Oh dear baby jesus. There are officially 6 people on the plane to craziness.
That means that our previously booked reservations had to be changed. This included the bitch of the bookings...the rental car. Okay, here is the gist of the great upgrade debacle....
The upgrade from an Irish stationwagon to an Irish minivan a.k.a. people carrier is approximately $500. Holy hell that is more expensive than the per person previously booked rental car we had. We toyed with the idea of renting 2 smaller cars but figured we'd spend more on fuel, soooo, we called Dan Dooley Rental Car for the official quote for an upgrade upon the stationwagon.
What we found out is this. A people carrier is not equivalent to what us Americans think of when we picture a minivan. Yes, technically it will carry 6 passengers, but this is the layout...2 front seats (driver & front seat passenger) a middle bench seat for 3 and the last passenger would have to ride in a flip seat located in the boot of the van. Think of a quad cab pickup truck with the flip down seat in the back. You know the one that nobody wants to sit in because it is terribly uncomfortable. The rental lady tells us that if we use the jump seat in the far back we will also lose precious luggage space. She actually recommended going with the 2 economy cars as they will fit 4 people and 2 suitcases per vehicle. With this arrangement we will have space for 6 pieces of luggage between the 2 cars and more than enough room for our 6 travelers.
On the down side, I will have to drive the entire time as will Joe. On the positive side, both Joe & I enjoy driving so hopefully it won't be a big deal. Another positive is that with economy class cars, we can hire a diesel car vs traditional petrol cars. This means that we will have more fuel efficient cars & potentially actually save some moolah on gas vs spending more for a car that gets minimal miles to the gallon! The last positive side is that with 2 economy cars, the increase in our rental expense is only $100 vs. $500. Okay, thats a bonus.
Look out Ireland there is going to be a US convoy o economy cars with 2 totes inexperiences left side drivers! Things just got more interesting yet again. We're thinking of making a video on how to drive in Ireland from an American's perspective. More to come on that idea...
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
And Then There Were 6
So this trip is so wickedly awesome that everyone wants to join in! No seriously we should totes be travel agents.
Okay, our first last minute addition was Kaylene. We chatted up the trip so much that she couldn't help but break out the credit card & buy a round trip tiket to funville with us. One day after Kaylene bought her ticket the group got together at Bettina's house to congratulate ourselves on booking a trip that could potentially bankrupt us all...in a good way. Anyway, at this gathering the subject somehow changed for a bit from the trip & where we all wanted to go to a conversation about who Kaylene has been dating lately. Turns out this guy is a US Marine sationed down in Yuma. It also turns out that he is Irish. I can't remember if Kaylene ansked for permission to invite him on the trip or if we proactively gave her the okay as she sat there texting him during our night.
Jump forward about a month later and low and behold we finally get to meet the man. First of all, I have to say that I am impressed by the young man. He is respectful of the adults and he is respectful to Kaylene. From what I have heard and what I have seen he is definitely a rare find & I'm happy that he makes Kaylene happy!
Anyway turns out that he really wants to go on the trip with us. I thought he was just saying that he wanted to go so as to spare our feelers if he declined. No what I found out is that he is totes serious. He was already shopping for tickets for the trip! So our total headcount is now up to 6!!
What does this mean for us...
1. We have to rebook our B&Bs to include an additional room &
2. We have to rebook the rental car/car hire.
The question on the rental becomes this...upgrade to a minivan aka "people carrier" or do we get 2 economy cars. The difference is this. With the people carrier we can all be in one car and that should help save on the fuel charges. Luggage is still a concern, while the car gets bigger the luggage space does not increase proportionally. With the 2 economy cars, we will have to split our cars up with 3 people to a car or 4 & 2 but the luggage situation becomes a bit better.
The problems...with 2 cars, both Joe & I will have to drive the whole time & that means we can't stare endlessly at the beautiful landscape because we will be too busy trying to not poop our pants on the narrow roads. If we get the people carrier the problem is that strangely enough it will cost us more than 2 economy cars.
Ugh the dilemma!
Any thoughts on which way to go? Any feedback, just let me know!!
