Bday wishes

TRYSPORTS just sent "Denis" a birthday card. Um, someone messed up on the member registration. I still get a nice discount. Hmmm, what to buy?

Insomnia

I hate when it gets the better of me.
Went to bed a little after 10.
Woke up somewhere after 12.
Now it is almost 2.
I have tossed and turned with not much success.
Lots of activity outside. I am sure that is what woke me up in the first place.
I remember when those other tenants would come and go at all hour. I think I eventually got used to it. Of course some of thosr nights when fhey would wake me my imagination would get the best of me
Meth labs were one of those middle of thr night irrational fears.
Tonight it is more just realising I once again need to get used to the noises of others coming and going. And I know the only time I really notice it is ehen I cannot sleep.
Gotta be walking in 4 hours.

one other thing

i have noticed all these complaints about the new set up
you know what i have noticed - because it is not as easy to navigate - i am not as tempted to spend my time flitting out there to see what people are up to
i do like my two recent finds - financial times and the economist have pages that are good for catching up on headlines
but other than that - the novelty is somewhat wearing off... hah novelty - i mean how long has it been really - 3 years....
the new novelty - the 100 pushups and 200 situps websites...
abs and arms here i come

pics

So I was really enjoying the vid upload feature on FB... the transition between pics etc...
Seems like FB wasnt as keen on it and has locked me out of that feature...
I still have half of the trip to compile and post...  Not really happy with the state of this.
Kind of at my limit of dealing with the pics at this point in time.
Ready to move on to other fun things to do this fall....
Sorry - may get back around to it over the holidays...

doppelganger

and you were expecting a blog about vampire diaries?
nope... gary reminds me of someone else... not sure the whole look-alike aspect really applies but...



oh and i so think the whole band has had one of those Killers make overs...
just look at them here and then previous pics...
well except for gary's hair

Happy Arthurs Day

I so would have swtiched up our travel plans... but thanks to some poor person that spent most of their time at the concert looking through the lense of a camera phone instead of just enjoying the Stereophonics... we all get a little gander at Kelly and the boys


and with only a 30 minute set - you have to wonder how many minutes in was it before Javier took off his shirt...

morning walk

sometimes i see the craziest things in the wee hours (OK it is not that early) of the morning when i go walking...  this morning - it was a new neighbor...  hah - instant bike service just one door away!  that could be a good thing or a bad thing

Hook Lighthouse and Curracloe Beach

You can Google both and learn more than I can ever pretend to have retained...  The Saving Private Ryan piece is what took me - dragging my mom along in the car - down the narrow road to the right and over to Curracloe.

SO worth it!

Waterford

Enjoying my new Waterford that arrived today. Beaujolais Villages, spinach feta andouille sausage, steamed green beans and beets with feta cheese.
Tonights workout - the last of getting the house together from Ireland.

Movers

I know Tuesday was the official day with the closing and all
But tomorrow is the official day with the movers arriving
I suspect - depending on how much we get done - my mom can sleep in her own bed for the first time in almost two months tomorrow....
And so begins the next phase...  No longer the house guest... No longer the visitor over the holidays...
Now the person down the road - 10 miles or 20 minutes depending on how you track it...

Busy day and NO there will NOT be any official training as a result of it.
And YES to kick off the kick a$$ off season training - we are going to Oktoberfest tomorrow night!

Cake Walk

5 days down, 70 to go...
that is the estimate i have done of work days between now and the end of the year
and it has been far easier to give myself the pep talk in the morning to get out of bed and go walking than the pep talk to run...
and for those not in the know - the hills in the neighborhood do a good job of adding to the workout
next week - much to nerves - i am going to attempt to take advantage of the classes at the gym
i have to work some more on what that will look like....

Dinner

Adare - dinner at the carriage house - lots of mussels and monkfish...  there was dessert too - NO WILL POWER!

Killarney - Molly Darcys Pub
http://www.muckrosspark.com/darcys-killarney
fish n chips and apple pie

Blarney - remember that hotel thing...  veggie sandwich & banger and mash...
Oh I almost forgot - that chicken burger that was really a piece of fried chicken

Waterford - the fancy restaurant at the hotel - comped by the hotel
lamb 3 ways...  and a few other foods...
there was most likely dessert again

Wexford - Thomas Moore Tavern
google does default to the Bermuda version first... or maybe that's just smart google tracking my general activity...
http://www.thomasmooretavern.com/
our waiter was from Argentina - who woulda thought...
the other dinner was The Chocolate Bar - the website is not working...
curried mussels - mmmm

Dublin - hotel food - easier with site seeing

Bunratty - medeival dinner - probably wouldnt do that again...

