eyps
Unregistered User
(1/14/04 5:08 pm)

Christmas/New Years Trip Report.....

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Hi Michele -

Here's my trip report for my Christmas & New Years in Ireland.....

December 18th through 22nd

Landed at Shannon around 7:30 (a few minutes early) and it was pitch black outside. By the time we went through customs, picked up our suitcases, it was sunny and bright (did I say BRIGHT?). When we finally got up to the Dan Dooley counter (bit of a line there), the young lady behind the desk let us know that we were upgraded to an automatic Mercedes (Vito) Bus, we had booked a Z-Class (manual Ford Galaxy), what do you say about the luck of the Irish? (I’m part Japanese, and I never have any luck..). Of course we took the bus, it worked out great, and everyone had their individual space. My husband was concerned about being so-o-o close together for too long, and you know how children are.

But anyway... we drove up to Galway, with our usual stop at Mother Hubbards for Breakfast in Kilcolgan, I know it's hokey, but we always stop there. Rolled into the Grattan House (Salthill), and our apartment was ready, so we went in for a nap (we didn’t even bring in our suitcases). Took a walk (about 20 minutes) along the promenade (gorgeous, remember it was BRIGHT out) into Galway City Center, had a bite to eat at McDonagh’s with a snack at Goya’s on Kirwin’s Lane (forget your diet there). Took a taxi back to our apartment, remember that luck I was talking about... I know we were taken for a ride... they charged us 9 euro to go to Salthill. We did go back into Galway for shopping but our taxis only cost 6-7 euro (note to self, don’t take the first taxi you see). The rest of the time, we just drove around, shopped and ate.. Most of the sites were closed for the holiday, but it was nice just to drive around and not be rushed. Drove up to Westport for lunch with friends at The Continental Cafe one day, drove through Connemara and had carvery lunch at The Peacockes Hotel’s bar, here we saw all seasons in 45 minutes that day, it was bright and sunny; a light drizzle; a pouring rain; a snow, about 1.5 inches; sleet; hail; then back again into sunshine!!! Other places that we ate (we did a lot of that) are Warwick’s Hotel Restaurant (the Butler Brasserie), it was just across the street from our apartment, food was not bad, they didn’t have take-out (so we had to go down to SuperMac’s for a snack at 1am), The Spanish Arch (expensive, food was not that great), the Lemon Tree (or Lemon Grass, can’t remember which), and we did stop in and listen to music, but I think I was suffering from jet lag, best to say we had a good time.

The apartment worked out wonderfully, the location was great, and the bedrooms were a nice size. The kitchen had a dishwashing machine and washer/dry (combo) machine. We rented a 2 bedroom unit, the master bedroom had a queen-size bed with a twin size futon chair in the corner, en-suite with a shower (good pressure), the 2nd bedroom had 2 twin beds that we pushed together, the hall bathroom had a shower over the tub (the pressure wasn’t that great there, but I took a nice soak after a walk into town). Each unit has its own water heater and heater so we were warm all the time and we had HOT water too (see notes below for Kilkenny....) Sean is in the process of building a new set of units that will be facing the Bay, just across the street from these units. I would defiantly go back and would recommend either of these units. For a future trip, we did take a look at a three bedroom unit, the apartments are larger, and 2 master bedrooms, one of these were on a separate floor, over looking the water, included a little sitting area, I believe that there were 2 beds plus a futon (great value).

December 23rd

We drove down to Shannon through the Burren , the Perfumery was a hit with my daughter, she got to spend time talking Sadie, learning all about the process of making perfumes, and what life is like out on the Burren. Sadie suggested a beautiful ride to go back to Shannon, through the Burren; it was really like a movie. We had our first real “Irish Traffic Jam”, just some poor cow wondering down a lane with a Big Red Bus following him. It was too funny for words...

We stayed at the Shannon Comfort Inn (booked on-line 49 Euro for a family room), room sleeps 4, one double with a twin bed on each side, (guess who got the double bed). The room was fine, and there is a Pub (lots of locals) that serves food, but it’s Chinese, (the food was fine, but not what you expect in a Pub). The staff was very helpful. I picked up my mother-in-law at the airport at 7:30, (again, thank you Dan Dooley), I parked the bus in their lot and took the courtesy van (same driver as our trip last year, yes he remembered me) over to the terminal. Took Grandma out for breakfast (at the Chinese Restaurant, Pass on this folks!), while the other 2 tried to wake up! And off to Killarney!

December 24th through 27th

This was THE HIGHLIGHT of our trip. The Great Southern was unbelievable. The Christmas Program was a hit with everyone. The staff, food, entertainment and the weather was great. If anyone is thinking about this for next year, I’d be the first to tell you to do it, it's well worth the price!

GSH had games and sports competitions for the kids (and some adults), although my daughter did not participate, but you could hear “The Little Ones” in the hallway laughing. The spa was open, and we had massages and pedicures for the ladies. We did take advantage of the scenic bus ride through the Lakes of Killarney that stopped off at the “Red Fox” Tavern(?), next to a “bog village” for an Irish Coffee or two.

Eating seemed to be a sport, there was a buffet breakfast everyday from 7am to 1pm (ok, we hit it twice a day...), with drinks, and dinner (soup to nuts), and evening snacks (mince pies).

