This trip was put together by:
Hammond Tours
1190 Western Ave, Albany, NY 121203
866.486.8772
mhammond@hammondtours.com
Sat: up early. Tried to get into Ireland time. Got to the airport 2 hours early. I was the only person in any line at the counter and again at security. Took JetBlue to JFK and then joined the group on Aer Lingus. Finished my first book while drinking a Smithwick at JFK during my 7-hour layover.
Sun: arrived at Shannon at 6am. The other LA group to arrive at noon. Still dark. Coach driver Joe said since it is soooo early and a Sunday and a holiday weekend, nothing in town is opened yet, so best if we stay at the airport for coffee and breakfast. I, however, went to the bus for a 2-hour downtime/nap. Then while waiting for the LA group to arrive, we went on a bus tour of Limerick. Saw the alley where Frank McCourt grew up (from Angela’s Ashes). Could easily see some of the old stone walls from when Limerick was a walled city. Totally deserted at that hour. Which was good since the roads are narrow and cornering the bus was always a challenge. There was a bridge from 1850 similar to the Pont Neuf of Paris. Water was tidal and moving fast. Went to Bunratty Castle (again later with the 2nd group) and Folk Park. Folk Park was displays of actual and re-created homes and businesses of sailors, poor farmers, rich farmers, and even one house had a section for cows inside. Castle had narrow spiral stairs leading up to various rooms and finally the top. Rooms were cold damp and smaller than expected. Awesome view from the top. Castle protected the Shannon River traffic and surrounding land. Had my first Ireland pint at the Creamery. Seemed weird how kids walk into the bar and feel at home. One hopped onto the barstool next to me. A couple more were at the bar only 2 seats down having their ginger ale and were all dressed up in their Halloween costumes. Waited for the LA half to arrive and then Randy and I had a pint in the Durty Nellies Pub (possibly the oldest pub in Ireland). Slept at the Old Ground Hotel in Ennis (1/2 hour from Limerick. 1st concert that 1St night in Limerick. All venues were small and hot. The cute blond had “just 3 Jamesons” and was funny on the bus ride home. Talkative, giggly. Explained to all how her friends, when they were on a camping trip, climbed into their mummy bags and played “worms”.
Mon: “wormgirl” had a cute “curse of the were-rabbit” shirt on.
Breakfasts were always a full Irish breakfast – egg, bacon, sausage, toast, coffee, tea, juice, yogurt, cereal. Hearty. Luggage out at 9:30. Had a walkabout while waiting for the bus.11am bus. As we drove towards Galway in County Clare, we passed the Whelan’s stone quarry. I didn’t realize until afterward that my father’s ancestors are from County Clare. Weird. We must have a stone quarry in our jeans. Viewed the majestic Cliffs of Moher. 700-foot vertical cliffs stretching for 5 miles along the rugged Atlantic Coastline. Crashing waves, a lot of wind, showers on and off, rainbows, and watchtower at the top.
The cute blond who was late for the morning bus and then reset her watch to 10 minutes fast, was late again. Less cute. The bus was pulling out when they came rushing out of the snack bar. Cruised around Galway Bay. Checked into the Imperial Hotel on Eyre Square in Galway. 2nd band concert that night at Quay (pronounced keys). At happy hour we met the Amsterdam girls - Stephanie, Donna, Tonya (my love), and bar drunk – Pierce. (the Amsterdam girls’ male friends took a side trip to Amsterdam). When we returned to the Quay 6 hours later, after an 8-9:30 nap, Pierce was still there standing/leaning a bit. Dinner at a recommended fish and chips restaurant. Worse meal of the trip. The band started at 12:30am and we danced till 3am. Went home to sleep, but you could have stayed and got locked in the bar until ??.
Tues: up early for an 8:30 am breakfast and a 9:30am bus. No need to pack since we are returning to the same hotel. Small boats called “hookers”. Quiet bus. Everyone needed more sleep. Toured north of Galway towards Connemara. Desolate land. Cold windy, more rain, and rainbows. A piercing cold and damp just as Frank McCourt stated in his book – Angela’s Ashes. Glad my ancestors left that area. Uneven land and full of rocks. Randy commented on how it looked like they were growing rocks. Loads of sheep. Free-range sheep. Colored patches on sheep for ownership. Typical stone fences. Ireland was once 90% covered in trees, then lumbered down to 1% and now they are reforesting. Now up to 10%. Peat dug 2 feet deep. Stockpiled and rotated every couple of days until dry. ½ the energy of coal so you need a lot of it to stay warm. Stopped to shop. Stopped at Kylemore Abbey for lunch. Wish we had time to tour the abbey. Stopped at village Cong where they filmed “A Quiet Man”. John Wayne and ?. Returned to Galway. Wondered thru town looking for a power converter for Randy’s camera. More rain. Dinner at The Quays in Galway. In honor of seeing so many sheep on the bus tour, we had the Traditional Irish lamb stew. Which had potatoes in it plus sides of sliced potatoes, 2 scoops of mashed potatoes, and an egg roll-shaped fried mashed potato. That’s hearty. Both bought a Quay t-shirt. All rivers in Ireland flow fast. Nightcap of Jameson at a cool pub. Returned to our Imperial Hotel to a hotel lobby party with the band members. Another last nightcap. Randy talked to Dave the drummer. Dave said that touring cuts into his seeing other acts. Also said it’s good for fans to see how they live. He could not see himself working in a cubicle. Randy said us cube people are glad to pay to see him and the band while outside our cubicles. Bed at 11:30pm.