Where did we eat...

Breakfast was always at the hotel...
fresh homemade yogurt; fresh fruit - had rhubard a few times - tasty; eggs; bacon; brown bread; fresh butter...  good stuff

Lunch -

Adare we ate lunch at a pub...  it was a tasty chicken brocoli bake...
http://www.patcollinsbaradare.com/

DairyMilk ice cream bars
Not a place but sure made a good lunch
http://www.cadbury.co.uk/ourproducts/today/Pages/JS_desserts.aspx?category=desserts#wispacup

Blarney - lunch at hotel except for the afternoon tea we had at Blarney Castle

Waterford we ate at the club house of the golf course... and that other day we ate at McDonalds...

Wexford - Johnson Castle - we had tea and cake again at the museum...  again, not much on the lunch front but tasty...

Dublin - we finally found salad at the hotel restaurant for lunch... yAy!! vegetables!!
Oh and the next day we split a little crepe
http://www.halfmoon.ie/

Doolin - we caught some mid-day live music - kind of a late lunch early dinner on that day
fried mushrooms... but most interestingly were the rutebegas served as a vegetable with my baked salmon
http://www.gusoconnorsdoolin.com/

Doolin - Fitzpatricks - this doesnt look like any aspect of the pub we ate at but it is...
http://www.hoteldoolin.ie/bar.php
i think this is the day I decided to have a burger...

One of the nicest excursions that was not on the agenda - and it was a real struggle for me to remember what we did...  tea at Dromoland Castle
http://www.dromoland.ie/

Oh and the last day - we stopped at Durty Nellies...
and it was dirty and dark and the fisn n chips were OK
http://durtynellys.ie/
so we had desert - profiteroles yum - and cleaner
http://www.creamerybar.com/

Ireland accomodations

I have somewhat slowed down on the ireland picture posting..
I have been enjoying the viewing and sorting and I have created some more videos - even started adding some music... 
It just doesnt seem to upload well to blogger... so I apologize for the delay in pics...

Let's see if I can provide a recap here --- I would say I enjoyed all our accomodation choices...  Two were a bit more quaint and antiguey (??) for my taste bit others will probably like them...

Adare Manor in Adare Village - not too far from the Shannon Airport
http://www.adaremanor.com/

Friars Glenn - on the outskirts of Killarney National Park
http://www.friarsglen.ie/

Trident Hotel - "at world's end" Kinsale
http://tridenthotel.com/
The pillows were a little thin...  and they had wool blankets...  just a bedding observation

Blarney Castle Hotel - Blarney
http://www.blarneycastlehotel.com/index.html

Waterford Castle Hotel - Waterford - on an island in the middle of the river on the outskirts of town
http://www.waterfordcastle.com/

McMenamins Townhouse B&B - Wexford...  there was supposedly parking in the rear of the building but we ended (OK, I) up parallel parking in front instead both days.
http://www.wexford-bedandbreakfast.com/bedrooms.html

Hilton Kilmainham - Dublin, across from Kilmainham Gaol near a HopOn HopOff station
http://www1.hilton.com/en_US/hi/hotel/DUBKMHI-Hilton-Dublin-Kilmainham/index.do?WT.srch=1
I have to laugh at all the twin beds in most of the hotels instead of two queen or even full size beds...  And then there are the half shower doors - I totally drowned the toilet at this hotel while trying to shave my legs...

Sea View House - Doolin - down the road from the Cliffs of Moher... walking distance from a little village with a pub and live music...  and there is waterfront access
http://www.seaview-doolin.ie/
Wow - this website makes this location look really good.  It was a great location.  It's just that the weather did not cooperate.

