Ireland 2024!
Éire
The Tour!
Why Ireland?
It all started with my imagining the emerald hills of Ireland stretching before me as I embarked on the journey of a lifetime. June 2024 promised to be an unforgettable month as I traverse the rich landscapes, vibrant cities, and the age-old traditions of the Emerald Isle. Each day will unfold like a page from a storybook, where every corner reveals tales waiting to be told, from the bustling streets of Dublin to the serene coastlines of the Wild Atlantic Way.
As I plot out my adventure, my heart races with the anticipation of sipping a perfectly poured pint in a genuine Irish pub while engaging in spirited banter with locals. I’ll meander through cobblestone streets lined with colorful facades, savoring the aromas of traditional dishes wafting from nearby kitchens.
This trip is not just about the sights I’ll see but about the moments I’ll create with new found friends. Picture this: a warm evening spent listening to lively traditional music, laughter echoing from the pub as we share stories of our day. Each evening will culminate in the warmth of companionship, a round of drinks in hand, as we recount our adventures and marvel at the surprises the day held.
I’ll be documenting my journey day by day, sharing what will surely provide some humbling and hysterical moments. I’ll weave together tales of unexpected detours, hidden gems discovered along the way, and the laughter shared.
So, join me as I countdown to my great adventure. I’ll explore the heart and soul of Ireland, creating memories that will last a lifetime. Fáilte, my friends; the journey is just beginning, and I can’t wait to share every step with you. Cheers to the road ahead and the stories waiting to unfold.
Itinerary
I'm Off! - Sunday, June 9, 2024



Well. I’m off! I got on the Concord bus ahead of time. Everyone was here so we left Portland only to stop on the side of the highway minutes later. Some old man left his carry on in the terminal and someone (Concord or his family) came out on the highway and delivered it to him. I’ve never seen anything like it. After a few minutes we were back on the road heading south.
I’m sitting next to a girl that just graduated from UMPI and she is heading to Scotland and Wales as a graduation present. Her real purpose is to go see Taylor Swift in Wales. That’s pretty cute. It’s her first plane ride. I’m kind of excited for her.
I got through security much faster than I thought I would. I don’t have any of the priority boarding through security, took a pee, and am sitting down to my first well deserved beer. I’m not going to cross-post pictures into this log but will use the timestamps on the photos to match them up to this entry.
Plane loads at 20:30 for a 21:30 departure.
I sat at the Santarpio’s bar while Elizabeth texted me her sweater preferences. I think I’ll be doing some “shopping” while I’m over there. God, I hate shopping.
One good thing though. I figured I’ll buy flasks for Mary, Ann, and Jimbo. Mary wants some hand towels for her new bathrooms so maybe I’ll see some. I’ll look to see if there are any dog items when we go to the sheep dog demo for Nancy and Gary.
After a TOO long boarding process, we finally got seated at 20:45. I’m in 32H. The stewardess smiled when I told her I was in 32HOTEL. Probably not too many speak in the phonetic alphabet to her.
We pushed back at 21:20 with an expected flight time of 5:30 hours. ETA is now 08:11 which is 20 minutes earlier than expected.
I sat next to Will from Florida. He lives in Boston attending MIT as a PhD candidate in biology. He went to Wesleyan for undergrad and his best friend has a Maine connection and is from Yarmouth. He passed out soon after take off so not much conversation there.
Dinner on the plane was some spicy chicken thing but I didn’t catch the name because I had my headphones on.
Before dinner I had a Heineken for €6. These coach seats don’t have much room to spread out so I downed it quickly to give back the can.
I’m listening to my own music on my iPhone because t he movies offered are not interesting to me.
We’re now about 35 minutes to landing in DUB. The expected time will be 08:12 Irish Standard Time. The cabin is all picked up and we have been ordered back to our seats with seatbelts fastened.
Sláinte
First Day in Ireland, Dublin - Monday, June 10, 2024
The taxi “rank” was very efficient and I was soon in a taxi heading to the Grand Canal Hotel. The taxi man was classic Irish and filled me in on all the sights along the way. He drove a VW IQ electric vehicle. My first ride in an EV. The ride was about 30 minutes and cost €37.00. I gave him €40.00. I think this is the proper protocol to round up rather than give a % for a tip.
I got to the hotel at about 9:30. My watch was still set to EST so I took a minute to change it to Irish Standard Time while I had a cup of Americano coffee for €3.15. I’m only recording these various purchases for posterity and perspective. I probably won’t have leisure time to record details like this while we’re moving about.
I’m pretty tired. I didn’t sleep on the plane and the seats were narrow.
I checked my luggage because my room won’t be ready until noon or so.
I’m about to bring up my website to get some hints of things to see in the area.
The taxi driver suggested I check out the EPIC museum and the ship that carried Irish immigrants to the US in the 1850s. I went online and bought tickets for both our tour guide on the ship was very funny guy named Jerry Kelly. I would listen to this guy talk all day. He was hysterical after that tour. I went to the EPIC Museum, which is the history of Irish immigration, and it was very in depth with a lot of detail a lot of active presentations, but almost too much detail for me to, take in because I was so tired. I ended up catching a cab back hotel cause I had done a lot of walking that day and my legs were worn out. I was just still exhausted from not sleeping so I did that and it was €10 which wasn’t too bad.
At about 14:00 IST I had my first pint at The Waterbank bar which is attached to The Grand Canal Hotel. It used to be called the Gasworks but they rebranded it. One good pint deserves another so I had a second one. Brilliant. It was time to formally check in and get a little rest so I went upstairs to room 413 and laid down for a bit.
It was about 17:00 when I went up the street to The Storyteller. There were only a few people in there so I chatted up the bartenders. I had one real Guinness and ordered their chicken club sandwich. Honestly, the best I ever had. It has an entire breast of chicken pounded out on some kind of homemade bread. I finished up with three Guinness 0.0 and I was DONE. Exhausted.
I had to buy a shirt. Mary’s always calling me a liar when I tell a story. I always say the details are not important if it’s a good story to tell.
It’s time to lay down for real now. I’m gonna take a shower, set my alarm, and get some sleep. See you at breakfast tomorrow when we launch the tour.
Sláinte
Tour Day 1 - Belfast Tour and Castle Stay - Tuesday, June 11, 2024
Today’s the day we start our tour. I was up at 06:00 IST to take my shower and pack. I feel like I packed too much. I came down for breakfast at 6:45 but it doesn’t start until 07:00 so I’m sitting in the lobby making this entry. The next time I travel, I have to think like a backpacker every ounce counts. My suitcase was close to 40 pounds which is too much.
The Spectrum Global Day Pass appears to be working, but it’s slow, but it’s faster than the hotel Wi-Fi!
I’m about to head downstairs to check out. The room was very nice and I did manage to get some good sleep. Breakfast today was the full Irish breakfast. I tried most of everything but I skipped the beans because it would’ve flooded the plate with too much liquid.
I’ll check back in later today with more details, but I got a date with the front desk downstairs. Cheers.
Well, I almost got on the wrong driftwood tour bus. There were two at the curb when we came out I was standing around in the crowd of people waiting for them to board and then one of the tour guides asked me my name to check off his list And I wasn’t on it. He suggested I check with the other tour bus and of course I was there. And of course that made me the last one to board. They were down in my favor because I had a single front row seat for the Journey. We proceeded north on the highway towards Belfast after looping through all of Dublin waterfront and docklands areas which were not very scenic but were still cool to see.
