Ireland 2013! Finally!

[HollyH]

We did it! After years of waiting for the timing, and the $, to be right, we finally were able to do it and this morning we booked the Emerald Isle for July 2, 2013 and could NOT be more thrilled and excited! Love to know if anyone else is going too. DH & myself and our DS (26) and DD (22). We also added a pre and post day.

So excited I can't get my cheeks out of my eyebrows!

 

[tufbuf]

Congratulations!! I can feel your excitement! We haven't done the Ireland ABD yet but I am quite sure you will have so much fun in this trip. It will be so worth it!!

 

[newrygirl]

Just have to chime in to say you are going to love this trip. I grew up in Ireland and moved to Canada when I was 14, to this day I still miss it. It is a beautiful country and the people are amazing. We have travelled to many places with our boys, we spent 3 weeks there with our boys when they were 11 and 15 and even now 5 years later when we talk about all the trips we have been on they both say Ireland was there favourite, even over Disneyworld. We are going again next Summer 2013 also. If we give our boys the chance to pick our holiday they will pick Ireland hands down. You and your family are in for a treat, you will come back with a different outlook on life My disname is actually the town in Ireland where I grew up. "Newry"

 

[sayhello]

Congrats! I've heard wonderful things about the Ireland trip!

Check out the Ireland trip Meets Thread here: Right now there's no-one listed on your trip, but there's someone on the trip right after yours.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2933935

Sayhello

 

[HollyH]

Newrygirl we will kiss the blarney stone for you! How exciting to have grown up there. Both our families, my DH & I, have our roots in Ireland. Matter of fact we laugh we're probably distantly related. We both can trace back to castles that are both so close to Dromoland! His is Dunguaire, 40 min north and mine is Fanningstown, 40 min south. That's why we're doing a post day to take a trip to see a little of our heritage. I'm certain, even though my kids are older, they'll have great memories from this.

Thanks for the meet thread sayhello. I didn't see it earlier. ABD said our trip was up to 18 persons (including us) so hopefully someone is on the Disboards and we can connect.

So excited!

 

[kmc33]

Hi Holly,
We recently booked the July 2nd trip too! We have been talking about going to Ireland for a number of years and we are so excited we finally booked this. It will be our first ABD trip. There are three of us going, DH, DS (13), and myself.

 

[HollyH]

Kim! How exciting your going too! It's our first ABD trip also. When we booked they said there were 18 of us so far. Looking forward to getting to know you before we go!

Holly

 

[ctl]

I was in Ireland during July and just wanted to say, be sure to take your winter coat. It was very cold for me and I actually grew up there. There were 2 mild days while i was there, but most other days the temps were 54-56 ish (F). I would definitely take a warm jacket. Other than that, have a great time. I did!

 

[rpbert1]

Hope you all have a great time. I live just outside Belfast, and after the last few summers if you could call them that bring your ponchos as it has rained a lot. will be in Dublin at somestage in July, to drop DD 16 off for a weeks jockey trial at Kildare no dates yet, but maybe meet up with some of you guys when you are here if your itenerary works out. We prefer to go to Florida or california to visit relatives and the Sunshine lol.

HollyH, we have cousins who live just outside Louisville, have not there address to hand and know its a big place. She did a lot of work with Autistic children society, her name is Laurie Spezzano and her hubby is Tony Spezzano

 

[HollyH]

rpbert1: Now that's A Small World! I believe (after I Googled them) your cousins are the next town over from us. We actually live in Buckner, KY which is a small town NE of Louisville. I believe they are in Crestwood, KY. I just list Louisville as our hometown because its more familiar. They are probably less than 10 miles away. Laurie is listed with the University of Louisville where both my kids went to school. Wow!

And we will bring ponchos!

Holly

 

[rpbert1]

Hi Holly, yeah it is a small world, hope you have a great time here in Ireland, and hope it does stay dry for you all when you are here.

