We flew 10 uncomfortable hours on Aer Lingus from LAX to Dublin, and then another short flight to Shannon. The stewardess announced for nearly 10 hours that we must keep on our seat belts and not use the toilet. Eventually we learned to ignore her...ummmm...did she want wet seats?!

WEEEEEEE! After almost 2 years of planning we had arrived at last...hubby and I and 2 daughters, age 19 and 20. Major jet lag for 3 days!

We arrived in dear Old Ireland to rain and hovered in our new windbreakers. After almost 2 years of planning we were actually standing, dripping, on Irish soil.

Europcar was easy with no line. (Except that we failed to realize they didn't give us an air-conditioned car until we hit an Irish heat wave several days later.) Booked Europcar through Michele's Kemwel site with a decent price including CDW.

Drove a short ways to Bunratty Lodge in Bunratty, near Shannon airport and near Bunratty Castle. (In Michele's book. See also www.bunrattylodge.com)

BUNRATTY LODGE:
Mary Browne settled hubby and I into a room with a comfty queen bed with pretty lace canopy at the end of the hall. Tea-service in the room...welcome to Ireland. Mary Browne is nice and runs a charming and tidy small guesthouse, convenient to the airport and nearby sites. (Need credit card to secure reservation, but you must pay her in cash.)

We loved the little crispy potatoes she served with her breakfast, like "tater tots" only home-made. None of us had slept in the teeny tiny cramped seats on Aer Lingus and we were sure glad we didn't have to drive any further than this our first day.

BUNRATTY CASTLE AND FOLK PARK:
The next morning was Sunday morning and we visited Bunratty Castle and Folk Park. Definitely worth a visit, but it was over-run with tourists. I especially enjoyed a chat with a delightful Irish lady whose job it was to work in ye olde pub in the folk park and chat with visitors.

I must mention here that later in the trip we also visited a similar park that was much LESS crowded...the Ulster Folk Park and Transport Museum in Cultra in Northern Ireland (east of Belfast and only 2 or 3 hours from Dublin) is just as good and LESS crowded. We did both.

Don't confuse this with the Ulster American Folk Park, which has a similar name, but we didn't get to that one.

After Sunday morning at Bunratty Folk Park, we were off to Dingle with our luggage. (See Chapter Two on Dingle, coming up soon.)

Although we did enjoy Bunratty Castle and Folk Park, it was mostly something to do close to the airport...it wasn't a highlight of our trip. We could have left it out and nobody would have missed it.

ADVICE FOR AER LINGUS:
1) Book your seats in advance through a good travel agent so you can get seats together, as we did. We booked through my favorite AAA travel agent. On our planes there were 2 seats together on one side of the plane, then a narrow aisle, then about 4 middle seats in the center section, then another narrow aisle, then 2 more seats. By booking in advance through travel agent we got the best seats together by the window, 2 window seats and 2 aisle seats. Best seats on the plane. Some people on the plane couldn't sit together (must have booked late as their tickets showed seats NOT together.) Our seats were already assigned when we bought our tickets months in advance.

2) We were extremely uncomfortable on the flight over...old worn seats, too narrow, and neck in an uncomfortable position. BUT I PURCHASED A NECK PILLOW in the Dublin airport on the way home and was amazed how much it helped! I put the skinny pillow that the airline gives you behind my back for support, and the neck pillow on my neck, and was able to sleep a bit on the flight home. Without those 2 pillows I was wide awake the whole flight on the way over.



-- Edited by Melissa5 at 20:15, 2006-07-24