2024.Ireland

Today we have a 1 hour drive to the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza at the Dublin Airport. First though we are going to do some gluten free food shopping! I know this is not the top of Andrew’s list so I am going to be very fast – I know exactly what I want to get! So we left the hotel at checkout time of noon (which is late for a hotel) after a really good breakfast buffet that was included in our room rate and drove to the local Tesco so I could get some goodies. Then we were off to the Dublin Airport! Again, the day was quite dreary – apparently this is the standard weather now for Ireland. As we could not check in until about 3pm, we decided to take the M7 then M6 motor way until the M50 which collects tolls where they join, and then make our way around to the Dublin Airport, which is north of Dublin by driving the various local roadways through some towns in order to get us there. My only concern were the “narrow” roads that Google was known to lead us onto, however being closer to a major city maybe that will not happen!

We did just fine getting off the M7 where it joined up with the M50 and had a very interesting time winding our way around the suburbs of Dublin to finally arrive at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. We actually got there a bit early (2pm) and they had our room read which was great however what a small room! It was at least half the size of our room at the Osprey Hotel last night! All I could do is roll into the room and leave my walker at the end of the bed folded (so Andrew would not trip on it). We got settled and about 15 minutes later we received a call from the Front Desk supervisor apologizing that the desk clerk, who was new, put us in that room considering I had a mobility device, as they knew it was too small for me to move around in. It did have a roll in shower though so it was an accessible room – it just was for people who did not use mobility devices too. I told them it was fine – we were only here overnight and had to leave fairly early in the morning so not to worry about us. It was really great though that they recognized the issue without me having to say anything!

So, in preparation to return the car to the airport tomorrow, and our trip to Iceland, we decided that it might be better to go out now and get the gas and take a bit more money out of my debit card account (which does not cost me anything) in order to get some Icelandic Krona at the airport. Also, I remember seeing a Marks and Spenser Food Hall next to the gas station that we had passed on the way to the hotel – so that might be a good place to stop and complete my mission on obtaining the last of my GF food acquisition! Now, the next part I cannot believe my “mall” sense did not realize – we went to where the Bank of Ireland ATM machine was and I withdrew my money. One thing that I had also wanted to get prior to leaving Ireland was a specific type of ring in sterling silver. I had seen them but not the right size or they were “fake” silver plated ones in tourist shops. So Andrew suggested we go in and look at the jewelry store inside. So we went inside and it was a mall! How could have I not realized that! Shopping time! Unfortunately, the 2 jewelry stores did not have the ring that I wanted or in the right size. So we then walked about a little and ran into an outdoor store where items were 50% off. Now as I beleive I already mentioned, Andrew brought his VERY think, non-waterproof jacket with him. It worked great in North Carolina and Washington DC when it was windy as it is a sort of windshield however it was not going to help in Iceland and the only other warm clothes he had other than the long johns was a sweater. We found a really nice black rain/wind jacket for him for only 45 Euros in this store! Mission accomplished! Andrew was originally going to get this coat if needed in Iceland but picking it up here in Ireland was a much better decision. Then we went to Marks and Sparks and got the 2 GF items that they make that I wanted to bring home, got our car filled up and returned to the hotel for our last dinner of turkey, cheese and crackers in Ireland!

Our flight to Iceland is at 11:15 tomorrow morning, so it was to bed early tonight as we have to get up early to get the car returned and then to the airport by 8:15am to check in! While I am sad to be leaving green Ireland, I have totally enjoyed this country and hope someday we can return – perhaps next time in the Spring instead! Here is what we drove today to get to the Crowne Plaza at the Dublin Airport.

We took it easy this morning and I finished optimizing our luggage in preparation for our flight on Sunday. I also worked on my website as I am getting father and farther behind in days as my pictures will not upload but I can still type on my blogs which is good! As it is Friday, I thought when planning, that it would be best that we split the drive back to the Dublin Airport overnight. The Dublin Airport is north of Dublin and I did not know what the Dublin traffic would be like during a rush hour on a Friday afternoon. Based on our experience on the bus tour when we arrived back in Dublin on a Thursday evening at rush hour, I had made a pretty good decision – busses get their own lanes and there was a gridlock of cars trying to commute!

