..and just like the guy whose feet are too big for his bed, nothing seems to fit.........................
I now know why Ireland is so green in all the pictures I've seen. IT NEVER STOPS RAINING! Now, every bloak we have met (my Irish is improving!), says it is unseasonable cold and raining and that it never rains 30 days in a row, but we seem to have found the time to come when rain is plentiful. They need to send some to the United States for those of us suffering from the drought.
In any case, here's what we have done in Ireland during our whirlwind 42 hours. We stayed at the Hilton Dublin Ireland Hotel. About 15 minutes from the airport. The traffic from the airport to the hotel was terrible, and it wasn't even during rush hour! We got to the hotel around noon, and had to wait about 30 minutes for our room. Very nice room, marble countertops, comfortable bed and we jumped right in and took a 2 hour nap.
After that we decided to trek through the rain to the city centre, to go to the Hop on/Hop Off bus. We took the city bus (1.60 Euros each), and it took about 30 minutes. It worked out great. We got off and walked around and did a little shopping. It was so cold and Robert didn't bring any warm clothes (well, actually, Linda did all the packing this trip and didn't think of packing him a sweatshirt!), so we went into a souvenir shop and got a great deal on an ugly sweatshirt for 2 Euros! I told him he could throw it away afterwards, but he is still wearing it.
Then we got on the hop on/hop off bus, where the driver told us that traffic would be at a complete standstill in about 10 minutes because the futbol' national game between Dublin and some other team with 85,000 people would be finished in the next 15 minutes and they would all pour out into the downtown streets after the game. Wow, excitement to come.
We took the bus and decided to stay on the whole journey to get an overview of the city, and we sat on top and it was covered in the front to protect us from the rain and wind. It was quite enjoyable. We had wanted to visit some museums on the following day, but learned that they were all closed on Mondays! Hm.....change of plans............
After we got off the bus, we walked through the city, checking out the sites (and mostly pubs). We now know why the Irish drink so much. They have to drink to stay warm! So, pubs do not just stay inside here. After the games, the set up temporary barricades outside the pubs and they corral up all the Irish and they drink in the corrals outside the pubs and have a rip roaring time. It is quite amusing to watch. (Sorry, unable to post pictures from this computer).
We then headed back to the hotel via the city bus which was jammed packed with locals who brought on their own "spirits" to enjoy on the way back to their homes. The bus driver turned off the bus 3 different times and came upstairs to tell everyone a) no smoking b) no drinking and c) no standing. Of course, as soon as he started the bus again, the party started all over again. Our ride back was about an hour due to all the celebrations going on during the journey.
When we arrived back at the hotel, our package included free dinner. We all had Beef Wellington which was excellent (4 stars). I felt like I was back on the ship. However, it took over an hour to get our dinner because the fire alarm went off and the kitchen had to reset all their equipment so we got extra bread and free drinks while we waited. (probably the cheapest drinks they ever provided, 2 diet cokes and 1 7 up.)
For dessert, they had this incredible strawberry thing (which I should have taken a picture of) with 4 different strawberry items on the plate. 4 stars plus! It even outdoes some of the desserts on the Disney Magic. I would be ordering it every night on the ship if it was available.
We decided during dinner, that since it was raining so much, we would get a rental car the next day and tour the countryside. So, on Monday morning, we got up at 7:00 a.m. and headed out after the breakfast buffet to the airport to get our rental car.
Since I was the only one with the international driver's license, I became the designated driver. I am very proud of myself. I didn't hit anything and only stalled the car once or twice and it only took me about 5 minutes to figure out how to put the stick shift in reverse. The hardest part was getting used to driving on the wrong side of the road, sitting on the wrong side of the car, and shifting with my left hand. Besides that, it was a piece of cake!
We went south, since the maps of Ireland said that the southern most part was the warmest and their was a resort with 7 miles of beach that we could enjoy. We even packed our swimsuits. Well, considering the temperature only varied between 15-20 degrees celsius all day, the swimsuits never came out, let alone the walk on the beach. But we did see the Celtic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean and got some great pictures.
In between the pouring rain, the mildly pouring raining, sprinkles, and short spans of sunlight, we drove 728 KM's on Monday. But at least we were warm. We saw castles, Snow White's house many times (straw roofs) and rode a car ferry across the bay to get closer to Waterford Crystal factory. We took a tour at the Waterford Crystal Factory that was incredible. I didn't realize the amount of time it took to create a piece of crystal. We even got to watch a mastercraftsman at the end of the tour who had been working there for 38 years. To be a mastercraftsman you have to do a 5 year apprenticeship and then work and take tests and if you flunk you are fired, and then another 5 years to become a mastercraftsman. The mastercraftsman we talked with does the NBA Championship trophy each year and the Superbowl Champions trophy. They make 2 of each and ship both and the extra is "just in case". If it doesn't get used, then they ship it back to Waterford for their permanent display. On the trophies they make two lids on the superbowl, one with each teams name, so they can just put on the right one at the end of the game. We also saw the 2nd Millenium Ball made for the drop in the Big Apple that happened in New York on New Year's Eve. It was quite amazing.
After that we drove the countryside through Cork and then headed up to Limerick and saw some castles and took lots of pictures and then got back to the hotel around 11 p.m. We had a wake up call scheduled for 4:45 a.m. Tuesday morning. Our flight to Barcelona leaves at 7:20 a.m. on Aer Lingus.
Okay, I think that about covers it. I've got some great pictures and will have to post at some point.
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