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China Cat


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Back from 2 weeks in Ireland
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and it was awesome. I wanted to thank all of you for your help. I know I only posted a few questions, but I got a ton of great information here from everyone else's questions as well.


I'll follow up with a trip report later, but it will take a while to sort through and organize my thoughts. a couple things I wanted to mention....

the Over the Top tour was very good. I'm still a little sorry I missed going to Newgrange, although I think the claustrophobia thing would have been a problem. We got to see a very good passage tomb at Fourknocks, with just about 20 people so it was nice. And we also saw Mellifont Abbey, Monester Boyce (sp?), and Tara so it was a great day. Tour guides were decent. We enjoyed it.

Green Dragon was on the same intinerary as me in reverse. We crossed paths in Killarney and met up for a pint at Kate Kearney's cottage. It was a lot of fun to compare notes of our travels so far. GD if you're reading, hope the rest of your trip was as fun as the first half, ours was great!

My favorite things were the Rock of Cashel, Glendalough, the jaunting car in Gap of Dunloe (although we didn't go the whole way, just halfway and back), the ring of Beara drive (short version, doing Healy pass which was outstanding), the Scuirid tour in Dingle, Trinity Library in Dublin. And the Guiness of course. And the ice cream (who knew, the Irish make AWESOME ice cream...you have to try it!)

We didn't do a lot of the traditional music thing, because it wasn't really our goal, and because frankly we get really tired in the evenings. But several people here recommended the Bru Boru, and I was so glad we went. We all really enjoyed it, and it gave us a taste of the music and the dancing.

Oh, and Michelle, amongst your awards this year, you gave Earl's court the "Best Breakfast" award. I have to agree with you there. In fact, I give Earl's Court, Killarney, my own favorite accomodation award. We got a room in the brand new wing. I'm not sure anyone had stayed in it yet...they were still hanging pictures and the hallway smelled of fresh paint. The room was lovely, and big. We had a big jacuzzi tub, and 2 sinks in the bathroom. And it was a genuine, American sized, kingsize bed, with a single mattress (not 2 twins bolted together), brand new and very comfortable. Also, the elevator has a very seductive voice...(seriously, if i could somehow imitate the way it said "level one" in this accent that seemed to be Irish with a little French thrown in...)

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Michele Erdvig


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China Cat,


Welcome home from Ireland! Glad to hear it went well and that you got to meet up with Green Dragon for a pint. Small world, isn't it? I'm happy you enjoyed Earl's Court. Actually, last year they won "Best Breakfast", this year it was "Romantic Elegance". It is an excellent place to stay and they only keep improving. My husband and I often talk about the "Level one" elevator voice. Emer told me that that they didn't like the original voice programed into the elevator so they had the guy that installed it make a recording for the different levels. Now he is famous and doesn't even know it!


Looking forward to the entire trip report when the jet-lag subsides.


Michele



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Green Dragon


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Welcome back!  I thought it was great and cool to meet up as well, and I'm glad you enjoyed the Gap of Dunloe -- we really enjoyed our trip there.


Got my trip report and pictures up in the trip reports section, as well as here, with pics (evidently the pics aren't showing up on the pasted report):


 http://www.greendragonartist.com/BItripreports2006.htm


I did manage to squeeze into the Newgrange tunnel when I went, as did my friends, but it was very close!  Although I'm usually not subject to claustrophobia, I certainly saw it's attractions at that point :)


 


So, when do we get your trip report? huh? huh?



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China Cat


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I'm impressed you got yours done so fast! I've not even finished writing the first week up yet

I think I would have had trouble with Newgrange. We went to Ailwee cave, and I actually couldn't do it. i went through the passage, and just when the guide was ready to start talking I had a total claustrophobia attack and had to leave.

