MY "ADVENTURES N IRELAND" TRIP REPORT; JUNE 2011 (w/pics & video)

[knewton64]

(one of the many surprises left for me for this upcoming vacation while @ WDW's POFQ; Oct 2010)



Top of the Morning to you!

And what a wonderful past 3o days it has been as a lot has been acomplished with lots stilll left to do about all things Ireland but hey - atleast I have stopped yo -yo ing in regards to my diet!


YYEEAA!!!!!

I have lost 4 pounds with a little over 90 more days to go with the biggest accomplishment being stablizing my weight and beginning to reverse the trend....just in time for Ireland.

Biggest culprit?

Sodas (ouch!).


Anywho -


Onwards to about my fav topic........


Dublin.
(I am almost 3/4 the way through reading "The Ulysses" - very hard to follow but not bad reading material).



One of the things I have noticed about Dublin is that it's very important to do some basic research before you head off and see the sights.
And see the sights I plan on a doing as the city's "Hop off - Hop on" bus system is going to be very helpful in what I plan on seeing while there.

There is a lot to choose from with me planning on seeing places in the afternoon (during "on your own time") anywhere from Kilmainham Gaol (ok....so I am a history nut...I will admit it), to Saint Patrick's Cathedral and a few other places - just in time to boogy on back by 6pm to what I term Gogarty's but the real/official name of the pub is Oliver St john Gogarty's; located just a wee bit northeast from the entrance to Trinity College.

Why you ask??

I figure by then spending a wonderful day in such a beautiful city such as Dublin - ya gotta find a even "funner" (that's the word for the day...."funner") way to cap it off by a dinner and a music pub crawl.

Their restaurant menu I have checked out and is not bad - so it's a toss between either #17 or #21 but of course what's a nice dinner like that doing without something to drink?

So after a nice bite to eat and a Guiness, then it's off for the start of the music pub crawl....which starts of course at Gogartys as I plan on having a fun (opps! I meant to say funner) evening afterwards throwing a game or two of darts at some of the pubs before taking a cab back to the hotel.

Cabs are easy to hail; just ask the bar keep and they will call one for you. Nothing wrong with having a great time in Dublin - great and SAFE time is what I have in mind.


Anywho -
so...ya got on your running shoes?? Cuz this is me and what I do when I am on vacation. I live off of Dr Pepper and rice krispy treats/chex mix while out and about---- which reminds me -



About that hotel conversation I had a few weeks back about Dr Pepper (the equivalent of my morning coffee) -.


So I e-mail them asking kindly that I am a on the go a lot traveler and that I was wondering if they would happen to carry Dr Pepper since it would be just great if they do, etc.

They write back:
"What's Dr Pepper?"


Immediately, I flashed back mentally to a bar in northeast Montanna (mid 1980's) when I asked the barkeep there for a Slice. He asked me with a gruff in his voice, "A slice of w-h-a-t!?"

(Slice was a soda beverage sold by the Pepsico Company back then).


So, with a funny visual of the restaurant scene in the first "Back to the Future" movies also in my head, I picked up my keypad and gently explained to them what Dr Pepper is.....as I look over to my Dr Pepper sunglasses and my Dr Pepper coasters, etc in my home.

Hmmmmm..... looks like the front desk there will be receiving from me one or 2 Dr Pepper assorted things (I live less then a 2 hour drive from where it is made) as I also introduce to them my Texan twang.



Anywho -


And lastly, no vacation is complete without making sure my best buddy has her hotel ressies all secured as well. So my 14 yr old (Beagle) got her hotel room all secured.....at $12 a night just a few days ago.

("Ladybug" still having fun - @ 14 yrs of age)


$12/night.....hmmmmmmm.....now only if we humans would get that kind of rate on our rooms.




and with that, gotta go for now. I can tell this is beginning to shape up into a really nice hop across the pond for this first timer.


Looking foward to it & as always - will promise to take lots of video and pics where I can.





