Places We Stayed

The Ballynahinch Castle












The View from our Room







Name: Ballynahinch Castle
Town: Recess
Type: Castle
Website: Ballynahinch Castle Website
Comments: 4 Star Hotel overlooking a beautiful winding river. It has both a restaurant and a pub called the fishermans pub. You can rent/borrow (not sure) from a selection of fly fishing rods should you want to fish in the area. Our room had a perfect view of the river. According to the guest book, Brad Pitt and George Clooney stayed there shortly before us but then again that might just be a bit of blarney. We ate in the pub, which had some great food. Ironically one of the best parts of the meal was the fresh vegetables of snow peas and carrots. These were the tastiest and freshest vegetables I have ever experienced. I didn't know vegetables could taste this good. Additionally they served small potatoes which were done to perfection, not too soft and not too hard with amazing flavor.








The Gregans Castle Hotel












Sitting Room








Name: Gregans Castle Ballyvaughan
Town: Ballyvaughan, County Clare (near Doolin)
Type: Hotel
Sites: Cliffs of Moher, Oconners Pub (real Irish Music)
Website: Gregans Castle Ballyvaughan Website
Comments: Very pretty hotel with a wonderful view of mountains and fields. It's a place you MUST eat. The food is some of the best I've ever eaten in my life. I've been to many places that can present food well, but too many lack flavor. The chef here does a phenomenal job in both presentation and flavor. Service was well above par. When we asked the manager for information regarding local tourism information and pubs, he didn't hesitate for one second to get on the phone and inquire about several places for us.









The Shelbourne Lodge B&B













Grass Tennis Courts






Name: Shelbourne Lodge
Town: Kenmare
Type: Bed and Breakfast
Sites: Ring of Kerry
Website: Shelbourne Lodge Website
Comments: Very quaint accommodations. The people were by far the friendliest and most accommodating. We ate dinner in town and when we returned I asked for some coffee. Well I received so much more then just coffee. We were sitting in the garden relaxing when they brought us a tray with a coffee pot and some wonderful cake. It was some kind of coffee almond cake with a creamy filling. We felt like we were royalty. It was far beyond our expectations. The breakfast was also one of the better breakfasts we had, so fresh. The service was ultra friendly, a wonderful experience. Kenmare is a cute little town, just a short waling distance, and easy to walk around and see a lot in a very short time.









The Tudor Lodge B& B and our car out front






Name: Tutor Lodge
Town: Glendalough (1+ hrs from Dublin)
Type: Bed and Breakfast
Sites: St. Kevins Monastery, tallest waterfall in Ireland
Website: Tudor Lodge Website
Comments: This was the lowest cost of our stays. The house is lovely, the room is pleasant and comfortable. We did have an issue with the hot water in the sink, which required a special way to turn and lift the handle to get it to work (apparently it needs a new washer or something). Another minor issue we had was the light over the desk. Every time it got a little hot (about 2 minutes) it went off. Apparently the electrician is on call, but being a small town you are at their mercy. Neither was a big issue, especially since the accommodations were the most reasonably priced and included a Full Irish Breakfast. The people were accommodating and courteous, but not quite as much as some of the other places we experienced.


Name: Westin
Town: Dublin
Type: Hotel
Sites: Guinness Brewery, Jameson Distillery (museum only)
Website: Westin - Dublin Website
Comments: Elegant accommodations set in the heart of Dublin, a "lovely" hotel. Due to it's convenient location, it was easy to walk around Dublin and not be far from the hotel.


Name: Sheraton Fota Island and Spa
Town: Fota Island (near Cork)
Type: Hotel
Sites: Last port for the Titanic
Website: Sheraton Fota Island Website
Comments: Only about a year young. Upscale accomodations with a nice LCD TV and speakers in the bathroom. However, when we could not find a volume control for the speakers we called the desk and they were perplexed that there were even speakers in there (hmmmm). The Westin (also a Starwood property) in Dublin had these same speakers with a volume control, but not this one. The next day we found they disconnected the speakers.

