We had to get up at 5:30 a.m. in order to leave for the airport at 6 a.m. We got to the airport and checked our bags. We went through Security fine, and then we rushed to get through Customs. Usually we would just go through Customs in the U.S., but the U.S. Customs had a station in the Dublin Airport so we went ahead and did it. That means we don’t have to do it when we get to Newark.
After all of that, we had about 45 minutes until we boarded our plane. We finally got on board and got seated and left. I started watching Suicide Squad, but halfway through the movie my screen shut down and rebooted. So I started it again, fast-forwarded to the spot I was at, and about 20 minutes later it crashed again. The seat diagonal from me was open, so I decided to switch seats. Mahaley was sitting there, but she moved forward to sit with Nikki. After Suicide Squad I watched Snowden and 13 Hours (about Benghazi). We landed while I was still watching 13 Hours, but luckily I finished it before we got to the gate. We actually landed almost an hour ahead of schedule. But we still had a 4-hour layover. Kendall and I went to an Italian Steakhouse for lunch. She ordered an appetizer (calamari), which was $15. It tasted like rubber and she barely ate it. I got carbonara, which did not taste like carbonara. It tasted more like alfredo. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t that bad and I was hungry so I ate it all. Definitely wasn’t worth the $23 I paid for it. Afterwards we went to Starbucks. Kendall got some coffee and a yogurt, while I got hot chocolate and a brownie. Then we sat at a random gate to eat and talk. At 2:30 p.m. we went and joined our group because the plane was leaving at 3:30. At 3:30 we boarded the plane. When I was walking on the lady at the gate made me check my carry-on because there was no room in the overhead space, but there was still room. The girl (who was a part of our group) that was sitting behind Kendall and I called one of the flight attendants over to see if she could get her carry-on back. She started crying because she was worried that her stuff was going to break. Apparently she packed it for a carry-on, not for luggage. I felt bad for her, but it was already gone at that point and the flight attendant couldn’t do anything. We were delayed for about 30 minutes because of traffic backup again. Newark Airport needs to work on air traffic control, but we finally got to leave. The flight was over 3 hours long. We finally landed a little after 7 p.m., got our bags, ordered an Uber, and finally left. Our Uber driver was really nice and helped us with our luggage. We finally got back to my apartment and I ordered some Pizza Hut. It was a 1.5 hours wait for deliver, or we could have it in 15 minutes with carryout. So I drove to Pizza Hut to pick it up. We ate, took showers, and went to bed. Tomorrow I have to take Kendall to the airport at 8 a.m., and then the trip is officially over.
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We got up at the usual time. Kendall was still really sick so I let her have the window seat on the ride to Dublin, even though it was my turn. We were going to be on the bus for 5 hours today, so I thought she could get some rest.
Our next stop was at a gas station. They had food inside the gas station and it was also connected to a McDonalds. We would not be able to eat until around 3, so they stopped so we could get a snack. Kendall and I got some food at McDonalds and then it was back to the bus. On the way to the stud farm, we had a talent competition on the bus. Most of the people weren’t that good. We had everything from song, to sign language jokes, to one girl demonstrating how to braid their hair. We stopped at the National Stud Farm of Ireland. It looked really nice, but we really didn’t see that many horses. This is their off season, and they opened up just for our visit. We got a guide that showed us around. We started out at the statue of Colonel William Hall Walker, who was the founder of the farm. He inherited a lot of money from his beer brewing family. One of his horses won the Grand National, and with the money he opened up a stud farm. Every horse that was born had an astrological chart created for it, and he only kept the horses whose chart he liked. In 1915, he gifted the land to the Crown of England, and later became a peer of the realm. When Ireland gained independence from Great Britain, the land went to Ireland’s government and they decided to continue the stud farm. The next place we went to was the stalls they keep pregnant mares in. Their maternity ward is well known, and a lot of people bring their valuable pregnant mares there to ensure a safe delivery. Our guide also told us for the northern hemisphere, all horses born have the birth date of January 1, even if they are born on December 30th. The foal born on December 30th, would be declared a year old on January 1st. Most of the horses that go through the stud farm are used for races, so this is very bad because the foals would be competing against more mature horses. Because of this, they plan the births to occur in late January or early February. We next went to see one of the stallions used for breeding. These stallions are very expensive and since the farm in owned by the Irish government, they are not allowed to buy stallions. The stallion we saw was an exception, because they got him cheap. He didn’t place very high in the race, so the Irish government was able to buy him at a discount. He was bred with several mares, and the foals started getting bronze medals. People noticed this, because he was bred with slower mares. What kind of foals would there be if he was bred with a faster mare? So now a covering with him costs over $100,000. We also saw some racing geldings in a back pasture. Since they are geldings, they can continue their racing career in other races. Most yearling are retired young because their owners want them to be bred, but geldings do not have this problem. The horses were far away, so we didn’t get to see them close up.