Carrygerry Country House - near the Shannon Airport - a very convenient drive - even though it was down a very narrow and deserted road...
http://www.carrygerryhouse.com/index.html

OK - that covers the lodging...

new home!

the house closing is this morning
that should be exciting, not that it hasnt been exciting to date...
i am kind of looking forward to my part owner access to the fitness facilities...  not that my own gym isnt fun
but this would just be different... and i am looking forward to trying out the roads for the cycling...

morning walk

it seems to be a bit lame to just get up and go walking... but i am looking to get a routine in place
and if my mental map does not play well with the concept of running, then i best find some way to get up and out of the house in the AM on a consistent basis
and with the struggle of breathing - the walking seems to be best approach for now...
i will have to throw the challenging work outs into the PM workout...
and that should start within the week

back into swing of things

this morning was just a quick little walk - only 12 minutes - but it is a start...
i am still stuffy and coughy so moving too fast for too long just causes a bit too much commotion
it would suck if i woke up others in the neighborhood with my pretend smokers hack...
a few short walks daily is the goal for this week

congrats on the olympic length tri

i have started to look at races for 2012...
two races that have been mentioned are a mud run in the spring and maybe a tri in orlando...
but for this week - just trying to get rid of the sinus yuck that took residence in my head last week...
hot tea and another early night to bed...
and maybe i will be able to finish reading the "hornets nest" book too
as for pics - i am up to waterford for editing...that's still only about 5 days into the trip...

pictures

struggling with sharing pictures....  i have compiled more videos - they just download and look like such crap...  i guess the pixels dont translate as well or something...
i am all the way up to Waterford and have even started to edit and add music...
and now FB is giving me crazy messages like - this video will upload in the next 140 hours...
just driving me crazy
headed to KFs tonight with some wine to look at mom's 1000+ pictures through my computer/ through her tv...
this should be fun

Boating

Trying to make some headway on the pics today.
I took a picture of this storefront to remind me to go back and look at the boats on-line.
It would be so nice to buy a boat as the next venture.. oh that's right I live 3 hours inland.. oh well
http://www.mgmboats.com/mgmboats/searchmgmboats.php?rPage=/privatelabel/listing/photo_gallery.jsp?slim=pp272615&boat_id=2327667&boatname=52%27+Summers+and+Payne+Gaff+Yawl&photo_revised_date=1301572564000&photo_name=1898+Summers+and+Payne+Gaff+Yawl&photo=1&url=

Purple sweater

Some thoughts popped up in my mind this morning while I was in the shower about our trip...
I would like to think they were a pleasant distraction from my recent constant sniffling sneezing coughing, but it wasnt.  I actually found myself having to get out of the shower just to blow my nose.  Really?  I mean I neti pot right before I got in the shower - the first time that as worked in days. But obviously not enough...  It was when I got out of the shower that I was reminded of all the odd HALF shower doors in almost all of our hotels.  I saw no full shower doors the entire time I was away.  I have to wonder what the appeal of the half shower door is.  It looked real cool in the first bathroom I must admit.  But the first shower confirmed that it in no way helps keep the water where you want it.  And trying to shave your legs while standing, just forget it.  You may as well bathe with lysol so the spray can be wiped up AND disinfect the room all in one swoop.
As for the purple sweater?  I was looking for that purple sweater most of the trip - convinced I had left it randomly in Adare Manor in my distraction of missing my camera.  Turns out it never left the States.  It was hanging in my closet right next to my tan suede jacket just where I had left it.  Seems like it is cooling down around these parts too so may have a need for both of them in the near future.

can't breathe

some have said - well that's what happens when you spend so much time on a plane.. of course i started feeling bad pretty darned close after returning so i dont think it is that
i was battling alleriges our last few days in ireland so i was thinking it is more a manifestation of that
all i know is i am now beyond the scratchy throat and have progressed to stuffed up head - not a good sign when the neti pot doesnt even work - coughing coughing coughing - and sore throat
i hope this passes soon

This is for Sarah

We saw this large version of a planter just outside out hotel in Kinsale.  And I thought this would be the perfect planter (maybe on a smaller scale) for my friend Sarah's front yard.  Maybe it is her love of the beach.  Maybe it is her home's proximity to the ocean.  Think of what a great sight it would be as people pass on their way to the beach...

For the little guy

who was so happy to see us upon our return...

Red Herring in Kinsale

discussions on safe harbors made me smile while i was away...  real safe harbors - NOT the ERISA induced safe harbors...
and then i came across this...

i have to wonder if the Cusack Insurance people deal in securities...  and then of course if they ever do any Initial Public Offerings..
Google red herring if you dont get my geeky humour...

let's talk Waterford

So I have been giving the picture compilation some serious thought.  MGV and I were discussing the finer points of editing and cropping and photoshop....  By the time I get through all that everyone will be in the height of Christmas excitement and not want anything to do with my Ireland pictures...  So we shall see...

In listening to my mom's conversations with her friends this evening about our trip... I forgot one picture that I truly meant to highlight yesterday...