Okay, our first last minute addition was Kaylene. We chatted up the trip so much that she couldn't help but break out the credit card & buy a round trip tiket to funville with us. One day after Kaylene bought her ticket the group got together at Bettina's house to congratulate ourselves on booking a trip that could potentially bankrupt us all...in a good way. Anyway, at this gathering the subject somehow changed for a bit from the trip & where we all wanted to go to a conversation about who Kaylene has been dating lately. Turns out this guy is a US Marine sationed down in Yuma. It also turns out that he is Irish. I can't remember if Kaylene ansked for permission to invite him on the trip or if we proactively gave her the okay as she sat there texting him during our night.
Jump forward about a month later and low and behold we finally get to meet the man. First of all, I have to say that I am impressed by the young man. He is respectful of the adults and he is respectful to Kaylene. From what I have heard and what I have seen he is definitely a rare find & I'm happy that he makes Kaylene happy!
Anyway turns out that he really wants to go on the trip with us. I thought he was just saying that he wanted to go so as to spare our feelers if he declined. No what I found out is that he is totes serious. He was already shopping for tickets for the trip! So our total headcount is now up to 6!!
What does this mean for us...
1. We have to rebook our B&Bs to include an additional room &
2. We have to rebook the rental car/car hire.
The question on the rental becomes this...upgrade to a minivan aka "people carrier" or do we get 2 economy cars. The difference is this. With the people carrier we can all be in one car and that should help save on the fuel charges. Luggage is still a concern, while the car gets bigger the luggage space does not increase proportionally. With the 2 economy cars, we will have to split our cars up with 3 people to a car or 4 & 2 but the luggage situation becomes a bit better.
The problems...with 2 cars, both Joe & I will have to drive the whole time & that means we can't stare endlessly at the beautiful landscape because we will be too busy trying to not poop our pants on the narrow roads. If we get the people carrier the problem is that strangely enough it will cost us more than 2 economy cars.
Ugh the dilemma!
Any thoughts on which way to go? Any feedback, just let me know!!
Monday, April 16, 2012
Ireland Rental Cars
Ok...so this has been by far the most challenging & frustrating portion of planning our trip for Ireland.
I mean there are apparenly tons of hidden fees and charges that I had no idea to ask about before trying to book a reservation. As I said in a previous post, I'm an auto adjuster so part of my daily duties includes dealing with rental cars. All stateside, but that didn't prepare me for this.
Holy crapola! Ok so if you've been reading any of the posts from this blog so far then you know that our trip consists of 5 adults. That means that we need a car big enough for 5 people and 5 people's worth of luggage.
Lesson #1. Ireland's car hire services have cars that say they are big enough for 5 people. Like for example a Ford Fiesta. What the hell, that is a compact car by US standards! What, are we supposed to load people in like clowns in a clown car? I mean Kaylene is the tiniest traveler we have, but I don't think that anyone wants her to sit on anyone's lap for several hours.
Lesson #2. Ireland car rentals have no trunks, no "boots" no storage space and no luggage racks. Again, what the hell! Don't the Irish know that when people travel, especially when people travel overseas they will have most definitely have luggage!
So I found a car that says it will fit 5 peope and 2 pieces of luggage. At this point I'm about to tell everyone that they need to wear everything that they want to wear all layered up. Yes, I realize this means we will look like abomindable snowmen, but it seems plausible at this time. Just think of the positives...we won't have to worry about paying a luggage handline fee at the airline, we will be nice and toasty warm when the weather turns cold and, we will have extra cusioning that we can use for pillows on our flights with all the extra layers of clothes!
I have looked thru the Rick Steves book and several various websites for advice on the best way to go about booking the car rental. First we looked online at Irish Car Hire Brokerage. We found a rental car that was way too good to be true, it was going to be only around 300 Eruo for the entire 13 days we needed it. Upon researching it turns out that the price was for a compact car that they say would fit 5 (I'm thinking 5 Leprechauns), it did not include any insurance, we would be charged extra for driving into Northern Irland and god knows what other ridiculous charges were included. I suggested that we keep looking. All were in agreement.