Shane Kelly is our tour guide and he gave us a brief introduction to his background and then opened up for the rest of us to share ours. Of course, many people quickly passed over their own names to the point where I couldn’t actually remember any of them, which is always a problem for me anyway. One of the things that Shane Asked us to do to load the WhatsApp and PhotoCircle apps on our iPhones. He then sent invitations to the groups so we could share information and also share our photos so we could all take advantage of both.
On the way north, we stopped at a rest stop, which was quite clean and new and bright not like American rest stops. We had an opportunity to go to the bathroom, which I took because I didn’t know how long we would be between next stops.
We proceeded north to Hillsborough Castle which is a royal residence for visiting dignitaries. It was quite grand in the spirit of Downton Abbey without the same property. There were some stately gardens that I took pictures of and they were very nice. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the residence so I can’t share those with you but needless to say, it was very grand many portraiture on the wall.
After the tour which lasted an hour, we went across the street to the Plough Restaurant for lunch. I got a sandwich and a Guinness and we all went to the bathroom again and then join the group back on the bus to proceed north more.
When we got to Belfast city, we went to the black cab tours which originated at the City Hall and took us immediately into the area of “the troubles.” The tour lasted about an hour when we piled into a black cab and a minivan and they took us around to the scenes and sights of the Belfast war and it really was a war. The cab driver of my car was named Brian and he had been in the trenches during the war, and had a perspective coming from someone who had actually experienced it. It was quite powerful what the Catholics went through compared to what the protestants did to them was astonishing. The Police force, an army or allied against the Catholics and we were taken to a remembrance garden, where there were names of people who had been killed on plaques for everyone to see it was powerful.
After that tour was over, we went to the Titanic Museum just to pick up a few members of the tour who had decided not to take the black cab tour from there we proceeded north again to our hotel for the night, which was called the Ballygalley castle hotel. We got there about 530. We checked in and Shane had made reservations for us in the hotel restaurant for 630. I went downstairs to the pub and had a Guinness while I waited and then joined the group for dinner. We were up into two tables, and I had monkfish and their seafood chowder, which was very good. After dinner some of the tour folks, retired to their room For an early evening. I went to the hotel bar and had a Guinness zero and I bought a Jameson for Schroeder. Violating the Irish drinking protocol, deep decided he didn’t want a second one so he retired to bed with his wife, Mimi whose a hoot. I finished my Guinness and went back to my room about 10:30 PM.
Breakfast tomorrow starts at 7:30 and Shane asked that we be ready and on the bus in 8:55 so I’ll be getting up to take my shower get dressed and pack before that all happens and be ready to go. Shane said they move the people around on the bus so everyone gets a chance to sit by a window, etc. I don’t know where I’ll be sitting tomorrow, but I hope it’s on anile ecause I need the extra space. The seats are a little cramped for me because we’re forced to wear seatbelts by law.
Tour Day 2 - The Giant's Causeway Coast - Wednesday, June 12, 2024
I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and realized the sun was coming up in a few minutes. I got dressed and headed on down to the beach to sit on some rocks and watch the sunrise. I took some pictures and some videos and I experimented with a few photos settings and I think I got some nice shots.
Breakfast was opened at 7:30 AM and I had the traditional Irish breakfast with the black pudding and the white pudding except the beans again in deference to the other people on the tour since we’re gonna be crammed into a bus together. The coffee machine was down so we had to ask for a few pots from the kitchen which were immediately provided.
After my first course, I noticed a sign on the wall over by the porridge and it was for a bottle of Bushmills whiskey, some honey, and some cream. The idea is that you fix your porridge with those other three ingredients in it and have that for breakfast I couldn’t help myself I had to try, and it was spectacular. I can see myself trying this at home with my instant oatmeal just to say I did it. It’s hysterical. I would say only in Ireland, but I’m not sure if other places do this as well. I doubt it. This is a good place. Good people good food good beer. What more could you ask for?
Today we’re heading to the Giants Causeway, which is pretty famous basalt structures here in Ireland and then later we will tour the Bushmills distillery and I hope to sample and also find a nice Bushmills flask. I’ll purchase some Jameson flasks when I get back to Dublin at the end of next week.
The van’s pulling out at 8:55 this morning so I’ll have to hang this up for now and get back to you later.
We loaded up the van on time and headed north towards the Giants Causeway. Along the way we wound down some back roads to some scenic overlooks to stop for bathroom breaks in the stretch our legs. All the tour from now on is on mostly small roads winding through farms and fields and neighborhoods and ocean views. The country is loaded with sheep and baby lambs which I got to admit are pretty cute when we get out to look for things you can hear their little bleats and it’s just fantastic.
We arrived at the Giants Causeway, which is a world heritage site and it is pretty amazing. We had to take a shuttle bus down to where the actual basalt structures were emerging out of the ocean and there were a lot of tourists there. I took a lot of pictures and was just blown away by the, magnitude of it and the uniqueness of it.
Once we had finished the tour, we had lunch at The Nook, which is at the bottom of the visitor center. I had a bowl of seafood chowder and a Guinness which I thought was good but Shane our driver thought it was shite. We’re going to have a chowder contest throughout the remaining time of the tour he seems to know there are some good ones. He was not impressed with the one at the nook and said he wouldn’t be going back there with the tours in the future.
We were then onto the Bushmills distillery but our time there was very short. We first went to the gift shop where I bought a flask and a shirt as a memory. We were then introduced to the bar where I bought a flight of Irish whiskey, three samples of their malt whiskey, which of course was very good. We boarded the bus and we were on to an amazing visual site.
Dunluce castle is a medieval castle perched on a cliff overlooking the ocean the weather was perfect. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. There was no wind. It was just beautiful. I took some great pictures and I was very impressed with the whole site even though it was ruins it still was very, very interesting.
After Dunluce Castle we boarded the van again and headed to the city of Derry/Londonderry. I guess if you’re Catholic you would say DERRY. If you’re protestant, you would say Londonderry. it was a fair ride through rush-hour traffic which wasn’t very scenic, but showed us what sort of the daily life of the northern Ireland city dwellers was like.
We arrived at our hotel around 6 o’clock. It is called the Bishops Gate Hotel and is near The Diamond in the walled city of DERRY. The Diamond is a square with a statue to the war, dead, and some pretty gruesome looking statues surrounding it. One of the statues has a man or a soldier, actually in a pose bayoneting something quite violent looking actually was my impression. We’ll see that statue up close tomorrow.
Shane told us that we would be going on a walking tour of the walled city tomorrow. We have to be at the Van at 9:45 to load the bags in where they will stay while we take the tour.. Breakfast starts at 7:30 AM, but there’s no rush on that day, so that’s sort of plan for tomorrow.
Tonight I asked the receptionist at the front desk to recommend a pub nearby that had music. She told me about certain places, but she said the music didn’t start till 10 PM so that was gonna be a long wait since it was only 8 PM when I was talking to her.
She pointed me to a street nearby that had a lot of pubs. She was kind enough to draw me a map, and I followed her instructions and found myself in front of a pub called The Rocking Chair. It was 8 pm and their sign said music started then so I went in. There is already a band sitting around the table about five pieces that were tuning up and practicing, etc.. I ordered a pint at the bar and went and sat down at the table by myself. They’re only two other gentlemen in the room at the time and myself, but I didn’t feel entitled to just go and sit with them, so I sat down and looked over and smiled at them, and tried to ingratiate myself to them ,and it was fine
Shortly thereafter the room filled up with people. I don’t know where they came from but there was a line at the bar four people deep I basically asked the two gentlemen if I could sit with them so that we could create space for other people who just showed up and they welcomed d me to their table, so I sat down.