:UP NEXT


why leaving work and heading straight onto DFW airport (for Ireland) won't drive me "Goofy"....






T.T.F.N.

 

[perfectyears]

ireland is such a beautifull place you will love it

 

[persimmondeb]

I have never seen Dr. Pepper there, but if you like orange/lemon soda try Lilt, which is really good, kind of like Orangina.

 

[MyLittlePiglet]

Kilmanman (sp) Gaol was AMAZING (I am a historian). St. John Gorherty's (sp) was also lots of fun. They had a band most nights on the second floor. By forwarned of you are thinking about eating late night pub food as snack, most of the bars stop serving early. It isn't like US where the kitchen is at last open w/ appetizers....

Dublin Castle I feel is a must. Guiness store/factory was very commerical but the view from the bar on top of the factory..... FABULOUS! Anyway if you have anay questions that I might be able to help w/ let me know. oh and as to one of the posts we got some euros here from back, but it was very easy to use ATM, but be warned some banks will require you contact them and "activate" that you are going to be using foreign ATMS and that it is you so to speak.

 

[petals]

Hi! I'm from Ireland so maybe I can be of some help to you if ya have any questions for your trip from what you already asked:

And I would like to have - say 2-3 yards of Guiness with my evening meal and don't have an issue with spending the money to have a nice meal.

We don't do yard's we do pints Also unless you eat in a "pub" (I believe they're called bars stateside) or restaurant in a hotel you prob won't be able to have Guiness with your meal. Some restaurants may have cans you can buy but it tends to be rare outside of pubs and hotels eg: there's a cafe in Dublin called Cafe Kylemore you wouldn't get Guiness there with your meal! Also when in Dublin you can visit the Guiness Brewery which I think you'll like!

Q: Can you take your laptop with you on the plane??

I have seen people taking laptops on planes to Ireland. When we travelled to Orlando and back people were allowed take one small suitcase type of bag and a smaller piece of hand luggage on board. Only thing they were really strict with was weight in our check in luggage it had to be not above 50 lbs!

Q: Anyone play any dart games while over there?? In the bars I mean.

If you want to play darts you're prob going to need to go to one of the smaller pubs!

..is that a grocery store??? I looked up M & S on the internet and up popped up them being listed as a grocery store. Tea & cookies does sound good though - a huge thank you for the tip.

Marks and Spencers is an english grocery store. We have centra and supervalu and Dunnes Stores as the main irish ones and then there's Tesco (english), Lidl and Aldi (both german.) If you're looking for Irish food to bring home Tayto (they're what stateside would call chips we call them crisps) Cheese and onion being the best imho! Lyons Tea. Cadbury Chocolate! I can't think right now what other foods you would be able to take home but most of the grocery stores will have them (lidl and aldi being the exception to some of the products although lidl do have more irish food now as well) all this stuff will obviously be cheaper in grocery stores as well. You can also buy Guiness in supermarkets cheaper

Laundry......... on what part of the trip (beginning, middle, end) did you take care of any laundry needs?? Where?

Flight over to Ireland.....ok?? did you feel a need to bring some things to keep you occupied??

There will be various laundrettes in Dublin if you look for them that may be cheaper than getting laundry done in your hotel I'm not sure what way it works really in Irish hotels as never used it obv!

On our flight to america they played movies going over and coming back we had our own screen which had movies, television programmes and games. You could bring a book or puzzles to amuse yourself as well but I'd sleep if you can as there's approx a five hour time difference so sleeping on the plane will help with Jet lag!

Clothing? Will do 2 pair pants and 2 shorts, etc.

Eh bring a raincoat! It rains most of the time here. June could be sunny but most likely it won't be warm enough for shorts but I would say bring a mix of warm and cooler clothes as really you could quite possibly get for seasons in one day in Ireland and the weather has been getting crazier lately we've had almost two months of snow at the end of last year and we never had that much snow before. Last summer in July and August we had heat waves where it hit 30 degrees normally "heat wave" for Ireland would be 15 degrees so not that warm!