If you've never traveled outside of the states a good thing to remember is that your local auot insurance will not provide coverage to you once you leave our borders. This means that it is a good idea to purchase rental car insurance in order to protect yourself. I mean can you imaging trying to settle something on an overseas claim and all the problems that could occur due to the time difference alone? Okay again I realize it may be a hazzard of my profession but I can't suggest insurance highly enough considering all the claims I've handled over the years with international travelers who have had accidents in US rental cars while on their vacations.
As for insurance...Lesson #3. Make sure your rental insurance in included in your price quote before you arrive. We have found that if you purchase the coverage at the rental desk upon arrival in Ireland, the price for insurance can double! The other thing is that they have multiple types of insurance that you need to consider. I suggest reading up & asking the various carriers to definde what each covers so you know how you are protected and what gaps in coverage may exist that you can become personally responsible for.
Okay I know that totes got serious for a minute, again I apologize. Job Hazzard!
So what way did we finally go. We called Dan Dooley Car Hire
We are now officially booked for the rental car. Dan Dooley may not have provided us with the lowest quote, but at least we have peace of mind that there will be no hidden fees when we arrive!
So in closing for this post...
Airline booked - Check!
Acommodations booked - Check!
Car Hire booked - Check!
Now onto saving up for food & bevvy. At this point I'm thinking with all the drinking we are planning we might need just as much $$ saved up for food and drink as we did for the bulk of the other bookings :)
Now I feel like I can sit back, sip a wine or two and dream of the magical land o Ireland
((fyi, if you get the chance, google "dark hedges" in Ireland & you'll see why I'm thinking magical Ireland))
I mean there are apparenly tons of hidden fees and charges that I had no idea to ask about before trying to book a reservation. As I said in a previous post, I'm an auto adjuster so part of my daily duties includes dealing with rental cars. All stateside, but that didn't prepare me for this.
Holy crapola! Ok so if you've been reading any of the posts from this blog so far then you know that our trip consists of 5 adults. That means that we need a car big enough for 5 people and 5 people's worth of luggage.
Lesson #1. Ireland's car hire services have cars that say they are big enough for 5 people. Like for example a Ford Fiesta. What the hell, that is a compact car by US standards! What, are we supposed to load people in like clowns in a clown car? I mean Kaylene is the tiniest traveler we have, but I don't think that anyone wants her to sit on anyone's lap for several hours.
Lesson #2. Ireland car rentals have no trunks, no "boots" no storage space and no luggage racks. Again, what the hell! Don't the Irish know that when people travel, especially when people travel overseas they will have most definitely have luggage!
So I found a car that says it will fit 5 peope and 2 pieces of luggage. At this point I'm about to tell everyone that they need to wear everything that they want to wear all layered up. Yes, I realize this means we will look like abomindable snowmen, but it seems plausible at this time. Just think of the positives...we won't have to worry about paying a luggage handline fee at the airline, we will be nice and toasty warm when the weather turns cold and, we will have extra cusioning that we can use for pillows on our flights with all the extra layers of clothes!
I have looked thru the Rick Steves book and several various websites for advice on the best way to go about booking the car rental. First we looked online at Irish Car Hire Brokerage. We found a rental car that was way too good to be true, it was going to be only around 300 Eruo for the entire 13 days we needed it. Upon researching it turns out that the price was for a compact car that they say would fit 5 (I'm thinking 5 Leprechauns), it did not include any insurance, we would be charged extra for driving into Northern Irland and god knows what other ridiculous charges were included. I suggested that we keep looking. All were in agreement.
If you've never traveled outside of the states a good thing to remember is that your local auot insurance will not provide coverage to you once you leave our borders. This means that it is a good idea to purchase rental car insurance in order to protect yourself. I mean can you imaging trying to settle something on an overseas claim and all the problems that could occur due to the time difference alone? Okay again I realize it may be a hazzard of my profession but I can't suggest insurance highly enough considering all the claims I've handled over the years with international travelers who have had accidents in US rental cars while on their vacations.
