Off to see the Isle, the wonderful Isle of Green
I know, lame title, I was seriously lacking in inspiration. We're vacationing in Ireland for 10 days. We're leaving 04 April and returning 14 April. I vacillate between beyond excited to what the hell was I thinking, Joe will only be just over a year.
This is a huge family trip. My maternal Gramma, my Mom (plus her 3 kids [my half siblings] aged 14, 10, and 6), my Aunt and Uncle (plus their 3 kids aged 13, 10, and 8), and myself, the Husband, and Joe. It's quite the brood we're traveling with. So, if you're a math wizard, that makes 13 total with more than half being children. So the reason we're going is that my great-Gramma is from Ireland (county Cork) and my Gramma has been in contact with some relatives over there. From what I understand, my great-Gramma's house is still in their possession. How freaking cool is that. My great-Gramma was born in 1907 and her house is still standing. My Gramma has wanted to go to Ireland for as long as I can remember and she is the other reason I agreed to go.
Now for the particulars, we're flying into Dublin and staying there for a couple days. We're staying at the Jury's D0yle Ballsbr1dge Hotel (I know, the Husband and I had a good chuckle over the name of it too) in Dublin. Then we're driving to Killarney and staying at the Randle's C0urt H0tel. Finally, we're going to Galway and staying at Ard1laun H0use H0tel. If anyone has any past experience, good or bad, with these places, let me know. We are then flying out of Shannon to go home.
Aside from the family visits, we'll be doing touristy stuff while we're there, Waterf0rd Crystal, Gu1nness tour, etc. Since I've never been to Ireland before (I've barely been out of the US), what else is there to do? Are there any must sees/dos/etc?
Also, for all you jetsetters with babies out there, are there any tips you can give me for an 8-hour flight with a just over one year old?
This is a huge family trip. My maternal Gramma, my Mom (plus her 3 kids [my half siblings] aged 14, 10, and 6), my Aunt and Uncle (plus their 3 kids aged 13, 10, and 8), and myself, the Husband, and Joe. It's quite the brood we're traveling with. So, if you're a math wizard, that makes 13 total with more than half being children. So the reason we're going is that my great-Gramma is from Ireland (county Cork) and my Gramma has been in contact with some relatives over there. From what I understand, my great-Gramma's house is still in their possession. How freaking cool is that. My great-Gramma was born in 1907 and her house is still standing. My Gramma has wanted to go to Ireland for as long as I can remember and she is the other reason I agreed to go.
Now for the particulars, we're flying into Dublin and staying there for a couple days. We're staying at the Jury's D0yle Ballsbr1dge Hotel (I know, the Husband and I had a good chuckle over the name of it too) in Dublin. Then we're driving to Killarney and staying at the Randle's C0urt H0tel. Finally, we're going to Galway and staying at Ard1laun H0use H0tel. If anyone has any past experience, good or bad, with these places, let me know. We are then flying out of Shannon to go home.
Aside from the family visits, we'll be doing touristy stuff while we're there, Waterf0rd Crystal, Gu1nness tour, etc. Since I've never been to Ireland before (I've barely been out of the US), what else is there to do? Are there any must sees/dos/etc?
Also, for all you jetsetters with babies out there, are there any tips you can give me for an 8-hour flight with a just over one year old?
posted by PJ @ 1/12/2007 03:07:00 PM
7 Comments:
At 1/12/2007 4:55 PM,
Susie said…
I used a book called "On the Go with Baby" when planning our trip last year. I checked it out from the library and it had some good tips for traveling with the little ones.
You're going to have a great time!
At 1/13/2007 11:22 PM,
Dramalish said…
Do you still nurse? I hear that's a good thing... and the next flight we take with Daisy, we're getting her her own seat.
Good luck. Have a great trip!
-D.
At 1/16/2007 7:53 AM,
Anonymous said…
Oh, I'm sooooo jealous!!
I've always wanted to see Ireland & with Joe being *very* into his Irish heritage (his family is also from Cork), I hope that we will be able to go there someday.
Have a safe, fun trip. No advise on where to go/what to see stuff, but I hear that you should try to avoid the Northern areas (Belfast etc.)
At 1/16/2007 7:29 PM,
Anonymous said…
Well when the hell are you going to cork then?
I've stayed at that place in Galway and in ballsbridge in dublin (not at jury's, just in bb). Bb in dub is good - within walking distance of the city centre, but cool if you want to stay local too. Galway is just magnificent - check that - we didn't stay at that place, I think we stayed at ardlan or something similar. Galway has a gaeltacht close so lots of things are in irish (and some things don't have english which actually can be very funny - I suppose not if you don't know any irish). Enjoy yourselves! That sounds like a lot of fun -a circus, but a lot of fun. I would stay close to grandma myself.
Oh, just saw the comment above - Northern Ireland is absolutely beautiful (esp. north coasts) and Belfast can be very fun - very historical. My husband's family is stil there.
At 1/16/2007 7:49 PM,
Anonymous said…
Me again - you should make a trip to kilkenney - great town - very nice!
At 1/17/2007 2:47 PM,
Anonymous said…
Hey! Just checking in on you again after a long time and I'm thrilled to see you're off to Ireland soon. (Or soonish...!). Sounds like a fabulous trip. I used to spend summers in Galway and the Ard1laun House is in a lovely setting.
At 1/26/2007 11:17 PM,
OvaGirl said…
Sounds like a fabulous trip PJ, amazing! And great to be taking Joe. A friend of mine does the trip from London to Australia which is longer than 8 hours. She looked a bit grim when I asked how she went but it didn't stop her doing it again. However, another friend of mine is infamous for giving her little boy baby cough syrup which had some sort of seditative effect...I don't recommend this though!
But then, those photos are so cute (from a few posts agao). Maybe you should just get Joe to give all the other passengers the 'snorty' face, should be no probs at all!
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