Yet again, Google, which we have found does not really distinguish very well between regular roads and ones that a VERY narrow, struck again! On our way out of Cork, on a road that was leading to the motorway, we ended up on a road that was walled on either side and only wide enough for 1 car. Andrew had some choice words to say as we met car after car on the road….until we got until the M7 and then it was clear sailing all the way up to Naas where we were headed. No photos of the drive as it rained most of the way and as we were on a motorway in a small car, unlike higher up in a bus, it is pretty hard to take pictures at times! Instead I focused on my knitting project! Soon we made it to Naas and the hotel – which was beautiful!

We had a nice relaxing evening in the hotel, eating left overs from our stay in Cork. I did some planning on where I could purchase some last minute gluten free goods that I wanted to bring home – either in Naas or by the Dublin Airport and then we decided to call it a night as the internet in the hotel was not being cooperative and I was not in any mood to deal with it! Here is the drive we took today:

Really? What is that horrible noise? It is 4am and it sounds like someone is bouncing a metal ball against the building! So I get up and look outside. Low and behold – those “metal balls” are full kegs of beer being thrown off an open lorry by a worker onto a thick rubber mat, where they bounce and are being picked up by another worker and being stacked onto a dolly to be brought into the hotel. This delivery must be for the Moxy side of the hotel as I know the bar at the Residence is not open yet… Okay, back to sleep!

Now, having gotten up at a normal time, gotten breakfast from downstairs and spent some time knitting, we have decided to go on another day trip to a nearby town which has been written up as having a really cool downtown area – its name is Kinsale. So off we go to drive a triangle – to Kinsale then to Innishannon and back to Cork! Kinsale is near the mouth of the River Bandon and quite a nice little town! By the time we got there I was thirsty and a bit hungry so we decided to go for coffee and after looking up gluten free places on my friend Google, I saw a coffee house nearby named “The Flying Poet Aviation Cafe” which sounded just perfect! It also listed gluten free items! So we walked a couple of streets over from where we parked to find it, including past a yarn store, and were pleasantly surprised by this cozy cafe! The Flying Poet is owned by a former 747 captain of South African Airlines (which by the number of SA Airlines pictures is pretty obvious) and sitting there and looking at the wall and all the books was surely a memorizing experience! Andrew had his usual coffee and I had some hot chocolate and a GF browning which came with whipped cream on the side – such luxury! I looked at some of the book collection on planes, stared at the pictures on the wall and then we decided it was time to leave. I could have pulled out my knitting and curled up in one of the armchairs and spent all day there!

Across the street, a lady was carving a pumpkin she had grown which was really cool! She was using toothpicks to create the illusion of paned windows which I had never thought of before! We continued to walk to the riverfront and saw the washroom that you pay to use that cleans itself afterwards and also a really cook parking program – an “age friendly parking spot for older people”. That is an awesome idea! I later heard that this has started catching on next to the accessible parking spots. Getting an accessible parking permit is getting to be challenging in Ireland, as they are finding that many seniors are applying for them however the reason has more to do with age related issues rather than physical disabilities. These parking spots solve that issue! This might be something that needs to be looked into in other countries too – such as Canada as in BC, we definitely have an overabundance of accessible parking placards issued compared to accessible parking spots available. After walking back to the Main Street and doing a bit of shopping, we then decided to move onto Innishannon which we were driving through to take a different route home to Cork.

Well, tonight I pack in preparation for our travel to Iceland. I had already started by going through our extra bags and getting rid of some extra brochures etc that we no longer needed for traveling. Now we had to put the luggage back together and have it weight balanced for the flights. Luckily wool is not that heavy but it does take up space! When we got back to the hotel there were 2 packages waiting for us – one a new carry on bag on wheels (which I am planning on checking in) for my wool purchases and 2 sets of long johns! One set for Andrew in black – one of his favourite colours and of course purple for me! So looking forward to trying them on for a short period of time – do not need their insulation in Ireland but with the forecast now for Iceland they just might come in handy. Wish me luck with our packing!

Here was our route for the day…

Today we decided to visit the Blarney Castle. This was supposed to be a stop on our tour, however the way it was presented to us “climbing 180 stairs to kiss the stone” was not very accurate so the group decided to pass on visiting the castle. When I read more – there was a lot more to visiting this castle than just kissing the stone! As Blarney is not far from Cork, it seemed like a great day trip! As you probably can tell, fall is starting to hit Ireland and the colours of the trees etc were pretty spectacular along with the fact that Ireland really likes to celebrate Halloween! At the entrance the big tree along with other areas all had pumpkins and ghosts abound! As I cannot get into the castle very far (basically in the door and that is it) both Andrew and I received free access to the Blarney Castle and grounds. We still had to pay for parking though which was more than fair – a whole 2 Euros! Where the entrance is to the park, you have to walk about .5 km to the Blarney Castle itself and as you will see below, there are a couple of other “features” to look at on the way. However what made this visit most enjoyable was the fact that when we got near the castle area, a bagpiper started playing! So I (we) sat and listened to him for a few minutes as it was such a perfect situation. Later, when Andrew was in the castle, I also listened to him play while sitting waiting for Andrew to return – such a haunting type of music to play in such a historic venue.

