Tuesday, February 12, 2008

T-7 and counting down

I can't believe that we leave for Ireland in seven days. One week from today I will be on my way to a country that is completely foreign to me. I called the travel agency a few weeks ago to clear up some confusion I had; a woman answered the phone with a thick Irish accent. If that is any indication of what we will be dealing with, we are in trouble. I kept apologizing and asking her to repeat what she said. I couldn't understand a word she was saying! Awesome.
So, we leave at 7:10 am on the 19th and set foot in Shannon at 6:30 the following morning.
I have planned out a tentative schedule for our trip:Tuesday- Travel day
Wednesday- Land in Ireland 6:30 am. Find our rental car. Find our hotel (about 1 hour 15 min away from the airport). Shower, primp, EXPLORE Castlebar!

Thursday-Mayo/Easkey/Sligo: National museum of Irish Country Life, Easkey pier, Sligo Abby, Ballinfad castle
Friday- Galway/Clare: The Burren, Cliffs of Moher, Connemara National Park (and spend lots of time in town, too!)
Saturday- Trip to Dublin: We have no clue what exactly we will see, but here are some ideas: Guinness Brewery, Old Jameson Distillery, Trinity College, O'Connell Street, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Athassel Priori, Kilmainham Gaol.
Sunday- This is a free day. I am hoping for a jaunt to Northern Ireland, but we'll see how that pans out.
Monday- Kerry/Cork: Ring of Kerry, Killarney...possible stop in Limmerick!
Tuesday- Travel day. Leave Shannon in the afternoon, reach SLC at 10:25 pm.
I am sad that there is so much of the country we will be missing. Perhaps someday I will make it back to see the Giant's Causeway and Londonderry. But for now...
Adventure, here I come!

4 comments:

April said...

I hate you.

WR said...

In my family, we have a long-standing tradition of planning at least 3 or 4 different things into any given vacation day. We end up rushing for attraction to scenic attraction the entire time, and come home irritable and more fatigued than we were when we left. My brother and I call it, "Ray Family Forced-March Trail-Of-Tears Vacation". Sounds like you could be a long lost sister.

Anonymous said...

Hi, It sounds like you will be moving around a lot. Just looking at a map the distances in ireland look small and they are - however the roads are not so good and it will take a long time to drive anywhere - e.g. 6/7 hrs between Dublin and Ring of Kerry.

Also I suggest that on your free day you check out Glendalough - it is about one hr from Dublin - loads of photos on my site at http://www.walkinginireland.org/glendalough/

I hope you enjoy your visit here.

Hilary said...

If I weren't headed to Hong Kong in 2 weeks...i'd hate you too! I hope you have the time of your life!