Cider?? OMG - I LOVE CIDER!!!! WHERE????????

Ask for Bulmers when you go to pub or hotel bars

Protests in the Dublin streets about the euro...., etc.

and I have a vacation set for Ireland June 11th for 9 days.

Hope they get their act together financially but ouch! No other country wants to help them....

In Ireland tomorrow we have an election for new government. The last one spent all the countries money and ran up major bills so basically left the country in ruins money wise and they country has had to borrow from European Union to try sort out the banks! Most likely they won't have their act together financially by June but it shouldn't affect your vacation alot except for the fact that compared to American prices everything here will seem really really expensive... eg: I got trainers in America for 18 dollars over here the same trainers are 45 euro which would be approzx 62 dollars.

Funny you say cuz this is one place I really wanted to see but I can't be away from my job that long (Gen Mgr only allows me a max of 10 days away from home at a time).

So car rental is out of the question (I am also on a group tour).

if you really really want to go to Belfast you can get a train from Dublin Connolly station to Belfast.

If you have anything else I can help you with feel free to pm or ask here and I'll answer when I see it Main suggestion to you is bring a raincoat

 

[knewton64]

**************** http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1807240***********

- just double click on the above url and a little ditty about Danny Boy will play -



(what would a blog about Ireland be without those FAB Muppets!)



ANYWHO -

ireland is such a beautifull place you will love it

Ya know, the #1 thing I am looking forward to about this is taking in visually the sights and just pausing to take a moment and reflect.

I have never seen Dr. Pepper there, but if you like orange/lemon soda try Lilt, which is really good, kind of like Orangina.

hhhhmmmmm.....yes - that sounds like a good alternative to coffee or Dr Pepper in the am. Ok...I will be on the lookout for this when I over there as I need a good jolt in the am to get me started (since I am on my feet most of the previous day having fun and seeing things) Thanks for the good suggestion.

oh well - I guess

is just gonna have to wait for me until I get back to the U.S.

Kilmanman (sp) Gaol was AMAZING (I am a historian). St. John Gorherty's (sp) was also lots of fun. They had a band most nights on the second floor. By forwarned of you are thinking about eating late night pub food as snack, most of the bars stop serving early. It isn't like US where the kitchen is at last open w/ appetizers....

Dublin Castle I feel is a must. Guiness store/factory was very commerical but the view from the bar on top of the factory..... FABULOUS! Anyway if you have anay questions that I might be able to help w/ let me know. oh and as to one of the posts we got some euros here from back, but it was very easy to use ATM, but be warned some banks will require you contact them and "activate" that you are going to be using foreign ATMS and that it is you so to speak.

Now about late nights snacks while frequenting the pubs in Dublin......

RATS!

Didn't know that.......

but hey - thanks for the heads up/tip! Glad I now know this. Oh well...just means more I get to nibble on while at Gogarty's in the early evening. You bring up a good point about the Guiness Warehouse as oh yes - all of the stops while at Dublin I plan on reflecting back though my blog. And "jjuusstt" a few stops I plan on a makin'.......

A hhuuggee thank you to all for offering your suggestions as my overall objective is to have fun, enjoy, hit the ground running while over there but above all....be safe while enjoying the Emerald Aisle.
I welcome any other tips or suggestions anytime so feel free to chime in if the mood moves ya



More to Come I promise.


Only 2,472 more hours & I will be in Ireland.....but hey - whose countin'?


T.T.F.N.

 

[allforpooh]

I also want to say Thank You for all the great tips. We will be there the end of June so all recommendations are appreciated.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do in Dublin with an 18yr old? She loves history and shopping...

Thanks
Denise

 

[knewton64]

I also want to say Thank You for all the great tips. We will be there the end of June so all recommendations are appreciated.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do in Dublin with an 18yr old? She loves history and shopping...