When we got up to the castle entrance (which they did have an accessible pathway instead of the huge amount of stairs), Andrew thought he would climb the staircase inside to look upstairs. I do not think he realized just how far he would climb and the conditions of the stairs when he came down! However he did get to see the Blarney Stone (although he did not kiss it as he did not want to be suspended backwards and upside down to do the “kiss”) and took some pictures for me! We then went to have a drink – I needed hot chocolate as I was cold sitting outside the castle and Andrew needed something cold as he was hot from all that stair work – which is so different than normal with him drinking coffee and me some cold beverage! We then had a nice walk around the castle park and back to the car where we found out that our parking, when we went to pay for it, was also free as the parking machine was now broken where we had to pay! So it was a nice free visit to the Blarney Castle and a great outing!

To see my recording of the Piper playing see the end of this page.

Below, are Andrew’s picture of where I left him at the Blarney Castle entrance as he climbed up to see the stone and back down again. He took pictures of the signs of the rooms and places that he saw as they were often just a rock space without any decorations – they were just noting what would have been there.

Now, I am sure you are going to ask – Why do people kiss the Blarney stone upside down?  Well, because it’s the only way to reach the stone! The stone is small when compared to the castle’s wall and to reach it you have to extend down about six inches from the rooftop base. To do so, you lie on your back and lean backwards. An iron railing and an assistant is there to help. So, while one holds on tight to the iron railing to avoid falling, you kiss the stone while looking down at the ground from 90 feet up. Simple as that! As legend tells us, if you kiss the Blarney Stone, you will be gifted with eloquence and persuasiveness!

Now, as we left Blarney Castle, the weather seemed to be holding so we decided to visit another village that was the last stop and land that the people on the Titanic saw before the end of their journey. So we drove to Cobh, which is on the southern end of Ireland. It was a very pretty city with lots of colour on its townhomes, however the streets were really narrow (many should be one way only) and hilly which made driving a challenge at times! Remember, Andrew is driving on the left side of the road…

Well, that was a very interesting day exploring around Cork! On the way back into town, as I had seen so much accessible parking the previous day, I had an idea and that was due to a parking issue with the hotel (they advertised a flat rate for 24 hours but it did not have in and out privileges which could make it expensive at an 18 Euro flat rate everytime we parked) to see if there was an accessible parking spot near our hotel – sure enough one block away there was one! Like in other parts of the Republic of Ireland, parking in accessible parking spots, unless marked otherwise, is free for as long as you want to. So after paying 48 Euros for two days and a couple of hours of parking in the hotel parking lot (which was owned by a different company) we parked for the next 2 days in the accessible parking spot for free – a very good deal!

I also had the hotel print out a standardized message from an international accessible travel website which for Ireland was in English, explaining that I have an accessible parking permit from Canada (which was hanging from the rear view mirror like normal) and it is valid around the world. At the same time I had them print a copy for Iceland which was in Icelandic for when we travel there next week.

Now back in our lovely hotel room, Andrew prepared some dinner while I tried to figure out what was going on with my website and why my pictures were not wanting to upload! This has happened previously when we were in Thailand, however this time it seemed to be tied to what hotel we were staying at on some networks they would upload and some they just would error out. I do not need technical issues when on vacation!

Our route for the day –

Happy Birthday Joanne!

Here is the Piper at the Blarney Stone playing –

Good morning Cork! Today is a beautiful day to explore the city! After a wonderful breakfast at the Residence Inn, along with I had a discussion with the General Manager of the Residence Inn and Moxy Hotels regarding some accessibility issues, Andrew and I then decided to check out downtown Cork! Our plan was to head towards the English Market which is like Granville Island but in the middle of downtown Cork on the ground floor of several buildings. We also needed to patronize a bank machine as I have access to withdraw Euros when in Ireland, however when we go to Iceland we are going to need to exchange some Euros for Krona cash. Lastly, we needed to visit the Tesco grocery store to pick up some goods so we can hopefully make some meals in our little kitchen! Here are some pictures below that I took along our journey!