Wed: luggage out at 8:30am. Bus at 10am. off to Killarney. 8 hours of sleep, but still tired and moving slow. Off to visit a granite shop. Surprisingly, very impressive granite displays. The vein of local Irish green granite is running out, so it is only used in small jewelry now. Stopped at Bunratty Castle again. Instead of shopping or touring the castle, we went directly to the Durty Nellies Pub for a smoked salmon on brown bread and a ½ pint. Met 2 girls just off the plane from Texas. Silly. Asking what time it was and then was it day or night. In Killarney, at night time we went for a walk-about. ½ pint at Drink___________(not evaluators) next to the youth hostel. Went to The Grand Hotel (tonight’s venue) where there was a 3 piece traditional Irish band playing. Cool. YD started at midnight. The place was packed. Doesn’t anyone work in the morning? The large back room was filled with Irish square dancers. About 80+ of them and they all knew what they were doing. In sync. Again, it’s a work night! Walking home we were slightly unsure if we were on the right road to get us back to the Randles Hotel. Decided it was the wrong road, turned around until I heard the sound of a car hitting a pothole. That pothole and sound I remembered from our walk to town. We were on the right road after all. The hotel had one free available computer so Randy could get his fix. I emailed Dad a happy birthday and also called him. Bed at 12:30am
Thurs: our hotel’s cute red-headed breakfast waitress looked very tired this morning. There were a horse and wagon ride thru the National Forest. Randy and I declined due to cold, damp, and more rain. Bus ride past the Killarney golf and fishing club. Serious water holes. Met the wagon riders at another very tall abbey. Off to the Dingle Peninsula. Stopped at the expensive shop. (Joe said this is where you buy the stuff for yourself. Vs the trinkets for friends) Irish coffee breaks and it’s still morning. What about us tea sippers? Bought my Irish rugby shirt. Toured Dingle bay. Had surfers. Long Beach from the movie” Ryan’s daughter”. Stopped in Dingletown for lunch. Mega wind, rain, and cold. The seafood chowder had immensely large pieces of clams in it and more of the killer brown bread and Irish butter. Hot and Hearty. Colorful buildings. Devil’s elbow – tight turn on a steep cliff with a large stream flowing over the road. Joe’s story stopped for that corner. Stone beehive homes. Looked like stone igloos. Cool crashing surf in the bay and even better on outside Atlantic side. Napped my way home. Another 6pm – 9pm nap. Out to dinner and listened to another great traditional Irish trio performing. A cute freckled face red-head played the accordion. 12:30 am band start.
Fri: 7am wake up call. 8am breakfast. 9am bus. Off to Dublin via Blarney. Stone sculptures along the road. No graffiti. All homes are stone and have concrete berm around them. Limited/no grass. “L” on cars meant learner. Stopped at Blarney Castle to kiss the blarney stone.
Randy tried to buy ice cream at a grocery store, but the lady in front of him was buying a banana and had to go weigh it and then go again to get the code. He gave up waiting. Saw the Rock of Cashel and Cashel Castle. To be king one must rule this castle. Strong fortress atop a stone hill. The bus trip from hell. By 4pm, everyone wanted off the bus but we were still 3 hours away from Dublin. A problem with coach travel. Arrived at 7pm. Brought up our own luggage because we were in a rush. At this city hotel, they had one or 2 porters to bring up all 120 pieces of luggage. Slow. At the other town hotels, we had a swarm of porters running to finish the job quickly. Dinner in temple bar - Gallagher’s. Randy fell in love with our hostess. She had to move us to another table so that a round of drinks were free. 4th and last concert was at the Green Room at the Holiday Inn. Quiet hours for the hotel start at 11pm, so the band had to start early and finish early. Good. The bar turned on lights to get us to leave but never stopped serving drinks so no one left. Short round girl Rose (chef) gave Tonya’s friend a cigarette knowing it is illegal to smoke inside. The bartender ripped it out of his mouth fast and scolded them. A big fine of up to 3000 euros and loss of license. Wired on caffeine and knowing no early morning bus trip, I felt so good.