May 6 - Dublin

Today we grabbed a light breakfast. We went to a place small chain called Obriens. We had a light bite and headed out for day 2 on the bus. Today was our day to go to the Jameson Distillery. Jameson was a couple of blocks for the bus stop. We lucked out as the next tour went was to only start in a few minutes. In the beginning of the tour, the tour guide asks for 3 female and 3 male taste testers. Well I guess my imitation of Horshack (from "Welcome Back Kotter") was enthusiastic enough, because I wasn't picked.

We went through the tour and then received our choice of a shot of Jameson, Jameson and Cranberry, Jameson and Ginger ale, or Jameson and lemon I think. After grabbing our drinks, we gathered around the taste testers who tasted 6 different whiskeys, including the most popular Scotch (Johnny Walker Red), and a couple of other Irish Whiskeys.


We went back to the hotel, rested for a short time, then headed out for an early dinner at a local pub. We both had a delicious meal. Whoever said Irish food is bland, hasn't been to Ireland lately. While we ate our dinner, we listened to some live Irish music. It was a little loud, since they also had speakers throughout the pub. After dinner, we walked around a bit, then went back to this same pub to start a Musical Pub Crawl. For 12 Euro (10 for Students), a couple of musicians lead you through the streets of Dublin to various pubs while playing traditional Irish Music and giving you some history behind it all.

We went 3 pubs in all. After it was over a few of us decided to try one more pub. One of the folks, Megan (from Australia), was familiar with Dublin and brought use to an Australian Pub, The Woolshed Baa & Grill, not far away. When we arrived, she ordered a pitcher of rum (or so we all thought). The bartender took a pitcher and started to fill it with rum. All our eyes bugged out when we saw this and asked Megan what the heck she ordered and she said a pitcher of rum. Why not just get the whole bottle we thought. Well it turned out she actually ordered a pitcher of Rum & Coke (Whew!). She introduced us to an Australian Rum called Bundaberg Rum. It is definitely worth trying it you get the chance. The rest of us ordered a variety of pints.

There were 6 of us a the table. Two college grads from Kentucky - Shannon was here name and I don't remember his - we'll just call him "Kentucky" - a recent graduate from UK (University of Kentucky that is) in Electrical Engineering, Luke from Ohio, Megan from Australia (a horse expert), and the two of us. It was a fun group, Kentucky had loads of Kentucky "Redneck" stories, the more he drank, the more stories he had. If you can imagine a redneck story, I think Kentucky told it. Shannon just sat there and smiled as he rambled on, however she didn't have such stories to tell. It was an entertaining evening and a fun group.

May 5 - Dublin

Arrived in Dublin on Aer Lingus at 6:45 am Monday morning. The flight was due to arrive at 7:20 - we must have had a good tail wind. After we got our bags at the baggage carousel - not a long wait - not as long as a wait for bags at Dulles!! We decided to ask about the best way to get to downtown Dublin. Someone at the airport information desk told us that there is a bus that stops only two blocks away from the hotel for 7 euro per person. Well, that was much better than the 35 plus euro it would have been for a taxi. Luckily, the bus was there when we got outside and left within a matter of just a few minutes.

We got off the bus at Trinity College and once we were headed in the right direction, we found the Westin Dublin. We checked in but our room was not ready yet - it was only about 8:30am. We checked our bags with the hotel and proceeded outside to find some breakfast. Apparently, Aer Lingus does not serve breakfast in the back of the plane! Well, after realizing that Monday May 5 is a bank holiday in Dublin, and we couldn't find any place that was open for breakfast, we headed to McDonald's - even Burger King was closed.

We found out that Mc Donald's has a section of their "restaurant" called the Mc Cafe. And they make A GREAT latte!! Kevin said that it was the best coffee that he's had in a long time. After breakfast, we headed down Grafton Street to look around a bit to find that NOTHING was open before 10:00am. Not only did the bank holiday affect this, but most retail establishments did not open until then. One of the tours we had decided to take was a hop-on, hop-off bus tour. We walked by a bus sitting idle, and the female bus driver was very friendly and told us about all the benefits of the tour. She told us that not only was the tour flexible with timing (the ticket was good for 24 hours, but that was not strictly enforced), but we could get discounts on other tours that we would take, like Guinness and Jameson. So we decided that we would start the tour around noon.

