Yes, Ireland is very Green
Checking in at Heathrow airport wasn’t bad as long as you weren’t flying on British Air. Their lines were unbelievable. Fortunately, we were flying on Aer Lingus. Because we got to the airport very early (7:30am), they could only give us our boarding passes, not take our luggage. They told us to come back at 9:00 and just use the fast track line to turn in our luggage. Like good little soldiers, we followed directions. At the appointed time, we approached the counter where a dour looking gentleman asked for our documents and took the luggage. We were expecting an extra charge for weight since we knew that both our pieces were over the allowed limit. However, he seemed uninterested and just passed us along.
Breathing a sigh of relief, we journeyed forth to the security checkpoint. In America, the security is very tight, not only do you have to take your computers out of their carry case to go through the conveyer belt, but every little metal piece sets off a buzzer. I was expecting my shoes to set the thing off as it had all week in the museums. Not a peep. It wasn’t set off by Howard’s belt buckle either. The two officers were just standing around looking bored. I was expecting one of the carry-ons to bear inspecting since it had multiple electrical devices inside. Again, not a peep. We breezed right through and then started our long walk to the flight gate. They had 90 gates – guess which one our plane took off from. We walked and walked and walked some more through tube like metal tunnels that seemed to snake across the airport until we finally reached the gate. While we waited for our flight, Howard started another book and I sat working on a Sudoku Puzzle (it’s the latest rage in puzzles and I’ve gotten hooked).
Our flight to Ireland was uneventful. The plane was similar to Southwest – no frills. It is a good thing it was a short flight and that neither of us is very tall. The seats were very narrow and the leg room non existent. If you wanted food service, you could buy a muffin for 1 euro, coffee for 2 euro, or a sandwich for about 5 euro. Convert that to dollars (figure another third more) and you can see why we passed on buying any food on board. As we approached Ireland from the air, you are impressed by how green the land is. The skies were cloudy by no rain, thank goodness. The airport is very, very old. You debark by walking down the stairs from the plane just like in the olden days. Makes you wonder what they do if someone is in a wheelchair.
After much waiting at the baggage counter, our bags finally came out. I think that they were probably the first ones on the plane, so of course they had to be the last ones off. Customs was a joke. There were 2 lines you could choose from. Nothing to declare and something to declare. You picked one, and just walked through. No one stopped you or looked through your luggage. Again, they just looked bored.
We rented the car, taking out the full insurance – just in case mind you. We chose a compact car since the fuel charge over here is very high and we wanted to get the best gas mileage we could. Howard is doing the driving, and I am navigating. We started out and Howard promptly went over the curb at the first roundabout. I kept reminding him to stay left as we went through the various interchanges. Also, I had to keep reminding him to move to the center more. He has a tendency to let the car drift to the left and I feel like I am going to smash into the wall at any moment. It is a most unusual experience both as a driver and as a passenger driving on the “other” side of the road (they get testy over here if you complain about driving on the “wrong” side of the road).
We made it to our first B&B which is a little ways out of town, but in a lovely setting. They have show horses in the pasture, a lovely garden area, and a lake, all in their back yard. We had reserved a king size bed. Well, their kings are our queens. To get one of our kings you have to request a super king. Fortunately, we have gotten somewhat used to sleeping in a queen while we have been doing our interim innkeeping assignments.
After getting some directions, off we went to our first Irish tourist attraction – the Cliffs of Mohr. The roads are most interesting – translated that means narrow – and the signage is limited. London, was a snap compared to navigating in Ireland. We had to turn round a few times as we flew past the places we were to turn. Instead of having left hand turn lanes, you have to get used to right hand turn lanes. The natural inclination is to want to go into the right lane, you have to keep reminding yourself to stay left. Howard managed to get us through the roundabouts in pretty good fashion – he only went over 2 more curbs the rest of the day.
The scenery is breath taking. Everything is soooooo green since they get lots of rain. So far, we have had clouds, but the rain has held off. The other thing you see are lots of low stone fences. They criss cross the land everywhere. You would think that the horses would step right over them or the cows and sheep jump the couple of feet to get to greener grass. However, that doesn’t appear to happen. We were driving along, when suddenly we spotted what looked to be golfers on the most un-American looking golf course imaginable. All we could think of was our friend Al saying “give me a break” as he looked at the undulating hills of what to me looked like a mogul ski run. On our way back from the Cliffs, we stopped to take some pictures.
The Cliffs of Mohr are free for all to look at and quite beautiful in a rugged sort of way. Unfortunately, the Not the car park lot is not free. You need to pay 4 euro upon exiting. Of course, there is the required gift shop for tourists to help support the local economy.
This morning, Howard went in to take his shower. Well he attempted to take his shower. Here is his version of his adventure: There was a sign on the door stating that you must first pull the hanging rope cord coming down from the ceiling before turning on the shower. So, following instructions – pulled the cord. I stepped into the shower cubicle, slid the door closed and turned on the wall hanging device. There was one dial that said off, low and high. There was another dial that appeared to be for water temperature. I turned the dial to high and waited to get hot water. There was no hot water! After about five minutes of trying to get hot water – I gave up. I got dressed. Found the owner and explained my dilemma. She informed me that I needed to pull the cold harder. I went back to the room and tried again. Success at last. I’ll know for the next time.