Thanks
Denise

18 yr old in Dublin eh? Good question. Some of the things that come to mind when it comes to shopping:


Grafton Street, located between Trinity College and St Stephen's Green is the more smart shopping area with fashionable stores such as Brown Thomas, the department store catering for many designer showcases, both foreign and local. Dublin's leading and most exclusive jewellers, Weirs, is also here, as well as the most popular of the famous Bewley's Cafés. The nearby Powerscourt Townhouse (located on South William Street) one of the nicer, albeit small, shopping centres in the city. The southside's largest and one of the city's best shopping centres, the St. Stephen's Green Shopping Centre is located at the top south end) of Grafton Street. Some of the city's main bookshops are just around the corner on Dawson Street.
Georges Street/Camden Street
Georges Street, or South Great Georges Street to give it its full name, is home to the superb Georges Street Arcade, a red-bricked indoor market of stalls and stores offering everything from unusual fruits and foreign produce to second hand clothes, memorabilia, fortune telling and body piercing books and more. Behind the Arcade, near the Powerscourt Townhouse is the Castlemarket area, with numerous clothes and shoe shops and some fine food shops and restaurants.
Outside, the street has a number of home furnishing shops, trendy bars, music and art shops.
Georges Street continues south, through Aungier Street, to Camden Street, which features a daily outdoor food market and is crammed with little food, craft and gift shops.

Nassau Street/Trinity College Running the axis of the south side of Trinity College, Nassau Street is the main area for quality Irish design, including woollens and tweeds (both traditional and modern designer styles) and also ceramics and glassware.
For those of Irish ancestery are a number of heraldic shops so along with the designer shops Nassau Street is the ideal place for Irish gifts and souvenirs. The main bookstores are also nearby, with Eason's on the corner of Nassau Street and Dawson Street and also Hodges Figgis and Waterstones on Dawson Street.



BUT........


Imo, please wear a money belt. Yes, that may open a small discussion on this thread but from what I have been reading (Rick Steves Guide to Ireland) it is wise to wear a money belt.

It has taken me a while but I am used to wearing one now.




Now for the trickier side of your question. An 18 yr old and Dublin.

the only thing that comes to my mind what peaks her interest the most & go for it. Example, does she get into sports?

There is a sports museum in Dublin.


Let us know more and we will try to help assist u more on both sides of your ?.


ME?


One of the places I plan on hitting is a spa but NOT in Dublin (got too mouch going on in Dublin to schedule a spa retreat).


Details will be listed in my blog.




Now, some have asked me why Ireland.

I have always known I am 1/2 Irish but never really knew of some of the details until 1989 when...........

my Mom (3 months before she died) went on over to the Lockerbie, Edinburgh areas of Scotland and well......

made a stop on over in the Dublin area.


There she did some family research on our name and found some rather interesting results.

the most unique one being that in 1841, my Mom's Dad's Dad's Dad passed while "encountering" a bar fight.

What did him in??

He got hit over the head with a beer mug (she never found out who started it).



So, my courisity has me at its best plus Ireland is just so rich and deep in history that's well -



1/2 my heritage. I am also going to Ireland to do a little more diggin' into my family history (while in Ireland) as we go wwaayy back in regards to all things Irish.



T.B.C.

and....


T.T.F.N.

 

[petals]

I also want to say Thank You for all the great tips. We will be there the end of June so all recommendations are appreciated.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do in Dublin with an 18yr old? She loves history and shopping...

Thanks
Denise

Go see Leprechaun Museum I think it's Jervis street will double check that and the National History Museum.

Shopping wise, Grafton street and Henry street are main shopping streets but there's shopping centres close by you can get bus or luas (tram) to Liffey Valley you can get bus 66 or 67a on the yellow and blue buses in Dublin. Dundrum shopping centre you can get luas to. Blachardstown is another hueg shopping centre you could get a bus to not sure of the number for that though.

