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Well, not really. The manic stopped at the end of last week. After a wonderful weekend in Killarney and Moycullen, we headed off toward Sligo…the home of Yeats (stopping at a couple of suggested points along the way.)

I’m really ready for a solid night of sleep. We had plenty of privacy, but Aingeal got up early to make us breakfast and pack us a lunch (the kitchen was on the other side of our room) and she was somewhat indelicate around the kitchen. She does get an “A” for effort, though.

And…apparently the Irish don’t believe in a bed larger than a double. Wait…WHAT??? We have a king-sized Termpur-pedic mattress at home, so we’re sort of spoiled. I’m also feeling a little schmutzy (translation…I’m getting a cold or a sinus infection) so I’m not at the top of my game.

Today was all about scenery. Who knew that Ireland had fjords? Well the do, and we saw them today. Now you all know how I feel about Norway (it’s a borderline obsession) and while today’s views are different, they are equally as stunning.

There were sheep…

And mines…

And a famous movie location… (The Quiet Man bridge – John Wayne at his finest.)

And a breathtaking abbey.

Tomorrow we enter Northern Ireland. It’s about to get really interesting around here.

The momentum is building as we continue to explore this beautiful country. Again on the advice of Cathy (our Killarney host) we left for Tarbert to catch the ferry across the Shannon River on our way to Galway.

Note to self…if an Irishman describes a road as “dodgy” you can expect that it will be beyond harrowing. The road off the ferry to Galway was described to us as “dodgy” – which must be the Irish word for “one lane with no pull-offs and cattle crossings and ditches.” We were on this road for probably four or five miles. I was waiting for a repeat of the Howth to Killarney awkward silence. Didn’t happen. Mike has become such an accomplished Irish driver that the he now loves the challenge. Me…not so much. I still cringe and retreat every time we come close to the side or slightly off the road.

We took a slight detour to explore the Cliffs of Moher. (the first time since Thursday that we’ve actually paid to see an “attraction.”)  It was well worth the 6 euros each. As you might guess, we didn’t take the time to learn the history, but the walks along the cliffs were exhilarating and challenging. Another day of unexpected cardio, but a nice way to balance the fish and chips.

Our next host Aingeal (pronounced Angle) suggested we take the route through Kinvara on the way to Galway. It was another lovely, traditional Irish village.

Aingeal was out for the evening when we arrived in Connamara, but left us a note teling us a good place in the village for drinks and a light supper. Little did she know that all we were interested in was the score of the Eagles vs. Washington (total waste of time) and our Fantasy scores. So we sat at an Irish restaurant with a MacBook Air, iPad and iPhone 6 plus on the table, while the locals watched rugby and screamed at the top of their lungs. A soccer match commenced soon after, and shortly the local Irish football team (The Moycullen somethings) arrived at the bar to celebrate their victory (cup and all.) How many different kinds of “football” can you jam into one small room??!!

Anyway, we sat with a lovely couple and were eventually joined by their friends (whose daughter was the Rose of Tralee – apparently a big thing in these parts.) Aingeal had taught all their kids, so it was like one big happy family. Michael (the father of the Rose) gave us our agenda for tomorrow. The suggestions of the “locals” has worked out so far, so we made some notes and bid him goodnight.

When we got back to the cottage, we sat and had a lovely chat with Aingeal. Mike was anxious to check his scores (Fantasy Baseball is ending this week and he’s in the money.) Bad news. No wifi. Apparently there are issues in this area, and a 250 year old cottage isn’t a worthy candidate. Cellular data, hotspots…NOTHING WAS WORKING.

As I’m tying this, Mike is watching a movie on his iPad, and I’m going to read, edit pictures, or find a game that doesn’t require the internet to work.

Tomorrow on to Sligo (with more suggested stops along the way.)

Well…to be fair…a day and four less hours of driving! Our first full day in Killarney was outstanding. We’re speaking again, and Cathy (our AirBnB host) suggested a series of things to do in the area that would meet our “Killarney Quota” without causing marital war.

She suggested we start in Killarney National Park at the Torc Waterfall.

