So, I got up around 4:15 am Dublin time (8 pm here) and started getting ready to leave.  Our shuttle was picking us up from the airport at 6 am.   Our flight wasn’t until 10:55 am but we still had to get through customs and security.  CIE gets you to the airport 3 hours ahead of your flight and just our luck we got the first shuttle.  So, we got through the airport no problem, even got to customs before it got busy.  I think we were through customs in 10 minutes.  From what I heard from other people this was extremely fast.  I heard the line was huge after that and people were waiting a minimum of 25  minutes to get through.   Our customs guys was not a very happy camper.  We had been out to a sheep farm on our Scotland portion of the tour and didn’t know we should have cleaned our shoes afterwards.  Found out then.  They took us to the side and some lady had to disinfect our shoes before they would let us through.  I don’t think she was very happy that the shoes we wore on the sheep farm were the only pair of shoes each that we brought.  Oh well.  They earned their money that morning.  Then we were off to sit and wait for our plane.

Dublin airport is actually pretty nice and I’m sure I would have enjoyed it more had I not brought home an additional souvenier of a cold.  =)  I’m sure this doesn’t surprise anyone.  lololol

Got on our plane and no we were not lucky enough to have the entire row to ourselves this time.  That’s ok. The lady that sat next to me was very nice and tiny.  =)  Got to Newark right on time.  I think that part of our flight was about 7 hours long.  Sat in Newark airport for 3 or 4 hours then boarded our plane to come home.  The flight was only supposed to be 5 hours long.  Well, we got on the plane and started taxing out then stopped on the tarmac.  The pilot came on and told us we were being given an alternate route to Portland because our original flight path took us right through New York and they were having thunderstorms.  This is all fine and dandy except we did not have enough fuel for the new flight plan.  So, back to the gate we go to take on some extra fuel.  The pilot also informed us that the new flight plan was going to add some hours onto our flight.  So, an hour and a half later we have additional fuel and then we were finally off.  The new flight plan was nice because we didn’t hit any turbulence but damm if i don’t hate an airplane right now.  Once we were airborne the flight was 7 hours long.  We traveled for about 27 hours yesterday and got home around 11:30 pm.  Our original flight was supposed to be in at 9:29 pm.

I had a blast on vacation but am definitely springing for extra leg room next time.  I’ve seen the airplane now, I know the good seats to get.  I swear the seats on the second plane were smaller than the first plane we were on.   I don’t see why they can’t spring and make the planes an extra foot wider.  Would make us poor people very happy.  =)

So, I hear last night there were a lot of people who went to the pub just next to the castle and had some fun drinking and singing.  Our driver was among them.  Evidently our driver was introduced to Sir Mix Alot.  LOLOLOL.

So we made our way into Connemara to the marble factory.  We had tea and scones when we got there and then were taken across the street.  We were told about the marble quarrie and the different types of marble that they mine from them.  They now only make jewelry and trinkets from the marble now.

We left and made our way back to Dublin.  Sadly our vacation is now over.  We leave the hotel here at 6 am in the morning.  Patrick (driver) made our trip very enjoyable.  He funny and informative and was always cracking jokes with everyone on the bus.

I’ll have pictures for all the things that we have seen and I will post more pictures when we get home.  Not all of our connections have been very good and definately not good enough to be posting pictures.

Remember me telling you about the wine on my shirt?  I picked my shirt up from the front desk here and I’m really surprised but the shirt is clean and nice and white again.  I really didn’t think they would get the wine out of the shirt.

Early morning today.  We had to have our bags out by 6:45 am.  Left about 7:45 so we could meet the ferry for the ride across the River Shannon.

After the ferry ride, we rode through very pretty rolling hills.  We stopped at the Cliffs of Moher.  This is quite the stop.  The visitor center is built into the side of the hill.  There are two paths you can take to look at the cliffs.  We went up to the top and got some great shots of the cliffs.  Back in the visitor center you can wander through some interactive displays.  Of course when you are finished you get dumped out into a gift shop.  Of course I was was among them, but seriously some of these people act as though they haven’t been allowed in public much.  Got back on the bus and noticed there were some other shops that had been built into the side of the hill as well.

