Mark D
Unregistered User
(4/4/04 8:54 am)

I'm Back ( Long Post)

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Well Folks, I'm back !
I must say my first trip to Ireland far exceeded my grandest expectations !
Everyone was soooooooo friendly ( except for one time, see below)
The weather was perfect, we had sunny sky's all but our last day. I think having 2 nuns in our group helped. (Grin)
Every meal was top notch, and our driver/guide Sean McSweeney was a real treasure.
Here is a breakdown of our trip.

DAY ONE
After an overnight flight from Boston, we arrived in Shannon around 7 am. We had some free time as we had to meet up with some folks who arrived from JFK airport. We had some tea and scones upstairs in the nice restaurant. I then went downstairs to grab a few Euros.
We then met our guide for the week Sean McSweeney. I can't say enough how wonderful this person was. He was smart, funny, and went out his way everyday to make sure we had the best time. He even added trips to the itinerary so, we could make the most of our time.
After we all boarded the bus, Sean took us up to Galway for a little taste of this grand city. We had an 1.5 hrs to shop
or grab a pint. My wife and I shopped at Fallers at bit, then joined some folks at Skeffs bar for our first pint. It was around 10 am. I knew I was in for one heck of a vacation at that point.
We then headed north to Oughterard, passing through Ennis.
Since our rooms were a little late being ready for us, Sean took us to the Connemara Marble Factory. We then drove up to Oughterard, and checked into the Connemara Gateway Hotel. We vowed to stay up to our normal bed time, so we strolled down to
the Oughterard main street, and had a nice cup of tea and treat to the Mellow Dew Tea Shop. A very nice little place.
We walked up back up to our hotel, and had a wonderful meal. At 8 pm Kevin Mckrell and 2 other members of the Mckrells played
in the pub til 11 pm. What way to end our first day in Ireland. We finally hit the sack at 11:15 pm. Since we had not slept on the plane, we had been up from 7 am 3/26 (US) til 11:15 pm (Ireland) even with the time change I believe we were up 34 straight hours, and we loved every minute of it.

DAY TWO
Had a great Irish Breakfast, then boarded the bus, and headed to Cong, Leenane, Clifden.
We stopped in Cong and did some sightseeing. I took a lot of pictures of the Ashford Castle.
We then proceeded to Leenane, were we stopped for what would be a tradition, a morning pint/Irish coffee.
We visited the local pub. Had a nice little chat with the owner Hillary.
Killary Harbour was just breathtaking ! The water was so calm, it looked like glass. We then made our way to Kylemore Abbey.
I think I shot a whole roll of film of this spectacular Abbey ! We did a little shopping in the gift shop, and had soup and brown bread in the restaurant. Headed back our hotel. Took a little nap, and then headed back to downtown Oughterard for a pint at Powers Pub. Came back for another tasty dinner, and another night of singing with Kevin and friends in the Pub.


DAY THREE

Today we headed up to Crough Patrick. I really enjoyed this venue. Although we did not make the climb to the top, we did hike to the statue, and the views were spectacular !!! I felt like I was at home in Vermont, with the water in the foreground, and mountains in the background. While some of our group was visiting the gift shop, some of us had a pint in nearby pub. It was the first day of the smoking ban, had a very interesting chat with the barkeep. I gave him one of our Vermont State Quarters, you would think I gave him a bar of gold ! Sooooooo friendly !
After our tour of Crough Patrick, we headed to Westport, we had some free time before we could check in to the Wyatt Hotel.
A group of us headed for some fish and chips around the corner from our hotel. After lunch we did some shopping. We then checked into the Wyatt Hotel. At dinner we were to learn our first surprise of the trip. Kevin McKrell knows Matt Malloy, was able to get us the back room of this famous pub for 2 hrs of fun. The buzz was certainly high, and about 45 of us crammed into the back of the pub for a time I soon will not forget. ( I think 35 missed out) At the end of the night a group New Zealand rugby players crashed our party, and joined in the fun. The danced to our songs, and than did a "challenge dance' which was really cool. Some sort of ritual they perform at rugby matches. Kevin had them on stage singing Irish pub songs etc. A truly memerable evening.

DAY FOUR

After breakfast we made our way the Ceide Fields. Had a nice guided tour, and then had soup and brown bread in the coffee shop. I really was impressed with the cliffs in front of the Fields. On a funny note: On our way in I asked our driver Sean what the rock which separated from the cliffs was called. He came back and said he was not sure of the name, so he proceeded to call it Mark's rock the rest of the day.
On our way back we stopped for a pint in Ballina, one of my favorite small towns.
Once back to Westport, we noticed the were filming a Guinness commercial on the Octagon. Gandered for a while, then I walked over the the shop next to the hotel. There I bought a Malachy Kearns Bodran !!! We then joined up with 2 other couples, and we strolled down to the Quay Cottage for dinner. WHAT A WONDERFUL RESTAURANT !! Food was fantastic. Went to bed fairly early.