Stunning. If we stopped there….we didn’t. We climbed to the top of Torc Mountain. I was huffing, puffing and sweating like a farm animal. Oh, and I forgot to mention that the “Adventure Race” participants were sprinting up the mountain exhibiting far less exertion than I. Mortifying. Not to mention they had kayaked, biked and run like 200 miles.

After that Olympic Trial, we took a break and stopped at Ladies View. Named by the first Queen Elizabeth, who had sent an exhibition ahead to find the best view within the Ring of Kerry. This was it. And it was exquisite.

Next we stopped at the Muckross House…just another stunning Manor House with gardens, farms and an Abbey. Very opulent, but all the offerings at Killarney National Park (except for guided tours) are free (compliments of the taxpayers.) Uh..hellllloooo New Jersey. Beach tags…really?

We made a couple of other stops, but the point to be made is that the Ring of Kerry is one of the most tranquil and impressive places on earth. We have experience exceedingly cooperative weather (which we understand is completely out of character) and have witnessed the majesty of Mother Nature at her Gaelic finest.

We’ve witnessed the beginning of new memories.

And we’ve calmed down and realized that sometimes all you need is a good scratch!

Tomorrow onto Galway.

I figured it was too good to be true. Our idyllic first evening in Ireland didn’t follow the plan. Following our exceptional dinner (detailed in last night’s post) we returned to our lovely apartment only to be met with street noise that kept us both awake for major portions of the overnight until sheer exhaustion kicked in.

Then we overslept until almost 11:00 am. This is NOT the way to start a turbo tour of Ireland…especially when this was already slated to be the longest driving day of the trip.

Based on all my research, Waterford was a “must see”…oops. Not so much. After driving a couple of hours, we were ready for some lunch and perhaps a little adventure. Lunch was ok…adventure…not so much. Waterford apparently has some Viking history (which wasn’t blatantly obvious – except for a replica of a Viking ship) and is obviously best well known for it’s breathtaking crystal. There wasn’t the time (or really the desire) to tour the factory, so I snapped a few photos of the pieces in the Waterford Crystal retail window and we jumped back into the car and headed west.

For hours.

On twisty, narrow roads.

On the wrong side of the car on the opposite side of the road. Driving faster than is probably legal. It’s anyone’s guess…we’ve seen one cop in 2 days.

Bypassing Cork, Dunmore East, and the Blarney Castle (all on the itinerary)….en route to Killarney.

Which took almost four hours. In a car, whizzing past exquisite scenery, with a really cranky pilot.

Until we finally arrived in Killarney.

At a lovely home, booked into a room you’d put your cousin in if she came to visit. Not that there’s anything wrong with that…we just got spoiled by our private suite in Howth…on our first day in Ireland.

Our host, Cathy, is warm and wonderful. The view (as the listing singularly advertised) is of The Ring of Kerry…which is spectacular.

Mercifully, the town of Killarney is vibrant and exhilarating. Except…there’s some sort of Adventure Race (kayaking, biking etc.) this weekend, and the sidewalks are littered with…um…upset stomach remains. Apparently too much celebrating is an outcome of the “adventure.”

We’re here for two nights so hopefully we will see some magnificent scenery, do only minimal driving, and begin speaking to each other again. (The only conversation for HOURS was an occasional direction from the rented GPS voice with the British accent and perfect diction…it was painful.)

Here’s hoping for a pleasant tomorrow.

I’m writing this at the official end of day one in Ireland, although we’d really just be getting out of work if we were home, so who knows WHAT day it is! (And who’s counting?!)

Our love affair with Ireland began today.

First time driving on the other side of the car on the other side of the road. (Mike..not me.)

In all honesty, he did very well. At the beginning I was cringing over the number of cars and trees it appeared we were going to sideswipe. (He did brush a few curbs, but you didn’t hear that from me!)

First stay using AirBnB for accomodations. Brian, our host in Howth, wasn’t available today so he assigned his welcoming duties to Vincent (a full-time tenant) who was wonderful. The suite is in a very old building facing the harbor and is well appointed and funky. There’s some comfort in staying in a “home” instead of a hotel room. Our goal in going to Ireland was to be “with the people” so this was a great way to start.

