DebbieK
Registered User
Posts: 2
(5/4/03 10:56 pm)

Debbies trip - Chapter 1: April 1 - 3, 2003 (doolin/cashel)

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First off, If this gets too wordy , I apologize. I tried to walk a fine line between 'giving enough info' and 'yapping on incessantly'.

Some initial background. Trip was from March 31 - April 14, 2003
the Players :
Debbie ( Me) - driver ,planner, money handler, overall jack of all trades. 2nd trip to Ireland.
Mom (age 65) - back seat all the way - could be professional shopper. Mom has the familial link to Ireland - either her Grandmother or Great Grandmother was from the Galway region. This was Mom's 2nd trip too.
Dad (age 67) - Navigator and map reader - My calming voice of sanity in the car. 1st trip over the pond.
Steve (age 45) - older brother - Just really happy to be there. First time outside the US.

Day 1 – Overall it was a pretty smooth flight, one bump on the landing but not too bad.
Dad was happy that we had to change planes in Dublin – gave him a chance to grab a smoke in between planes.
We landed in Shannon at 11:40, and had our baggage and the car, and were out on the road by 12:30 - pretty good if you ask me.
Dad was amazed at the lack of shoulder – and he had the birds eye view in the passenger seat!
By 2:15 we were at the Cliffs – 48 miles and 1 hr 45 min. – felt like a lot longer. But luckily no scares on the road.
I don’t think I have ever been in wind that strong as that day. First we almost couldn’t get the car doors open to even get out of the car. Then when Dad & Steve both had to hold on to the tailgate, just for me to get my scarf out, we decided that standing at the top of a really big cliff was probably not the smartest idea.
Oh , well, on to Cullinan’s in Doolin. We asked for a recommendation for lunch, and Carol suggested McGann’s pub, just down the road. From there we went back into Doolin ‘Proper’ – Down to the shops and to look around a bit.

After a quick nap, we headed into Gus O’Conners for Dinner. We really lucked out, there was live traditional music - one of the guys even played the spoons! Now to most people this is not a big deal,
But for us it was really cool. My Dad tried to teach us how to play the spoons when we were little - back before cable – it was one way to entertain 6 kids.


Day 2 - trip to the Cliffs , take two. After a nice breakfast we went back to the Cliffs. Still a bit windy , but do-able. Dad – the king of the ‘fear of heights committee’, loved it. He even climbed up to the top of O’briens tower, and all over the cliffs. Since we spent a lot more time at the Cliffs than expected we ended up skipping the Burren. Oh, well, just another thing to add to the “next trip” list.

Off to Cashel. Hunger pains hit us as we got to Tipperary, so we found a pub there for lunch. Great food, cool bar, but Dad now had “It’s a long way to Tipperary” to go along with “ Hang down your head DAN Dooley” to serenade us with. We found our way to Dualla House with very little problem – with such a grand , long driveway, it certainly made an impressive first impression. Add to that the tons of lambs bouncing around like jumping beans, it was very cool.

The Georgian manor house was just as impressive from the inside. A large entry way, lead to a grand staircase. Then up to our rooms. Oh my. Since I had requested 2 rooms with 2 beds each, we ended up with 2 HUGE rooms. Mom & I took the room with 1 double bed , and 2 twins. Dad and Steve took the room with 1 dbl and 1 twin , but with a full settee , so Dad could watch the news in comfort.

We just barely made it to the Rock in time - we got there at 4:30 – just 15 minutes before the last admit of the day. After walking around Cashel, I was even gladder that we were staying outside of town. The steady stream of semi’s rolling through the main street was deafening .
Total miles for the day = 100 miles.

Day 3 – Day trip day. 1st stop Waterford Crystal. I was very impressed with myself. Once we got into the Waterford area, I found my way back to the Crystal Factory right away. ( Of course, it is pretty easy to find….) Dad and Steve were duly impressed by the tour. We even saw the quality control guy rejecting almost a whole batch of pitchers. The sound of all that breaking crystal was like nails on a blackboard. We ate at the cafeteria there and the food there was fantastic as always. Dad even had 2 deserts. ( This would prove to be a pattern for the trip – there wasn’t an apple pie he could pass by.)

Next stop – Cahir Castle. Who’d-a-thunk-it? It was like it was a huge playground for Dad. He climbed up and down and in and out of every nook and cranny of that castle. ( You have to understand – normally, he doesn’t do heights, but the thrill of exploring won out. ) He even climbed down towards the dungeon, and then up through an interior stairwell, into the turret on overlooking the street.

On the way back into Cashel, Dad decides he wants to try driving. It is a pretty simple road , so, I pull over about 10 miles out, and switch places with him. YIKES – is that really what it is like being in the passenger seat?!! While he was technically still in his lane, and clear of the stone wall, he took the curves and oncoming traffic a bit too fast for all of us. Then when we got into town, he managed to turn down a road that we had no idea where it went to. We ended up back outside of town, at which time Mom and Steve made him give the keys back to me. I got us right into town and found a parking spot right off. After dinner at Kearneys, we ran into a couple from Dayton , that had been on our plane from Chicago. We had run into them on the Waterford Crystal tour, but never expected to see them again in a totally different town – what are the odds?
Total miles for the day: 120

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Stay tuned for the next chapter
DebbieK



Michele Erdvig
ezOP
Posts: 1462
(5/16/03 11:28 am)

Your Trip

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Hi Debbie,

We are enjoying your adventures--and your parents! Thank you. It sounds like your dad was like a big kid in Ireland. They do call it the Land of Eternal Youth in the legends! What a fun trip. I'm off for the next chapter.

Michele

Sue
Unregistered User
(5/22/03 12:31 pm)

reply

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Thanks for sharing... we are off to Ireland soon and we will be travelling from Enniscourthy to DunLaoghaire (south of Dublin). We hope to see both Powerscourt and Glendalough. About how long did you stay at each...sounds like drive time was not too long. Any suggestions for not to be missed along the way? Thanks again...I love to hear about personal experiences on trips!

DebbieK
Registered User
Posts: 10
(5/22/03 12:39 pm)
 
Re: reply

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My notes on the Glendalough area are in my 2nd post. But here are some quick thoughts:
We went through Enniscorthy on the way to Laragh. Neat town for walking through - but definitely PARK the car and do it on foot. We were there in April and it was a zoo, cars zooming by and especially narrow streets with a lot of foot traffic.

If you are planning to see the 'castle' there, double check the opening times. When we were there it didn't open until 2, and we were back on the road by then.

There are lots of 'hole in the wall' Lounge bars there - be sure to grab a bite to eat in one of them.


Glendalough - we spent probably 2 hrs or so there - my folks loved reading all the headstones.
Powerscourt - not including the drive time - at least 3 hrs and we didn't do the waterfall - Loved that place.
Debbie K