The music continue to play, which was great. I hadn’t heard any pub music since I arrived in Ireland on Monday morning, so this was a real treat exactly what I’ve been looking for for over a year planning for this trip.
I was reticent to buy a round for these guys cause I didn’t want to get in that round game, which would have forced them to kind of play along. My hearing is shot so I just smiled at them and nodded. Couldn’t understand a word they said with their accent, my poor hearing so I just kind of played along.
I have sent messages through WhatsApp to the team of touring participants, and I was trying to bait them into coming out to listen to music with me and have some Guinness and the only response I got was from the two ladies, Jane and Mary, who are great participants in everything so it was going to be a good time.
Sometime during the night, other people showed upo. One girl I was talking to was from the Netherlands and with her accent, and my crappy hearing, I could kinda barely understand what she was saying, but again, I smiled and nodded my head and pretended.
Before you know it, it was 10 PM and the little band was packing up their instruments and heading out. A new girl singer that looked like Cyndi Lauper showed up with her microphone and her lyrics on her cell phone and was singing to a sort of a karaoke machine for the room. I didn’t wanna go through another set with her and I offered to walk the two ladies back to our hotel not that I would be much assistance because I was huffing and puffing the whole time.
Tomorrow we’re doing a walking tour of the world city of Derry and I’m concerned about whether I can pull it off given my lack of strength and capabilities. It is embarrassing I know, but I was hoping to kinda minimize these exhibitions with creative alternatives to anything physical.
I got back to my room 102 about 1030 and got ready for bed. I’m making this entry about close to 11 but tomorrow we sleep in a little bit because our walking tour doesn’t start till 1045 with loading our bags in the van and the breakfast starts at 7:30 to 1030 so I’ll figure out a way to get my shower and get downstairs with my bags and stuff, have some breakfast and be ready to go and hopefully will have sympathy for my slow pace.
OK, time for bed. I hope to send more information shortly. Thanks for being there. Bye.
Tour Day 3 - Derry / Londonderry & Donegal, Sligo - Thursday, June 13, 2024
This is a testament to how busy we’ve been that I am making this log entry on Friday morning about Thursday’s adventures. I just never had time to write or dictate this log entry at all on Thursday.
Our day started at a leisurely pace with a nice breakfast in the dining room of the Bishop’s Gate Hotel that was actually served off the menu and not buffet style. I ordered the complete Irish breakfast because I’m finding that I want to tank up in the mornings before we hit the road because lunchtime can be kind of up in the air sometimes if you will.
I sat across from Carmel, who is from Perth Australia, and has that sweet little accent. I think she’s gluten-free because she doesn’t eat bread and offers her selections to whoever is at the table and there was a lot of bread passed around, just mountains of toast.
Derry has a visitor center in the middle of the city near the walls of this famous city where we met our tour guide John. He would take us along the wall tops to give us the history of the wall, the city, and the various struggles that occurred for 100’s of years.
It was truly raining that morning, not just drizzling but real rain. I had to wear my packable raincoat, which was comfortable and fit well, but quickly became soaked in the rain. The jacket claims to be waterproof but you quickly become wet either through sweating on the inside or leaking from the outside. After a brief introduction and history of the city going back hundreds of years, we crossed over and climbed the steps up onto the top of the wall, The whole time John is talking to us walking backward and, he spoke in a clear enough and loud enough voice that you could hear him. He was definitely a professional presenter and for some reason, I thought he was constantly looking at me in my eyes, and I was kinda looking back at him and we had our stares locked up on each other. I’ve noticed this before where I think that the presenter is talking directly to me. Maybe I’m just focused on myself for some reason, but that wouldn’t surprise me. Later, our guide Shane remarked at how thick his Irish accent was (there are many Irish accents) but I didn’t notice it to be difficult to understand. Maybe all the Irish TV I have been watching back home allowed me to translate what he was saying. Listening to narration in a different accent or “brogue” in a language you already know (English) adds some authenticity to the information. It is both informative and entertaining.
There was so much detail when he spoke to us that I can’t really capture it here in this blog. The history can be looked up online regarding Derry / Londonderry. The things that happened there in the last 50 years or so would blow your mind the amount of violence and killing all the name of Protestant versus Catholic struggles. Just amazing.
I was a little concerned that I wouldn’t be able to make the complete walking tour because I admit I’m pretty out of shape and there was a lot of stair climbing on slippery steps and railings and I was very conscious about not wanting to get injured this early in the trip that would limit what I could do going forward and would probably cause the other members of the tour to adjust to whatever limitations would cause. To that point one of the members of the tour, Katie had been violently ill while we were still at the Ballygalley Castle Hotel and she actually stayed there in the room with her mother Paige until she was fit enough to join us again. Katie and Paige followed along and joined up with us after spending roughly 150 pounds to take a taxi ride from the Ballygalley Castle Hotel to the Bishops gate hotel. Surprisingly to me, I was able to keep up with the group, and the pace was reasonable, and I saw a lot of of Londonderry. After a while being out in the rain like that, I just wanted the tour to come to a close so we could get on the bus and get moving again. At the very end of the tour we met at The Diamond statue and concluded the tour thanking John for his excellent presentation. We walked back to the van in front of the Bishop’s Gate Hotel and got our soggy selves situated for the ride for that day. The van was all wet from everybody’s dripping clothes and boots and that would be the theme for most of the day on Thursday.
One thing that I’m noticing on our routes is that they don’t really follow the Google routes that I had predicted from hotel to hotel on a daily basis. We wound around all these country roads that I couldn’t really recall if I had to for this log we would go, literally through fields and hedge rows. On our way to a Ringed fort called Grianan of Aileach. When I write this in the website, I should place directions or link to directions from the Bishop’s Gate Hotel to the ringed fort to show just off the beaten path we were.
It was raining pretty hard and a very steady wind was blowing on this hilltop fort. Once inside the walls of the fort the wind was blocked and it was pretty amazing to see scale of it. Some people climbed on the walls. I stayed on the ground and took pictures of a few things And then again you know because of the rain and everything we just kinda rushed back to the van and we’re on our way again.
We stopped for lunch at a pretty nice truckstop that had three or four different food options and a little market attached to it. I got what was called a club sandwich sourdough roll. It was just okay, it was a truckstop after all. The rain was slowing down, so that was good and kind of gave us hope for the rest of the day that we wouldn’t be totally washed out Just because it was raining, it didn’t stop us from getting out of the van and seeing some sites which is good because we need to push ourselves to experience things outside the van rather than through the windows.
We pressed on to Donegal town and got out of the van to walk around the center of town and all the shops that were there. The whole town was just Mecca tourist shops. Not being a shopper myself I wandered around for a little bit and found McCafferty‘s bar for a pint.
An old woman, an English tourist, asked the bar man if she could pour a pint just for the experience of it and he agreed. She came behind the bar and poured my pine of Guinness and then she left with the rest of her group and I called out to her I said, where did your pint go that you poured and she said you’re drinking it! So that was fun. I don’t think that would ever happen in America where a bar patron would be allowed the back of the bar to work the taps. Another vote for Ireland hospitality.