First old castles, churches and Celtic crosses. This won’t be the last time you’ll see these beautiful relics. (No, Mike is NOT a relic!)

First time eating the apparently “horrific” Irish food. I’m happy to report that as of Day One, this is a misnomer.  We really only ate one real meal (mostly because we were too punchy to be able to focus on choosing a place to have lunch) and it was insanely wonderful. Howth is a fishing suburb of Dublin and the seafood is out of this world. Mike had a seafood chowder and fisherman’s pie (like a shepherd’s pie with fish.) I had a mushroom and kale soup and the monkfish and crispy pancetta special – both were outstanding. I don’t know if this trend will continue, but so far so good.

Most importantly…today was the first time we made friends in Ireland. We walked along a beautiful jetty and met Marion and her new Yorkie rescue Millicent Trollope (named after the Irish novelist Anthony Trollope.) Marion has lived in Howth for 34 years.

As we walked up the hill into the city centre of Howth, we came upon a very old cemetery and a gentleman tending to his family gravesite. After some conversation and history about Lord Howth, we learned his name was Peter Delaney who has lived in Howth his entire life (being raised by his grandparents after his mother died when he was 3 years old.) At that point we committed to doing our best to meet a local in each place that we visit. It is absolutely the best way to learn the truth and history of these fascinating villages.

We accomplished a lot on our first “official” day on the Emerald Isle. It’s going to be tough to beat the sights we saw and the people we met….here’s hoping.

It feels like we’ve been planning this trip forever, and tomorrow we leave. I finished my spreadsheet of “Things To Do By County” today – don’t mock. It’s how I roll. I think we’re going to be surprised at how small the island really is. I feel like I’ve really done my homework – I’ve watched travel videos and scoured the internet. Who knew so much could be crammed into a space the size of Indiana?

As I mentioned earlier, the itinerary is aggressive. Here is is…

Fly into Dublin, First night Howth. Second night Killarney. Third night Galway. Fourth night Sligo. Fifth night Derry (Londonderry). Sixth night Belfast. Seventh (and last) night back to Dublin. Leave the next morning. Lots and lots between stops!

This is definitely TURBO IRELAND!

The packing has been easy. Jeans, tees, fleeces, socks, and a waterproof jacket. Not glam. Still deciding on footwear.

My only regret is not getting enough Ancestry info to really sniff around about the Kearney Clan (Mike’s mom’s folk.)  I’ll spend a few hours on that tomorrow. I’d love to hear your thought on Ancestry.com….it sends my ADD into overdrive!

Stay tuned…probably no pictures tomorrow, but after that…green, green, GREEN!!!

We are really starting to feel the pressure to get everything done by Wednesday. Apparently we have angels watching over us (disguised as Flight Attendants.) One of my regular students from Apple asked for our flight info so she can ask her fellow FA’s to give us some “special treatment.” We’re not sure what that means…it can only be good! I’ve started to stack things by my suitcase…a travel umbrella, a wide-brimmed hat, and a little something for our “hosts.” We’re going with a patriotic theme.

Some studying of the TSA rules revealed some good info. You can even bring this on-board. (You’re not supposed to consume it, but we can be sneaky!)  I told you we were being very economical…do the math vs. buying refreshments on the flight.

The final purchases will be hiking socks and some yarn for an on-board crochet project. I know I haven’t posted the itinerary…tomorrow…I promise!

The countdown to Ireland is on. We leave next Wednesday and naturally I’m feeling enough stress and anxiety to wake me every morning at 5:00 AM!

We’ve actually been amazingly organized. As I mentioned earlier, we have the proper currency, all the Airbnb’s have been booked and confirmed…heck, I’ve even ordered special meals on the flights.

Then the reality sets in. Mike is going to be driving on the WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD! I didn’t think this was going to be such a big deal but, when we talked it through, we also realized that the gearshift will be operated with the left hand. THIS became the only real roadblock we’ve encountered since we started the planning.

