Ireland 2006
Since I didn’t get wireless in Ireland, you’re going to have to have to settle for the re-runs of the trip…I’ll give you three segments in three days, so I won’t spoil the element of surprise…it’ll just be here a couple days after it happened. You’ll get more pictures that way as well, just so you don’t feel cheated. Pictures are good. So is Ireland. Ireland pictures are better. Right. I’ll stop now…
Only hours into our trip, and it’s been an adventure already…it’s just been one thing after another.
I was copying down our flight information last night and noticed that we had two flights really close to each other, I forgot that we were booking separate flights and not connecting ones, and forgot that the ticket counters don’t stay open until the plane leaves…
Our 3:30am shuttle to the airport turned out to be £5 more than expected, leaving us scrounging in our pockets for enough spare change to make it up…we almost made it, only 62pence short, and our nice driver told us to forget about it. The bus ride was uneventful, and we had the whole bus to ourselves for the first part. Upon getting to the airport, however, we were in such a rush to get off the bus that Colleen forgot her violin…after a frantic moment of running after the bus, she retrieved it, but just the thought of loosing it made us both sick. Once we got to the ticket counter, I asked the agent about switching our flight, but found it wasn’t possible…our only option was to take a €180 flight. Needless to say, we passed up on the offer, and will now be traveling to Dublin in the middle of the night via a 6hr bus ride from Mallow. Oh well… the saga continued, however, when I went to find my wallet and discovered that it, too, had been left on the bus. I got on the phone and an airport agent was able to get in contact with the driver, who by some miracle was able to bring it back to the airport! Unbelievable…
Miraculously, the rest of the trip went smoothly, though we were unable to sleep more than a few hours during the travel. Thus we arrived in Cork (pronounced Cark)—8hrs of traveling, only 1.5 of which was actual flying (lesson learned—book your Ryan Air flights early). Our wonderful hosts John and Margaret picked us up at the airport, and whisked us away on a cross-country (ok, cross-county) trip, showing us everything thing from quaint villages (with commentary about this or that ancestor), tourist towns, spectacular mountains, lakes, waterfalls, castles, and ruins; all concluding with a trip to (our great great uncle) Dennis Murphy's favorite pub, called Dan O'Connell's. It surpasses words in terms of character and history, and you just get this overwhelming feeling that something truely great and magical happens here every weekend. The owner of the pub had played with Dennis and other great fiddlers, and told us stories of sessions then and now...a really interesting guy. Fighting drooping eyelids the whole way home, we went to bed (in our own rooms!), sleeping better than I have in a very, very, long time.
Here's pics, I'll update with summaries later...
posted by fmt @ 7:38 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Hi, Will & Colleen - Your posting read like a cliff-hanger: Peril! Near-disaster! Disaster! Miraculous recovery! Happy ending!
Photos are stunning. Lovely country, old pubs with Irish music sessions .... I'm sure Aunt Jeanne will think you're in paradise.
And now's as good a time as any to drag out 50% of my joke repetoire (i.e., one joke):
An American couple had saved for years, and finally realize their dream of going to Europe. They start off in Italy. They were wandering in amazement amidst the splendor of St. Peter's Basilica, when to their surprise, on the corner of the high altar, amidst all the unbelievably grand ornament, they spy a plain white phone. Puzzled, they ask a passing monsignor about the phone. He tells them, "It's a direct line to Heaven." They're thunderstruck. Recovering their speech, they ask him, "Can we use it?" He replies, "Well, it's very, very costly -- $100,000 per minute." They're downcast - simply can't afford it. They thank him and move on.
They make their way through western Europe, sightseeing as they go, and having the time of their lives.
A few weeks later, their itinerary takes them to Ireland. They go touring out in brilliantly green countryside amidst the craggy hills above, and stop in to see a little, slightly ramshackle old church. On the corner of the plain altar, they're stunned to see: a plain white phone. It's the exact same kind as they saw in the Vatican. They go find the pastor and say, "We saw a phone exactly like this in St. Peter's. Is this phone also a direct line to Heaven?" "Yes, it is," he replies. They're amazed again, but say a little disappointedly, "Well, we suppose it's very, very costly to use, right?" And the pastor says, "Oh, no - from here, it's a local call."
Adios - hope you had great time. Eagerly awaiting the next installment of the cliffhanger serial.
Brian
hi will and colleen!
are you having a good time in ireland? i hope you are. the pictures are great. they are really pretty and look like they are professianaly done! lol
youre really lucky to have recovered the wallet AND the violin
hope to see you guys soon! hav fun!
patrick
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