Dunloe was great. we had a female cart driver who was very interesting to talk to. But that poor horse had a pretty hard time pulling the 3 of us, and it was very crampedin the cart. I still wish we'd gone furthur. we just did the standard 50 euro section, up to the 4th lake an back. it was beautiful.

oh, and they make a great Irish Coffee at Kate Kearneys.

although my report is not yet done, if you're interested in some of the photos you can see them at chinacat.shutterfly.com

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Irisheyesrdreaming


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Green Dragon...your trip photos are absolutely stunning!  If mine don't turn out when I go in September...are yours for sale? Alot of them actually gave me goosebumps!  I read your trip report on fodors and found it very heartwarming and highly amusing.  I'm glad you had such a good trip with your friends.  China Cat I can't seem to get onto your photos from this site.  I'll have to try to find them some other way.  So, you would probably suggest that we do the whole Gap of Dunloe then?  If I had to pick between that and the Ring of Kerry, I think it would be the Gap.  What do you guys think?  Thanks for taking the time to report your trips and post photos for us who are eagerly anticipating the journey...it adds greatly to the excitement we already feel!

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Deborah Vindasius
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Hello Green Dragon,


 


Very, Very impressive photos !!! Loved reading your report! If any of your photos are for sale, let me know...


 


Cheers!


Mark D.



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China Cat


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IrishEyes, let me try a hotlink, and see if that works better for you:

Chinacat's Irish Photos If not, what is the problem? what happens when you try to go there?

I think we missed the most scenic part of the Gap of Dunloe. on the other hand, the full trip with the boat ride and thebus back to Kates takes a long time. If we had done it, we might not have had time forRoss Castle, or the abbey at Innisfallen. Also, the carts are pretty small, we were cramped. So I have mixed feelings...I wish I'd seen more, but the length of the trip was enough.

I think the Ring of kerry drive is very long. I didn't want to spend so much time in thecar, myself. We did part of the ring of Beara and that was fantastic.

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Michele Erdvig


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China Cat,


Lovely photos. The link worked just fine for me. Loved the one of the sheep-jam, the butterfly and Lismore Castle. Feel free to start on your trip report. Then as you complete the different chapters you can add to it with new postings. I know we would enjoy reading it.


Michele



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"Ireland Expert"  Michele Erdvig

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Green Dragon


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Yes, I do sell my photos, but I don't want to start promoting myself on Michele's website willy-nilly.  If you go to www.greendragonartist.com, that's my main site.  I've not yet got the Irish photos up yet, but I will soon.  The ones on my other webpage are mostly going to be included (other than ones like the 'shrubbery' sign) :)


I loved your photos, Beth, they came out great!  I particularly loved the sheep-jam, too :)



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Irisheyesrdreaming


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china cat...got to see the pictures...hauntingly beautiful!  After seeing your pictures, I think we may do as you did, some of the beara peninsula instead of the ring of kerry.  Thank you for the tips, hopefully my pics will turn out, but if they don't I'll have two places to obtain some from!

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Deborah Vindasius
Melissa5


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China Cat, welcome back! We just returned last night too. Of course I couldn't wait to get back on-line...next best thing to being IN Ireland.

I think it's hilarious that an elevator voice could be sexy! Now I'm really curious! Hey, maybe this will start a new trend...

I think we have visited totally different places in Ireland! Look forward to enjoying your trip report when it's done. I'm posting mine one chapter at a time. Trying to keep those chapters under 1,000 pages each. Hubby still has to show me how to post photos, I have no idea, though we have a digital camera. I'm determined to learn.

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China Cat


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welcome back Melissa! I can't wait to hear about your trip too!

I'm glad you guys enjoyed my pics. I've been working hard at trying to improve my photography skills. I really do enjoy taking them.

the sheep-jam had us cracking up in the car for pretty much the rest of the afternoon. It was on Dingle, a little ways before we got into town.

okay, I'll start posting my trip report in the other forum...warning, its really long....

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Michele Erdvig


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China Cat,


Oh, good. Two long trip reports to look forward to. We love all the little details.


Michele



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"Ireland Expert"  Michele Erdvig

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Melissa5


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China Cat, my hubby has all our photos trapped in his digital camera and he has been too busy to provide them to me. He is so slow! I miss Ireland and want my pictures. But I guess hubby is busy earning the money for our next trip so I shouldn't complain!

I have been enjoying your photos. I haven't yet learned how to post those digital photos on-line (except in e-mail) but hubby is going to teach me.

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China Cat


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Melissa, you are very patient. I had been home about 5 minutes when I started downloading. Mom and MrC are wondering about dinner, and everybody's jetlagged, and I have to look at the pictures!

you must learn, its not hard at all. in fact,the download is practically automatic...plug in the camera, let the PC notice its there, and start the download.

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