 

[redzinner]

The Musical Pub Crawl (Gogarty's) is very popular among the tourists. If you want to do it make sure you sign up for it early because spots go quickly. We did it and it was good fun.
We also did a Literary Walking tour which was fun. Quite a few of our fellow ABD travellers did it. We were an adult only group and our tour guides arranged it for us.
If you have free time before the ABD tour starts try to catch a tour of the Jameson Whiskey Distillery.
I loved Dublin ... enjoy your trip!

 

[WeLoveABD]

It's been a few years since we went to Ireland, but we had extra days in Dublin and loved the hop on/hop off bus--got us to a lot of great areas. My son--who was then 13--loved eating at the bar called The Duke, off of one of the side streets to Grafton. As noted somewhere in these posts the pub food is great, but only served until 6 or so (maybe even earlier).

 

[allforpooh]

Thanks everyone for all of the suggestions, we are really excited about Ireland and our first ABD trip.

We will be arriving Dublin early(10am) the day of the tour since we will be in London a week before the ABD tour. I have pages and pages of ideas now only to decide what we will be able to fit in.

Denise

 

[amsae]

We are heading to Ireland June 25 to July 2 and we have 24 in our Alumni Group. Come join us if you will or dare! This is our 6th ABD so hold on.

 

[sayhello]

We are heading to Ireland June 25 to July 2 and we have 24 in our Alumni Group. Come join us if you will or dare! This is our 6th ABD so hold on.

Wow! You guys are great. What are the other 5? (I've probably asked you this every year! )

I'm working on my 4th!

Sayhello

 

[amsae]

Sure. We love to share.
1. Quest for the west
2. Grand canyon one
3. Germany one. Added on Normandy and Paris beforehand, that was awsome. I can give more details if someone wants to know.
4. Table to yosemite to San Fran
5. alaska
6. Here we come Ireland .....

Best guides Jennae. Jason. Mike twice!!!!! Chris, Nadne,

Plus many more trips between our families.

Two trips to WDW and Disneyland

 

[knewton64]

The Musical Pub Crawl (Gogarty's) is very popular among the tourists. If you want to do it make sure you sign up for it early because spots go quickly. We did it and it was good fun.
We also did a Literary Walking tour which was fun. Quite a few of our fellow ABD travellers did it. We were an adult only group and our tour guides arranged it for us.
If you have free time before the ABD tour starts try to catch a tour of the Jameson Whiskey Distillery.
I loved Dublin ... enjoy your trip!

Outside shot per the Jameson Whiskey tour but I am seriously thinking about it - seems like fun to see how it is made and such. Got about 30 more days and I really really gotta figure if its a go or no go on this.

We are heading to Ireland June 25 to July 2 and we have 24 in our Alumni Group. Come join us if you will or dare! This is our 6th ABD so hold on.

I promise to leave plenty of sunny weather for ya!! 6th? I am sooooooooooooo jealous.

(menu from the Ireland pavillion -Epcot's F&W Festival; Oct. 2010)


and.....

(Fisherman's Pie, Bunratty Meade Honey wine and Lava cake @ F&W festival.....love the wine - YUM!!)



means.......
ok - so where did we leave off???




Anywho - so what a strange work week it has been with everyone all nervous about Febr & March's budget and this & that and all but got through it with not too much unnecessary melodrama to speak of (the Super Bowl crowd pushed us wwaayy over the top budget wise).
Everyone's happy including the General Manager who for some silly reason decided to relent and offer me more time on my vacation.

************************** H-U-H?? ************************

A hotel General Manager showing signs of being happy??

I dang near fainted when he told me this but quickly came to my senses and replied, "Thank you....

.....and I will."


So, now I gotta hurry up and think what to do with these extra 24 hours..........

use it as a post day back in the USA or..........



ah decisions decisions decisions...........



Will decide shortly.



But in the meantime, I finally got my spa treatment all reserved!!

This to me this is the "good night kiss" I like about any vacation I go on and I highly reccommend doing this for many many reasons. The first one being is I believe that you deserve just a wee bit of pampering while on vacation and why not do it up right with a spa?