DAY FIVE

Visited the Foxford Mills, the tour was fun, and we did a lot of shopping for friends and family. Then toured up through Gurteen and up to Castlebar and Charlestown, and up to Sligo. We had lunch at McHugh's. Wonderful chowder !
Stopped next at an old style pub called Gavenaugh's. We chatted with the owner about the new smoking ban, and he proceeded to show us the proper way to make an Irish coffee ! My wife bought a beautiful "Cat and the Moon" necklace at the jewelry shop nearby.
We proceed to check into the most spectacular hotel on our trip, the Yeats Country Hotel. This hotel is located right on Rosses Point, and has wonderful views !! It rained for 15 minutes, but then produced the most wonderful rainbow right over the hotel !! Dinner was great, and the McKrells played all night in the larger pub. I loved the smaller pub, the barkeep was wonderful ! Our room looked right over the water. Once the remodeling is finished, I think this place could be 4 star easily !!

DAY SIX
after an early morning walk and breakfast we headed to Carrowmore, for a short tour, then on to Donegal !!! Enjoyed the afternoon in the Diamond.
A group of us headed to the Blueberry Cafe for lunch. Again fantastic food ! Did some shopping, then headed back to the hotel. Since Austies was closed, Sean our driver was generous enough to bus us into Sligo city for dinner. He dropped us off at 7 pm, and picked us up at 10. Again not on the itinerary, and saved us all taxi fare, or a pricey meal at the hotel.
We all split up, our little group went to the Fiddlers Creek. A wonderful little place. Had the best Cod Fish I had ever had !
After dinner we decided to go for an after dinner drink. This is when the little "off color" event happened that I mentioned in the introduction. Someone recommended the "Shoot the Crows" pub. Six of us decided to check it out. Once inside the barkeep proclaimed he did not serve Americans. He even went on to say that he has kicked many out on their arses.
They were smoking in the pub, so I think this may have "sparked up" the locals, and we went on to McHughs for a nice Bailey's and Coffee. The bus picked us up 10 pm, and once on the bus, we saw some young people in cars MOONING US !!!! HEHEHEHHEHEHEH It was great fun, that evening was then known as " Moon over Sligo" Kevin and the boys played in the bar till midnight.
I got to do some harmonizing with the band........Sang "Mary of Dungloe" again memorable !

DAY SEVEN

Made our way down to WB Yeats grave stone, toured around the great Ben Bulben. Then came the second surprise of the trip.
We headed to Galway for a midday boat tour of the Lough Corrib !!! Very very nice day for a boat ride. Traveling the Corrib with an Irish Coffee was just heaven !
After our tour we checked into the Imperial Hotel. Once we got our bags, we strolled down to McDonough's for lunch.
The Fish and Chips were as good if not better than advertised ! After lunch we spent the day shopping. It was so nice to have that taste the first day. We felt very comfortable walking everywhere. I loved McCambridge gourmet shop. Bought some lovely lovely crystallized sugar.( looks like pebbles) Had dinner at the Quay Pub..GREAT FOOD. Stopped off at the Kings Head Pub for a pint, then walked back up to our hotel were we relaxed a bit , then took a nice walk in the rain. ( yes we had to have some rain, just to prove to us it is not a myth that Ireland has a lot of rain) We decide to walk up to the Supervalu to buy some food products to bring home.
We bought preserves. ( can't wait for crem fresh, preserves on brown bread) Cadbury Chocolate, Digestives, Teas, and some drinks for the plane. We than stopped by the food court next to the hotel for a hot fudge sundae. Not a bad way to "dump" all that EURO coinage HE HE. Went back to the room to pack, and have a bit of tea before hitting the sack.

DAY EIGHT
Had an early breakfast, and made our way to Shannon Airport. Seven of us on bus 2 had flights at 1:45 pm to Logan, the other had 4 pm flights to JFK. Instead of dumping us all off at the airport at 10:30, he took the remaining group to Bunraty Castle to spend some time at the Mills. Sure beats the airport ! Arrived home at 8 pm, after a 3.5 hr drive from Boston.


Overall I would give our tour 5 stars !!! Each of the hotels was fantastic except the Connemarra Gateway Hotel.
I would say it was a couple steps below the others. No hot water, the rooms were also kind of shabby, but after being up for 34 hrs, they did the trick !
Our bus had a wonder group of people ! I think I made around 20 new friends. We laughed and joked with Sean all over Ireland
I am grateful our driver and group were so nice, It made all the difference !( have the names and email addresses for all of them)

Need to start saving for next years trip !
Cheers !
Mark

Michele Erdvig
ezOP
Posts: 2407
(4/5/04 1:16 am)
 
Welcome Home

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Hi Mark,

Welcome back from Ireland. Thanks for taking the time to stop by and post your very comprehensive trip report. I know it will be of great help to those who are now in the planning stages. It's great to hear that you had good weather for most of your trip.

How wonderful that you got into the back room of Matt Molloy's. And I'm sure you will never forget the full moon in Sligo!

The fact that you want to return to Ireland again says it all.

Michele