As for insurance...Lesson #3. Make sure your rental insurance in included in your price quote before you arrive. We have found that if you purchase the coverage at the rental desk upon arrival in Ireland, the price for insurance can double! The other thing is that they have multiple types of insurance that you need to consider. I suggest reading up & asking the various carriers to definde what each covers so you know how you are protected and what gaps in coverage may exist that you can become personally responsible for.
Okay I know that totes got serious for a minute, again I apologize. Job Hazzard!
So what way did we finally go. We called Dan Dooley Car Hire
We are now officially booked for the rental car. Dan Dooley may not have provided us with the lowest quote, but at least we have peace of mind that there will be no hidden fees when we arrive!
So in closing for this post...
Airline booked - Check!
Acommodations booked - Check!
Car Hire booked - Check!
Now onto saving up for food & bevvy. At this point I'm thinking with all the drinking we are planning we might need just as much $$ saved up for food and drink as we did for the bulk of the other bookings :)
Now I feel like I can sit back, sip a wine or two and dream of the magical land o Ireland
((fyi, if you get the chance, google "dark hedges" in Ireland & you'll see why I'm thinking magical Ireland))
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Additional Traveler
Okay, so quick update...
Bettina's daughter, Kaylene has been drooling over our plans for Ireland. Her mother and I told her that if she could find a way to afford a ticket to Ireland, then she was more than welcome to join in the madness. Well turns out she is s pretty resourceful girl. Add 1 more for Ireland!!
Trip tally is now to 5 travelers. This should be interesting. Kaylene is the youngest one in the gang by over 10 years. Hopefully she will be too drunk at night to be bothered by all the snoring that will be going in in our rooms. For that matter I hope I'm drunk enough that it won't bother me either ha!
With the addition of Kaylene the only thing that will be changing is our plans for a rental car. We will now have to upgrade to a larger vehicle. Doesn't seem like a big thing, but holy hell did it change the cost.
My next post will be about renting a car in Ireland. That my friends is definitely a different experience than it is here in the states. The hard thing to find is a rental agency that is straight forward with all their charges!
More to come yet again and we're still 3 months out from the adventure!!
Bettina's daughter, Kaylene has been drooling over our plans for Ireland. Her mother and I told her that if she could find a way to afford a ticket to Ireland, then she was more than welcome to join in the madness. Well turns out she is s pretty resourceful girl. Add 1 more for Ireland!!
Trip tally is now to 5 travelers. This should be interesting. Kaylene is the youngest one in the gang by over 10 years. Hopefully she will be too drunk at night to be bothered by all the snoring that will be going in in our rooms. For that matter I hope I'm drunk enough that it won't bother me either ha!
With the addition of Kaylene the only thing that will be changing is our plans for a rental car. We will now have to upgrade to a larger vehicle. Doesn't seem like a big thing, but holy hell did it change the cost.
My next post will be about renting a car in Ireland. That my friends is definitely a different experience than it is here in the states. The hard thing to find is a rental agency that is straight forward with all their charges!
More to come yet again and we're still 3 months out from the adventure!!
Ireland B&Bs
So from my previous post you can see that we have put the cart before the horse and we booked our flight & the 2nd week of our travels, but we didn't lay out the plan for the rest of the trip.
What the hell were we thinking. Okay, to be honest what we were thinking was pretty awesome and the rest should just fall into place right. Well perhaps it would if we knew what the hell we were doing.
I have been put in charge of finding the accommodations for the remainder of the trip since Bettina found the airfare to get us there. Well that is good and bad depending on my friends and what they may have had in mind. Why you ask? Well you see I have this idealized vision of Ireland and what the trip should look like. As a result I refuse to look at any major hotel chain, or any hotel chain for that matter. I made the executive decision that we are going to stay 100% of the time at bed & breakfasts.
I just want to put a huge thank you out there in the universe to Rick Steves. Without his book I'm not sure where I would have stared. Thanks to him I was able to get the swing of things as far as what to look for and what is reasonable etc. As you read this I have no officially booked the remainder of our trip!!
