Ireland Honeymoon March 8-9
Ireland Honeymoon March 8-18, 2013 Kate & Steve Kitchen
Chicago --> Dublin Friday March 8 to Saturday March 9, 2013
It was a super crazy day today – I (Kate) notoriously do a poor job packing because I overthink and overpack. My main suitcase, which I repacked yesterday and today and pulled out as much as I could today before leaving to go to the airport, weighed exactly 50 lbs. and I checked a carry-on size suitcase that was supposed to be for purchases in Ireland, my Hunter brand “aubergine”-colored Wellington boots. I was going crazy packing all day, although the craziness came more out of nerves and having to wait until my 3:30 p.m. shuttle. I barely felt ready by the time the shuttle arrived to take me to the airport.
Steve was already at O’Hare in Chicago, having flown in from Pittsburgh. We met at the airport, and we stuffed some gear into different bags as I had some of the things he would need in my luggage. Once we got checked in to our flight in the International Terminal, we headed for security. The security officer stopped us and warned us that there was nowhere to eat dinner once we got through security, and the only place available at security was McDonald’s. So we had to use our only meal option – a classy meal of chicken nuggets for me and Southwest Chicken Sandwich for Steve, and then we found two little beverage stands on the other side of security that sold booze in beer bottles or plastic cups for wine. We each had two drinks to presumably help us sleep on the airplane, along with taking melatonin.
Our flight out was on time, so we boarded our aircraft and discovered that even though we were lucky enough to just be two seats together (instead of the four seats in the center of the plane), our seats were backed up to the lavatory. We had our backs against the wall, with no room to recline, no matter how we tried. Steve started on the aisle, but there was an extremely large gentleman in the seat in front of him reclined as far back as the seat would go (and then some) cutting into Steve’s legs. Finally after a couple of hours I convinced Steve to take the window seat where he could at least rest his head on the pillow against the aircraft. We both barely got three hours of sleep, and none of it good quality sleep.
However, we finally arrived in Dublin’s airport a little ahead of schedule around 8:30 a.m. on Saturday March 9, 2013, though we didn’t think about what all we would need to go through in order to really get the day started. We got through customs with our first taste of Irish friendliness – the customs officer wanted to know if we had Irish relations, and the clerk was very surprised how many Irish relatives there were in my family of Brennans and Healys and Connellys, and we had a good laugh together.
After we picked up all of our luggage, we headed to the Hertz car rental place via shuttle, and even though Steve had notified his bank about the trip to Ireland so that they wouldn’t stop payment on his card and think the charges were fraudulent, we found out the cards did not work – the bank refused payment. We were thus in the Hertz office for two hours before Steve got through to the bank and they took the hold off the debit card. Thank goodness they had a 24 hour number as it was the middle of the night in East Lansing, Michigan, where he holds our joint account.
We picked up a 4-door Peugeot car, having to upgrade because the economy car that we had as our agreed rental was too small for the Steve in terms of head room, and absolutely too small for our luggage. Oops.
Steve decided that he hated the shoes he was wearing and since his only other option was a pair of Sorel Wellington boots, we made the decision to immediately locate a shoe store. The shoe store was inside a very unusual shopping mall-like place, that contained shoe stores, clothing stores, a food court, a “solicitor’s office” (lawyer’s office), an optometrist, a chiropractor, grocery stores (yes, plural), pharmacies, a dentist, and a candy shop that had an automatic cotton candy machine (you heard me right!). The “mall” itself was kind of just really a hodge-podge situation – definitely not a typical shopping center in any way, shape, or form – haphazard and maybe slightly “ghetto”. We went into a shoe store and they had a pair of Timberland hiking type boots that looked good enough for everyday use, and they only had one single pair left in one single size, and it miraculously was Steve’s size! He had the store throw out his old shoes and walked out wearing his new ones.
By this time it was already lunch time, so we checked out the food options, found a bakery that sold Cornish pasties (yes, pasties made in the form as those from Cornwall, England, where I lived the year between high school and college) and settled down in the food court to eat our pasties. They were pretty good, considering we were in Ireland!
