Ireland Here We Come…
We have arrived! Our 9th country in only 4 weeks! WHEW.
Our flight was around noon out of FCO which is about 30 minutes west of Rome, so we booked ourselves a taxi last night and were thrilled when it arrived this morning, just a tad bit late, but totally forgivable considering our taxi was a silver Mercedes. Score!
Well, let me just tell you, having an Italian guy driving you around in a flashy Merc SOUNDS nice, but no, no, no. This is some scary shit! I was good through the city, heck, most of those scooters would bouce right off of our car, right? But then we got to the freeway. Not so bad at first. Crusing speed seemed normal, comfortable, acceptable…and then it began. There was apparantly a quarter mile between us and the car ahead of us which meant our driver was going balls to the walls, pedal to the metal, wharp speed ahead! No joke, we easily reached 100 mph on the freeway, with cars all around us! I was extremely pissed. This couldn’t be safe! Right? Right! Luckily at that point we were only 6 miles from the airport exit which meant we would be there in 2 minutes, so I didn’t have to take much more of this.
After arriving at the airport I was pissed at our driver, feeling the effects of the cold we are both fighting, tired, hungry and just D-O-N-E. Not a great start to the day, but it has turned out to be a pretty great day none the less.
We touched down in Dublin around 3:00pm their time, and just as I decided that I was not willing to wait 2 hours for the next train so I was just going to rent a car and drive on the wrong side of the road (how hard could it be?) I talked to Sean who was our night in shining armour! He and Tara were near Dublin and were going to just swing by the airport and pick us up. THANK YOU! That left us just the perfect amount of time to grab our bags, find a bar, eat a sandwich and a beer and then get out to the curb. Couldn’t have planned it better if we had tried.
We drove the 1.5 hours west and arrived in Clara. As Sean says, if you blink, you’ll miss it, and he isn’t kidding! This place is itty-bitty and totally adorable. It is almost exactly in the middle of Ireland too, which means we drove half way across Ireland in less than two hours! That just blows my mind! You can’t get out of California from most cities in that amount of time!
We “checked-in” to our “hotel”. By “checked-in” I mean we figured out (with Sean’s help) that the key was in the door to the apartment that we are staying in for the next two nights, which is next door to Sean and Tara and below the house where the owners live! By “hotel” I mean a pretty large two bedroom apartment that was decorated in the 1930′s and not much has changed since! It is like staying in someone’s house, or guest house. There is nothing that resembles a hotel or a rented room at all. It is crazy, check out the pics.
We ditched our bags, freshened up and headed to Tillamore for some dinner, beer and soccer. The Bridge House was a welcome sight. It looked like a place back home, more so than anything we’ve been in lately. And, the fact that everyone speaks English again, woo hoo! We could read the menus and they had familiar items like chicken strips, french fries, burgers, steaks, mashed potatoes, mmmm. We stuffed ourselves royaly and enjoyed every bite of it. Kevin even had his first Irish Guiness. Delicious! We watched a rather uneventful soccer game while we ate, final score 0-0. Come on Ireland! We’re finally here! Show us what you’ve got!
We strolled around the town, picked up some delicious candy bars for desesrt and headed back to the Clara House to turn in for the night.
Tomorrow we’re off to Gallway to check out the Irish coast.
I am exhausted, must sleep, need energy to fight this cold. Nite nite!
YEAH! IRELAND! BEER AND FRIENDS! How wonderful! Glad it is all falling into place!
I’m going to check out photos!
WE are off to camping this weekend up the north coast (surf spots-imagine how that just happened to work out for Darrens?!?!?!)
xoxox
WTF!?!?! Pictures????? Don’t tease me in your blog saying check out the pictures of our “hotel”…cruel!
FYI, Daren passed his Kidney stone Thursday…8 days after!!!! While in a San Jose at a HUGE MEETING…sweet!
Okay So I’m Leaving town today…this means when I return…sadly the blog will be a mere memory….and fortunately for you… your Iphone will not be sounding off from constant Blogs for the next few days as you finish your vacation…
-no need to even look back…but please make corrections…
I’ve put together some questions for you to “recap” all of us! I’ve put myself to the challenge and have answered some of them from my memory of your VACATION (because I’m the #1 Blogger!)
1) Best Food (overall): paris
2) Best thing we ate: Macaroon
3) Best Muffin: London-although the competition went by the wayside once the macaroon surfaced!
4)Most touching Moment: Saying goodbye to your tour group
5)Most spectacular view: ALPS from the gondola
6)Best Walking thr town: paris (with bread and cheese)
7)Most crowded: italy-rome/paris
8)most romantic moment:(not in the hotel-keep this clean kids..this is a “family” blog) venice night
9)Best shopping: PRADA STORE! (thanks Nicole, you can put those purses in teh mail to me as soon as you get home!)
10)Favorite transportation: London rail system
11) place of Most “Hiccups” italy!
12)Best Beer: IRELAND for Guiness (if you answer somethig else K you should immediately be removed from the counrty!)
13) where would you go back to first: Switzerland?-this one is a toss up?
14) Number of photos: over 3000!
15) Best Weather: ALL OF IT-no complaints allowed!… Because YOU WERE ON VACATION!
16) FAVORITE MEMORY: ALL OF IT!!!!
17) What you learned…. Wardrobe malfuntions are unpreventable when traveling with MEN and…..
YOU WERE BRILLANT FOR DOING THIS WITHOUT KIDS!!!!!
18) #1 Blogger: NEED I say more?????
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Please feel free add more!!!!
Love you guys! See you when you return!
XOXOXOXO
Official word just came in via telepone: Auntie just CONCEDED to Shelly!
Hi Guys!!
I so wish I was in Ireland with you! Sounds like you have had such an amazing trip, I am so happy for you (and a little jealous)! Thanks for sharing all of your stories, I’ve been cracking up reading your blog! Miss you guys so much, please come home soon!
XOXO, No Tent
P.s. Do you think crazy driving is a trait Italians are born with? That might explain some of the comments I’ve gotten about my driving abilities…..
NO TENT! I wasn’t sure if you were reading along this whole time, but I wanted to tell you that one of our favorite couples on our tour was from WISCONSIN! Go figure! The nice people were from there! Ha! They made me miss you more than usual! You all are very similar, even temper, super fun, sweet, goofy, they are doing something right in that state! Must be the cheese! xox
Of course my people were cool! It’s definitely the cheese. And the beer!! Makes you want to move to WI, doesn’t it?!?!?!?!
Can you believe I had to call her and ask a question! I HAD to concede or she would not answer my question. Really, that is exactly what happened! Enjoy Gallway…it is beautiful. Brings back memories for me. Glad the weather is good. Brian’s cousins in Belfast have had rain most of the summer. I think Bushmills is in Dublin…another good tour to go on…free Irish Whiskey. Auntie
I can’t believe you told them that!! And the worst part is…they will believe you! NOT TRUE!
Forgot to comment on the candy…isn’t it great? We found (now do not laugh until you try it) orange flavored Kit Kats. Flake is good too if you like milk chocolate. Love you..Auntie