Vacation day one (and a half): Ireland

So, the time has arrived and I am finally on vacation in Europe with my dad!!

This whole thing started on Wednesday morning at 3:30 am when we got up to head to Skyharbor Airport in Phoenix. From Phoenix we flew to Newark (Direct TV makes the flight so much more enjoyable!). Then after a five hour layover, that included a little lunch and a ton of Arrested Development, we were on our way to Dublin.


While the hop from Phoenix to Newark was nice...the six hour skip to Dublin kind of sucked!! The seats were smaller and more uncomfortable plus there was no Direct TV. But, on the bright side the in flight entertainment was free...so I did watch Captain America and a ton of one off tv episodes.

So, what started out as an early arrival at the Phoenix airport turned into an early arrival in Dublin, Ireland. How early is early? Well the sun wasn’t up yet. Which, if you have never driven a car on the left side of the road (on purpose…because it’s the law) is a great time to be driving!  We dropped our bags at the hotel and off we went to see Cork southern Ireland and all points in between.  The drive to Cork was uneventful once we made our way through a gauntlet of roundabouts. Actually, the drive reminded me a little of the Midwestern United States in the fact that it was a ton of farm land and major roadways. Once we made it to Cork we sought out the tourist trap of all Irish tourist traps…Blarney Castle.


Along the way we realized that with the exception of of the mountains the drive was a lot like heading through Wisconsin (with more sheep...none of which appear in this picture).


About an hour outside of Cork the flow of traffic seemed to be slowing to pass a single vehicle. When we caught up we saw what the slow down was all about. So, for the second time in my life, as far as I know, I came across a Google Maps car.

So after acting like complete idiots while passing the car we finally pushed forward to Cork and then to Blarney Castle.


Let me say that once we got onto the grounds of Blarney Castle that was more of what I had imagined the countryside of Ireland would be like.

 The grounds to Blarney castle were amazing.  Serene rolling grounds with streams, gardens, groves of trees are the norm here. Like many landmarks in the states there’s a calm feeling you get as you approach. A silence, that seems to be equal parts amazement and respect, that none seem to want to break.  Not until you are in the shadow of the main tower do you begin to hear people talking to each other.

For those of you who have not made the trip to the castle let me lay it out for you like this. In the movies where you see all the stairwells to the castle battlements are wide enough for two guys in full battle gear to run up and down side by side…this is not that type of castle. The climb to the top is scary in the fact that the stairs at some points are no more than 6-7 inches wide while going almost straight up on a tight right hand twist. It really made me happy that I had done as much cardio training on the workup to the trip. As you make the climb you have the chance to step off into man of the side rooms like the kitchen, master bedroom and a few others. A luxury that dad was more than happy to take advantage of when they presented themselves. It was either that or induce a heart attack!. The payoff though was worth it. Once you reach the top you are presented with two gifts.

The first gift at the top of Blarney Castle is the chance to walk the battlements and get a 360degree view of the grounds and surrounding lands. The second gift is, if you are so inclined, to lay down flat, bend over backwards….and kiss the Blarney Stone.  Dad and I both engaged in that oldest of Irish tourist traditions!  Really , you climbed to the top of the bloody castle, why the hell not?

After making our way down we spent a few minutes walking through the poison garden. Where all the plants are deadly to either smell, touch or ingest. Good Times!!

After finishing up there we made the long drive back to Dublin and grabbed a bite to eat. A meal that neither one of us made it through without nodding off at some point.  So, food was eaten Guiness was drank and we were both passed out within minutes of getting into the hotel room.  Day one ended at 10pm with the plan of getting up around 8am the next day to drive to County Carlow and Duckett’s Grove Castle

Making plans...

So the planning has finally begun in earnest for my October trip to Europe with my travel companion Don (aka: Big Poppa Shields). 

Originally it was going to be fly in to London for a few days, then go to Ireland, then back to London, then train to Paris....then leave.  But, after thinking it over...that seems mighty stupid!  More jumping around from country to country with London as base was killing our chances of doing stuff.

So a plan was hatched. Fly into Dublin, stay for three days and leave for London on the fourth day. Stay in London for three days, leave for Paris on the fourth. Three days in Paris and then home to the States on the fourth.  Seems like a solid plan....until I realized that some of the things I wanted to do would be left out in the cold with that plan...namely Scotland!

One can never underestimate flexible travel plans! This is why I didn't want to get roped into a group tour. I can't even commit to a dinner choice long enough to order sometimes.

Now, I think we have a time table hammered down that we can live with...or at least not deviate too far from! 

Day One: Get into Dublin around 7am...rent car and drive south! On way to Cork stop in Co. Carlow and visit Duckett's Grove Castle. Carry on to Cork to take in the sights and stay the night.

Day Two: Get up and drive back to Dublin. Grab hotel, hang out in Dublin and head north to Belfast for the afternoon/evening. Get back to Dublin late and crash.

Day Three: Fly from Dublin to Glasgow on early flight.  Rent car make trip to Loch Ness. This was a must for me and one of the reasons that the travel plans were changed. I, for some reason, thought it was a much shorter trip from London to Loch Ness...not so much the case!  Spend time in Loch Ness and then meander back to Glasgow in the the early evening....enjoy.

Day Four: Fly to London.  Originally this was going to be a train trip through the English countryside. But, a rail pass (as far as I could see) was actually going to be about the same price, if not more expensive, than a quick flight. The flight would also cut out about 5 hours of travel...unless Google maps lied to me! Arrive in London and do typical touristy type things for rest of day.

