Made it home (physically, at least) around noon, yesterday (16 Nov). Trying to piece together receipts, details and memories into a semi-cognizant form as soon as is possible.
Tales to tell, gripes to complain about, joys to regale and confessions to ... well, confess.
Time for that later, though. For now, a BRIEF summary:
Weather (for November) was mostly terrific! Only four or five days of rain and / or general dreariness -- and at least as many of blue sky and -- GASP -- SUN!!
Got pix of TWO Round Towers that I was lacking, saw a number of sites that had here-to-for eluded me -- Trim, Cong and the DART ride from Bray to Greystones, and re-visited a number of places that we had previously spent insufficient time at or in. Spent some quality 'Family Time' and touched base with some absent friends, too. A good time was had by many -- I'm not arrogant enough to say, "All"
Posted a few pix to Facebook along the way, but I've got about 500 (and a number of videos) to organize and winnow down, so best that I get Busy, busy and busy.
Most importantly, my sense of sanity (minimal though it might be) has been restored.
Details, as always will follow . . .
__________________
Bob
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Thanks. As I said on another post, we pretty much 'Lucked Out' with the weather: "We had about four days of rain, about the same of true sunshine and the rest were mostly cloudy with occasional 'soft' moments . . . Daytime temps MOST days were in the low-to-mid 50's F and we only had one morning that had a light frost -- although it was predicted to be turning significantly colder after we departed and it appears to have done just that. I've seen a number of reports and pictures of snow in the past few days. "
We weren't so lucky with the GPS -- I turned down the FREE unit Dooley offered as partial recompense for the delay at Pick Up, only to discover that my 5 year old phone's internal GPS has ceased to function reliably. Could have used it a few times, but managed to get by with my trusty, OSI Road Atlas -- even if it IS a few years old!
I've finished 'Crunching the numbers' and it appears that our Total expense for this trip will run right around (but LESS than) $4,400, once all the Credit Card Bills all are in. That's just about everything, except for a few gifts that the Mrs. bought for Christmas presents for a couple of the Grandchildren -- which are actually more 'Harry Potter' related, rather than Ireland - centric, so I'm not counting them. (FYI -- If it matters, they rang in at about $75, for those of you who might INSIST on TOTAL transparency )
Trip duration included 3 travel days (due to the over-night near the Orlando Airport on our return) and 18 days (and nights!) 'On The Ground'. I'll give a FULL break-down in my trip Report, but here is my synopsis / methodology:
Prepaid: $1693.61. Airfare - $1110.32 Car Hire: $229.91 (Manual, Compact, Waiving ALL Insurances by using my World MasterCard coverage) Moycullen Self-Catering - $290.00 Excess Cover - $58 Parking Deposit (Orlando) $5.38
ATM Cash Withdrawals: 1,480 Euro ( $1,606.00 -- Including $17.86 in Fees)
Pending Credit Card Charges: $950.33 -- Including Fees.
Debit Purchases: $106.64 including Fees. That's for two nights at the Premier Inn ($71.64) and a 'bauble' from the Spiddal Craft Village ($35)
Included in the above figures are Long-Term Parking in Orlando ($97.46), the Orlando Hotel on return ($152).
I started with 176 Euros in 'Seed Money' (Left Over from LAST trip and returned home with just over 200 Euro in cash and coin. I suppose that Technically, that REDUCES actual over-all cost by about 35 Euro?
Lodging Info:
We spent Nights #1, 17 & 18 in Dublin at the Premier Inn and only 6 nights in our self-catering, opting for 1 night in the Temple Gate Hotel, in Ennis, ($121.28) on Night # 8. Nights # 9 & 10 were free, staying with relatives in East Cork and also Nights # 11 & 12, in West Cork -- although some NICE gifts and a couple of meals were paid for in semi-recompense! Nights # 13 & 14 were at the Riverside Hotel, in Killarney -- a SWEET 'Special' (Two night's B&B PLUS one night's dinner for 128 Euro ($139.63). Night # 15 was at the Maldon Hotel in Portlaoise ($119.34) in order to visit relatives nearby. Night # 16 was spent at the only B&B on this trip -- the Old Rectory, in Bray, County Wicklow, at a cost of 75 Euro (Cash Only).
Hope this helps.
__________________
Bob
Help Us to Help You. The more you tell us about your plans (dates, interests, budget), the better we can tailor our advice to suit!