I walked down to the municipal parking lot where the van was and got on and took off my soaking raincoat, which was still wet from before while we’re in Donegal town. It hadn’t been raining so even though I was wet from the prior experience I didn’t get more wet, which was good
The ride to the Falcon Estate Hotel was probably about an hour and along the way we stopped at another gas station convenience store. I bought a six pack of Guinness and got some paper cups from their coffee station and we shared the six pack on the van with John and Deke and Paige and some of the other ladies had just a little sip but mostly John and Deke and I finished the beers on the remaining ride.
The Falcon Estate Hotel is truly an amazing property. It’s quite expansive and well manicured and very tidy. There was a big circus tent on one of the lawns next to the actual estate building, which is where they serve dinner. I checked into our rooms at the hotel main desk and they handed us tags for our bags which we put on dutifully and went up to our rooms. Within minutes, there was a knock at the door and it was a porter delivering my bag to the room, which was very nice service. I wasn’t really close to the front desk and it would have been a hike humping my bags along. I was already recognizing and regretting how much stuff I took with me on the road and will definitely curate my belongings the next time I travel.
At 6 PM we went on a tour of the falcons and owls in their aviary. I held a peregrine falcon on a leather glove and petted it. It’s very soft feathers. Next we walked to the actual aviary where the cages were and where the birds were kept and fed. They were pretty amazing and I got a lot of good pictures of them a little short movies so you can see some of their movements and hear some of their sounds just fascinating.
We had a 7:30 PM reservation for dinner in the tent, but we arrived earlier at 7:15 and they took us right in and gave us a table. I sat with the three ladies from the southern hemisphere Carmel, Diane and Deborah. Diane just turned 80 years old and is a real firecracker. A very nice lady and we hit it off famously. She remarked that I would get along with her husband Russ who was back in New Zealand.
I ordered a Dexter cut of a ribeye steak, which is something I never heard of. I ordered it medium rare along with the usual accompaniments of Caesar salad, creamed spinach, and the Cabernet Savignon wine with the cappuccino to finish off the meal. The weight staff was mostly foreign accents. I’m assuming Polish or eastern European of some sort. There were some language barriers and I was hard to understand what they were saying. There are a lot of Ukrainian refugees flooding into Ireland so they could have been from there. I didn’t ask.
The meal came out all at once. This was kind of a problem because steak and spinach dishes got cold while I was trying to eat in the proper sequence of salad, entrée and then dessert. I ordered a Redbreast 12-year-old Irish whiskey, which came in a very, very small portion probably the smallest portion of any alcohol drink I ever had so it was kind of a chuckle.
I truly enjoyed eating with these three ladies and listening to their accents and some of their travel adventures in the past all three of them were pretty well traveled, and they weren’t afraid to jump on a plane fly 17 – 18 hours to various locations they had been to. All three had some form of farming in their background, either presently living on a farm in New Zealand or growing up on a farm in Perth Australia.
After dinner, I retired to the hotel bar and ordered an Irish pale ale. I have been drinking so much Guinness over the last couple days. I thought I would try something different and it was very good in the manner of that I’ve been drinking.
Madison and her mother Kelly Reddiger joined me in the pub when they saw me sitting there as they were walking by. Madison is very tall 22 year-old young lady. I think she said she was 6‘2“ tall. Her father I understand is 6′ 10″ tall and played basketball in college. Kelly is very interesting to talk to and has lived. I think she said in 13 different places over the years they have moved around a lot for her husbands work. Most recently she had lived in Savannah Georgia so we talked about that a little bit. Mary Schroeder joined us for a drink and she also had previously lived in Savannah Georgia so that made the conversation well rounded out and was very interesting. It was getting fairly late around 11 PM, so we all retired back to our rooms.
When I got to my room, I took a bath and a big bathtub. There was also a separate stall shower in the quite large bathroom. I hadn’t taken a bath in a tub in years and this was very relaxing after a long day of being wet not really cold but just clammy all the time.
I set up all my electronics for charging devices, put in my earbuds turned on my podcast and went to sleep at about midnight.
Tour Day 4 - Mayo, Connemara - Friday, June 14, 2024
Tour Day 5 - Tour Connemara & Kylemore Abbey - Saturday, June 15, 2024
After winding my way along the picturesque Sky Road, I parked the van, my heart racing with anticipation. The moment I stepped out, I was greeted by a panoramic view that seemed to stretch on forever. It was a breathtaking sight—mountains kissed by sunlight, valleys rich with greenery, and the sparkling sea in the distance. We gathered for a group picture, laughter echoing as we captured the moment, our excitement palpable for the adventures still to come.
Arriving at Kylemore Abbey felt like stepping into a postcard. The reflection of the abbey on the serene waters of the lake was simply mesmerizing. As I wandered through the quaint gardens, vibrant flowers danced in the gentle breeze, their colors vibrant and inviting. History whispered from every corner, each stone of the abbey telling tales of love, ambition, and resilience.
One of the highlights of my visit was the Victorian Walled Garden, a masterpiece in itself. Walking through the meticulously designed pathways, I could almost hear the echoes of laughter from those who tended to the land long ago. It was a slice of paradise, replete with herbs, flowers, and fruits, all blooming with life, showcasing the timeless connection between nature and nurture.
As I explored the interior of the abbey, I was captivated by the ornate details in each room. From the grand reception hall to the intimate chapel, the blend of history and spirituality created a profound sense of peace. The stories of the Benedictine nuns who established the abbey resonated deeply, their dedication to education and community evident in the legacy they left behind.
After soaking in the beauty of Kylemore Abbey, it was time to indulge in the local fare. A short drive led us to a charming spot where the aroma of freshly prepared seafood filled the air. Sharing a meal with fellow travelers and reminiscing about our experiences enriched the day even further. Savoring every bite, I realized that the journey is not just about the destinations we visit, but the connections we make along the way.
As evening fell, the sky painted itself with hues of orange and pink, signaling the end of another extraordinary day in this enchanting part of Ireland. Kylemore Abbey had captured my heart, an emblem of beauty with stories woven into its very fabric. I left with a sense of gratitude, knowing that experiences like this remind us of the wonder that exists in the world, just waiting to be explored. The journey continues, and I am eager to see what lies ahead on this adventure through Ireland.
Tour Day 6 - Castle Tour, The Burren, & the Cliffs of Moher - Sunday, June 16, 2024
After our sweet diversion, we journeyed on to Galway, a vibrant city teeming with life and character. Though our time there was brief, it was filled with delightful moments—like snagging cozy sweaters that would serve as warm reminders of our Irish adventure. I found a charming pub called the Dáil Bar, where I couldn’t resist trying another bowl of chowder, swapping my usual Guinness for a crisp IPA. Each sip and bite brought with it the spirit of Ireland, a blend of rich flavors and warm hospitality.
Next, the allure of the Burren unfolded before us, its lunar landscape both stark and inviting. As we drove through this rugged beauty, we could almost hear the whispers of ancient stories embedded in the stones. This land, shaped by time and weather, felt alive, inviting us to explore its mysteries. And then, the moment we had all been waiting for arrived—the majestic Cliffs of Moher rose before us, a testament to nature’s grandeur. The power of the Atlantic waves crashing below was exhilarating, each gust of wind carrying echoes of adventure past.