I should have paid better attention to the engraving describing the memorial to 9/11.

There was just so much going on that I wasnt listening 100%

back to drawing board...

the upload process through Blogger seems to interfer with the clarity of the pictures... that just wont do...
try again tomorrow or so after another night's sleep...
gettig tired...

Muckross Abbey

An after dinner walk...

Friars Glenn

Our second night we spent at Friars Glenn.  It was a bed and breakfast right on the outskirts of Killarney National Park.

Notice the man packing up bikes on the far left?  he and his wife spent their visit riding bikes around Killarney National Park.  She had a Giant.

This was our view from breakfast at Friars Glenn.  As for breakfast?  Homemade Irish yogurt may surpass the latest craze of Greek yogurt that you can get at the grocery stores.

Ring of Kerry

We started out from Adare on Sunday morning.  The agenda was uncertain for a bit... find a tour to do the Ring of Kerry? go to our next night's stay first and then head out to the Ring? or go straight for the Ring?  We did the latter and that seemed to work well. 
Early on I realised it would take some planning to pull over and take pictures.  We werent really on a mission to stop at the little villages along the way to souvenir shop.  We wanted to see the sites.  I think we did a pretty good job at it.

We drove anti-clockwise in line with the buses.  This was suggested everywhere I looked.  I am glad I learned this as we did encounter a different scenario towards the end of our drive.  A man on his Harley looks to have been clipped by a bus.  He was OK - up walking around.  His bike - not so much.  The bus - had a flat front tire and caused quite the traffic jam.
Myself - I only knicked the mirror once while driving through one of the villages on that day.

At the end of theRing is Killarney National Park.  Definitely an area that could receive more attention on the agenda.  There were all sorts of hiking trails throughout the park.  Maybe next time.

Adare Manor

Was our first night's stay.  My mom wanted to stay in a castle and this was one of the manor homes that made it to the final decision phase.  I would say it was well worth it.  We spent part of the day walking around the Village and then we took a tour of the estate...  I took a quick nap by the pool - in an effort to get used to the change in weather from summer in NC to Ireland.  Thankfully I realised I had left my camera behind before we headed out the next morning.
I'll have to focus on the food in another post.

Welcome to Ireland

After a long night of fidgetting in our seats... our flight finally arrived in Shannon.

Flat Stanley in Ireland

first in a series of a few videos i think i will be pulling together for the trip
these were the easiest pics to pull together

how to detox...

just ate a half pint of raspberries...  the fridge is now stocked with grapefruit, apples, raspberries, peaches, plums and plan yogurt...  tomorrow is an apple and grapefruit day with some detox tea...
definitely feeling dehydrated today after the early rising and day of travel....
running on fumes at this time...

Last night in Ireland.

We had a late lunch and even later dessert - mmm profiteroles..Followed with wine in the sitting room with the other guests. They went off to dinner. We just relaxed. Both of us have hit our binge limit at this time.
Then late day showers to wash off the grime. We couldnt get the shower to work this morning. You have to yuck it on with the force of potentially breaking it.
Now finishing packing. So glad I didnt buy much more.
And watching rugby with mom. Maybe she will be up to speed by Sundays IRL vs USA game. Of course finding it televised will be an issue. Time zone? Who knows how I'll feel about that at that time.

Pubs of Ireland

Sitting in Durty Nellys Pub having a beer waiting for fish n chips. Thinking if we had visited enough pubs on the visit. The quest of the navigator...
Adare we had lunch in a pub. Gosh wish I could recall the name of it. The chicken brocoli bake was yummy.
Killarney we went Molly somethings and had fish n chips.
Wexford we went to Thomas Moores Tavern. YES... Must be a catchy name.
Doolin we went to Gus OConnors and Fitzpatricks. The latter was more modern day bar than pub.
And now this. So I'd say we hit suffucient.