We will be starting off at a nice looking B&B in Dublin called The Fitzwilliam Townhouse. It appear to be close to Trinity College & within walking distance to a great many things that are on our list of things to do. This is of course until the drinking starts, then I'm sure it will be more like a long ass walk that will never end as we get lost every 5 minutes...just sayin.
Next we will be going to Donegal for 1 night. This B&B is my friend's favorite choice. Again mind you that all I had to go by when booking was online reviews (which can be good & sometimes just terrible LOL) Anyway, in Donegal we will be staying at the Drumcorroy B&B. This is an actual working sheep farm! Now aside from the fear of stepping in sheep poo or hearing them bleet all night, it sounds kinda cool. I mean if you imagine Irleand don't you see sheep blocking the roads etc....well we're going to be spending a night at the source of the sheep blockades ha!
Luckily for 2 nights a friend will be putting us up as he lives near Belfast. Thank god a local who will be able to not only tell us where to go, but he can actually tell us how to get there. I'm looking forward to that, even if it means that someone might be sleeping on the floor or a couch etc.
After Dublin we will be moseying our way down the coast to a place called Kinsale. The B&B there is called the Ashgrove Guesthouse. Now online this place gets awesome reviews as far as the quality of the breakfasts...is the proprietor that gets mixed reviews. I have made i my mission to make her love us before we get there & I have been sickeningly cordial in each of my emails to her. Hopefully she will actually be looking forward to our arrival.
After Kinsale we are onto the cottage we booked (as mentioned in the prior blog post)
Finally our last place we will be staying is called the Tudor Lodge which is in Glendalough. You should look this one up online, its a very pretty looking B&B.
The one thing that I think I've enjoyed about setting up the trip for my friends is that I am now on a first name basis with most of the proprietors for the B&Bs we will be staying at. I have to say this is a much more personalized way to go and even if the accommodations suck, it is already 10x better than any hotel chain and the experience is way better!
I would totes suggest that b&bs are the way to go no matter where you plan to travel!
What the hell were we thinking. Okay, to be honest what we were thinking was pretty awesome and the rest should just fall into place right. Well perhaps it would if we knew what the hell we were doing.
I have been put in charge of finding the accommodations for the remainder of the trip since Bettina found the airfare to get us there. Well that is good and bad depending on my friends and what they may have had in mind. Why you ask? Well you see I have this idealized vision of Ireland and what the trip should look like. As a result I refuse to look at any major hotel chain, or any hotel chain for that matter. I made the executive decision that we are going to stay 100% of the time at bed & breakfasts.
I just want to put a huge thank you out there in the universe to Rick Steves. Without his book I'm not sure where I would have stared. Thanks to him I was able to get the swing of things as far as what to look for and what is reasonable etc. As you read this I have no officially booked the remainder of our trip!!
We will be starting off at a nice looking B&B in Dublin called The Fitzwilliam Townhouse. It appear to be close to Trinity College & within walking distance to a great many things that are on our list of things to do. This is of course until the drinking starts, then I'm sure it will be more like a long ass walk that will never end as we get lost every 5 minutes...just sayin.
Next we will be going to Donegal for 1 night. This B&B is my friend's favorite choice. Again mind you that all I had to go by when booking was online reviews (which can be good & sometimes just terrible LOL) Anyway, in Donegal we will be staying at the Drumcorroy B&B. This is an actual working sheep farm! Now aside from the fear of stepping in sheep poo or hearing them bleet all night, it sounds kinda cool. I mean if you imagine Irleand don't you see sheep blocking the roads etc....well we're going to be spending a night at the source of the sheep blockades ha!
Luckily for 2 nights a friend will be putting us up as he lives near Belfast. Thank god a local who will be able to not only tell us where to go, but he can actually tell us how to get there. I'm looking forward to that, even if it means that someone might be sleeping on the floor or a couch etc.
After Dublin we will be moseying our way down the coast to a place called Kinsale. The B&B there is called the Ashgrove Guesthouse. Now online this place gets awesome reviews as far as the quality of the breakfasts...is the proprietor that gets mixed reviews. I have made i my mission to make her love us before we get there & I have been sickeningly cordial in each of my emails to her. Hopefully she will actually be looking forward to our arrival.