Day Five: Stuff in London....trip to Stonehenge ("The Greatest Henge in the World"....I'm going to be seriously sad if I can't get that on a t-shirt!)

Day Six: Stuff in London

Day Seven: Stuff in London...and a trip to Cardiff. As a fan of British Sci Fi I can't pass up a trip to this great Welsh city. Home of the Millennium Centre, shopping, Cardiff bay...and of course the fictional former home of team Torchwood. (yeah that's right, I am planning vacation locations based on Russell T. Davis' Dr. Who spin off!)

Day Eight: Bullet train to Paris...hotel...food....museums

Day Nine: Paris...food .... Museums

Day Ten: Paris ...maybe out of the city travel...

Day Eleven: Wake up and get my ass to the airport to fly home and hate the fact that I am only a few days away from going back to work!

Now I need to find the small things to fill in those wide open days in London and Paris. Also, need to make sure that my netbook has plenty of space for movies (for the trip) and photos (of the trip).  Probably would be a wise decision to renew my Flickr pro account too.

Things that will fill the gaps in time I am sure will include: eating, drinking, tours of places you can drink, tours of famous places, tours of infamous places. Shopping---oh God the shopping is going to kill me! Lounging in awesome locals...sadly it will be October so probably going to be indoor lounging.

Blogging, Facebooking, Twittering and generally lamenting the fact that I will eventually have to leave should also factor heavily into the rotation of things to do. Sadly the one thing that will not be on the schedule is the planned NFL football game between my beloved Chicago Bears and the Tampa Bay Bucs. Not necessarly because the game may not happen (boo)! The real reasons tends to lean more towards the fact that it would be cost prohibitive to stay the extra two days.  Between tickets to the game, getting back to London from Paris, two more nights in a hotel and switching flights AGAIN, it would add about another $1200 to a trip that I already am on the boarder of not being able to afford!

But, stuff is purchased, plans are made...money can be made with extra work! It's all a go! Pretty sure that Europe (and myself) will never be the same after this trip.

European Bucket List.

With my impending travel to Europe (you know...where History comes from) I have decided to think about the few things that will be readily available to be added to my to do list. I was thinking of amending my actual bucket list. But, now that travel plans have been made and the actual trips is in sight I feel like that may be cheating. So some of these will be lifted from my original bucket list of a while back, while others will be new and improved. Right now the plan is to visit England, Ireland, France and maybe a few other countries.I think I'll break them up into a few sections. -- submissions are welcomed, encouraged even!

Section I: food and beverage.
1. Drink a pint of Guiness in an actual Irish pub.
2. Slam down some Absinthe in France
3. Fish and Chips in England...possibly from a lunch van..
4. Eat TRADITIONAL Haggis (not from a can)
5. Try at least one traditional dish in each country that I can't get in the states.
6. When possible eat local. Skip eating anywhere that I can find at home (unless desperate and/or broke)

Section II: Locations and events
1. Hit as many nerdy Dr. Who spots as possible...including a trip to Cardiff
2. Some sort of Ripper tour
3. The Louvre
4. Buckingham palace
5. Stonehenge (the greatest henge of them all)
6. South Shields
7. Eiffel Tower
8. Try to find some sort of local concert to go to...up and coming bands or established acts, comedy...whatever!
9. Visit a Castle....check the tapestry! (get it? get it?)

Section III: Unk
-- this is the section that I will leave open for suggestions and late arrivals to my brain!

Plans Change

"The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men..." --Robert Burns

Needless to say one of the grand things about making plans 5-6 months in advance is that they are most likely going to change! Sucks when they do change, but it can't really be avoided.  

The plans for my summer trip to Amsterdam have already changed!

The original plan was to meet my buddy Ryan and his wife in Amsterdam for about a week of crazy fun and tourist-y type actions.  Now, I have had to push the trip by a few months. The big reason being cost!

When you are trying to coordinate a trip and make accommodations and budgets it's helpful to know when you are going to be able to go! Sadly, Ryan and Elizabeth are kind of at the mercy of her college program and don't know exactly when their trip is going to be. Which means I can't find out until they do! Sadly, that leaves me with a wide hole in my summer schedule and an even bigger question mark on my bank account.

Case in point-- If I go in June or mid to late July then I will be shelling out close to $1700 in airfare alone.  While not a horrible price (or a great price). It's about what I was thinking the price would be for airfare. That means I am going to have to come up with a ton more extra cash for hotel, transportation, food, etc..

Now if I delay until October I can branch out a little more. By going in mid to late October I can pay around $2300 and that will include round trip airfare, 11 nights stay in hotels and a car rental. Plus, that will allow me to widen my travel area to probably include the UK, Ireland, France and the Netherlands.

So, I won't be able to hang with Ryan and his lovely wife...but that doesn't mean I will be traveling alone. In addition to a wider travel area I have picked up a new travel companion. My father!

Most people would say, "Travel with you dad instead of your best bud! How's that a fair trade?"  To which i will say, "My dad is a Rock Star!"

Well, maybe not a rock star...but he is a ton of fun. I know I can ignore him for long periods of time without hurting his feelings too much. Plus, if I get in trouble in a foreign country it always pays to have a parent and their bank account around to bail you out before you have to spend too much time in a French or Irish prison!

So we'll see how "Summer Plans 2011...rd. 2" turns out as we get further along in the year! Once we nail down dates I can start looking a making specific plans...that's where the true fun begins. I can start planning around local events, maybe map out a cool concert or two. That's when I'll start getting excited. Until then I'm just mildly enamored with my plans. Later on is when I get excited/giddy!!