We were not able to spend much time in the English Market due to the smells of raw meat making Andrew not feel very well. We did walk into the dry goods section though and it reminded me of being in the Spice Market in Dubai – there were spice vendors (and others) there and the smell was wonderful!

Eventually after about 12,000 steps by me, we made it back to the Residence Inn to spend the evening. Andrew is starting to feel better now – perhaps the fresh air is helping him out – so we are thinking of going to the Blarney Castle tomorrow! We shall see what the weather is like first in the morning…

We were off early (10am checkout deadline) from Killarney on our way to Cork. We originally were staying at a different hotel in Cork, however I noticed when searching when in Washington DC to see if there was a Marriott Hotel at the Dublin Airport we could stay at, that there were two new Marriott Hotels in Cork! So I moved from the hotel that we were staying at (where we had to pay about $200 CDN a night) to the Moxy Hotel, which was one of the two Marriotts that had rooms available for point bookings for the 4 nights that we needed. When we arrived in Killarney, I decided to take a peek to see if the other Marriott – a Residence Inn, had point booking space yet and it did! I much prefer Residence Inn hotels as they have either a kitchenette (fridge and stovetop) or a full kitchen (bigger fridge and stove with oven) so I moved us from the Moxy to the Residence Inn at that time. So today we are off to the Residence Inn in Cork!

If you use the Marriott App, it gives you the ability to check in in advance and then once checked in, you can message the hotel. Most hotels in Ireland have a pretty firm 3pm check in time. However as I am a frequent stayer at Marriott Hotels, I decided to message the hotel to see if we can check in early. They were more than happy to accommodate us! I did that as Andrew was again driving not feeling too well and while the drive was only just over an hour, I did not want to prolong his agony any longer than needed.

We found the Residence Inn pretty easily – it was interesting – it actually shares the block with the Moxy Hotel! When checking in, it seemed they were a bit dis-organized and we got to chatting and I found out both hotels had only been open for 3 weeks. So that is why both Marriott Hotels suddenly showed up in the hotel search for Ireland only a month ago – when I was originally looking for and booking hotels back in April or May, they were not taking reservations! What a luxury to be able to stay in such a brand new hotel. In fact we were the first people to stay in the Queen Accessible room which is pictured below. The Residence Inn has 50 rooms (Moxy has 200) however not all the Residence Inn rooms were able to be occupied – when I had requested the Accessible Room type, they had gotten it ready for us. Pretty nice!

So we then relaxed the rest of the day after we parked the car and moved in. I also decided to go through our suitcases and empty out some of the extra papers we had accumulated during our various stops – I had kept some so that I could write some of these blog posts accurately and some for research for the 2 weeks that Andrew and I were going to be on our own. I ended up recycling a lot of paper – mainly brochures and old medication blister packs! We stayed in for dinner – Andrew was a bit gun shy to eat anything and I had a variety of snack type foods such as yogurt and crackers with turkey and cheese.

Here is the route we took from Killarney to Cork – no idea why also on this map it had us go to the left going into Cork – Andrew was NOT impressed as it lead us into some small roads in a winding backroads way to enter the city! The light blue route is what we should have taken… much easier!

Tomorrow we are thinking of getting out and exploring the city of Cork! It is the 2nd biggest city in the Republic of Ireland.

Today we slept in 🙂 and then decided to go for a walk around town. We went to visit some of the stores that we had previously visited when on the bus trip, as there were a couple of small items that I wanted to acquire in them and also check on the pricing of sweaters. Also Andrew needed a heavier jacket as he had brought his thin, not waterproof jacket on the trip and that was not going to be sufficient for when we were going to visit Ireland. My original plan was to drive to a knitting store to check out their goods, however with the VERY successful purchase yesterday, that is now no longer on my list of things to do! Also stopping in Blarney at the Woolen Mills would now be a dangerous decision! We did some laundry (takes forever in the European combo washing/drying machines) and I caught up on some paperwork like paying my credit card bills so we could continue travelling and getting my email Inbox back under control. It was quite a pleasant day!

