A few closing thoughts

During our 12 night stay we put 1836 km or 1138 miles on the van we rented. This Avis rental was one of our biggest expenses. The van for 13 days cost €1368 or about US $1965 (the euro hit the highest of our trip the day we turned in the van and charges applied), with about half of this cost for the full insurance coverage. Compared to a driver for a full day when we cruise at $500-600 per day for 6-8 passengers, our van rental was a bargain although it was hard on Tim to sightsee and drive. Our accommodations in a combination of B&B, apartment and cottage cost us €412 per person converted to US $577 for the 12 nights. Diesel total was €170/$238 split six ways. Dinner averaged €30 per person in restaurants and €20 in pubs. We bought the Heritage Card (€21) when we arrived and that covered free admissions in a lot of the places we visited.

Tim and Joy
Ireland was beautiful and everywhere you looked was a picture just waiting to happen. The whole country is very clean and neat. Everyone we can in contact with was very friendly. No matter where we were, if it was raining everyone was apologizing to us for it. Tim would reply back to them without all the rain it wouldn't be so green and beautiful here. Every meal we ate out was wonderful. Service was hit or miss. We ate at the same restaurant twice and one time our waitress, Mary, was wonderful and talkative and the next time she was off. Instead of Mary we had a young girl that appeared to have just started working there and didn’t have a good grip on English or understanding of being a waitress. She looked at us like we were from Mars when we asked her what kind of salad dressing they had and she said she would have to go find out. She had the manager come and see what we were asking about since she didn’t have a clue. The Garmin GPS was fantastic. It got us everywhere we wanted to go and on some very interesting roads. We were on a few roads where, in places, the bushes were scrubbing on both sides of the van, or grass was growing in the middle of the one lane road. Thank goodness we paid for the full coverage insurance and didn’t have to worry about bush scratches on the van. It was a wonderful trip with family and memories we will cherish forever. As you can tell by a lot of my photos I love flowers. They were amazing everywhere. I am sure no mater what time of year you visit Ireland you would have a lot of eye candy in the blooms. Several places we saw fuchsia bushes 6-8 feet tall that had a few blooms open and were told in a few months they will be in full bloom. I am sure it will be a spectacular sight when they do.

Stacy
Ireland is not what I expected it to be... actually I am not sure what I expected, but my expectations were far exceeded. Words cannot describe how beautiful Ireland is. The open fields and amount of land is unbelievable. Everyone is super friendly and helpful. I must say even when it was raining I was still having a lovely time. The history here is deep and the rock castles and walls, built strictly of rocks stacked up nothing else holding them together, kept me in awe of how they can still be standing after hundreds and hundreds of years. I enjoyed this 2 week trip and am looking forward to my next adventure in Europe. Thanks mom for putting this trip together is was great.

Harry and Diann
Thanks in large part to our great travel agent, we had a wonderful time in Ireland. Harry and I measure how well we like a place by asking ourselves would we want to live there. Well, if we could have gotten all our animals over we probably would not have come back! It was the most amazing green I have ever seen and the cottages just make you want to go in and have a cup of tea and visit awhile. The people were all friendly and helpful even when they didn't have to be, and the drivers were even courteous! The pubs amazed me, the food was great and easy on the pocketbook, and they were not 'bars', they were meeting places for townspeople to bring their family and visit and listen to great music played by local musicians. The castles, forts, and ruins were awesome and beautiful but Mother Nature topped them all. It was well worth visiting and we hope to go back one day in the near future!

Sloane
They say that one picture is worth a thousand words but I can tell you that no picture could describe the beauty of Ireland and its people.
It has been a long life dream of mine to visit Ireland, I have always felt that I somehow had a connection to the people, land and music but nothing prepared me for the beauty of the land, the friendliness of the people and the everyday happiness they seem to enjoy. The Irish are justly proud of their distinctive heritage, their language, music and culture and are people of great faith. The pride truly is seen in the way they have worked to preserve their history, the castle ruins, churches, and yes even the homes, they have maintained their country styles in an unbroken tradition, as relevant as it was a century ago. For me, it was like going back in time, a time that I have only seen in movies or read about in history. A visit to Ireland is a very humbling experience and one I will never forget. I am so grateful for the experience it has definitely touched my heart.

Well, this wraps up another wonderful trip. Hope you have enjoyed reading and the photos. Until next time.............

Day 12-13 Last full day and departure

Here is what happens when you put too many miles on your driver

View from back porch of cottage

After another stop in Cahir for lunch we go back to our cottage to pack but it is too beautiful out, so we porch sit instead.

