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Published: June 13th 2008
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We got all way to the gate and were about 45 minutes before boarding when Robert remembered he forgot his wallet!! Oh my gosh, if only he had remembered earlier since we got to the airport 2 ½ hours before our flight and would have ha plenty of time to go get it. Poor guy - he really felt bad about that but we couldn’t really do anything about it at that point. Luckily we have mom with us and her American express card if we get into a jam. I didn’t bring mine since I knew Robert was going to bring his. Hopefully, my debit card will get us through this vacation. The really bad thing about it is he doesn’t have his drivers license and he really needs to drive us. I don’t want to drive - I would be scared to death, but I might have to. Now we are still sitting in the airport at our gate because the flight is delayed due to lightning and bad weather. Not a good start to our vacation unfortunately.
Aer Lingus finally called for boarding and we left at 7:00 pm which was an hour later. The flight was
filled with lots of happy Irish tourists with heir children returning from their WDW vacations. It was petty noisy at times and Mom, Emily & I didn’t sleep a wink. In fact, both Mom and & I each had a weird episode on the plane - it was like we were going to faint. I’ve never had that happen before. I really thought I was going to have to have them call the paramedics when we land. Mom said she was just as bad. I can’t imagine what caused that, although the only thing different we did that Robert didn’t do was to have a glass of red wine. The girls didn’t feel anything like that either. I don’t know if anyone else experienced anything. At times on the plane there was a really weird smell too. It wasn’t really a pleasant flight (economy) but the staff was very cordial and friendly. We also enjoyed talking to a very nice guy from Dublin who was returning with his family to Ireland after vacationing in O-town.
We got to Dublin. Wow, getting our rental car was really weird. We had the Irish Car Rental which had an office in the
O'Briens Bridge Ireland - our van on right
O'Briens Bridge - cute little town on the River Shannon. Our van is on the right. airport but… we had to board a shuttle van to get to the rental office. The guy told us to go outside and turn right to catch it and it took us to the place where we would pay and pick up our car. So we went outside, crossed the street and turned righ and we waited for the shuttle. We should have stood in the median where it said “courtesy shuttle” for three hotels”. Duh…I guess we should have known that. Normally we’re pretty good at figuring stuff like this out by watching other people but we did see a bunch of carts right where the shuttles were going so we thought we were in the right place. Now we know for next time.
So we get to the car rental company and tell them Robert doesn’t have his license with him and could we pull a copy of it up, which is on the computer in our email. They were very accommodating with us and said I should drive until Robert faxes them a copy. YIKES - me drive in Ireland!!! OK then I’m a good sport and that’s what I do. I DROVE IN IRELAND!! I
O'Briens Bridge Ireland
Cute town with a tree fountain near the River Shannon. drove a bit and was a nervous wreck, but I did it. Of course Robert had to take over since the navigating part wasn’t going so well. Yes, we were really getting lost when I was driving. So……Robert takes over the driving. OH MY GOSH! I’m sitting on our drivers side of a car on the opposite side of the road and he keeps hitting brush along the sides and it’s just making me a nervous wreck. I keep seeing brush, walls, curbs, reflectors, etc coming at me like crazy. It’s enough to make someone insane. The roads are very narrow in spots. We got so lost! All the hard work I did going to google maps and printing out the road maps was pretty much in vain. It took us 8 hours from the time we landed to get to our B&B in Bunratty. Our hostess at the B& B said that that wasn’t too bad because there is so much traffic in the Dublin area. Well that’s an understatement to be sure. Note to self - next time fly into Shannon please!
The roads aren’t marked very well here. One can go for many country miles with-out ever
seeing a street sign. But we made it after asking for help - I think it was 4 or 5 times. No, actually it was about 6 times, but we’re not counting. It’s lovely talking to the Irish people because they are the friendliest people in the world. It’s a beautiful country that we’ve seen so far.
Along the way to Bunratty we stopped at a little town named O'Briens Bridge which is on the River Shannon outside of Birdhill. There was a fountain made from a tree which was most interesting. It is a charming little town. We snapped these pictures and stretched a bit before continuing on to Bunratty.
After we checked into our B&B named Gallows View we went to Durty Nelly's Pub right down the street. It was really a nice place and the food was great. Kayleigh had a chicken ceasar salad but she hardly ate any of the lettuce as she said she didn’t really care for it. So I tasted it and it was “really” ceasar made with anchovies in the dressing. Ah… that’s why she didn’t like it. I told her that’s how it was supposed to taste and I
thought it was great. Sorry mom…she probably won’t be eating any of those any more. Emily had a burger which she said was good and the rest of us had fish n chips which were great.
Our B&B is really charming. I’m looking forward to breakfast tomorrow but tonight I’m going to bed early to get some sleep.
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Shirley
non-member comment
Vacation
Hi, Glad to hear you got there safe and sound. We we all wondering how you all were. Your letter was very interesting. Give our love to Kayleigh. Ryan said the other night he was packing his bag to go on an airplane ride. We have had nothing but run since you have been gone. Have a great time. Love Shirl