Finally we found out way out of the Dublin metropolitan area, and we started to see the real beauty and raw wildness of Ireland. We drove through the Wicklow Mountains of County Wicklow (today was me driving, only) – filled with fog and winter dead trees and wild plants growing haphazardly winding and twisting around one another, and jagged and softened rocks and boulders and stone fences.
We stopped in a town called Blessington – it was an adorable little town just like you would imagine a little Irish town to look like – brightly colored buildings, pub signs, and just quaint little shops. There was a beautiful old church in the city center along with the multicolored storefronts, and families walking with children and dogs. I was ecstatic because we saw an Irish pug! Well, the pug itself probably was Irish as he was with an Irish family and walking in a park. Steve and I jumped out of the car and followed the pug trying to snap a picture and there were some juvenile delinquents standing behind a tree in the path so I climbed up on the stone wall to freak out the JDs and to snap a picture of my first Irish pug, and being Kate, I wiped out. I skinned my knee very badly, and my hand was bleeding quite a bit. Ouch. Lots of blood, so even though we stood and talked to someone who was trying to help, and Steve was petting the individual's dog (not a pug), we quickly had to make our way to the “chemist” shop – known in the U.S. as a pharmacy – to get bandages.
We decided to leave Blessington after that, and drove further to a beautiful bridge over a mountainside river. We waved to several fishermen on its banks, and walked along the river and up on the old stone bridge and took photos of the sun hitting the mountains just perfectly, and of the fishermen, and just of our beautiful day.
We then decided to drive through the mountains completely, which was a bit winding and steep, especially with oncoming traffic, then we made it to the foothills, and then onward to County Tipperary.
Steve was getting frustrated in the passenger seat because the roads in Ireland (especially in the country and mountains) are narrow, winding, have blind curves, and the speed limit is 100 km per hour but it’s terrifying to drive that fast. Most oncoming cars are driving that fast, however, which makes things scarier. What helped us with the stress was stopping at scenic passes and in beautiful views from places such as the Glendalough Valley and Rathangan and taking photographs of beautiful churches, buildings, moss covered stones in the brightest of greens, and streams. We passed a sign that said St. Brigid’s House, and as she is the patron saint that my Great Grandmother and my cousin are originally named after, we decided to drive up the lane to see the house. From what we could tell, it was a nursing home, but there was a lovely path to a misty foggy old forest and made for some very spooky but beautiful photos.
However, as the sun got lower in the sky, we both started to become very tired, especially because I was hugging the hedges and shoulders of the left side of the left lane (driving on the left side of the road, of course) and it was very tense. We were both ready for a break.
We finally arrived at The Grand Inn Bed & Breakfast in County Tipperary near Carrick-on-Suir, and we were shown to our room. This B & B was built in the 17th century and appointed very beautiful in an antique fashion. Our hostess was very sweet and gave us a card and a chocolate bar as she knew we were on our honeymoon. Our room was very cute with a beautiful wardrobe and antique furniture, but it was also very cold! The hostess was very nice, and will cook us a “full Irish breakfast” in the morning. We’re not sure exactly what that entails but we’re here to learn!
We unloaded the car of luggage, freshened up, and then went out on those scary roads in the dark and in a blinding rain until we got to the Carrick Hotel, where we sat at the bar for dinner. Steve had a Smithwick's and so did I, and then I switched to water for safe driving and he had another Smithwick’s and then a pint of Guinness. Ordinarily in the United States, Steve doesn’t particularly care for Guinness, but in Ireland, the taste is so much more flavorful – he chose it most times he ordered himself a pint throughout our trip! We sat at the bar and drank and ate and chatted with the bartenders and our stool neighbors. Steve had lamb and I had beef. We stayed a bit longer than we intended as we were chatting with our neighbors and seeking advice. We were unclear on whether or not to tip the bartenders, and our friends down the bar said that we did not need to tip. However, throughout the course of the trip we were confused about when and how much and whether or not to tip for various services and often tipped just to err on the side of caution. It’s still not clear to either one of us!
Once we were satiated and exhausted, we came back to the Grand Inn and noticed a heavily Catholic décor – pictures of the last three Popes on the walls, lots of religious icons, Holy Water dispensers outside each room, and lots of images of Jesus throughout the Inn. We spent a little time together, then Steve fell asleep and so I am writing my journal and organizing my own luggage in a manner that makes sense for the rest of the trip as opposed to the flight.
