Back to the trip....
We started in Ireland, which we absolutely loved, I only wish we had more time there. We were in County Clare, about
ten minutes from Shannon airport. It was total countryside. The people there was so nice, and the stews were hearty and plentiful. Every entree was served with an assortment of potatoes of every kind: mashed, au gratin, boiled, chips...you name it. There were four plates alone of all types of potatoes. The inset shows the absolutely wonderful hotel we stayed in while there. It was totally cush, uncommon in Europe, since most rooms are teeny tiny (see later conversation on London room).We are waiting for my parent's to publish their shots from Ireland, since we forgot our camera for the crazy day at the Cliffs of Moher.
These are cliffs that stand over 200 meters high, and line the western coast of Ireland against the Atlantic. Luckily, when we visited, they had just completed a several million dollar undertaking that built a visitor's center into the cliff, as well as paths and barriers between you and the inevitable fate of death. Previosuly, you could just walk right off the edge if these things. Just one month prior a woman and her child were "blown" off, but the locals in Doolin said she jumped. Yipes. Anyway, the wind was absolutely crazy, and she could easily be blown off. People were literally leaning back into the wind, which allowed them to stay upright in that position. Nuts. The journey there was also an adventure. Trent was the designated driver (on the left side of the road). He did a great job, but was pretty stressed and generally pissed for the 2-hour round trip drive to and from. I don't blame him, the roads are so narrow, and people drive really fast. He was hugging the left side of the road, and we even ran into the curb a few times on the return trip. We got a bit lost on our way back, and that almost caused a walk out of the driver, but he kept his cool (a lie), and we were back on track after stopping twice at the same place for directin. A side note to this is that directions from anyone in Ireland are very general: such as, "Go up there a bit, where you see the signs go left, then you'll see it after a few crossings, love." The wedding was great! The Irish start these things at 4-5 in the afternoon, then eat, do speaches, etc. until 11:30, then the band starts playing! We left at 2:00 to make the last bus, but they were still partying. My Dad (Frank) had closed eevry local bar with the 30 year olds for the three days prior, so by the time the wedding rolled around he was donezo with the old whiskey and Bulmer's (cider). Trent ended up singing in the bar with the locals and grilling this guy named Damo, who was our local connection during our stay about the IRA.
I will say Ireland was a blur, it went so fast, and we did so much, and as I said, we were up to all hours in the pubs. They technically close at 11-11:30, but they'll let you stockpile drinks and stay there as long as you like. Even the hotel stayed open at the Night Manager's discretion. However, the first night, the Irish boys were pulling down their pants, and falling, so they shut down, and the next night, a fellow Baltimorean starting dropping the F-bomb all over, so they closed then as well.
The day after the wedding it was off to London. Our rooms were definitely more what we expected. Small.
You could barely fit the luggage and yourself in it. Even the lift carried only three people. Speaking of which, I had to pay $180 for the extra weight of our luggage on the flight to London. Ryan air only allows 35 pounds. Bah. The hotel did provide lovely biscuits every morning, which I surely enjoyed. We also had tea every morning, noon, and night. Heaven. Decaf girls, decaf. London was great too, a lot like NYC. We spent the first few days with my parents and covered all the sights. We also saw Guys and Dolls, with Don Johnson. Go figure. He was pretty good, although he high tailed it off stage every time there was a dance routine. No Vice moves there. After my parents left we spent the rest of the time with Rob (Otremba) and Valentina (Rob's lovely girlfriend, for those who don't know). They showed us all the sites, markets, and great shopping.
However, London is so damn expensive, even Trent and I didn't shop much. The dollar to pound conversation is horrible, so the pound starts out 1.5 times more. Plus, everything is double the price. So add that all together, and every meal costs $100, and every taxi ride $40. We also made the mistake of eating lunch at Harrod's
(see inset) where my Dad picked up the tab, but I'm pretty sure the four rubens and soup we had with drinks cost him about $400. My sandwhich alone was 15 pounds (about $33). Add soup (8 pounds/$18) and drink (4 pounds, $10), and mine alone was about $61. I'm pretty sure I ate the same thing at Belvedere Market the day before we left for $8.95, and I thought that was a rip! We kept in mind that we were in one of the great world cities, so we rolled with it, and threw money around as we wished. Ha ha. All in all, we had a blast, but in our long travels, we were ready to get home. It was a beautiful, sunny day on Sunday, which was a welcomed change from the raw cold and rain of London.I'll post the pictures here when I get them up for anyone interested in our trip.
I may do another post later tonight since Trent and I are on the way to the doctor today to potentially find out the sex of the bean. Stand by folks.
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