The cliffs, while bustling with fellow travelers, offered a sense of camaraderie as we shared in this awe-inspiring spectacle. Escaping for a moment on a golf cart, I absorbed the grandeur around me, feeling the raw energy of the landscape. With every photograph captured, I tried to bottle the essence of this magical place, knowing that these memories would live on long after we left.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, painting the sky in shades of orange and pink, we arrived at the Lahinch Coast Hotel. The laughter and chatter of new friends filled the lobby bar, where we gathered to discuss dinner plans over a pint. The culinary adventure continued at Danny Mac’s, where I savored not only a delicious seafood chowder but also a steak sandwich that was a delightful surprise. Each bite was a reminder of the simple joys that a good meal can bring after a day of exploration.
Reflecting on the day, from the chocolate factory’s warmth to the cool, salty air at the cliffs, we found ourselves caught in the magic of Ireland. This Father’s Day was more than just a date on the calendar; it was a celebration of life, laughter, and the beauty that surrounds us. As we tucked into our rooms for the night, the promise of tomorrow beckoned, ready for another chapter in our adventure through this enchanting land.
Tour Day 7 - Spanish Point, Clare to Dingle, Kerry - Monday, June 17, 2024
This is the second entry I wrote for the Monday, June 17 trip. I wrote a beautiful log entry that wanted to a lot of details about what a great day we had and somehow it evaporated on Microsoft notes so I don’t know where it is.
Officially it’s Tuesday, June 18 as I dictate this log entry and I’ll try to remember as much as possible from yesterday before the details fade away.
After breakfast at the Lahinch Coast Hotel, we got back on the bus for what was going to be a very full day of activities and fun.
We drove along the Clare coastline which was spectacular. On our way, we took the ferry across the river Shannon, which was calm about a 30 minute boat ride, not too bad and that placed us into the Kingdom of Kerry Ireland. Shane told us that the people of Kerry were not really backward, but they were very rural and lived close to the land.
One of the highlights of the trip that I was looking forward to was to go to sheepdog demo which we did and it was just both fascinating and hysterical. At the same time we watched the sheepdogs perform and if you’re a dog owner, you are so impressed with their abilities, obedience, intelligence enthusiasm, and just all around behavior it was really something special. I took some videos of that that I’ll put into the website, but there’s too much to explain here about that after the sheepdog demo, we went back to their Irish cottage, and we fed some baby lambs from the bottle, which was fun. The little guy that I fed was actually blind, somehow I guess it’s common for sheep to be blinded either by accident or through some kind of aggression from other sheep, but he was a good little boy for me and then after feeding the sheep from the bottle, a little baby goat came out and he was just so friendly with everybody and I picked him up and was holding him has some nice pictures of that. It’s amazing how light this baby goat was that I was holding, like he was a cat
After the sheepdog demo, we got back in the car went to the South Pole Inn, which is a famous little pub along the way. An arctic explorer named Tom Crean, who was part of the Shackleton expeditions lived there, and there was memorabilia from the Antarctic adventures. We stopped and had a pint.
Along the way, we stopped in front of the entrance to a Trump golf course in Ireland. We didn’t drive in to see it, but I took a picture of the big sign just as a joke.
We continued on until we reached the town of Dingle where we were going to stay for two nights at the Dingle Benners Hotel. This hotel is very nice and well appointed. It’s right in the heart of Dingle accessible to everything by foot. There was a pub across the street. We tried to get into the Dingle Pub which is very famous, but it was so crowded so noisy that we couldn’t really sit down for dinner so we went up the street a little bit more to Paul Geaney’s bar and restaurant. I had an amazing Irish stew, Guinness of course it was a Guinness Irish still is it full name so I thought I would pair it with its name sake.
After dinner, I went back into the the Dingle Pub and it was just packed shoulder to shoulder. I stayed for one song and then went out on the sidewalk where they had some tables and I could listen to the music from out there and talk to some people from Sheffield England, which is in Yorkshire where All Creatures Great and Small is filmed. I love their accent, just more of the experience of being over here.
I went back to my room and dictated my log entry only to have it evaporate and then I was too tired to go through the whole thing again so I gave up and went to sleep and here I am today the next day, repeating that I think that’s enough for today, they’ll be more from today later today if that makes sense.
Cheers
Tour Day 8 - Free Time in Dingle - Tuesday, June 18, 2024
Once you’re back on land, you’ll want to immerse yourself in the local craftsmanship at the Dingle Crystal Studio. Here, the artisans breathe life into glass, creating stunning pieces that reflect the rich culture and history of Ireland. Each crafted item is a testament to skill and tradition, offering you a chance to take home a piece of Dingle that captures the essence of this enchanting place. Snagging a unique barware item is a delightful way to keep your memories alive, perfect for raising a toast to future adventures.
After soaking in the artistry, the scenic route of Slea Head Drive awaits. This famous drive presents breathtaking vistas that seem to ripple off the canvas. With the imposing Blasket Islands dotting the horizon, every turn reveals a new wonder, from ancient ruins to sheer cliffs plunging into the briny depths below. Take a moment to breathe deeply, allowing the dramatic landscapes to ignite your spirit. The storied Mount Brandon stands proudly in the distance, steeped in lore and beauty, reminding you of the deep, rich tapestry of Irish heritage that surrounds you.
As evening descends, the warmth of local hospitality beckons at the beloved Dick Mack’s Pub. This is not just a venue for a drink; it is a sacred space for storytellers and musicians. Here, the laughter of locals mingles with captivating melodies, creating an atmosphere filled with life and connection. Whether you’re sharing tales with fellow travelers or joining in on a lively singalong, the spirit of community envelops you, turning a simple evening into an unforgettable experience.
In Dingle, adventure and relaxation blend seamlessly, inviting you to explore at your own pace. Each encounter, whether it’s on the water, within the studio, or beneath the warm glow of the pub, adds to the rich tapestry of your journey. With every moment spent in this vibrant town, you weave new memories that will linger long after your visit, reminding you of the magic that is uniquely Dingle. Let the experiences you gather here continue to inspire your heart and soul, for this is where the life and times of Billy Cook truly begin to unfold.
Tour Day 9 - Horse-Drawn Carriage Ride - Wednesday, June 19, 2024
It is actually June 20 as I write this log. I’ve had a relatively bad cold the last couple of days and last night. I was just two weeks to sit down and our adventures for the day so here goes the events of June 19, 2024, out ninth day. Only two more days left!
This morning started with our second breakfast at the Dingle Benners hotel. That doesn’t mean that we had two breakfast on the same day. It’s just that we stayed for two nights at the Dingle Benner’s hotel. After packing and repacking my suitcase after my laundry came back it was time to bring my bags downstairs and have some breakfast. I had an Eggs Benedict and some fruit from the continental breakfast buffet with coffee and orange juice all in all I’m pretty reasonable.
We were then back on the bus and heading towards Inch Beach. This beach was pretty massive for Ireland. Tide was out and it was actually a long walk to get to where the water was from where the parking lot was. I guess it’s supposed to be pretty famous for surfing, but it looked too flat and shallow compared to what we have in Maine for surfing. We stood on the beach for a while, took some pictures, but nobody really wanted to go in the water and have to deal with all the changing etc.. So after we visited the bathrooms, we got back on the bus and headed to our next location.
There is a very famous waterfall in Ireland call Torc waterfall. It was truly beautiful with very clean water. We only stayed for a few minutes before we crossed the street and got into iconic Irish jaunting carts. Our horse was named Sally and I can’t remember the drivers name. Great guy though. FULL of information.