Sat: last full day. Woke up ahead of the 9am wake-up call. Bill’s dumb idea(?). Decided against the scheduled 2-hour bus ride thru Dublin, and decided against the hop-on/ hop-off bus ride. Needed to walk the town and get some exercise. Used Mapeasy and Bill’s printouts to get around Dublin. A sunny day with rain predicted. Big growth in Dublin. Counted 15 cranes from our hotel window. Randy felt sick and slow. There were 3 frigates tied up on our quay- Sir John Rogerson’s Quay. Lunch was a panini with exactly 3 Pringles chips on every plate. General Post Office’s façade was covered up for renovations, walked the Ha’Penny Bridge (the pedestrian-only bridge across the River Liffey), crossed a cool modern swing bridge, Irish tall ship anchored, Millennium Spike, Molly Malone Statue. Toured Trinity College. Sphere within a sphere. Soccer game going on in quad. Couldn’t get in to see the Books of Kells and the Long Room. Our tour was supposed to have a free visit, but the highly stressed nazi lady with gloves on said no. Bill pointed out that our tour people (Hammond)’s phone number was on a bulletin board note next to the desk. Still no. Very stressed/confused person. Saw various tour people throughout Dublin. Very walkable city. Grafton Street was a pedestrian mall. Packed, fur protestors. Walked thru St.Stevens Green. Started running out of time. Time for Saint Patrick’s Cathedral or Guinness Brewery. Obvious choice. 1 ½ mile walk. Was concerned about distance/safety but happily discovered they were non-concerns. Randy screwed up by not having preordered Guinness factory tour passes on-line so we waited in line for about 30 minutes. Got bored with the self-guided tour, so we bypassed the tour and went directly to the Gravity Bar on the top floor (7th) for a pint. We each had one token for one pint. A 360-degree circular glass-enclosed taproom with a killer view of the city at dusk time. Not a seat in the house but still a great view. Ran into Randy, Lisa, Mike, and Josh at the bar. Josh discovered that the fifth floor would sell more beer. Walked back to the Temple Bar area. Again ran into Randy/Lisa/Mike/Josh and they said they could not get into Randy’s recommendation of Gallagher’s Restaurant with the earliest seating being 10:30pm .too late. Randy said he would speak with them. He walked outside Gallagher’s and the hostess waved. He went inside and introduces himself and Kathleen said if my friends wanted to be seated now if OK. Found R/L/M/J and told them to use Randy’s name. It worked. They got right in. Randy the VIP stud. Randy and I searched the “yellow building” near O’Connell bridge. Found it, but downstairs access (where Irish dancing was) was sold out. Needed reservations. Oops. So we walked back past the Church of Christ to the Temple Bar area to Dublin’s Quay restaurant. We previously ate at Kilarney’s Quay restaurant. Spoke with Katrina (greeter) and didn’t guess she was from Poland. Katrina went to Dublin on holiday 4 months ago and stayed. Good walk along the river back to the hotel. Few people in the bar. That was good since we have a very early departure tomorrow.
Sun: 5:30am wake up call. Even if you tried to cancel it as some tried and get a 6am wake up instead, you still got the earlier call. Ran into Tonya and Donna in the elevator and barely got a hello out of them. Everything on schedule except Blondie (last on the bus again) and then had to go back to the front desk to clear up charges. Now she’s a Pita. Got to JFK no problem. 1 ½ hour to get luggage, clear customs (which we already did in Dublin), shuttle train to another terminal to catch JetBlue. Extreme weather for Syracuse landing. On final approach, could see an angry black sky to the west. (5 lightning bolts in less than 3 seconds). Could see the front of the storm crossing the airport approaching us. It hit when we were about at the end of the runway. Extreme wind (69mph), rain, and hail. Glad we weren’t 10 seconds later. The pilot said we were just going to turn into the wind and wait awhile. (on the runway). About 10minutes later we cruised to our gate.
Ireland 2005 Pics
Misc notes:
- 1 Euro = $1.22
- My ATM has a $3 service fee; my credit card has a 3% exchange fee
- Hammond Tour $1700
- JetBlue $150
- Misc $600
- Gifts $150
- Bus – green 1
- Bus driver Joe. Joe gave us a history lesson, poetry, songs, comedian. Reverses right and left when telling us which window to lookout.
- Marvin and his wife ( 60s) are here because their kids bought tickets and then he couldn’t get off work. They missed the first 3 concerts but made the last one.
- Josh at 1st dinner kept complaining about no butter, then no soup. Obnoxious.
- Mark and Michelle from Maine. He is an architect and she is a stain glass artist. She’s a doer. She had a 2 ½ month vacation to the Orient and Tibet. Just moved to Maine. Can’t imagine anyone staying put for over 2 years.
- John (a symphonic musician who looks like a rebel) and sister Natalie
- Mike and Laura are from Austin – we found out that Laura was recently voted “Babe of the Week” at her kid’s high school. Laura claims this is due to her support role, and that she dresses appropriately.
- Scott & JoEllen are from Boise and see YD 3 times a year. They know of Great Big Sea and Carbon Leaf
- Rose (chef) and daughter Lisa
- Irish creamy butter is awesome. Must be heavy in fat. Great on their brown bread.
- Lots of Dunnes store in Galway.