Chicago --> Dublin Friday March 8 to Saturday March 9, 2013
It was a super crazy day today – I (Kate) notoriously do a poor job packing because I overthink and overpack. My main suitcase, which I repacked yesterday and today and pulled out as much as I could today before leaving to go to the airport, weighed exactly 50 lbs. and I checked a carry-on size suitcase that was supposed to be for purchases in Ireland, my Hunter brand “aubergine”-colored Wellington boots. I was going crazy packing all day, although the craziness came more out of nerves and having to wait until my 3:30 p.m. shuttle. I barely felt ready by the time the shuttle arrived to take me to the airport.
Steve was already at O’Hare in Chicago, having flown in from Pittsburgh. We met at the airport, and we stuffed some gear into different bags as I had some of the things he would need in my luggage. Once we got checked in to our flight in the International Terminal, we headed for security. The security officer stopped us and warned us that there was nowhere to eat dinner once we got through security, and the only place available at security was McDonald’s. So we had to use our only meal option – a classy meal of chicken nuggets for me and Southwest Chicken Sandwich for Steve, and then we found two little beverage stands on the other side of security that sold booze in beer bottles or plastic cups for wine. We each had two drinks to presumably help us sleep on the airplane, along with taking melatonin.
Our flight out was on time, so we boarded our aircraft and discovered that even though we were lucky enough to just be two seats together (instead of the four seats in the center of the plane), our seats were backed up to the lavatory. We had our backs against the wall, with no room to recline, no matter how we tried. Steve started on the aisle, but there was an extremely large gentleman in the seat in front of him reclined as far back as the seat would go (and then some) cutting into Steve’s legs. Finally after a couple of hours I convinced Steve to take the window seat where he could at least rest his head on the pillow against the aircraft. We both barely got three hours of sleep, and none of it good quality sleep.
However, we finally arrived in Dublin’s airport a little ahead of schedule around 8:30 a.m. on Saturday March 9, 2013, though we didn’t think about what all we would need to go through in order to really get the day started. We got through customs with our first taste of Irish friendliness – the customs officer wanted to know if we had Irish relations, and the clerk was very surprised how many Irish relatives there were in my family of Brennans and Healys and Connellys, and we had a good laugh together.
After we picked up all of our luggage, we headed to the Hertz car rental place via shuttle, and even though Steve had notified his bank about the trip to Ireland so that they wouldn’t stop payment on his card and think the charges were fraudulent, we found out the cards did not work – the bank refused payment. We were thus in the Hertz office for two hours before Steve got through to the bank and they took the hold off the debit card. Thank goodness they had a 24 hour number as it was the middle of the night in East Lansing, Michigan, where he holds our joint account.
We picked up a 4-door Peugeot car, having to upgrade because the economy car that we had as our agreed rental was too small for the Steve in terms of head room, and absolutely too small for our luggage. Oops.
Steve decided that he hated the shoes he was wearing and since his only other option was a pair of Sorel Wellington boots, we made the decision to immediately locate a shoe store. The shoe store was inside a very unusual shopping mall-like place, that contained shoe stores, clothing stores, a food court, a “solicitor’s office” (lawyer’s office), an optometrist, a chiropractor, grocery stores (yes, plural), pharmacies, a dentist, and a candy shop that had an automatic cotton candy machine (you heard me right!). The “mall” itself was kind of just really a hodge-podge situation – definitely not a typical shopping center in any way, shape, or form – haphazard and maybe slightly “ghetto”. We went into a shoe store and they had a pair of Timberland hiking type boots that looked good enough for everyday use, and they only had one single pair left in one single size, and it miraculously was Steve’s size! He had the store throw out his old shoes and walked out wearing his new ones.
By this time it was already lunch time, so we checked out the food options, found a bakery that sold Cornish pasties (yes, pasties made in the form as those from Cornwall, England, where I lived the year between high school and college) and settled down in the food court to eat our pasties. They were pretty good, considering we were in Ireland!
Finally we found out way out of the Dublin metropolitan area, and we started to see the real beauty and raw wildness of Ireland. We drove through the Wicklow Mountains of County Wicklow (today was me driving, only) – filled with fog and winter dead trees and wild plants growing haphazardly winding and twisting around one another, and jagged and softened rocks and boulders and stone fences.