Just to show that Maine is filled with crazy people and miss no opportunity to embarrass us, there was a Sugarloaf ski area sticker plastered onto the information board at the waterfall. Graffiti is never in good taste.
It cost €20 to ride on the jaunting cart but I think it was worth that. I know that my wife Mary likes to ride in a horse drawn cart so I did this experience so that I could take some pictures and videos to share back with her because I know she would like it on top of that we were having some of the best weather that we’ve seen in this tour.
On the grounds of the state park is Muckross Abbey. This is actually an active cemetery with some of the dates from just this past year combined with other headstones dating back 500 years.
And then re-boarded the jaunting carts and rode back to our tour bus at the visitor center. It was very pleasant experience. The horses are well-behaved. The driver was hysterical, and the views were again exceptional.
Along the ride, we spotted some Irish red deer so we stopped the van to quietly get out and take some pictures. There were fawns mixed amongst them, which were quite cute.
The next stop is the Stone Circle in Kenmare. This is an ancient Druid worship site and we were given the history of it from our driver Shane, who is quite knowledgeable of the history and purpose of the Stone circle.
We arrived in County Cork on our way to the Eccles hotel
Stopped for a group picture along the road.
My cold was getting worse in each exit and reboarding. The van became uncomfortable to the point where unless it was something really special I stayed on the van for a few other stops. I didn’t miss much and we’re operating with this app on our phones called PhotoCircle where I can see the pictures that other people take if they volunteered to post them up to the app so I’ll be, capitalizing on that in those pictures but mostly I participated and everything that was available to me.
The Eccles Hotel is kind of old. Built in 1745. It’s just a rabbit warren of stairs and hallways and more stairs and hallways and there’s only one elevator and it went to floors that still required you to go upstairs and go on hallways to get to your room, this probably wasn’t the best room of my trip even though most of the other ones were pretty fantastic. I had a room that looked over the backside of the hotel and not on the water side.
Out in Bantry Bay at was a mega yacht that was owned by the Willy Wonka of candies. This Italian billionaire was responsible for selling Mentos and another candy brand that I can’t remember right now. The yacht was about 350 feet long while we were there we saw multiple helicopter, landings and takeoffs. It was actually quite active. The helicopter pilot looked pretty skilled. He was in completely calm waters so it wasn’t like a pitching deck out in the middle of the Atlantic. It was still pretty cool to see.
By the time we were supposed to go down for dinner, I was pretty weak from all of the various hiking and my cold was affecting my breathing a little bit. I had a pretty regular cough and some pretty raspy breathing, but I tried to go down for dinner anyway, but I didn’t eat much and went to bed and that was the end of that day.
Cheers
Tour Day 10 - Gardens & Island Boat Trip in Cork - Thursday, June 20, 2024
Well, I’m all caught up with my logs. My cold seems to be getting a little better. I had one episode of a hacking cough today, but it didn’t last long and my nose is running a little bit so I keep a handkerchief in my pocket and in my hand almost constantly. I admit it’s not the condition I’d like to be in for enjoying my trip to Ireland but at the same time I’m not going to sacrifice the experience just because of a little cold.
To to another stately house called Bantry house and toured that this house is unique and that some of the original family still lives in the house even though it’s a museum so that they can recover some of the cost to keep it running. It was very impressive unfortunately I couldn’t take any pictures indoors per their request but I did get some nice shots from outside.
Our guide Shane booked us for lunchtime The Snug in Bantry. Continuing the chowder challenge, I ordered a bowl of their local chowder, which was unique tomato cream based or something I’ve never tried in a chowder, but I’m willing to do anything once.
From there, we continue on to the Gougane Barra hotel. This hotel is iconic and that there’s a little chapel in the front yard overlooking up pond and it’s one of the most photographed places in Ireland and it’s literally like 150 feet from my room which is very nice. Most of our accommodations, these weeks have been iconic locations places that you would want to come back to if you were making a retreat visit but at the same time if I was to make a retreat visit, I don’t wanna try new places or different places that I hadn’t tried before just to have the experience.
At 6:30 the whole group met for a cocktail that was sponsored by the Vagabond Tour Company. It was very nice of them, and then after that cocktail we retreated to the dining room. We had a fabulous meal, which was again more than I usually eat, and I came away from it feeling quite stuffed so to doctor my cough we went to the main living room for hot toddies. That drink did the trick and I was ready for bed. A thick fog had rolled in and I thought it make for interesting pictures of the little chapel.
The “midges” as they are called were out in full force so I shot my pictures and ran back into the building and basically was itching all over. These midges are similar to the no see ems we have back home. Just brutal.
That pretty much does it for day 10 of our 11 day tour tomorrow we have about a 5 1/2 hour combined ride up through Cork and Blarney through to Dublin where our journey ends.
I really enjoyed Shane‘s entertainment and leadership on this trip and in addition to a tip that I had planned to give him I think I’m going to give him my Leatherman tool that I bought for this trip which is a special version of Leatherman tool that has no fixed blade in it. Fix blades are legal in Ireland in general and I didn’t want to get into any kind of problems with having one on my leather man tool. When I had to repair my CPAP machine, which I absolutely need to sleep at night and I could not imagine if I had to go through these two weeks without it but everything went well.
I have another Leatherman tool at home that I use on almost a daily basis so I’ll continue to use that and will not really miss this.
Well, tomorrow’s another day, a final day, and probably a great day.
More tales from the road coming up. Stay tuned. Live long and prosper.
Tour Day 11 - Blarney Stone & Rock of Cashel - Friday, June 21, 2024
Today marks, the end of our 11 day Discover Ireland tour. The tour company was called Vagabond Tours and this was part of their driftwood tours collection. I must admit I probably walked more steps in the last 11 days that I have and maybe the last 11 years but it was just awesome. Anyone who knows me knows that I don’t use the word awesome lightly. You’ll never hear me say, “ the peanut butter and jelly sandwich was AWESOME man!” That word just doesn’t exist in my vocabulary.
On this tour, I struggled every day to figure out ways to describe things that didn’t include the word awesome. It was, in a word, awesome! Today we woke up on the shores of Gougane Barra which is the source of the River Lee and includes a lake with an oratory (small chapel) built on a small island. It is a national Irish historical site.
We have had mostly good weather on the trip but today it was rainy. We had a nice simple breakfast in the lovely inn and the help was very, very social and friendly as were all of the people in Ireland that we encountered. They truly are special people. It’s 7 PM on Friday night and we’re back in Dublin. I’m staying at the grand Canal Hotel, which is where I spent my first night when I arrived almost 2 weeks ago. I checked in into the hotel tonight about 6 o’clock. The lobby was full of all these fairly young ladies who were here to see a performance of pink with a P. There’s a very large stadium just down the street from here and I think this might’ve been a staging area for people to meet up before the concert and have a drink and sit in the lobby and see and be seen. I did not have the energy to go downstairs and mingle I am just absolutely wiped out.