It seems that the majority of cars in Ireland (and probably most of Europe for that matter) are small and have manual transmissions. This isn’t regularly a problem….my Mini has a manual transmission (I’ll describe the ordeal that was our first attempt at The Cooper Cup Rally another time.)

Two calls to Expedia and the problem is resolved … hopefully. You’ll know by the posts I write once we’re there how it’s going!

Now when I’m up at 5:00 AM I can watch videos about Ireland and driving on the wrong side of the road.

I know I promised the itinerary…that’s next. I just thought I’d interject this little speed bump.

Have a great weekend.

I promised more information as we got closer…here it is!

We leave for the Emerald Isle a week from Wednesday. This weekend I lugged the suitcase up from the basement (it’s a carry-on, but will still be hefty when I’m done loading up on MY essentials.)

We also had a revelation this weekend…we discovered not all of Ireland uses the same currency! We knew we’d need Euros, but Northern Ireland still uses British Pounds Sterling (£). Yikes. What else don’t we know? Apparently there might be an issue with the electrical converters that we used in Spain…it seems Ireland may be slightly different there too. Hellooooo Amazon. Ordered those too. Whew!

Now for the nitty gritty. As I mentioned earlier, we are doing this trip on a very aggressive budget. The planning was pretty intense, but with the help of Expedia, Airbnb, and Amazon we were able to make all the arrangements. We will be flying non-stop from Philadelphia directly to Dublin, and returning the same way. No First Class for us…Coach will have to do!

Figuring out the accommodations was a little trickier. Apparently lots of people in the world (the Irish included) are interested in welcoming strangers into their homes! We put a few restrictions on this process…we’re not staying in someone’s guest room while they are in the next room snoring away! In each place we are staying, we’ll be in a guest house, separate apartment or cottage on the property. (I’ll be sharing pictures of each place we stay so you’ll get the idea.) I scoured all the reviews, and my interaction with each host (that’s an Airbnb thing) has been warm and lovely.

Mike will be spending part of the next week watching YouTube videos on how to drive on the wrong side of the road. I predict there will be some heated conversations around this phenomenon. I also plan to stop and take pictures of EVERYTHING, so prepare for some charming architecture and lots of sheep.

We’ve been socking away $100 a week since we started planning this trip in an envelope marked “IRELAND” – this week I’ll be heading out to the bank to exchange some of our savings into euros and pounds. The only things (other than entertainment ) we’ll need to buy are food and gas.

Coming up…the itinerary.

We find ourselves in mid-September having already had quite an interesting year (in terms of travel!) We were extremely  fortunate to be offered a vendor trip to Spain at the end of April. Spain was everything we imagined and MORE…architecture, culture, history, and lovely people.  I’ll actually write a little piece on that adventure after this NEXT excursion which will start at the end of this month.

I have been to Europe a few times, but Spain was Mike’s first real venture outside the U.S. (not counting Mexico and various islands.) It was the eye-opener I expected it to be and so much more!

Planning a vacation for us is tricky. Even more-so now that we work together – how will DuBell survive with both of us gone???!!! Plus, we still have Michael in college, and the dogs to think about, and Eagles season tickets and BLAH BLAH BLAH. It’s painfully easy to talk yourself out of something…STOP !

After much consideration, the trigger was pulled….Ireland here we come! This decision came about for several reasons. Mainly, Mike’s mom, Joan, has serious Irish roots. My mom’s family is from somewhere in the British Isles (mainly Scotland I think) but we’re focusing on the Kearney clan for now.

We’re inviting all of you to embark on this expedition with us. I’ll be documenting, in words and lots of pictures, the whole thing in detail. One of the reasons we’re sharing is that this whole trip is going to be done on an extremely tight budget. We carefully watched airfares, and with the exception of the final night of the trip, all our accommodations will be through AirBnB.

We are also taking a very aggressive approach to seeing the whole island. Most commercial tours focus on one area…we’re hitting the whole damn thing – HARD! (Even Northern Ireland which some consider still dicey.)

Welcome aboard…it’s going to be a wild (Irish) ride!!