In the evening, we decided to go to one of the restaurants that Vinnie (tour guide) had recommended when we were in Killarney last time – the Quinlans Seafood Bar. He told us that they had GF fish and chips among other things, however the place is small and be prepared to wait. So Andrew, who was now hungry and I, who already had been able to eat some things, decided to go there for dinner. WELL, again Vinnie did not quite tell the truth. Nothing that is deep fried is gluten free – including the fish and chips, which is why we came here! Oh well, I noticed that they had Calamari on the menu, so I asked if they can make me just stir fried Calamari with fries instead and they were more than happy to oblige. The Calamari came with a sauce and they did not let me have the sauce until they checked all the ingredients and guess what? It was gluten free! It was a really good tamarind type tasting sauce for the Calamari with a bit of a kick to it. Andrew settled on fish and chips and a beer – what else would he have in a joint like this? It was interesting that he chose a Killarney Beer – which was the brewery that we passed by but did not go into yesterday!

After a nice (not) walk back in the rain to our apartment, we watched some TV and decided to call it a night as tomorrow we are moving onto Cork and Andrew needs to be rested for the drive again…. oh no! He is up in the middle of the night AGAIN – he ate too big a meal too soon and his body let him know that it was not happy! Now perhaps he will wait until his body starts to tell him he is hungry (instead of just wanting to eat) and it will work better! Oh the joys of travelling and getting sick. Of all the traveling we have done, this is the first time we BOTH have been affected and not just me, so I guess we have been lucky!

I was up fairly early today as I was a woman on a mission! To find more wool! After my disappointment on the Aran Islands and being in a country with a pretty booming knitting industry – there had to be wool around here somewhere! Yes, I already had bought some wool when we were in Blarney at the Woolen Mills there and I could return there when we go to Cork next, however I really want to branch out on the type of wool that I purchase! Low and behold – there is a yarn manufacturer close by in Kerry, which is about a 20 minute drive. So I waited until Andrew had completed his beauty sleep and had his standard breakfast of toast, peanut butter and coffee (he is feeling better now) and suggested that we go check out the Kerry Woolen Mills along with a brewery on our way back into town. He thought this was doable, so off we went! We also needed to get some provisions as I was starting to finally feel hungry and wanted to shop at Tesco instead of the Polish store so I could read the ingredients a bit better (not in Polish)! Tesco also has their own line of Gluten Free items and they are actually quite good! I really like their chocolate covered digestive cookies – they are only 1.70 Euros which is pretty reasonable!

I was VERY successful at the Kerry Woolen Mills! I bought a sweater amount of maroon coloured aran wool along with some thinner wool (fingerling) which I can make something different out of it – like a think shirt or a shawl! A table runner also jumped off the table into my hands too – I hate when that happens – so there were 3 things procured there which I deemed a successful shopping trip! Now to get that wool into the suitcase is the next issue I (not we) need to face! Just to note, I would not purchase the wool if I could get it for a similar price in Canada – but I cannot. It is more than half price here in Ireland so it is a VERY good thing to purchase and bring back home for future projects!

Now back in Killarney, we made a quick stop at the Tesco right in the middle of the town and then went back to our apartment at the end of Main Street to relax and have a bite to eat and see what is on the television. Not sure what tomorrow will hold for us, however we are currently taking it easy as we are both still feeling a bit weak and not wanting to exert ourselves too much! Here was the short drive we took today…

Well, that was a rough night! With Andrew falling sick half way through the night, I started getting concerned about our ability to get to Killarney. Unfortunately, he is the only one licensed to drive the car and it will be too hard to change that with Europcar. I went out and bought him some medication and topped up on our water and Sprite collection (luckily we were situated within walking distance of both a pharmacy and truck stop) and then asked the hotel if we could extend the hotel check out time from 11am to 1pm and they told me noon was as late as we could check out. An extra hour is better than nothing at all! After taking some medication and liquids Andrew was feeling a bit better and by that time I had mapped out all the places we could stop along the way if he felt sick or needed to use the restroom. At noon we were off to drive to Killarney! I did not take that many pictures as we took some backroads to make it easier for Andrew instead of being on the highway and him concentrating on driving on the left side of the road. Here are the few that I took:

It was easy to find the Park Place Apartments which I had booked and I was quite impressed that they actually were located where they said they were! So many times when a place to stay says they are “5 minutes from the main street” it means driving however this was walking distance to the area that we last stayed which was awesome! Here are some pictures of the Park Place Apartments that come closest to the type of accommodation that we stayed in which was a 1 bedroom suite. It contained a nice bedroom (although again one side of the bed was against the wall) with space and a chair, a long kitchen with a couch and two sitting chairs and a TV at the ends along with a kitchen table and most importantly a fridge and a European washer/dryer. We also had a terrace which we could go out onto or open the door to get fresh air.