Hopeful

I was hopeful this storm would finally blow past and we could at least take the Cliffs water tour if not the Aran Islands ferry. But from the looks out our window no such luck.
Speaking of out the window - we have a view out a sky light that looks up the mountain our little B&B has been built into. It somewhat reminds me of my apartment in Bermuda being dug into the side of a mountain. The steep awkward front steps included.
And the wind blustering through reminds me of Greenbank this past Spring when KP and I were there. Unlike Bermuda the wind doesnt seem to subside over the course of the day.
Anyways there will be no boating this trip.
We are contemplating some hiking today. On the way out of The Burren there is a National Park.  I figure we can do a short hike like we did in Killarney. I know all you rugged types question the short hike but with my mom those are the easiest types. No need to overwork and not be able to get back out of the forest.
From there we work our way down to Newmarket on Fergus. Our last hotel is there somewhere. Really not sure - the mapz and directions are somewhat in complete. Nearby is another castle that we may go gawk at -Dromoland. Remember we stayed at Adare in the beginning instead.
There is also Bunratty Castle and Folk Park. I suspect we will visit the Folk Park tomorrow.
We have reservations for dinner there as well.
I have it written as tomorrow night but I truly think it is tonight.
The other night my mom wants to go to Dirty Nellies Pub. She saw it on a tshirt.  She also wants to check out the live music there. The problem with that is we never get through very much of it at that late hour.
The pub last night had live music. It was more live guitar music. I rather enjoyed it.
Well off to breakfast.

Fitz...

So a number of our directions the past two days have includes making a right at Fitzpatricks.
I had thought it was called Fitzgeralds.
But I kept getting the FITZ right.
And then I gad this we did eatch Bridget Jones earlier this week flashback...
Fitzpervert came to mind.

Doolin Cave

Twenty years of visits and have yet to visit the caves in Bermuda.
Today however we did go to Doolin Cave. Breathtaking. Google it in my real computer access inabilities.

Before the drunkard

In the road...
We drove from Wexford to Dublin on Sunday. We went via some town that begins with a C - no map handy at the moment - Curricloe or something like that. We wanted to see the ocean and beach - this is where the opening scene from Saving Private Ryan was filmed.  From there we meandered through Blackwater - my moms family has a connection to Blackwater. We took some pictures not really sure of the connection or if we were in the right area.
And then we needed to make our way back to a main road to make our way to the motorway.
And down around a bend wouldnt you know it - there was a sheep one lone sheep standing in the middle of my lane looking at me.
He promptly got out of the way but it was not something that would happen in the States thats for sure.

Kilmainham Gaol

We did our lat bit of site seeing in Dublin today. We walked across the street to the Kilmainham Gaol.
Lots of history there. Who knew.  So many people were killed there. Hung. Firing squad. Miserable conditions. So much history.
I really cant keep it all straight.

Yogurt

So almost every day on this trip I have had plain Irish yogurt. Some days it has actually been homemade.  And it has been fabulous. With fruit. With berries. With cereal. All by itself.
Unfortunatley it has probably been the only healthy part of my diet since I have been away.
The other variations of dairy have been in the form of whipped cream and butter. They have been just as tasty just not as healthy.
I am so looking forward to being home - drinking at least 2 liters of water each day without having to plan ahead with a purchase at the Centra, to eating a whole days worth of apples - I have not seen an apple since we have landed, and a whole lot of plain grilled or even boiled chicken and brocoli... i know this will shock some of you chicken haters in the mix... i am so looking forward to a bland diet...
In the interim
Tonights baked salmon was tasty as were the mashed potatoes, brocoli and mashed rutebegas - Yes rutebegas...
Tomorrow not sure what the menu will entail.
Thursday night is a medeival dinner at Bunratty. Cant imagine what that will be like.

Catch up again

So when last I wrote we were still at Blarney Castle Hotel. I would say for the money it was one of the better hotels so far. It had parking in back - which was a nice feature, breakfast was included and they had a good variety - really liked the porridge, the restaurant pub had a good variety of food as well and what seemed to be nightly entertainment.
From there we did a side trip to Cashel.
The Rock of Cashel on the top of the hill was amazing. The cold beating wind - not so much. They are in the process of restoring a chapel on the premises and I would say the scaffolding is a bit of an eye sore from the town. But it is truly for a good cause.
We did not walk around the town of Cashel. Perhaps we could have but both of us were feeling a bit of the days walking and hiking and climbing at Blarney.
From there we drove to Waterford. Not too bad of a drive. I tried to stick to the more major roads.
We got turned around some in Waterford - more so from Shannon(our Garmin) than anything else. She has a hard time with the lack of house numbers and her place of interest section was not up to speed. So I am not too sure where she wwas trying to take us. Eventually we turned her off and went on instinct - which really was if the hotel is on an island in the middle of the river, then drive along the river.
We eventually found our ferry to the hotel. What a cute litttle island. We were bumped from the castle because of 2 weddings and given a townhome to stay in. Wow very modern in its style. I think we both enjoyed our own rooms for the night.
They comped us dinner and it was the nicest and fanciest dinner we have had so far. May even be for the whole trip.
We spent the rest of the day walking around the island.
The next day we did what all tourists do when in Waterford - we went to the House of Crystal. AGAIN WOW! I cant beleive how much time we spent just walking around there. We bouvht some items as well.
We walked around Waterford as well. As this was the first real city we were in we went on the lookout for the Catholic churches. Oddly enough they werent as easy to find. Many of the older churches have anglican roots which i guess shoukdnt be too surprising given the Catholics were repressed and persecuted by the church all those yearz ago.
Who knows.
From there we went to Wexford. We had better luck in the church hunt in Wexford - found 3 actually.
More to say but really need to go get ready with my day.