Most of Killarney downtown was closed from 5pm on the 24th through 10am on the 27th. We did get a chance to walk around on the 24th to pick up odds-n-ends. On our way out of town on the 27th, we ran by “Blarney Woolen Mill”, but it no shopping there, (I started to get sick about this time, and shopping was not on my mind that day). So off to Kilkenny...

December 28th through January 2nd

Kilkenny, Kilkenny, Kilkenny....What to say, after gushing about Galway and Killarney, not much. I will admit, I was really ill during this part of our trip and all I wanted to do was rest (in front of my fire, with a good book, bought from Kenny’s in Galway). But we did go shopping; this is a sport for my daughter and her Grandma, so this required numerous strips to Dunne’s, the shopping mall, the Kilkenny design center (never did get to go to lunch there), the Kilkenny craft tour shops (Nicholas Moss and Chesneau handbags), tried Jerpoint Glass Studio and Kilkenny Crystal, but they seemed to be closed. Took a ride out to Mount Juliet Golf Club (it’s beautiful, if you are near there when the weather is better, you need to stop....), Cahir (if you’re into jewelry, good shopping here), the touristy things were closed, drove through Cashel and stopped in at Derrynaflan (Schiela was expecting us, although her b-n-b was closed), Thomastown (small, quaint little town, terrible to drive though). It was snowing in the mountains, so the folks at the Tourist Information advised us not to drive to Wicklow. While the gang spent part of the day (31st) in Dublin, I did take Pat Tynan’s tour of Kilkenny, I have to say this was one of the best tours that I’ve taken, a must for anyone interested in history.

Food:
Ate a lunch and New Years Eve dinner at Restaurant Rinuccini its next to the Design Center, great food, very unusual, it reminded me of an Italian Restaurant in NYC’s Little Italy, the food is really exceptional, we found Rinuccini, by accident for lunch on our fist day, it was so good that we then decided to go there for NY Eve dinner, we had to order Chicken Parmesan for my daughter, but she liked it!

Ate at Kytelers Inn, a must for people into witchcraft (just a fun place....); Jacobs Cottage Restaurant, Riverside Restaurant, Bollards (twice, great toasted sandwiches, and drinks)

Wallslough Village:

Well, it’s hard to compete with the Great Southern.
Let me tell you what we liked; grounds (well maintained), location, animals (dogs, horses, ducks, pheasants, and a swan), fireplace, multi bathrooms, individual heating units in each cottage.
Now for the bad….it’s rated at 4-stars(?) the bedrooms (3) were small and quite drafty (remember, I was ill), even with the heater on, some of the rooms were still very cold; the warmest room in the house was the utility closet. I’m sure the units are great in the spring and summer.

So, would I go to Kilkenny again? I don’t know I’m sort of up in the air with this question, I wasn’t really happy to go there, my first pick was Kinsale, (mother-in-law thought there wouldn’t be enough to do); I was sick so I admit, I could have been negative about it. I think in any other season, the area would be beautiful, I would give it a try, but not for the full week that we were there, maybe just a few days would be enough to do Kilkenny justice, what do you all think?

January 2nd

Drove back to Shannon for our last night, and stayed at Shannon Comfort Inn, two rooms this time for 49 Euro. Found out that they are in the process of changing their name to Shannon Court Hotel (if anyone is looking for them). Dinner was at The Creamery, had steak, duck and chicken food was good, tried Durty Nellys but it was too crowded. Went back to the hotel and listened to a local musician (and had a few...) at the Pub until 2pm (and I wonder why I’m still sick?????). Got up really early to go to the airport, ate breakfast at McD (we had avoided it until then), turned in our car at Dan Dooley, off to duty free, turned in our VAT and home...

Where I’m now helping to plan a two week, March vacation for my mother-in-law and 18 of her closest friends...to Ireland

If anyone has a specific question, please feel free to contact me at eyps@aol.com!

Michele Erdvig
ezOP
Posts: 2044
(1/14/04 11:49 pm)

Great Report

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Hi epys,

Welcome back! And thanks so much for stopping by to post your trip report. On the whole it sounds like a great time. I'm sorry you got sick over there. It does color your experiences when that happens. Give Kilkenny another chance. It is my favorite small city in Ireland. Also, the surrounding areas are wonderful. I would recommend May. Did you get to Inistioge, Graiguenamanagh or Kells? The R700 along the Nore River Valley is especially scenic.

I'm glad you are home safe and sound after a good trip to Ireland. Thanks for your tips, critiques and for sharing your story with us.

Michele

eyps
Registered User
Posts: 13
(1/22/04 1:15 pm)

Kilkenny...

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Thank you for your kind words, Michele.

I'm finally done with unpacking (I can't believe it either!). Sorry for not replying earlier, but I never think to look back here unless I'm trying to find something on a particular location....

Yes we did take "many a ride" along the R700 our cottage was just off of it.... and the ride is beautiful, but too many signs for "puppies for sale", my daughter made me promise if we saw another one, we would stop to take a look at them, (little did she realize that we drove up & down the same road every day!).

Kilkenny will have another shot at my mother-in-law, when she goes over with her friends. Do you know it's harder to get 18, 70 year-olds to agree to anything then teenagers? (I don't know how you do it. Hats off to you!) So I'll have to wait until I hear back from them before I make a final decision....but I will let you know...

- eyps