After Kinsale we are onto the cottage we booked (as mentioned in the prior blog post)
Finally our last place we will be staying is called the Tudor Lodge which is in Glendalough. You should look this one up online, its a very pretty looking B&B.
The one thing that I think I've enjoyed about setting up the trip for my friends is that I am now on a first name basis with most of the proprietors for the B&Bs we will be staying at. I have to say this is a much more personalized way to go and even if the accommodations suck, it is already 10x better than any hotel chain and the experience is way better!
I would totes suggest that b&bs are the way to go no matter where you plan to travel!
Friday, April 6, 2012
2102...the year I will finally see Ireland live and in person!
It all started when my friend from college decided to make a life change & move to Arizona from Ohio. I offered to let her move into the spare room of my house for a few months until she could find a place of her own. I hadn't seen Tracy in over 10+ years when I extended this offer. Well it turned out to be a life changer for me too. You see when she got here we started to catch up and one night as we were talking about my mom (who by the way loved all things Irish) Tracy happened to mention how she and a friend of her from OH we're wanting to plan a trip to Ireland this year. Naturally I invited myself Long!
Well as it turns out, Tracy's friend picked up a new job & can't afford to take the time off to go anymore. Now the trip had become Tracy & I alone. Not that I don't want to travel alone with my friend, but how much fun would it be if some of our other friends could come along as well. Thus the recruitment began.
First I mention the trip to my bestie, Roxy. I explain to her that I will be planning the trip & that I would love to have her along too...I mean how could I possibly begin to plan an international road trip with my best road tripping friend! ((I may have also mentioned to her that I was going to take some of my mom's ashes so she could eternally play in the land she always dreamed of)). So fruits of that labor equal exactly 2 mushy "maybe" responses...maybe yes for the whole trip and maybe yes for just 1 week of the 2 week adventure.
Next I mention the trip to Bettina and Joe. I've also known them for several years now and they too know how I have always wanted to travel to the land of the great Guinness makers! Well they were totes excited for me and hoped I had a good time but they didn't think they could make it either...but they would think about it. Thats all I had to hear, it's like from the movie Dumb & Dumber....they were saying I had a chance! Every time I saw them I was talking about the trip in one way or another. Lucky for me, one night I needed to have my kitchen faucet replaced (that's a whole different story, lets just say ugh, plumbing in my house is a nightmare). I asked Joe to come help me as he is 1. A good handyman & 2. A good guy that I knew would help a girl out. As it turns out, Bettina agreed to come ov with him to help me do some research for the trip online so she can see if it is realistic for them to consider joining in.
As luck would have it once agin, Bettina happened to mention that it might be better to look into "self catered" rental homes since we were to be going for 2 weeks. I was manning my computer, Bettina her iPad & Joe my kitchen faucet. Bettina & I found several maybe options but nothing that made us move the trip from a pipe dream to reality. Nothing that is until we googled thatched roof cottages. We figured if we were going to doa this, we might as well do it right. Well we found a cute little place that was love upon first site. It is called Barley Cove Thatched Cottage.
Is little cottage had Bettina & I giddy with excitement! Here is why:
1. It is cute as hell
2. It was available for the week we wanted to go (nearly all the others were not)
3. It is in the perfect location to serve as a base for day tripping around western and southern Ireland
4. It is big enough for all 4 people + more if Roxy & her husband find a way to swing the trip
5. it is only €595 for the entire week!
Holy shit this was like the Holy grail of places to stay. Bettina agrees to call them the next morning to check to see if we can book it. What happened was that we ended up finding an emails address for the proprietor on the cottage website. We email her & presto this shit just got real, we have booked a rental cottage for the second week of our trip! A wonderfully nice woman named Fidelma McNamera let us know that she lives next door & that she will be providing us with eggs fresh from their hens each morning & that we will also get to meet their mules, Stella & Toby. Oh my god that email made e whole thing even better!