Robert

 

[allforpooh]

We took this trip last June, Loved, Loved, Loved it. We were there the end of June, and had a variety of weather from cold and rainy to warm. Based on suggestions from the disboards we decided to bring layers and that worked out great. Short sleeve and long sleeve shirts/t-shirts, light sweater, light to med weight fleece, and a rain coat. On the coldest day, I wore long sleeve cotton shirt, light sweater, light fleece....if it was windy I wore my rain coat over it all. A neck scarf is also really nice to have....they have some great ones that you can buy there.

Don't forget to try the Ice Cream, its the best we have ever had.

At the end of the trip when you are staying at the Castle, there are activities that you can do (additional fee), we did the Owls...and it was awesome.

Another suggestion that worked out great was to take a small power strip.

Denise

 

[HollyH]

Great clothing suggestions everyone. Thanks ctl & Denise. Any suggestions on footwear?

 

[allforpooh]

Think comfort and it depends on how you like to dress. I ended up wearing Jeans most of the time, and capris when the weather was a little nicer. I did bring a black knit skirt that I could wear with a couple of different dressy shirts. It is very casual, there is one dinner at the end of the week that is dress up, but nothing fancy. For shoes I had Merrell barefoot tenna shoes, which were extremely comfortable, but I think any good tenna shoe would work. I also had a very comfortable pair of black crochet TOMS, also great to walk in. A pair of Teva sandals, that I wore in London(we visited London the week before and then flew to Dublin from there), but didn't wear them in Ireland.

Pack a backpack or some kind of bag to carry stuff in for the bus. I had a small daypack that I used for walking around - camera, very sm med kit(bandaids, motrin etc) and anything that you would want while you walk around. But you can also carry a separate bag for the bus, you can keep extra stuff in it like rain coats, umbrella's, things to do on the bus(books, cards etc) this bag can be left on the bus while walking around.

Denise

 

[JacksGirlz]

We were scheduled for our first ABD to Egypt but that was canceled this week so we are rescheduling for ABD Germany (June 21 - 29) followed by this trip to Ireland (July 2 - 9). It will be myself and my DD who will be turning 15 on July 1st. I figured that since we're paying for such an expensive flight we should make it worth our while. Planning to arrive 2 days early on June 30th so we won't be traveling on DD's birthday. Any suggestions for a teenagers birthday in Dublin?

 

[knewton64]

We did it! After years of waiting for the timing, and the $, to be right, we finally were able to do it and this morning we booked the Emerald Isle for July 2, 2013 and could NOT be more thrilled and excited! Love to know if anyone else is going too. DH & myself and our DS (26) and DD (22). We also added a pre and post day.

So excited I can't get my cheeks out of my eyebrows!

, , & !!!!!!
(and congrats).



Have fun, enjoy and bring back lots of fun memories
(that and be sure and take lots of pics).



From the atmosphere to the weather = ya can't go wrong with the Emerald Aisle.





Cheers

&


T.T.F.N.

 

[rpbert1]

rpbert1: Now that's A Small World! I believe (after I Googled them) your cousins are the next town over from us. We actually live in Buckner, KY which is a small town NE of Louisville. I believe they are in Crestwood, KY. I just list Louisville as our hometown because its more familiar. They are probably less than 10 miles away. Laurie is listed with the University of Louisville where both my kids went to school. Wow!

And we will bring ponchos!

Holly

Oh forgot to say, yes thats them , not sure what she did at the university, but they are into their horses, which i suppose a lot of people
are there

 

[bee86]

We did it! After years of waiting for the timing, and the $, to be right, we finally were able to do it and this morning we booked the Emerald Isle for July 2, 2013 and could NOT be more thrilled and excited! Love to know if anyone else is going too. DH & myself and our DS (26) and DD (22). We also added a pre and post day.

So excited I can't get my cheeks out of my eyebrows!

Wow so excited for you! I'm a bit late in seeing this post but Im Irish living in Ireland so if you need any advice or help with your trip just let me know! Happy planning

 

[glassslipper2004]

Such a happy thread! I love "so excited I can't get my cheeks out of my eyebrows"!

 

[sayhello]

Such a happy thread! I love "so excited I can't get my cheeks out of my eyebrows"!

I totally agree!

Sayhello