Today was a lot of driving to get from Cork all the way to Dublin. We only made a couple of stops along the way. The first stop we went was the Blarney Woolen Mills. It’s sort of Ireland’s answer to L.L. Bean. It’s a sprawling complex in an old historic Irish woolen mill and it’s on many levels and there are restaurants, pubs gift, shops, coffee shops, all kinds of touristy attractions. We had early intelligence that the Woolen Mills were not too crowded today because there were only a few buses there early this morning. When we got there, we found out that there was a ”Surprise Cruise” that landed somewhere in Ireland and they were sending bus loads of cruise passengers to the Woolen Mills and Blarney Castle to kiss the stone. We were kind of sandbagged by this information when we got here there had to have been 10 or 15 52 passenger buses in the parking lot disgorging their cruise ship passengers. They were a pushy lot. I made my way through the displays and purchased a few items to send back to America. I finished my purchases and filled out the shipping information and went downstairs to get away from the crowds and sat out on the patio undercover to protect from rain. I got a cup of hot water for Diane Guff, who is the oldest member of our tour. She’s from New Zealand and is 80 years old. She is a lovely and interesting woman and I ended up spending a lot of time with her on this trip I think and I hope that I was helpful to her. Diane was traveling with her daughter Deborah, who was in the Woolen Mills doing a little shopping. I think Diane and I found ourselves paired up a lot in the situation since neither of us were really there for the shopping experience. This was her second trip to Ireland. She had been here about 15 years prior with her husband, Russ, who she thought I would get along with swimmingly. Based on that, he sounds like a great guy.
On the other end of the parking lot from the Woolen Mills is the famous Blarney Castle. Well, even though it is a real castle, It had a kind of carnival atmosphere due to all of the tour buses that were there. There was a line that wrapped around the castle and up the stairs and when you got to the top of the stairs where you would actually position yourself to kiss the Blarney Stone, the line was an additional 30 minutes long. It was raining and we had been in so many castles are in the last two weeks that I didn’t feel like getting in with the “freshly washed” public. From the beginning of the trip, I have been extra careful about climbing some of these thousand year-old castles on rain, swept steps and worried about twisting an ankle or injuring myself so I would become a burden on the rest of the passengers. Unless it was something truly life altering, I would sometimes defer. People arrive back at the van at the appointed time and we all did our last bathroom breaks for a while.
Today’s lunch was probably the most disappointing of the whole trip. We were on a big rush to get back to Dublin so we ended up stopping at one of the rest stops/gas stations on the motorway. They had a McDonald’s in there and some other fast food stands I didn’t wanna come all the way to Ireland to eat McDonald’s so I got a local sandwich which was OK for a gas station restaurant, but not what I was hoping would be a more memorable, final group meal.
Our next stop was another famous castle called the rock of Cashel. Again it was still raining and it was up a very steep hill to get to, and I was at the point of our trip with my head cold and sort of compromised breathing from the cold that I just didn’t need to see this thing up close there are plenty of pictures available on the Internet and, detailed information about the history of the rock of Cashel that I opted to remain dry in the van, only about half the people in the van went up to see it anyway because I think everybody is just burned out and we wish the trip would never end, we were also looking forward to getting to our respective hotel rooms for the night.
Like any large city, we ran into traffic issues trying to get to the downtown side of Dublin with a Grand Canal hotel was located. We wound our way through many small neighborhoods and back alleys, kinda like the western promenade of Portland if you can imagine that. We went down all that were just for garages I guess in London you call those mews.
Our tour guide driver Shane recapped the whole week by describing what we had seen starting from day one all the way through day 11. I opted to record the recap using the iPhone voice recorder. We went around the bus, and everybody said what they thought was the most memorable event of the tour.
We rolled up to the Grand Canal Hotel and had to unload the van in some pretty heavy traffic so for everyone’s safety, we quickly retreated to the sidewalk where we were able to just say quick goodbyes as some people needed to get to their hotel reservations for the evening, which were not at the Grand Canal Hotel as was mine.
I could honestly go a lot longer recapping many events and thoughts and sites taste smells and sounds and just the whole experience but I think I will take the time more to reflect on the trip when I record these logs into my pelagic zone website when I get back home and I’ve had time to synthesize the pictures in the stories and make any spelling mistakes that you’ll see in these logs which again I just claim is that they’re dictated and not really well thought out they’re more of a first pass, trying to remember the events of the day which were always quite full. So Friday night June 21, 2024, I bid you good night from Dublin.
Cheers.
Back in Dublin To See More Sights - Saturday, June 22, 2024
It’s Saturday in Dublin. I got up at a reasonable hour. Had breakfast around 830 or so and got ready for the day. This is a day I’ve been planning for more than six months. I purchased my ticket online for the Guinness Storehouse tour and tasting, and I’ve been carrying that paper ticket around with my travel documents waiting for just this day to arrive. Everybody always says Guinness tastes better in Ireland and to be 100% completely transparent I didn’t notice that it was any better. I have been drinking a lot of Guinness over the last year or so and that the quality of this Guinness is on par with what I have been having so that’s fine since what I have been having has been great!
I took a cab over to the Guinness storehouse because it was going to be about a 30 minute walk and I’ve had enough walking over the last two weeks. It was a nice sunny day and I got there about half an hour before my 10 o’clock reservation and stood around with some people who are also on tours and talked with them. I took pictures of them with their phones so they have some memories. I’ve determined that our tour group was better than what they were experiencing. I would highly recommend the Vagabond Tour group company.
Guinness storehouse is a very cool and well thought out experience. You basically enter it on the ground floor and then you go up the levels on stairs and then escalators passing through displays about Guinness marketing and their Guinness brewing techniques which are basically standard. You know they follow the four ingredient role and they obviously have a lot of money to spend on this museum because it’s loaded with all kinds of high-tech cool stuff. Eventually, you arrive on the seventh floor, which is what’s called the Gravity Bar.
Oh wait, I forgot to mention the coolest thing. About halfway up to the seventh floor I think it was the fifth floor. There is a room where they do what are called Stouties. This is where they take a picture of you on an iPad then they go over to the tap and do a perfect pour of a Guinness, leaving a perfectly flat head of foam. The Stoutie machine then prints your picture on the foam head. It’s kinda like a 3-D printer that you have seen before only this time it’s putting the image on the head of the Guinness. This isn’t meant to be a permanent picture on the head of the Guinness so I took some pics with my iPhone camera and made that my profile picture in Facebook. It’s pretty funny because that is not meant to be permanent and the foam picture is food grade. I was able to drink that Guinness and then proceeded upstairs to the gravity bar.
When I got to the gravity bar, I had another Guinness with the complimentary drink ticket you get with your admission. So that was my second Guinness of the day and it was only about 1030. My new friend Deke Schroder from our trip had given me two drink ticket vouchers because neither he nor his wife Mimi liked Guinness. Of course I couldn’t disrespect his generosity so I had another one that makes three and it’s only about 11 o’clock. So as I was sitting at my table, A woman passed by and they were heading out of the gravity bar and she just put a drink ticket down on my table and I thanked her of course being the gentleman that I am but now I had two drink tickets left. Now being the fine Irishman that I am, I could’ve just left and not used the remaining two tickets that I was in possession of. That would be heresy! The solution to my conundrum is a Guinness product called Guinness 0.0. Brilliant! I was in no hurry to go anywhere else that required a commitment or reservation, so I spent quite a bit of time up there in the gravity bar and I had, a couple of non-alcohol Guinness was part of the whole experience part of what will be a great memory.
Try to guess what my next experience was? It was called the bathroom! I don’t know how big a person‘s bladder is but in under two hours, I had, five 20 ounce vessels of liquid. That’s just a regular day out at a pub in Dublin. Finishing up with the Guinness 0.0. I really didn’t even have a buzz on so I went downstairs back out on the street and I found another cab to take me to the Jameson distillery. I know what you’re thinking, but I didn’t have anything to drink at the distillery. I didn’t even take the tour. I just went to the gift shop to get a few things that I was planning to get for the unfortunate people left back in America.