Bettina confided in me that before finding the cottage, she & Joe had agreed that they would gracefully back out that night when they came over to fix my faucet, but that cottage totes changed their minds. Now in case you're wondering what happened to Tracy in all this...well she works nights when the planning unexpectedly jumped into high gear. She was by the way totes onboard with our plans anyway. Turns out, she actually prefers that Bettina & I take the reigns for the planning. Ok..really I'm totes all over that.
Well now let's recap, the trip that did not include me added me, then became me & Tracy, now has become me, Tracy, Bettina & Joe with a chance of a Roxy & Kevin siting somewhere along the lines. Awesom!!
Anyway, we have a friggen cottage booked for a week but no flight there yet. Talk about putting the cart enforce the horse. Anyway, we decided we best get on the ball as July is peak travel season in Ireland and most likely flights prices were going to do nothing but go up. Bettina is my online travel stalker. I think she probably checks flight prices frequently so she can daydream about faraway places. Thanks to that obsession she found us a killer deal compared to some of the prices we had found earlier. Now understand this, Bettina is quite literally a dedicated and loved high school teacher, I am quite literally like the dad from the Incredibles...a boring claims adjuster. S one day we are both diligently slaving away at our respective jobs when I receive a text from Bettina telling me about the killer flight info. The catch is that the travel site she found will not allow us to use multiple credit cards as we were hoping (ie. each of us provides our own). As a result we made an executive decision that Bettina would book 2 flights, 1 for her & the other for Joe and I would book the oth two, 1 for me and one for Tracy. We were paranoid that if we didn't book immediately that we would lose the rates since they have been changing hourly...what is one to do in this kind of situation. Bet your sweet ass you're right, we both decide to boom right then & there without checking with our two other traevel friends. Bettina is trying to book it before her students arrive (which was in about 5 minutes) while I was looking over my shoulder every few seconds to ensure there was no random manager walk by.
I don't know why, but I was nervous as hell to hit the confirm button. Bettina was too, probably because it was a lot of money when you considered we were each about to book 2 international flights each. However it happened, in our excitement we found that we booked a flight that has a 13 hour layover in London on the way home. Oops...
Okay so you read that right...13 hours to kill in an airport...what to do...well holy hell guess what...our luck was still proving to be holding on strong. You see, while we have a huge layover, it also turns up that the 2012 Summer Olympics are in London this year & they start 2 days before we have the layover!
Looks like a trip to Ireland with a short day in London is in my future with good friends and a guaranteed good tie!!
Two words...bad ass!!
More to come...
It all started when my friend from college decided to make a life change & move to Arizona from Ohio. I offered to let her move into the spare room of my house for a few months until she could find a place of her own. I hadn't seen Tracy in over 10+ years when I extended this offer. Well it turned out to be a life changer for me too. You see when she got here we started to catch up and one night as we were talking about my mom (who by the way loved all things Irish) Tracy happened to mention how she and a friend of her from OH we're wanting to plan a trip to Ireland this year. Naturally I invited myself Long!
Well as it turns out, Tracy's friend picked up a new job & can't afford to take the time off to go anymore. Now the trip had become Tracy & I alone. Not that I don't want to travel alone with my friend, but how much fun would it be if some of our other friends could come along as well. Thus the recruitment began.
First I mention the trip to my bestie, Roxy. I explain to her that I will be planning the trip & that I would love to have her along too...I mean how could I possibly begin to plan an international road trip with my best road tripping friend! ((I may have also mentioned to her that I was going to take some of my mom's ashes so she could eternally play in the land she always dreamed of)). So fruits of that labor equal exactly 2 mushy "maybe" responses...maybe yes for the whole trip and maybe yes for just 1 week of the 2 week adventure.
Next I mention the trip to Bettina and Joe. I've also known them for several years now and they too know how I have always wanted to travel to the land of the great Guinness makers! Well they were totes excited for me and hoped I had a good time but they didn't think they could make it either...but they would think about it. Thats all I had to hear, it's like from the movie Dumb & Dumber....they were saying I had a chance! Every time I saw them I was talking about the trip in one way or another. Lucky for me, one night I needed to have my kitchen faucet replaced (that's a whole different story, lets just say ugh, plumbing in my house is a nightmare). I asked Joe to come help me as he is 1. A good handyman & 2. A good guy that I knew would help a girl out. As it turns out, Bettina agreed to come ov with him to help me do some research for the trip online so she can see if it is realistic for them to consider joining in.