I mean, ya worked hard these last few months and why not let yer hair down a bit?



In the go go go busy world that we live in, nothing more signifies total bliss than letting all your feelings, emotions, etc just melt away while having a spa treatment as you allow the whole world to come to you.

It also gives you alone time and allows you to totally focus in on "recharging" your emotional / physical batteries.

That.......

and considering I normally am up on my feet approx 12 hours a day anyway, having use of their spa facilities as well certainly will go a long way towards that "ah" feeling. Looking forward to my time there and promise to write more about it.



ANYWHO -

now about my day of departure from DFW.........

So I call my airline the other day and inquire about what I can bring onboard the plane and what not with being concerned about the long flight to Ireland (12 hours) and ....well........

I didn't wanna come across to others inside the airplane cabin as being -

shall we say -

"mal ordifious."


Barbara (airline rep) replied very kindly to me that she has great news that actually the flight is 6 hours long but with the TIME CHANGE of 6 hours, the total time used to get you over to Ireland will be 12 hours.


Now.......didn't I feel just a little bit "Goofy" for not picking up on this sooner.

Here I am sooooooooooooooo concerned about what to pack, etc I totally didn't realize there is a time change!!

DUH!!


So, its nice to know that I can still take all the necessary toilteries with me as long as they fit into a zip lock clear baggy, etc since I will be up and about since very early that morning at work ( I work 9.5 miles due east of DFW airport) and plan on leaving there mid morning to begin my journey. I know some of you my think WHAT??!?? but rest assured I am sooooo used to this kind of lifestyle as I have learned over time to get pockets of sleep throughout my day. Between work, my social life and "Ladybug," there is always something to keep me busy.



And speaking of keeping busy, somewhere I think while over into the Emerald Aisle, I hope I can find some Bunratty Meade Honey wine.

Why?
Last year while at WDW's F&W festival, I just fell in love with that stuff while visiting the Ireland pavillion!!

I mean YYUUMM!!

IMO, the flavor and texture of it was just wonderful and should be looked into if ya r into wine tasting and such. HHmmmmm.......mabey I can find some while over in Bunratty Folk park??

I put in a email to Durty Nellie's just today - am awaiting on a response. WIll let ya know shortly.



Speaking of pubs, I am noticing that most Irish restuarant menus list Prawns.

Ok.....so what the hey is a prawn??


Is it a shrimp?? A crawdad or ??????


So if anyone of ya wanna reply to this silly question, I would greatly appreciate this as inquiring minds wanna know. I like shrimp and am kinda leaning towards trying a prawn or two but would like to know just what in the heck are they.


Between that and I am curious as to what Irish coffee tastes like - I am always out to do something new while on vacation.



All right, gotta hop offline fer now. Only 2,232 more hours to go.......



Happy early Saint Patrick's day to all.



UP NEXT:

**What to do while in Killarney and what to do the night before I leave to go to Ireland**
and update on my weight loss quest



T.T.F.N.

 

[persimmondeb]

Prawns are what we call shrimp. It's unlikely that you'll find the Bunratty mead in a pub or restaurant, but an off-licence (liquor store) may well have it, and I'd be extremely surprised if you couldn't find it at Bunratty.

 

[knewton64]

Prawns are what we call shrimp. It's unlikely that you'll find the Bunratty mead in a pub or restaurant, but an off-licence (liquor store) may well have it, and I'd be extremely surprised if you couldn't find it at Bunratty.

A huge thank you for the answer as I was getting sorely tempted to put in a letter to one Mr. Pepino Rodrogo Serrano Gonzales (c/o the Jim Henson Company) and get his take on all of this.


Anywho -


Got an answer back from Durty Nellies concerning Bunratty Meade honeywine. Yes - they do offer it so that oughta go a long way to compliment any meal while visiting their neck of the woods.

And what a nicer way to enjoy their food and such as I have dropped 3 more pounds!