On our ride into Bunraty, Patrick (our driver/guide) put on some music for us to listen to.  Whenever we had long stretches of driving he liked to do this so we wouldn’t have to listen to ourselves think or so some people could just sleep.

We arrived in Bunratty and our hotel was right across from the castle.  We all went across the street for a Medieaval banquet at the castle.  This sounded really neat when I first heard about it but when we got there not so much.  They ushered us up a winding staircase just like the one they had us go up at Blarney castle.  We walked into the main hall and they gave us a glass of mead.  Nasty tasking stuff this is.  We milled around and had some entertainment until everyone had arrived.  After they made us walk down the same stairs and into the dinning hall just below us.  The room was entirely too small for the number of people they were trying to cram in there.  We all got sat down at long tresel tables and were told we were eating just like they did in that time.  There were finger bowls on the table along with a glass for either wine or water.  We had a wood plate, bowl and only a knife.  We were served in three courses.  The food really wasn’t bad but after having used a fork and knife my entire life it was a little unnerving to eat with just a knife and fingers.  This wouldn’t have been bad except the food was extremely hot.  This part would have been more enjoyable had there been less people in the room.

After we went back to our room and chilled out a bit.

We spent today just hanging out around Killarney and having a much needed rest.  I have really enjoyed this vacation but the pace is a little grueling.   We will go down and have dinner and make an early night of it tonight.

Tomorrow we are up with out bags out at 6 am and then we are off tot he Cliffs of Moher and Bunratty Castle.  At least the beds here are not at bad as in Dublin. The beds in Dublin were like sleeping on a slab of concrete.

Today we set out for Killarney and Blarney Castle getting fun facts along the way.  In Ireland if you are caught speeding you get an 80 euro fine, and a minimum of 2 penalty points on your driving record.  If you get 12 in a year you loose your license.   If you are caught drinking and driving you are arrested on the spot, held overnight, see the judge and loose your license for a minimum of 2 years and pay a fine.  If you are caught driving without a license  you go in front of the judge, pay a very large fine and spend time in prison.

All the road signs are done in both English and Gaelic.

Also learned that license plates stay with the vehicle.  The first two digit of the license plate indicate the year the care was registered, the letter indicates the county the car was registered in and the remaining digits are unique to the vehicle and are stamped on the engine block.  The county is also written across the top of the plate in Gaelic.

Also, learned hedgerows (hawthorne bushes) to divide property for a couple of reasons.  First, because animals won’t go through bushes with thorns on it and second because small animals live in them.  The government will also pay property owners for keeping the hedgerows up and trimmed.

Homes here  are generally made of some form of stone because of the wet weather.  Roofs are made of slate or tile and there are no basements.  Again because of the wet weather.  They build garages but never used for their cars.  As our guide said they are used to store extra junk that they keep.

St. Patrick I learned was a slave boy that was kidnapped from Wales and brought to Ireland.  It was said that god spoke to him and told him to escape Ireland.  He did and learned Christianity.  Ireland celebrates St. Patrick’s day with a week long festival.

Finally stopped at the Blarney Castle and the woolen mills.  We walked up to the castle and got to actually walk through the castle.  You can get an idea of what the floor plan used to be like.  Kind of funny to look up at a wall in the air and see a fireplace sitting there.  We walked up one tower to get to the battlements (top of the castle).  The stairs were very narrow and very steep.  It was fun to be able to walk through but a little discomforting to be up that high.  We walked around the top, past the Blarney stone (no, I did not lay down on my back to kiss a rock) and down another stone staircase.  My legs felt like jello when we were finished, but I have to say that was extremely fun.  Next, we went into the woolen mills.  Didn’t buy anything because the prices are very expensive.