Well, that was over. I walked around the neighborhood of Bow Street Where Jameson is and tried to search for a place to have some lunch I wanted to a couple places that were recommended in my research of Dublin, and the first one called the Cobblestone was closed! Door locked! I went a little while further and went to Delaney‘s where they said, they don’t really have food during the day so I sort of had to have a pint there since I was out wandering around the streets of Dublin plotting my next move.
I decided to jump back in a cab and go to a place called Darkey Kelly’s. Don’t get your PC panties in a twist that’s the actual name of it and I’ll look looking up later how that name came to be, but it was a classic traditional Irish pub just what I was looking for. I sat at the bar and ordered another Guinness, 0.0 this was about 2:30 PM. They had a complete menu, but I wanted to try their seafood chowder. seafood chowder is real popular all around Ireland.
Imagine seafood chowder that has about half pound of mussels just dumped right on top of it in the shells. You have to fish (excuse the pun) the mussels out of the chowder broth so you can pick out the mussel meat and then you got the problem with what to do with the shells. I had a bread plate on the side so I made that my boneyard for the mussel shells. It was pretty good but messy. I finished my pint, went to the bathroom again. And then went out and stood on the sidewalk to hail a cab. I was very far from my hotel at this point so I wouldn’t of been able to walk back anyway. The cabby was very interested in my tour and we talked a lot about all the different things that I had done and he filled me in on a few other things, it was good conversation.
When I got to my room, I watched a little TV laid down for a little rest, and I was watching the Irish version of C-SPAN. They’re having their own immigration problem here with people coming over from Africa through Spain across the channel to England and then over to Ireland And they don’t know what they’re gonna do about it because they’re not the same as United States can absorb these aliens. They might’ve taken in about 30,000 of them so far and it’s a huge deal here that’s about one day in the US Southern border. Because they’re in the EU, they also have been taking in refugees from the Ukraine. Real estate capacity here is totally used up so they don’t know what they’re gonna do with all these people that I’ve just arrived. Our driver. Shane told us about a month ago. They were only 38 apartments or living spaces in the whole country available! People queued around the block to bid on renting a place. One guy actually rented a space under a staircase and someone’s house like Harry Potter! The Irish solutions is that they’re gonna have to build more apartments. Let’s see how long that takes!
One thing that was critical to my success and happiness tomorrow was to repack my entire suitcase. I literally took everything out of the suitcase. I have so much stuff that I brought that I have to be very surgical and how I put it all back in the suitcase I finally got that done and I have a plan for what I’m gonna take with me in my day pack on the carry-on. I think I’m good to go tomorrow Sunday.
It’s about 7 PM on Saturday night and I think I’m just gonna stay in and bank some sleep because I didn’t sleep on the plane on the way over and I’m pretty sure I won’t sleep on the plane on the way back so I might as well strike while the iron is hot.
Tomorrow, I’ll get up. I have another regular breakfast. Nothing too crazy and then make my way to the airport. I’ll fill you in on what happens tomorrow in tomorrow’s log. But I think that will be it for now.
Some people might say I went a little overboard on the Guinness today, but as I said, you can balance it with the 0.0 and then all I had to deal with is bladder capacity.
Cheers everybody!!!
And Just Like That, It's Back Home - Sunday, June 23, 2024
I’m on the plane about 1.5 hours from landing at BOS. Today was more tactical than tourist.
Overnight I had some loose bowel movements (I know, TMI) but that set the stage and pace for the rest of today. I got up a few times to try and purge myself so I wouldn’t be in an uncompromising position on the plane and it seemed to work.t out of bed about 8:30 and took a shower. There is very little AC in Ireland so I sat in front of the small fan in my room to try and dry off. I changed my shirt twice before I was presentable to go down to have my last breakfast. I ate a very small breakfast compared to the other “full Irish breakfasts” that were provided every day. I had some scrambled eggs and toast and juice and coffee.
Checkout time was noon so I went back to my room to do last minute packing and to sit in front of the fan some more.
I turned my key into the front desk at 11:30 IST and went out onto the street to hail a cab. I’m be came quite quickly so we were off through Dublin traffic to the airport. All the cabbies I spoke with on this trip asked me who would win the 2024 POTUS election. I honestly told them I didn’t know. It is too close to call. I did say our southern border was my single issue this time and that Biden has abrogated his responsibility. It’s amazing how much the average Irishman knows about US politics.
When I arrived at the airport I gave the cabbie my last €20 and put €10 in my card. Worth every penny for door to door service.
I checked my bag, got my boarding pass, and went through the first ID check-in. This went very quickly. I was impressed with their efficiency. I then went through the security check point. Shoes stayed on but everything had to come out of my pockets. I didn’t want to leave my passport on the belt and I thought it wouldn’t show up seeing it was made of paper. Their blasted machine saw it so I had to give it up. Then they pulled me aside because I also forgot to take my belt off. When I was traveling every week I used a belt made of webbing with a plastic buckle so it wasn’t part of my routine to take it off. They were very friendly about it.
The US has pre-check for everybody for customs. You have to wait two hours before you can go through. I had prefilled my customs declarations on an app on my phone and I had less than $800 to declare so I sailed through that in two minutes time. Painless.
I went to my gate 402 with about two hours to kill before boarding. There weren’t any pubs near the gate, just a coffee and sandwich counter. I was bummed I couldn’t get my last pint before boarding. All of a sudden this young guy sat next to me with a pint IN A PROPER GLASS!!! That sandwich joint had taps in the back I hadn’t seen! Brilliant!
I waited until 3pm to get a chicken schnitzel sandwich and a pint and it was glorious.
Boarding was the usual cattle call and I made my way 2/3 to the back to seat 32H in the aisle. It was the exact same seat I had on the way over so I knew what to expect. I stashed my stuff in the overhead and didn’t revisit it for the whole trip.
The meal was pasta with beef bolognese sauce and as I say, you can’t make bad Italian food. I didn’t get any alcoholic drinks this time. Their selection was not to my taste and I wanted to manage my intakes (see paragraph one).
I watched Oppenheimer for the first time and thought it was kind of slow. Can’t believe it won so many awards. I used the airplane crappy earbuds and with the loud noise, I had to turn on the subtitles. That might be a reason I thought the movie was just “meh.”
The kid sitting next to me was a complete dud. How does this generation get on in society with total absence of social skills? Being surrounded by mostly Boomers for two weeks was a treat.
We’re 45 minutes from landing and they asked us to turn off our gadgets. I’ll pick this back up either on the bus or waiting for the bus. I think after I collect my bag and I’m outside security there won’t be anywhere to sit for a beer. Maybe I’m wrong. I’ll figure it out.
See you back right here in a little bit.
Total distance traveled today, 3604 miles.
My bags came up immediately on carousel 2. Great! I went outside to wait for the bus but it was VERY HOT AND HUMID compared to Ireland.
I went outside to the scheduled bus stand and waited for the next concord bus to come by. I wasn’t scheduled on the bus I’m on but you know me, I see an open bus door and I walk on. Just ask Jackson Browne.
I texted ahead to tell Mary I would be getting in earlier than expected. Right now it’s approx arrival at 21:45.
I think that’s enough for today.
G’night and Live long and prosper!