Blogging

Have realised this evening that you can blog a whole bumch even when not connected. Then when the connection is reestablished yiu just hit the publish button.
Maybe I would have written more in the process even when we werent connectec.
Then again maybe not.

Fast Food

Lets talk some on the food options.  It wasnt until Waterford that we saw our first McDonalds. And we even ate lunch there.
In Dublin we have seen McDs, KFC, Papa Johns, Subway and Quiznos. I was surprised that some of them were franchised over here.
The oddest I saw yesterday
THE COUNTER
I know. Who knew that was a chain when it was across the street from the office.
Who knew it was a franchise when it went out of businezs and Cowfish opened.

X factor

Have i mentioned that we had a good old laugh watching x factor on saturday night

Guy Ritchie

I hate to say this but so far I find parts of Ireland to remind me more of a Guy Ritchie film than the romantiscised movies like PS I Love You. Just saying.
I know this will break friends hearts but they will say you still have 5 days.
So I will give another opinion by the end of the trip.
I also found the Temple Bar area to remind me of the riverfront in Savannah.
Lots of pubs and stuff to see with nothing too glossy.
Even The Clarence was modest in its fame. Ok maybe just fame for those British Pop obsessed like myself.
I also know the rain doesnt help with the overall perspective.
I just hope the rain goes away for our Cliffs and Aran tours.
May not have access until get home at thiz point

Dublin

Must admit have lost track between the journal the blog and facebook. I will definitley have to devote some more time and effort to the narrative when i start to sort through pics.
So Dublin has been nice. It has pissed down rain in us both days however.
Yesterday we arrived in Dublin. We got our tix for the hop on hop off bus and headed out. We werent down the road very far and it started to rain.  Our gameplan was to ride the whole trip and see what there was to see.
We didnt really follow that gameplan.
We got off near Temple Bar to check out Dubkin Castle, Christ Chruch and St Patrciks. From there we headed to Guinness.
A sensory overloead type of place.
I think I enjoyed the fuided tour at Miller better. But the exhibits here were cool and a bit over the top.
By the time we got to Gravity Bar the view was bright sunny and a good distance. Could see Croke Park the Dublin Wheel and Aviva Park in the distance.
Our hotel near the goal has not been condusive to going out into nihtlifd but I wont co.plain for two free nights stay.
Today we rode to OConnell Street and did the writers music and walked around. From there we went to Jameson
AND THEN GOT REALLY LOST TRYING TO REFIND ST PATRICKS CATHEDRAL
Have to say that the chapels we found in Waterford and Wexford were a bit more awe inspiring.
Tonight we grabbed a bit for dinner.
Tomorrow we will go over to the goal and art musueum before heading over towards Galway and Doolin
Sorry for the crazu handsrt typing

Funniest sight so far.

We drove into Dublin on Sunday after 2 daya in and around Wexford. I thought the 2 days would give us enoigh time in Waterford and then Wexford. Maybe all that time wasnt necessary. Havent quite decided yet.
The good news with the planning is that we would arrive in Dublin on a Sunday so the traffic would be at a minimum for this unfamiliar left hand driver.
HAH who knee at that time - surely not me - that some 85,000 people would be merging in on Dublin for the GAA National Hurling Championship on Sunday.
It was over the top. So we sat in traffic of the devoted fans travelling into Croke Park.
And in the traffic we saw this man fall out of a charter bus. He fell out the back of the bus along with a garbage bag filled with empty cans. He picked himself up not the garbage. Crossed two lanes of traffic. Stood in the center median and started to pee. At this point he was 3 cars ahead of us. But he was still peeing as we slowly drove by because of the traffic not to gawk.  He eventually finished and sprinted back up to the bus and got back on. What a laugh.