Before we got on the bus, we had some people whose talent could only be performed on the ground. So they showed off their talent. Kendall wasn’t feeling well, so she went onto the bus. It was bad at the farm. She turned really pale and was light-headed. I thought she was going to pass out. I spent more time watching her so I could catch her if she fell than looking around. But she didn’t want to miss out on the trip. Afterwards, it was only about an hour to Dublin. We got checked into the hotel and went up to our room to rest before dinner. We had about 4 hours to relax, and we enjoyed it. Kendall still wasn’t feeling well, so I went to dinner alone. Dinner was long. We were there about 2.5 hours, which was ridiculous. We were given 4 options on the bus, and everyone submitted their preference. Chris gave the place we were eating at notice when we arrived in Dublin what everyone ordered. It still took them an hour to get our food out. Nikki, Mahaley, and I started playing cards while we waited. We finally got our food, which wasn’t that good. Then we had to wait another half hour for dessert, which was apple pie. I went ahead and got Kendall’s food to go. The desert wasn’t that good either. It was apple pie, with no apple. It was just an apple tasting sauce. I didn’t even finish mine. I then went up to Dr. Litton to ask if I could leave so I could take Kendall her food before it was cold. He said I couldn’t because I had to stay for announcements, which would only take 15 minutes. They waited until everyone was done eating, which I thought was ridiculous because they could have saved time by talking while people were eating. They finally started the announcements and they lasted 45 minutes. I was pissed. It started off with Dr. Litton giving a speech to thank Beth and Gretchen. Then Beth and Gretchen gave a speech to thank Dr. Litton and Dr. Burns. Then Chris got a thank you speech. Then Chris gave us a thank you speech on how great we were. During his speech, he asked us to donate soap and travel-size hair care products to Operation Kindness, which one of the girls was collecting for. Then she gave a speech about Operation Kindness. This entire time, I’m getting pissed because Kendall’s food is getting colder and colder. Then they got to the actual announcements, which lasted less than 5 minutes and was a repeat of what they said on the bus before we got to Dublin. Then they started to talk about how to pack for the airport. What can be put in a carry-on and how to properly wrap breakable items. They told the people who were going to go out to make sure to sign out. While people went to sign out I just left. I was done with it all, I didn’t even care if there were more announcements. By this time, Kendall’s food was completely cold because an hour and a half had passed since I had gotten it. I went back to the hotel, and Kendall didn’t even eat it because it was cold. She had gotten fish and chips (French fries). She ate some fries, but she didn’t want to eat cold fish, and I don’t blame her. She listened to me fume about dinner and then we went to bed.
We got up at the same time as always: 7:30 a.m. Instead of getting on the bus this time, we got on a cart for a jaunt ride through the national park. We were going to ride with Nikki and Mahaley, but the carts filled up too quick. Kendall and I got on the front of one of the carts. But the girls in the back got annoyed because they couldn’t see through the front, even though the sides were open. They kept complaining, and Kendall got annoyed so she went to another cart. She sat in the back, and got the same view. After she left, the girls in the back were all, we didn’t mean to make her mad. The cart driver came back, and mentioned that we lost a passenger. I said she left because the girls in back couldn’t see out the front, and he said you don’t look out the front, you look out the sides.
