DebbieK
Registered User
Posts: 15
(5/25/03 11:06 pm)
 
Debbie's trip - Chapter 5 - April 13 &14 ( Bunratty &

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Day 13 – Drive to Bunratty. Packing the car this morning was a real challenge. All the shopping Mom & Steve had done resulted in a number of extra bags. By the time it was all loaded, my rearview mirror had been reduced to a 3” x 8” rectangle on the passenger side. ( This does not include the very large duffel that had to fit between Mom & Steve on the seat. )
        It took us about 90 minutes to get to the Tarbert Ferry, and had to wait about 20 minutes for the next one. It was really, really windy again this morning ( a foreshadowing of the drizzle and rain that was to follow us all day) - so windy that the birds who were trying to land , kept getting blown back. 13Euros to cross 1-way – well worth not having to drive through Limerick again.

        Getting from Kilrush to Ennis proved to be a bit more of a challenge than I was expecting. When we came to the “T” in the road, we ended up just guessing , because the sign that should have pointed us to Ennis had been damaged and was only partially there. YEAH! We guessed right. As we entered Ennis there was a sign stating how to get to the N18/ Shannon. We make our way into Ennis , and since it is Sunday afternoon, right around church time, the place is like a ghost town. It has now begun to really rain, we are hungry, and not having any luck finding a place serving food. Luckily someone pointed us towards Brogans bar. Great food, served fast, and large portions. Ok – there was a sign on the way into town, so you would think that there would be one on the way out of town , right? Nope. So in true ‘driving’ in Ireland fashion, I just pointed the car back the way we came, found a place to turn around and when we got to that original sign, followed the directions to N18.
        As we approached Shannon & Bunratty, I felt like we were in a different place. We had driven this exact road on the 2nd day and today it is completely different - lanes closed, exits re-routed. We followed the detours and found our way to Headley court. Again, we ended up with 2 very large rooms. Mom & I had the same room as we had our first trip – 2 double beds, Dad & Steve ended up with a huge family room – 2 double beds and a twin. One thing I love about this B&B is the size of the showers. Big Jumbo showers, with shower curtains – no cube showers here!
        Guess what Mom wants to do first? Yep, Shopping at the Blarney Woolen Mills center. After a stop upstairs for a beverage, we finally head back to the Folk Park, to go through the castle. Uh oh! We got there at 4:05 p.m. - the last admission to the castle was a 4:00. Mom was totally distraught – she had so wanted Dad to get to go through one more castle. Oh, well – we end up going over to Durty Nellies for a drink and to play some cards – mostly just to use up some time before the Medieval Banquet at 5:30.
        The banquet was a ton of fun. Lots of music and good food – Soup, Spare Ribs, Chicken /Vegetables/ Potato , and finally Dessert.
        On the way out we decide to stop in at Mac’s Pub which is on the folk park grounds. More cards and drinks for our last night in Ireland.
Total Miles Today: 107

Day 14 – Flight home.
        One last time to repack the car – after yesterday’s shopping I now have NO review window at all. Luckily we are not far from the airport I was so relieved to pull into the Dan Dooley lot - 14 days and no dents, scratches or missing mirrors!!! 965 miles and no problems - can you ask for more than that?
        This time I end up getting picked for the random security check at the airport, and once that is done and the bags are checked we have TONS of time to wait for our plane. We do all the normal stuff – tax back forms, duty free shopping, converting left over change to USD. Then we ran into something new. Customs forms had to be completely filled in and processed before we could get to the boarding gates. This seemed kind of odd, because if they had any questions, and you had put the items in your checked baggage, how would they deal with it? Not that I am complaining – Taking care of customs there made getting through O’hare a breeze.
        We lucked out with our plane for the way home. A brand new Airbus 330-200 – complete with individual video screens at every seat. Really made the flight much more tolerable.
        We overheard one of the flight attendants telling another passenger that 2 people had been detained at the gate in Shannon, and were denied boarding. According to him , it happens most every flight.
        When we stopped in Dublin ( thankfully we didn’t have to change planes again) both security, and customs/immigration came on the plane. They checked every seat, every overhead bin, each person’s passport and customs form BEFORE they would let the Dublin passengers on the plane.
        Because customs were out of the way, we got out of O’hare really fast – like 1 hour from touchdown to getting to the car and heading back to Milwaukee.


Follow-up : Well, we’ve been back for a month now and I have to say it was a great trip. 14 days were enough though – I don’t think I could do a longer trip unless a large chunk ( full week?) was in one spot. I just really get tired moving from place to place all the time.
        Dad (the one we all were a bit unsure of how he would like it – the traveling, staying in B&B’s , the overall cost) is the one already talking about going back. He really loved it and was amazed at how much we DIDN’T see. He also is dying to play a round of golf there.
        Sometimes I almost feel guilty – none of my other 4 siblings have ever gotten to travel to Ireland, and see the land of our ancestors. They have never had the opportunity to spend one-on-one time with Mom & Dad as adults. Sharing new memories and hearing old stories. It just really made the whole trip so much more memorable.

Next trip: probably next year - If Mom & Dad want to go back, we should go while they are still ‘young enough’ to really enjoy it

Michele Erdvig
ezOP
Posts: 1494
(5/26/03 12:22 am)

Irish Blessings

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Hi Debbie,

What a wonderful trip report! Thank you so much for taking the time to entertain us all. I knew from the first that your father was having a ball. Next time you will have to schedule time for his golf (at least once). I totally agree that you should take advantage of traveling while you can. And being able to enjoy traveling with your parents is an added blessing. What fond memories you will always have of your trip to Ireland together.

Michele

Carol H
Unregistered User
(5/30/03 3:24 pm)

Debbie's trip

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Debbie, we certainly did seem to be following each other about! Loved reading your notes and can picture your family and the fun you had together so well. Maybe we'll "bump" into each other someday in Ireland (not in cars, though!). You were wonderful to do all that driving with nary a nick. Carol