As luck would have it once agin, Bettina happened to mention that it might be better to look into "self catered" rental homes since we were to be going for 2 weeks. I was manning my computer, Bettina her iPad & Joe my kitchen faucet. Bettina & I found several maybe options but nothing that made us move the trip from a pipe dream to reality. Nothing that is until we googled thatched roof cottages. We figured if we were going to doa this, we might as well do it right. Well we found a cute little place that was love upon first site. It is called Barley Cove Thatched Cottage.
Is little cottage had Bettina & I giddy with excitement! Here is why:
1. It is cute as hell
2. It was available for the week we wanted to go (nearly all the others were not)
3. It is in the perfect location to serve as a base for day tripping around western and southern Ireland
4. It is big enough for all 4 people + more if Roxy & her husband find a way to swing the trip
5. it is only €595 for the entire week!
Holy shit this was like the Holy grail of places to stay. Bettina agrees to call them the next morning to check to see if we can book it. What happened was that we ended up finding an emails address for the proprietor on the cottage website. We email her & presto this shit just got real, we have booked a rental cottage for the second week of our trip! A wonderfully nice woman named Fidelma McNamera let us know that she lives next door & that she will be providing us with eggs fresh from their hens each morning & that we will also get to meet their mules, Stella & Toby. Oh my god that email made e whole thing even better!
Bettina confided in me that before finding the cottage, she & Joe had agreed that they would gracefully back out that night when they came over to fix my faucet, but that cottage totes changed their minds. Now in case you're wondering what happened to Tracy in all this...well she works nights when the planning unexpectedly jumped into high gear. She was by the way totes onboard with our plans anyway. Turns out, she actually prefers that Bettina & I take the reigns for the planning. Ok..really I'm totes all over that.
Well now let's recap, the trip that did not include me added me, then became me & Tracy, now has become me, Tracy, Bettina & Joe with a chance of a Roxy & Kevin siting somewhere along the lines. Awesom!!
Anyway, we have a friggen cottage booked for a week but no flight there yet. Talk about putting the cart enforce the horse. Anyway, we decided we best get on the ball as July is peak travel season in Ireland and most likely flights prices were going to do nothing but go up. Bettina is my online travel stalker. I think she probably checks flight prices frequently so she can daydream about faraway places. Thanks to that obsession she found us a killer deal compared to some of the prices we had found earlier. Now understand this, Bettina is quite literally a dedicated and loved high school teacher, I am quite literally like the dad from the Incredibles...a boring claims adjuster. S one day we are both diligently slaving away at our respective jobs when I receive a text from Bettina telling me about the killer flight info. The catch is that the travel site she found will not allow us to use multiple credit cards as we were hoping (ie. each of us provides our own). As a result we made an executive decision that Bettina would book 2 flights, 1 for her & the other for Joe and I would book the oth two, 1 for me and one for Tracy. We were paranoid that if we didn't book immediately that we would lose the rates since they have been changing hourly...what is one to do in this kind of situation. Bet your sweet ass you're right, we both decide to boom right then & there without checking with our two other traevel friends. Bettina is trying to book it before her students arrive (which was in about 5 minutes) while I was looking over my shoulder every few seconds to ensure there was no random manager walk by.
I don't know why, but I was nervous as hell to hit the confirm button. Bettina was too, probably because it was a lot of money when you considered we were each about to book 2 international flights each. However it happened, in our excitement we found that we booked a flight that has a 13 hour layover in London on the way home. Oops...
Okay so you read that right...13 hours to kill in an airport...what to do...well holy hell guess what...our luck was still proving to be holding on strong. You see, while we have a huge layover, it also turns up that the 2012 Summer Olympics are in London this year & they start 2 days before we have the layover!
Looks like a trip to Ireland with a short day in London is in my future with good friends and a guaranteed good tie!!
Two words...bad ass!!
More to come...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)