite nice, with 1 bedroom with bath downstairs, and two bedrooms with baths upstairs. There is a living area with fireplace as well as a kitchen, which I do not plan to use.
Last night we walked to the infamous "Durty Nellie's Pub", (one of the oldest pubs in Ireland), where we became acquainted with two young men who are obviously "regulars" at Durty Nellie's. They obviously had each kissed the Blarney Stone more than once, as they talked with us for hours. Lisa and Shaun ended up going into Limerick with one young man named Decklan. I made it clear to him that, as my only 2 children, they must return to the condo in good shape or his life would not be worth living; he understood, and brought them in less than 2 hours later.
Today Lisa, Eric, and I went to Adare Manor, an impressive castle just south of Limerick. We were given a tour of the castle, had a yummy lunch at the golf clubhouse, and walked around the grounds briefly. Lisa was our driver, and she did a great job of manipulating thread-narrow roadways through the city centre of Limerick and back. I found a bit of bravery and drove from a convenience store stop to the grounds at Bunratty Castle, a good 800 yards! Shaun has slept the day away; it's now 5:30 and dark outside with no sign of him emerging from his room. He'll be raring to go tonight, while the 3 of us are winding down from our day. Oh well...
We plan to take a train to Dublin tomorrow for an overnight there. I'm sure there will be tales of adventure to share with you upon our return to Bunratty, so tune in again tomorrow.
Our Irish eyes are shining,
K Ray
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Sondra
non-member comment
Yeah!
Yeah!!! I am so relieved you four actually made it to your destination. Blogs/emails are great - thank you for the reasurrance and updates. Looking forward to your next blog. Sondra D.