Week One - Ireland

The trip to Ireland for Erin and Darrin's wedding started out great with a mid-morning ride to the airport provided by Allan Benson.  Got checked in and took off right on schedule. Unfortunately, somewhere up in the sky, the winds changed.

After circling stormy Newark waiting for the airport to re-open, we were diverted to Hartford, CT. No big deal, better to be inconvenienced than become a statistic. United was great, getting a room for the night and rebooked to Shannon via London (the British Open was on the same weekend, so there were no direct flights to Ireland available).

Arrived back at the airport the next morning in Hartford, got back on the plane and headed to Newark again to make the connections to London and Shannon. Unfortunately, the luggage did not make it. Filled out the paperwork for the luggage, picked up the car and made the 2 plus hour drive to Tralee and checked in at the Ballyseede Castle located along the Ring of Kerry.   Spoke with United and was assured the luggage would be on the next flight into Shannon. Exhausted, and with no clean clothes, decided to skip the Friday reception for the 75 or so guests who had traveled from the States.  Made the trek back to airport the next morning to welcome the luggage to Ireland. Back to the castle again, had two hours to unpack and get ready for the wedding. I should mention that the only other time I experienced a luggage fiasco like this one was in the 90s when I was flying from Denver to Shannon, via London – obviously not a good route.

It was truly a fairytale wedding. The Ballyseede did a fabulous job. The Irish really know how to celebrate, the wedding was at 3PM and I am told the last guests finally headed home at 6AM the next morning.

On Sunday, checked into the Ashe Hotel in Tralee and decided to take a drive to Dingle via the single lane, cliffside road of Conor's Pass - it made the North shore road in Maui look easy. Got back to the hotel and watched the end of a rugby game with some very enthusiastic locals before heading to an "Afters Party".

Monday started with breakfast before everyone started going their own way. Headed out to explore Killarney National Park with a visit and tour of Muckross House, a furnished 19th century Victorian mansion. The gardens and views here were amazing. On the way back to the hotel, decided to get off the main roads and take a two hour "short-cut"  through the rural countryside.

Got started late on Tuesday and drove across the island to Dublin. Not my first trip to Ireland, so skipped the tourist "must sees". Had dinner at the hotel and got ready for the early morning flight to Frankfurt