We stopped in a town called Blessington – it was an adorable little town just like you would imagine a little Irish town to look like – brightly colored buildings, pub signs, and just quaint little shops. There was a beautiful old church in the city center along with the multicolored storefronts, and families walking with children and dogs. I was ecstatic because we saw an Irish pug! Well, the pug itself probably was Irish as he was with an Irish family and walking in a park. Steve and I jumped out of the car and followed the pug trying to snap a picture and there were some juvenile delinquents standing behind a tree in the path so I climbed up on the stone wall to freak out the JDs and to snap a picture of my first Irish pug, and being Kate, I wiped out. I skinned my knee very badly, and my hand was bleeding quite a bit. Ouch. Lots of blood, so even though we stood and talked to someone who was trying to help, and Steve was petting the individual's dog (not a pug), we quickly had to make our way to the “chemist” shop – known in the U.S. as a pharmacy – to get bandages.
We decided to leave Blessington after that, and drove further to a beautiful bridge over a mountainside river. We waved to several fishermen on its banks, and walked along the river and up on the old stone bridge and took photos of the sun hitting the mountains just perfectly, and of the fishermen, and just of our beautiful day.
We then decided to drive through the mountains completely, which was a bit winding and steep, especially with oncoming traffic, then we made it to the foothills, and then onward to County Tipperary.
Steve was getting frustrated in the passenger seat because the roads in Ireland (especially in the country and mountains) are narrow, winding, have blind curves, and the speed limit is 100 km per hour but it’s terrifying to drive that fast. Most oncoming cars are driving that fast, however, which makes things scarier. What helped us with the stress was stopping at scenic passes and in beautiful views from places such as the Glendalough Valley and Rathangan and taking photographs of beautiful churches, buildings, moss covered stones in the brightest of greens, and streams. We passed a sign that said St. Brigid’s House, and as she is the patron saint that my Great Grandmother and my cousin are originally named after, we decided to drive up the lane to see the house. From what we could tell, it was a nursing home, but there was a lovely path to a misty foggy old forest and made for some very spooky but beautiful photos.
However, as the sun got lower in the sky, we both started to become very tired, especially because I was hugging the hedges and shoulders of the left side of the left lane (driving on the left side of the road, of course) and it was very tense. We were both ready for a break.
We finally arrived at The Grand Inn Bed & Breakfast in County Tipperary near Carrick-on-Suir, and we were shown to our room. This B & B was built in the 17th century and appointed very beautiful in an antique fashion. Our hostess was very sweet and gave us a card and a chocolate bar as she knew we were on our honeymoon. Our room was very cute with a beautiful wardrobe and antique furniture, but it was also very cold! The hostess was very nice, and will cook us a “full Irish breakfast” in the morning. We’re not sure exactly what that entails but we’re here to learn!
We unloaded the car of luggage, freshened up, and then went out on those scary roads in the dark and in a blinding rain until we got to the Carrick Hotel, where we sat at the bar for dinner. Steve had a Smithwick's and so did I, and then I switched to water for safe driving and he had another Smithwick’s and then a pint of Guinness. Ordinarily in the United States, Steve doesn’t particularly care for Guinness, but in Ireland, the taste is so much more flavorful – he chose it most times he ordered himself a pint throughout our trip! We sat at the bar and drank and ate and chatted with the bartenders and our stool neighbors. Steve had lamb and I had beef. We stayed a bit longer than we intended as we were chatting with our neighbors and seeking advice. We were unclear on whether or not to tip the bartenders, and our friends down the bar said that we did not need to tip. However, throughout the course of the trip we were confused about when and how much and whether or not to tip for various services and often tipped just to err on the side of caution. It’s still not clear to either one of us!
Once we were satiated and exhausted, we came back to the Grand Inn and noticed a heavily Catholic décor – pictures of the last three Popes on the walls, lots of religious icons, Holy Water dispensers outside each room, and lots of images of Jesus throughout the Inn. We spent a little time together, then Steve fell asleep and so I am writing my journal and organizing my own luggage in a manner that makes sense for the rest of the trip as opposed to the flight.
posted by Kate @ 3:41 PM
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