We headed back to the hotel hoping that our room would be ready. We were both so exhausted - Kevin only slept a little bit on the plane, and I didn't sleep at all. Unfortunately, our room wasn't ready, so we sat in the lobby of the hotel. After about an hour, our room was finally ready, so we went to our room to take a nap. Actually, I think we both passed out.

When we woke up, we headed out to the tour bus. We decided that the two main things we wanted to see was the Guinness Brewery and he Jameson Distillery. Since we could do the bus tour over two days, we did Guinness on the first day, and Jameson on the second day. The Guinness Brewery is a self guided tour, in which you go through displays and some short videos while moving up several stories in the building. When we were almost at the top, there was a station there in which someone from the Brewery shows you how to pour the Perfect Pint. Kevin poured the perfect pint and then received a certificate stating so. From there we went up to the very top floor which has a 360 view of Dublin. Kevin took a few photos, and we both sat for awhile enjoying our Guinness Draughts.

After Guinness, we got back on the bus and rode it through Phonenix Park, the largest park - you can fit Central Park in it 2.5 times. It was late in the day and the park was really crowded, especially since it was a bank holiday. It appears that it was the first day of nice weather that Dublin had had in a long long time.

May 4 - Our Flight

Our flight was to leave out of Washington Dulles Airport just a little after 7pm on May 4, 2008 out of the B Terminal. Now I'm not new to flying, but it has been several years since I've flown on an international flight. Having flown regularly in the past, I knew of the advantages of an airlines private lounge. Since I haven't flown in such a long time, nor with any regularity, I could not take advantage of any lounge. However through some investigation, I did find out that as an American Express Platinum card holder, you could get into several lounges. Sounds good on the surface, but the downside is that this card costs $450 - ouch! So I decided to investigate this a little further and discovered that you can get an American Express Platinum Card through other financial institutions for about $99 instead. Now granted this version of the card does not hold unlimited access to these lounges, and does not carry all of the same benefits, but it does carry quite a bit of the same advantages. One of the advantages is access to airline lounges, albeit with grave limitations (only 3 free visits), but it's something.

After several months of mulling over the advantages vs. the costs I decided to apply for it and was promptly approved. Normally I would not pay for a credit card, but I figured if we were going to travel internationally, we would do it in relative style. I don't know if it was the only lounge available, or the only lounge that took this "priority Pass" as it was called, was Northwest Airlines. We entered the lounge and noticed no one was attending the desk, so we swiftly entered the room without the need to register.

We spent about an hour or so in the lounge drinking a couple of complimentary cocktails along with some cheese and crackers while looking out onto the tarmac watching the funny bus thingy they have at the Dulles Airport.

It was getting close to boarding time so we left the lounge and went to the gate, which was only a few gates away. After a short wait, we promptly boarded or plane, which was only half full. As luck would have it, on a plane that was half full, we got the annoying front seat couple. That's right, the kind that can't sit still, the kind that think they are in private room and can't keep their hands off each other. Now I'm no prude by any means, but when I can't eat my meal, can't type on my laptop because my tray is bouncing around like we're hitting some massive turbulence, well then it bothers me.

We did receive a hot meal, chicken or beef. I had the chicken and Naomi had the beef. Nothing to rave about. Funny thing, the lights went out, and the audio for the movie just started. Hmmm maybe this is the flight for the blind, hence why it was only half full. Oh finally someone said something because they started the movie again - this time WITH the video. The movie is "The Bucket List" (nice flick but a little sad).

OH check this out, the annoying couple in front of us has a complaint that my computer is making noise (how did they even noticPublish Poste). I didn't hear anything since I was listening to music (and then the movie), but it wasn't my computer making the noise, it was my cell phone. No I don't have it on really, it's in Airplane Mode - NO signal, but since it's a PDA as well, it's still useful for other things. The noise was just a calendar reminder.

When we landed we found out that the couple in front of us were newlyweds - didn't notice if they went to the toilet at the same time though, maybe I was a asleep. ;-)