Ireland (Part 1): Day 1 in Dublin and Laios County

My husband and I each celebrated a significant birthday milestone this year. At the top of my birthday wish list was an exotic romantic vacation to Hawaii.  At the top of his list was a ticket to outer space....with or without me.  My request was more affordable (ya think?), so I through him an outer space party instead and began planning a trip to Hawaii.  However,  we could not get there, visit major destinations, and return home before Grandma and Grandpa returned home after so generously watching our kids for a week.  So, we began looking for fun getaways closer to home that neither of us had ever visited.  We finally decided on a 7-day trip to Ireland, where we both had familial roots.  We usually choose relaxing venues for our anniversary celebrations (vs. the more adventurous trips we have taken on missions or with family), but this trip was not relaxing at all. It was a wild adventure involving several near death experiences, and we just aren't as young as we once were when we set off on adventures like these.  And instead of the low-stress, all-inclusive cruises we normally choose, this trip ended up being way more expensive than we imagined due to terrible exchange rates, horrible traffic safety issues requiring an additional insurance waiver that cost more than the rental car and the auto insurance combined, high gas prices, and extremely costly dining options.  But we're still very glad we went.

We took an afternoon flight to JFK where we landed late with barely enough time to catch our red-eye flight to Ireland. We had hoped to sleep on the plane, but the bizarre yet interesting people seated around us kept me alert most of the flight, while the stewards seemed to be bringing us yet another dry, processed airplane meal whenever I was finally getting settled for a nap.  We arrived in Dublin around 5:00 a.m. the next morning.  We had already been up for over 30 hours, and it was now time to start a new day.

We picked up our rental car, opting to use our phones for GPS instead of renting one from the rental car agency since the cost of renting a GPS unit would have paid for at least three new ones back home.  So, as my husband tried to download maps to his phone at a download rate that would take the next seven hours, we finally gave up and tried to navigate using high level (no details) paper maps in the car.  Here my brave husband was without sleep (which they say is like being legally drunk in terms of reflex speed), and he had to suddenly learn how to drive a manual transmission economy car, shifting with his left hand while seated on the right side of the car,  while driving on the left side of the road in a new country through a city as busy as Manhattan without GPS using foreign maps on roads that bore few if any street signs.  The roads there are crazy with roundabouts at every intersection.  At the first roundabout, we saw our same style car with the same Dooley Car Rental sticker on the back stuck up high in the embankment. It had crashed through the median rail guards and was literally hanging from the embankment with the back end dangling over us we circled the roundabout.  Praise God for my husband's military training because I would have had a total panic attack at the site of that dismal omen. The 2-hour drive to our hotel was treacherous, but we made it.  Thanks to all who prayed for us back home.

The hotel was beautiful. It was a gorgeous golf resort with fabulous landscaping seated in the middle of nowhere.  We arrived around 7:30 a.m., but they would not let us check-in until 4pm or possibly 2pm if a room was cleaned soon enough.  So, my husband, DC, logged onto the hotel WiFi long enough to check emails, primarily at work, but also at home.  That's when we learned that much to our surprise, the first home showing for the year, which took place during our flight to JFK resulted in a written offer.  This summer was our 6th attempt over six years to sell the house, and it sold during the first showing!  We had a month to pack up our entire house, find a new place to live temporarily and/or permanently, coordinate movers and to figure out what to do about our kids' schooling since we had already paid tuition at their current school (45-60 minutes from our target relocation destination) and registration deadlines at all other schools had passed, and schools were on summer break.  YIKES!  How would I enjoy this vacation when I had so much to do back home?  I can't compartmentalize aspects of my life like men can, so I was exhausted and stressed as our vacation began.

Thankfully, the hotel let us store our luggage at the front desk while we took time to regroup.  For my husband, regrouping involved breakfast at the overpriced hotel buffet.  For me, recharging my sleepy batteries meant visiting the hotel spa fitness center.  So we parted ways as I giggled over how romantic our anniversary getaways tend to me.  I married an introvert, so I respect his need for personal space while he lets me satisfy my workout fix.  Something about exercising helps me focus on God and lay down my stresses.  We're an odd pair, but it works for us.

After digesting the news of our home sale and our breakfasts, it was finally late enough in the morning to do some site seeing.  We began with the nearest tourist destination well over an hour away.  We visited Emo House first.  It reminded me of the Biltmore House in many ways with a lovely tour of the sophisticated mansion, lush gardens, and breathtaking views.
We enjoyed a quaint lunch in the courtyard gardens where my dingy yoga pants, frizzy hair, and exhausted face from the previous day's travels looked most out of place in such a perfectly landscaped, upscale courtyard restaurant.  "Whatever," I say.

Next, we journeyed to the Rock of Dunamese, a 9th century hill fort which was conquered by the Vikings in 845 with a castle being built there later.  DC explained the structural features like the murder hole, where boiling water would be poured down on invaders as they entered the gates.  He noted the stair path built into the walls where soldiers traversed during invasions, and we observed how the window openings afforded much protection while slinging arrows at enemies.

The views from the Rock were simply gorgeous.

Later after returning to the hotel, we decided to attempt reached Dublin during the middle of rush hour traffic and spent an hour trying to find the factory which spans a full block or two.  Finally we found it with five minutes before the entrance doors closed, but we could not find a parking place, so then we had to fight the rush hour traffic back to our hotel. My husband had by then gone two days without sleep while driving a manual transmission on the left side of the road.  He is amazing! 

We stopped off  at a mall, which looked very much like the malls we have here, for dinner.  With gas prices around $15/gallon, we regretted having wasted all that time and money driving only to not get into our destination, but at least we enjoyed the beautiful landscapes along the way, and my husband got more practice driving along those crazy roads.

Views of Ireland and our rental car parked at the mall