Stella, the cottage owner comes over to read the electric meter and we settle up with her. She has already mentioned she likes to take evening walks with her dog, so Stacy asks to go along this evening if it is ok. She does and has a nice walk with Stella, Eamonn, and their dog.

All too soon our trip is over. We did not have internet the last several days of our trip and when we did find a signal while we were in town or eating we used it for everyone to check their emails. Harry and Diann had 2 baby horses while we were gone and they were anxious to see the pictures and get email updates on them while we were traveling.

The next day we have a 24 hour day traveling home. We drive 2 hours to the airport and arrive in plenty of time to get our VAT refunds processed. The duty free shops in the airport have excellent prices and we decide if we come back we will just bring an empty carry-on to the airport and do most of our gift buying here. In the US we usually find the gift shops at the airport way overpriced and were really surprised here. All 3 of our flights home are delayed and the 5 of us reach TRI after midnight and Stacy back to ATL by 9:45 pm. As usual Diann gets frisked by airport security. She feels like she hasn’t flown if she doesn’t. Tim gets his bag inspected because exray shows something unusual in it. Tim ask the inspector if he saw something fishy in it and gets a chuckle……it was the smoked salmon we were bringing home :)

It will be good to sleep in our own bed. We absolutely love to travel, but it is always nice to be home again.

In a couple of days I will post closing thoughts from everyone. We are now back home and Tim and I had to return to work in less than 24 hours. Life sucks sometimes, but the best cure I have found is to have your next vacation in the planning stages which we do.

Day 11 - Lazy day, Tipperary, and Rock of Cashel

St Patrick's Cross from the 12th century

We get up to rain this morning and decide to just have a lazy morning after the long day yesterday. Around noon we decide to visit Tipperary Town. Tim and I go in search of an Internet cafe and after an hour walking around in the rain and asking several people we find one and I was able to get a couple days worth of post up on this blog since I am several days behind. Harry, Diann, Sloane and Stacy walk around town shopping. We are hoping the rain will stop and when it doesn't we decide to go to Cashel anyway since tomorrow's forecast calls for more and visit the Rock of Cashel. It is a spectacular group of medieval buildings set on an outcrop of limestone including the 12th century round tower, High Cross and Romanesque Chapel, 13th century Gothic cathedral, 15th century Castle and the restored Hall of the Vicars Choral. Even with the light rain that was falling it was a spectacular sight.

Abbey ruins across field from Rock of Cashel

Ruins we pass on way home

We find a nice restaurant in town and have a great meal then back home by 8 pm. Sloane builds us a nice peat fire to enjoy this evening once again.

Day 10 - Cobh

A rainbow seen behind our cottage says good morning to us

Another full day in store toady, we head out at 8:15 for Cobh and pass through “The Vee” on the way. The rhododendrons were just barely starting to bloom and you could tell in a few more weeks the whole mountain and pass will be ablaze with color from the thousands of plants ready to pop.

The remains of the tender pier that ferried passengers and cargo out to the Titanic. No restoration has been done as concrete supports that are used today erode with the saltwater and what remains is stronger. Unbelievable this part is still standing!

We arrive in Cobh for the Titanic Trails walking tour we had booked. Cobh was the last land Titanic saw before her fateful journey and where she picked up the last passengers to board. It is a very large harbor and tenders were used to ferry the passengers and mail out to the ship. Today’s ships dock in Cobh. Part of the original dock still stands, but it is decaying badly. We saw the White Star Lines office and also Cunard's. If you have any Irish ancestors in your linage this is where they departed Ireland from.

“Deck of Cards” houses

Titanic Memorial

We also went uphill to see St Coleman's Cathedral and ended the tour at Jack Doyle's Bar where Pat, our guide, bought us all a drink. Everyone in town seemed to know Pat. We then walk back down the hill to have a longer look in the Cathedral. It is stunning.

Tim makes a phone call to his mom. This is a tradition he started a few years ago. When we travel he will call her and ask her to guess where he is. When we cruised the Med a couple of years ago and was at the easternmost point of continental Europe he called her and told her to go out in the yard and wave at him. He has called her from the base of the Statue of Liberty, Niagara Falls, Alcatraz and other places I can't think of now.

Glass cutter in Kinsale

We then travel to Kinsale and choose shopping instead of visiting the Star Fort. Much to my surprise, I find a ballet figurine for Gladys to match one she had purchased a couple of years ago when she was here.

Back home after being out and about for 12 hours and crashed again.