On Sunday we made our way up to the Hampton in Plainfield, Indiana as we had booked our last night before our vacation for the park and fly. We walked across the parking lot to the Golden Corral and had the buffet. The food was very good but unfortunately the service was poor. We had already eaten our meals and went for dessert before anyone asked to fill our empty drinks. We headed back to the rooms with our full bellies and contemplated on what the next day had in store for us. We slept with anticipation of our beginning adventure.
Day One, June 4th.
We slept pretty well and got up for breakfast at the hotel before our shuttle was to take us to the airport. We arrive early to find the head of our group waiting for us with our papers and instructions on how to check in for our eticket. We got checked in and after a little disappointment because we found out that Needles and I weren't going to be setting beside each other for either flights, we just went with the flow. The rest of the group of 20 showed up and got checked in and we made our way through security and on to our gate. We loaded onto the plane for the first leg which was to take us to New York. After arriving in New York, and for the first time ever was disembarked down a rickety set of metal stairs directly on to the tarmac and was ushered to a set of walkways that finally snake you to a bus terminal and then shuttled across the airport dodging airplanes taxiing to and from the gates to make our way to an other terminal. When we got into the main terminal not much time passed before Needles and I went to get a bite to eat during our 4 hour layover. We ended up eating at Blue Smoke Restaurant in the airport. Needles and I both had the Blue Smoke burger on brioche with fries. It was very good and wet we were finished, made our way to the final gate of our flight to Shannon, Ireland. We boarded our flight and I was set next to a very nice older couple. We talked about vacation and shared stories back and forth about our experiences. Before long the 6 hour trip was over and we were making our decent into Shannon. The first glimpse of Europe came in a several small islands just out my window that were green with lush grasses. It almost put me in mid of flying into Hawaii. With a sudden shutter and the tires of our airplanes tires contacting that ground was the signal we were in Europe.
We disembarked our flight and made our way with the group to meet our guide Trevor Bass and then pick up our luggage.
Trevor was born in England and spoke 3 languages; English, Spanish and French. He looked a bit like Leam Neason with some stubble and seemed pretty jolly and kind other than the one moment that will forever be known at the Trevor incidnet.
We also were introduced to our driver, Martin which was Irish and had a accent that was hard to follow at times. He seemed meek with glasses and gave off a anxious introverted type vibe.We had our introductions and made our way to the bus, which turned out to be not very comfortable. The seat were slanted so that when you bumped down the road it drove your knees into the back of the eat in front of you. Unfortunately this was the bus we would be spending most of our time. We drove by several old farm houses and tower houses that looked like old small castles but apparently had no real significance since our guide made no mention of the. We bounced down the windy roads and made our way to Killarney but not before we made a few stops.
Our first stop was the village of Adare in County Limerick. A very touristy and groomed village with a very old and neat church.
The church was Holy Trinity Abbey Church and right across the street was a series of thatched room businesses, this gave the village a very old and quaint feeling. We also stopped at a church and across the road was a very scenic view down to a lake.
Across the lakes was the Carrauntoohil mountian range which we were informed was the highest in Europe. The highest peak being called Macgillycuddys Reeks. The area is called Aghadoe over looking Killarney Lakes and what remains of an old Christian Monastery. Unfortunately there was a funeral procession going on with people standing along the road. We made our way across the road from the parking area to the scenic view just before a stream of cars drove by for several minutes.We then proceeded on to the Quality Hotel in Killarney, Ireland. We were handed our room keys and made our way to the room with our luggage. We freshened up in our rooms with a nap and forwent lunch before coming down to head into Killarney.
We loaded onto the bus and headed of to down town Killarney for our jaunting cart ride through the park to Ross Castle and then continued on back into town for free time to run around town.
After our free time we returned to our hotel for dinner the meal was furnished by the hotel. We had chicken breast wrapped in beacon with potatoes, carrots and broccoli on the side, they called it veg. For dessert raspberry cake with whipped cream and a ground cherry. After dinner we returned to our room to crash as jet lag and lack of sleep was starting to make itself known after our 30 something hour day of travel and site seeing.
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