Breakfast this morning was the typical Irish breakfast. Fried egg, European bacon, sausage, grilled tomato, Irish soda bread, and toast. That came after the starters of juice, fruit, cereal and granola. We passed on the starters. Somehow I don’t think we will need to eat again until dinner.
It’s rain right no. But a little rain never stopped us.
Breathing a sigh of relief, we journeyed forth to the security checkpoint. In America, the security is very tight, not only do you have to take your computers out of their carry case to go through the conveyer belt, but every little metal piece sets off a buzzer. I was expecting my shoes to set the thing off as it had all week in the museums. Not a peep. It wasn’t set off by Howard’s belt buckle either. The two officers were just standing around looking bored. I was expecting one of the carry-ons to bear inspecting since it had multiple electrical devices inside. Again, not a peep. We breezed right through and then started our long walk to the flight gate. They had 90 gates – guess which one our plane took off from. We walked and walked and walked some more through tube like metal tunnels that seemed to snake across the airport until we finally reached the gate. While we waited for our flight, Howard started another book and I sat working on a Sudoku Puzzle (it’s the latest rage in puzzles and I’ve gotten hooked).
Our flight to Ireland was uneventful. The plane was similar to Southwest – no frills. It is a good thing it was a short flight and that neither of us is very tall. The seats were very narrow and the leg room non existent. If you wanted food service, you could buy a muffin for 1 euro, coffee for 2 euro, or a sandwich for about 5 euro. Convert that to dollars (figure another third more) and you can see why we passed on buying any food on board. As we approached Ireland from the air, you are impressed by how green the land is. The skies were cloudy by no rain, thank goodness. The airport is very, very old. You debark by walking down the stairs from the plane just like in the olden days. Makes you wonder what they do if someone is in a wheelchair.
After much waiting at the baggage counter, our bags finally came out. I think that they were probably the first ones on the plane, so of course they had to be the last ones off. Customs was a joke. There were 2 lines you could choose from. Nothing to declare and something to declare. You picked one, and just walked through. No one stopped you or looked through your luggage. Again, they just looked bored.
We rented the car, taking out the full insurance – just in case mind you. We chose a compact car since the fuel charge over here is very high and we wanted to get the best gas mileage we could. Howard is doing the driving, and I am navigating. We started out and Howard promptly went over the curb at the first roundabout. I kept reminding him to stay left as we went through the various interchanges. Also, I had to keep reminding him to move to the center more. He has a tendency to let the car drift to the left and I feel like I am going to smash into the wall at any moment. It is a most unusual experience both as a driver and as a passenger driving on the “other” side of the road (they get testy over here if you complain about driving on the “wrong” side of the road).
We made it to our first B&B which is a little ways out of town, but in a lovely setting. They have show horses in the pasture, a lovely garden area, and a lake, all in their back yard. We had reserved a king size bed. Well, their kings are our queens. To get one of our kings you have to request a super king. Fortunately, we have gotten somewhat used to sleeping in a queen while we have been doing our interim innkeeping assignments.
After getting some directions, off we went to our first Irish tourist attraction – the Cliffs of Mohr. The roads are most interesting – translated that means narrow – and the signage is limited. London, was a snap compared to navigating in Ireland. We had to turn round a few times as we flew past the places we were to turn. Instead of having left hand turn lanes, you have to get used to right hand turn lanes. The natural inclination is to want to go into the right lane, you have to keep reminding yourself to stay left. Howard managed to get us through the roundabouts in pretty good fashion – he only went over 2 more curbs the rest of the day.
The scenery is breath taking. Everything is soooooo green since they get lots of rain. So far, we have had clouds, but the rain has held off. The other thing you see are lots of low stone fences. They criss cross the land everywhere. You would think that the horses would step right over them or the cows and sheep jump the couple of feet to get to greener grass. However, that doesn’t appear to happen. We were driving along, when suddenly we spotted what looked to be golfers on the most un-American looking golf course imaginable. All we could think of was our friend Al saying “give me a break” as he looked at the undulating hills of what to me looked like a mogul ski run. On our way back from the Cliffs, we stopped to take some pictures.
The Cliffs of Mohr are free for all to look at and quite beautiful in a rugged sort of way. Unfortunately, the Not the car park lot is not free. You need to pay 4 euro upon exiting. Of course, there is the required gift shop for tourists to help support the local economy.
This morning, Howard went in to take his shower. Well he attempted to take his shower. Here is his version of his adventure: There was a sign on the door stating that you must first pull the hanging rope cord coming down from the ceiling before turning on the shower. So, following instructions – pulled the cord. I stepped into the shower cubicle, slid the door closed and turned on the wall hanging device. There was one dial that said off, low and high. There was another dial that appeared to be for water temperature. I turned the dial to high and waited to get hot water. There was no hot water! After about five minutes of trying to get hot water – I gave up. I got dressed. Found the owner and explained my dilemma. She informed me that I needed to pull the cold harder. I went back to the room and tried again. Success at last. I’ll know for the next time.
Breakfast this morning was the typical Irish breakfast. Fried egg, European bacon, sausage, grilled tomato, Irish soda bread, and toast. That came after the starters of juice, fruit, cereal and granola. We passed on the starters. Somehow I don’t think we will need to eat again until dinner.
It’s rain right no. But a little rain never stopped us.
posted by Toot and Teaser | 1:54 AM
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