While Andrew took a nap after the drive, I went downstairs to what I thought was a store to get some supplies. I was quite surprised to find out that it actually was a Polish store! So all the ingredients were in Polish! I got Andrew some bread (his request), some more water, apple juice and some yogurt for myself that looked good and came back to the apartment. At that point in time I had received a message to review the hotel that we had stayed at in Galway, so I told them how nice a room that we had, however how sick Andrew had gotten from eating their seafood chowder the night before. Almost immediately I was contacted with an apology and to let me know that he was not the only one who had gotten sick – there had been others and it seems Andrew had gotten food poisoning! I found it pretty interesting that within several days of each other I had consumed gluten and Andrew got food poisoning. Oh well, that is all over with now, lets move onto tomorrow – it is another day!

Here is our drive from north of Galway to Killarney where we are going to spend the next 3 days –

Although still feeling a BIT green, this trip has been a dream of mine for years to do – to visit the Aran Islands which are just off the coast of western Ireland – best accessed from either near Galway or Doolin. As we have already visited Doolin with the bus tour to see the cliffs of Moher, way back when planning this trip I thought the trip from a city near Galway would be better and a shorter passage on the boat as it can get pretty rough in these waters. Not like that bothers me at all! There are 3 inhabited islands in the Aran Island chain – Inis Mor, Inis Meain and Inis Oirr. Inis Mor is the largest of the islands and our destination today.

First, we drove for about 45 minutes to the town where the boats depart from – Carraroe. A very nice drive to meet the 10am ferry over to Inis Mor and the 4pm ferry to return. Each direction was about an hour ride. Here is a map of where we stayed, where we drove to and then we crossed to Inishmore and landed in the bay on the bottom right of the island, where it looks like a bite was taken out of it!

When we arrived in Inishmore, I realized there was an issue – we were traveling during king tides and it was a VERY low tide currently. Tonight was supposed to be the Harvest moon. The dock, which we were supposed to dis-inbark from the lower level, where we were sitting was incredibly high and instead I had to climb up to the upper deck of the boat and go up the gang plank to get off the boat! There is nothing link parking next to a wharf and all you see is a ladder going up and up… wish I had taken a picture of that! Once we got off the boat we were met by a man offering a van ride around the Island. I had tried to book one of these and it said online that you will receive the best price when getting off the boat – so that is what we did! He had lived his life on the Aran Islands and he and his son ran this van business taking visitors around the island everyday. So off we went on our island adventure which included a drive, a stop at a 4 store village so people could walk to some ruins and get lunch and then return to the harbour in time for the ferry home. Off we go!

The van dropped us off back in the main village where we had departed from at about 3pm so we could go have a drink or shop prior to walking around the harbour to catch the boat back to the main island. At this point in time I was VERY puzzled. We are ON the Aran Islands. There is WOOL that comes from these islands – where are the wool shops? I had come prepared with a big bag to carry my wool onto the boat but wool shops (as in ones that sell skeins of wool) are missing! All that was there were stores that you can find all over Ireland that sell sweaters etc that are already made! Oh dear, I need to find some more wool! This is not going to be a beer and wool trip if I do not find more wool!

Now we are back on the main island of Ireland, we made our way back to our hotel. I was not feeling up for eating dinner so Andrew decided to have some of the seafood chowder from the restaurant downstairs, which I went down to get for him as I also wanted to get some ice. Holy smokes things can be expensive here! The to go coffee cup (medium size) of seafood chowder was about 2/3 full and cost me 11 Euros! That was quite expensive and later I found out it should have come with bread too! Andrew seemed satisfied with it and we then went to bed as we were driving to Killarney tomorrow to spend 3 days at an apartment that I had found online. I know that I had said we were not going to move around a lot, however the B&B that I had booked for Galway did not work out (12 stairs to our room) and then were not honest about the stairs so we had to cancel that booking. As Galway was pretty busy still, we decided just to stay the 2 days to go to the Aran Islands and then go back to Killarney, which we liked when staying there on tour for the balance of the 5 days that we were to spend in Galway…

However the story does not end there…. a few hours into the night Andrew got sick! Not as sick as I got however rightly so, pretty sick. So that put a wrinkle into our plans!