We had some time to shop for souvenirs. I got a Galway Irish Crystal tea light holder. When we got on the bus, one of the girls, Molly, was looking for her ring. She had a gold ring with an opal on it that she could not find. We all looked around us on the bus, but no one found it. Molly even went back into the exhibit to look for it. She didn’t find it and she was really upset. Luckily, before we to Blarney Castle Chris got a call from the hotel we were at the night before saying they had found the ring in the sheets. She is going to have the ring mailed to her. After we left Cobh we continued on to Blarney. We got to the Blarney Woolen Mills Hotel. We got checked into our room. Kendall was sick and wanted to rest, so I went down to lunch by myself. I got some salmon, which was really good. After lunch I went back up to the room to get my camera and Kendall.
The hotel is connected to the Blarney Wool Mill, which sells wool items and other things. Kendall went through real quick picking up some last minute souvenirs for friends and then she went back to the hotel. I continued shopping, and ended up buying 2 pairs of earrings.
We had a 7:30 a.m. wake up call, like usual. Breakfast started at 8:15, but we didn’t get there until 8:30, but we had plenty of time. We had a new bus driver today because our regular bus driver is legally required to take a day off; so today our driver was Hugh. I thought the Ring of Kerry was a ring of stones somewhere, like Stonehedge, but it isn’t. The Ring of Kerry is a scenic drive around the Iveragh Peninsula for tourists. So we started in Killarney and we ended back up in Killarney. So that is what we did all day, admire the beautiful scenery. We made frequent stops to take pictures.
Chris also told us a story about Queen Victoria. Also after Prince Albert died there was an orphan boy who looked at the river’s edge for scraps to sell. The boy found a picture, and decided that the lady was his mother. He asked a policeman if he knew the lady, and that she was his mother. The policeman laughed and said that the lady was Queen Victoria. He told the boy she lived at Buckingham Palace. The boy walked to Buckingham Palace, asking for directions on the way. He somehow was able to sneak in, and wondered through the palace looking in the rooms until he found the Queen’s bedchamber. She woke and started screaming. The Welsh guards ran in and threw the boy into the larder. Rumors started to fly that a midget tried to assassinate the queen. One of the queen’s friends ran into the larder to confront the assassin and found the boy. The boy told him the story, and the friend ordered the boy cleaned up. The friend then went to the queen and told her the story, and she had the cleaned up boy brought to her. She heard the story and ordered the boy to her son’s nursery. The boy was brought up in the palace and eventually became an engineer.
There once was a crow in Bunratty
He was being very catty He pooped on my hand Which was not very grand Now I have a crow patty. I totally would have won. After dinner, we went back to the room and bed.
The first room we were in was the guardroom. About 50 guards slept in that room. There was a big line running across the floor, which separated the regular guards from the officers. The officers got the floor space closest to the fireplace, while the regular guards had the colder area of the room.
On the way back to the castle I was passing under a tree when I felt something land on the hand holding my camera. I looked down, and there was bird poop on my hand. It was disgusting! I used some tissues in my purse to wipe some of it off and then I went to the bathroom to wash my hands. Kendall was no help, she kept laughing. When I got back on the bus I asked Chris for some disinfecting wipes. Kendall had gotten on the bus before me and already explained the situation to Chris. He told me she tried to be nice about it but she failed. He was laughing when he said it. I told Kendall and she told me she said, “There is no nice way to say this, but a bird shit on my sister’s camera and she needs some wipes if you still have them.” Thanks Kendall. So I spent the time on the bus to Adair using the wipes on my camera. I had some candy in my backpack so I used the wrapper to get in the hard to reach cracks until I had gotten rid of all of the poop.