Total weight loss to date: 7 lbs -

....got 8 more to lose.


That good news about my weight has put me in the mood to do some shopping while I am in Kilarney - so count on some reviews on what they all have out there. I am really in the mood for a good blanket - possibly a few shirts and other things that I figure would look nice on me while I am visiting a "bonus" section of Ireland during my extra day I have chosen to use over there and not back in the U.S..




UP NEXT:


Trying to find "Nessie" (the unofficial mascot of my adventure) & if she can't be found - who will take her place??





T.T.F.N.

 

[knewton64]

So the other day driving home from work, I decided to go look for "Nessie" in hopes of convincing her to ajoin me on this adventure across the pond


BUT -

No dice!!

She couldn't be found anywhere!!

I looked and looked and looked some more until I was all looked out.


Still no Nessie.


I even looked at and even near her most recent location in my home.

no luck.

I even asked 'Ladybug."

Her reaction?




HHmmmmmm......User error as I need to learn to Ladybug proof my spare bedroom.

So an email just went in to my hotel contact over in Scotland for a replacement but....she has to dig and dig around to find one as those are a few years old.

RATS!! Where am I gonna find an unoffical mascot for my vacation @ this late hour??


Anywho -



Later on that evening, I thought I would cool my heals a bit over the loss of Nessie (while nibbling on some soup while watching some tv) when all of a sudden, I hear what sounded like a knocking on my front door......


...with a cane.


that startled Ladybug as she was just a barking (to alert me).

She & I head to the door as I pear through the peephole.

NO ONE THERE.

She and I sit back down and continue to watch tv.

A few minutes later, tap de tap tap tap tapping sound is again heard and this time I quickly ran to the door - threw it wide open and said:

WHAT?!



There....from out of the darkness, came him:

I recognized him immediately and smile as he motions with his cane to a chair inside my home. We both sit down and have a wonderful chat for the evening over a few beverages of choice as he understands that my nickname while growing up was Louie (as in Louie Duck since I am the youngest of 3 brothers and yup...we acted just like Huey, Dewey and Louie).

and since that info is what drew him to my address (how did he know?), he volunteered to be my unoffical mascot/guide for this adventure.



YYEEAA

So - be prepared for Mr. McDuck to pop up from time to time as he is not camera shy.



In other updates -


I feel that I have "changed" Ladybug's "shoes & pads" atleast twice in these past 3 weeks as our daily walks continue (little over a 75 minute brisk walk).



Weight loss: Little over 1 pound (ok its not quite 2 but wayy over 1 pound though)

Total weight loss so far: 8 pounds.
Total weight left to lose: 7



Now about my fav topic:


DUBLIN.



I had said earlier that I am considering visiting the Jameson whiskey distillery......


That is still in play - but I won't know until that day.

Seriously.


I have a LOT going on/ planned during this vacation as I am beginning to see that yes....there will be lots of pics and video being taken and shot as my blog is designed to be fun and entertaining for all.



I just have to now get my feet ready so my Irish spa therapist doesn't feel sorry for my them as like what happened when I was at the Grand Floridian flagship hotel (Orlando, Fl) last year for a spa retreat while at WDW and she told me,

"Oh dear, your poor feet!!"
(I am up on my feet all day while at work and the same while on any vacation) -



This is why I am sooooo thankful as part of my Irish spa retreat, my foot massage is comped (don't worry, I will tip well).


Only approximately 1050 more hours to go......


I am getting there.



T.T.F.N.





UP NEXT:


The receiving of my travel docs and thinking of one souvenir that best represent Ireland that I can bring back (yes, I am open to suggestions) to the United States.

 

[petals]

There are Carrolls Irish shops on O'Connell street, Talbot Street and Henry street also in Steohen's Green Shopping centre I'm sure you will find many things you can take home as souveniors there. They're cheaper souvies but you could always splash out on some Waterford Crystal or an Aran Jumper either!