We also went to Butler’s chocolate shop because Dr. Litton recommended it. We got some chocolate to share, and got a chocolate milkshake. It was amazing! It was really chocolaty, and you could taste the chocolate flakes in the milkshake. I should have gotten one just for myself instead of sharing with Kendall. We also hit a couple of souvenir shops.
After dinner, there was the option of going to Galway to go to a pub. Galway is known for its music and there is a lot of music at their pubs. But Kendall and I were too tired, so we stayed in. We heard later that it wasn’t that fun because the music was supposed to start at 9, but it really started at 9:30, and everyone had to be on the bus by 9:45pm.
He also pointed out some chairs at the front of the cathedral that had helmets over them. These were not real helmets; they were too small and made out of paper mache. They were for the honorary knights of St. Patrick Off to the left was a statue of a tree surrounded by barbed wire. This was to remember lives lost to war or affected by war. There was some paper leaves by the statue where you could write your story or your friend’s story about the war and put it with the statue There was also a door with a hole cut in it. Two families were feuding, and they met up in the cathedral. One family was praying when the other came up behind them with swords. The first family drew their swords and the battle was on. There was blood and body parts everywhere, including on the alter. The first family was losing, so they retreated to the back of the cathedral, looking for an exit. They did not find one, but they found a room and locked the door behind them. They were there a while, and both families remembered that they were in church, so they struck a truce. But neither family trusted the other, so they both remained on opposite sides of the door. Finally, one of the guys of the first family cut a hole in the door with his sword, and stuck his hand through to shake hands and seal the peace deal, knowing that he could get his arm cut off. The door is known as the Door of Peace. The peace only lasted a couple of days before the feuding began again. The last place our guide showed us was a section dedicated to Jonathan Swift. Jonathan Swift was the dean of the cathedral during his life. He wrote all of his books while the dean. One of his books is Gulliver’s Travels. He is buried in the cathedral with one of his two girlfriends. He thought he was going insane because he kept hearing voices when he was still alive. So he left all of his money to build an insane asylum, the first in Dublin. It mostly treats alcoholics now, and it is ironically right across the street from the Guinness Storehouse. They had a flood in Ireland and many of the bodies under the church resurfaced, including Jonathan Swift’s. His doctor never thought he was insane, so he took the body and performed an autopsy. He discovered he had some disease in his brain, and that is why he kept hearing voices.
By the Pope’s Cross is the Irish President’s House. Unlike the U.S., the president is mostly a figurehead; the prime minister has the real power. His house looked a lot like the U.S. White House. Apparently they had the same designer.
We met up with Nicky and Mahaley, and we all started walking to Murray’s, which is where our Irish dancing lessons is. On the way we found a convenience store and got a sandwich. It was really good! Then we continued on to Murray’s.
After dinner we went back to the hotel and rested for about 45 minutes. Then we met up with Nikki and Mahaley again to go to the pubs. We wanted to go to The Cobblestone Pub because they were supposed to have live music and it was supposed to be fun. Nikki got confused where it was and we went in the opposite direction. We were closer to a club that Chris recommended that was similar so we went there. It was dead. So Kendall and Nikki ordered Jamison, drank it, and then we left. We went across the street to The Boarhead, which is over 800 years old and is the oldest pub in Ireland. I actually ordered a drink, Jamison and sprite, which is actually pretty good. This pub was packed. We finished our drink and left. We were meaning to go back to Murray’s in order to see the live Irish dancing, but we somehow ended up at The Cobblestone. So we went inside, and there was no music. It was packed, but a little disappointing. Kendall and Nikki got another drink, and we stayed talking, and then we left and went back to the hotel. Beth said that the hotel doors closed at 11 p.m., so we had to get there before that so we wouldn’t get locked out. We later found out that this was a lie; the doors do not close at the hotel. We got there at 10:45 p.m. and then went to bed. We arrive in Dublin at around 8 a.m. Dublin time, which was 2 a.m. in Texas. We got in line and went through Customs. By the time I got through Customs, I saw my bag passing by on the Baggage Claim. I ran and grabbed it before it went too far. Then I had to wait for the rest of the group to get their luggage. We met up and then went to meet Chris Morrison, our tour guide. We put our luggage together by a wall, and some of the group stayed with it while the rest went to the ATM and the bathroom. Kendall and I went to the ATM first. When I put my Security Service debit card in, I realized that I had forgotten to call the bank when I was in Newark. Security Service denied me, but luckily I have a Randolph Brooks card which worked. Then we went to the bathroom and I put in my contacts. When we were walking back from the bathroom Kendall couldn’t find her phone. So she went back to check her bathroom stall, while I went to the ATM to make sure she didn’t leave it there. It was in her coat pocket with the luggage, so that was good. The airport had free wifi, so I went into my Randolph account and reported that I was traveling. Mom is going to call and tell Security Service.
We left the House of Lords, and started walking back towards the hotel. A guy in an orange shirt stopped us and started talking to us. He was nice and funny. At first we thought he was trying to sell a tour guide, but he said he was from a charity that helps the refugees in Ireland. They also help stop child marriages. He was trying to get us to donate 10 euros a month. To sign up we would have to put our bank information in it. I wasn’t going to do that. Kendall was like, but we didn’t bring our cards, we left them in the hotel and just brought cash. He wrapped up his pitch and we left. It is very suspicious to me that he didn’t ask us to donate cash; he only wanted our card information.
We had to meet the Honors Program at 7 a.m. at the DFW International Airport. I set my alarm for 5:30 a.m., so Kendall and I could get up early. For Kendall’s birthday, I had bought her a round-trip ticket to fly to Dallas for the Ireland trip. She came in last night. I kept waking up because I was afraid my alarm wouldn’t go off or I would sleep through it. I finally decided to stay awake when I woke up at 5. Kendall was already awake because she was too excited to sleep. We got ready and then ordered an Uber. Kendall invited me on her account so that the ride would be free. The Uber driver arrived at 6:30 a.m. and took us to the airport. She dropped us off by an elevator, but we didn’t know where to go from there. I tried asking a guy with a janitor cart where the United check-in was, and he started giving me instructions in Spanish. I have no idea what he was saying. So we got in the elevator. There were only 2 floors, so we went up. We walked off the elevator, looked to the left, and there was our group. So we went over there and stood by them. Finally, it was time to check-in. Kendall and I were not the first in line, but we were close to the front. United had kiosks, so groups could check in all at once. I guess we froze their system, because it took forever to load. I had a kiosk and Kendall had a kiosk. It kept loading and loading. Finally, Kendall’s kiosk worked and she was able to check both of us in. We turned in our luggage and then went to Security. Right after we got through, United took everyone off the kiosks and checked them in one by one. The Security line wasn’t long, and we got through pretty quickly. Then we went to Einstein’s Bagels and sat at our gate to wait for the plane. We had a group meeting in our individual groups (our group leader was Gretchen) and I won a pop-out map of Dublin. Then we waited some more before finally boarding the airplane. The flight was about 3 hours, and I read for most of it. We landed in Newark around 2:30p.m. Newark time. Our next flight didn’t leave until 7:45 p.m., so we had a 5-hour layover. Kendall and I ate at some expensive restaurant. The food was okay, but not $20 worth. Then we wondered around the airport terminal. Kendall could see snow outside the window, but she couldn’t touch it. So she has seen snow for the first time, but she has not touched snow. We also spent a lot of time in 3 bookstores looking for a book for Kendall. She couldn’t make up her mind. After we were done wondering, we went to our gate and waited for the plane. I boarded before Kendall because I was in a middle seat. The flight was about 5.5 hours. I didn’t get any sleep on the plane, but I got to the watch the new Jack Reacher movie, Never Go Back. I also watched Neighbors 2: Sorority. I had been meaning to watch this because Kilee Morris (a girl I went to high school with) was in it as an extra sorority girl. By this time there was less than 2 hours left in the flight, so I watched Brave.
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June 2022
AuthorThese are details from my adventures around the world. |