April 9th & 10th - London

My last full day in London started out with breakfast in the hotel (it was included in my cost), then I took the tube over to the Waterloo Station to do the London Eye. There was a long line, but it moves fast. This was an experience - a little hard for me to do because I am scared of heights and the capsule is almost completely made of glass, but I enjoyed it (but no need to do it again) and got some good pictures. I decided to skip the Imperial War museum, and headed over to Harrods (this is a tradition, must do whenever I'm in London) for some shopping. I then walked up to Hyde Park where I saw the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain.I took a bus back to the hotel, then found an internet cafe to catch up on emails. I walked back to each of the theatres I'd been to the day before and took pictures of the marquis, stopped at a bookstore for the latest Harry Potter book in paperback, did a little bit of souvenier shopping, and explored Leister Square and Chinatown on my way back to the hotel (in the rain). I bought a smoked ham and mozarella baguette in a store at the Charing Cross Station then went back to the room. Packed up all my things and got ready to leave the next day.
I had arranged to have a taxi pick me up at 8am on the 10th, so I ate breakfast, checked out, and got into my cab to Paddington Station. I made it there in time for the 825am Heathrow Express train to the airport. I was scheduled on the 1150am United flight from Heathrow, through Washington Dulles, back into Orlando at 703pm. I spent some more money in the Duty Free shops before exchanging the remaining Pounds back in to US Dollars. I had another uneventful flight, and was happy to be home. My friends David and Jack were waiting for me as I walked off the plane, and they drove me to their home to pick up my car. This was a great trip, and I was happy to have shared this with my parents. Where will next year take me???

April 9th & 10th - London

My last full day in London started out with breakfast in the hotel (it was included in my cost), then I took the tube over to the Waterloo Station to do the London Eye. There was a long line, but it moves fast. This was an experience - a little hard for me to do because I am scared of heights and the capsule is almost completely made of glass, but I enjoyed it (but no need to do it again) and got some good pictures. I decided to skip the Imperial War museum, and headed over to Harrods (this is a tradition, must do whenever I'm in London) for some shopping. I then walked up to Hyde Park where I saw the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain.I took a bus back to the hotel, then found an internet cafe to catch up on emails. I walked back to each of the theatres I'd been to the day before and took pictures of the marquis, stopped at a bookstore for the latest Harry Potter book in paperback, did a little bit of souvenier shopping, and explored Leister Square and Chinatown on my way back to the hotel (in the rain). I bought a smoked ham and mozarella baguette in a store at the Charing Cross Station then went back to the room. Packed up all my things and got ready to leave the next day.
I had arranged to have a taxi pick me up at 8am on the 10th, so I ate breakfast, checked out, and got into my cab to Paddington Station. I made it there in time for the 825am Heathrow Express train to the airport. I was scheduled on the 1150am United flight from Heathrow, through Washington Dulles, back into Orlando at 703pm. I spent some more money in the Duty Free shops before exchanging the remaining Pounds back in to US Dollars. I had another uneventful flight, and was happy to be home. My friends David and Jack were waiting for me as I walked off the plane, and they drove me to their home to pick up my car. This was a great trip, and I was happy to have shared this with my parents. Where will next year take me???

April 8th - going our seperate ways - me to London, them to the US

We were picked up by a taxi at 8am on the 8th, and were at the airport at 825am. Mom and Dad were heading from Dublin on United/British Midland to London Heathrow, then on to Washington Dulles. I was going on Aer Lingus to London Heathrow, and then spending a few nights in London before heading back home. We got ourselves checked in, then waited at a coffee bar between gates B & C until it was time for our flights (both scheduled at 1150am, mine out of gate B, theirs out of gate C). We went our separate ways and then met back up at Heathrow for a last goodbye. Off they went back to the States, and after getting my suitcase, and changing some money I was off to London. I had originally planned on taking the Tube into London, but due to a wrong turn on my part ended up taking the Heathrow Express into Paddington Station, then the Tube from there to the Embankment station (using the Yellow line). I was staying right above here at the Thistle Charing Cross. I checked in, even though my room was not ready yet, left my bags and practically ran to the Palace Theatre to see Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Whistle down the Wind". I made it with 5 minutes to spare and was able to get an orchestra seat for the price of a nose-bleed section seat ($20 GBP). It was a good show - lots of first-timers on the West End Stage. After this ended, I walked over to the Dominion Theatre to see if they had seats available for that nights performance of "We will rock you" based on the music of the band Queen. I got lucky and was able to get one of the "cheap" seats for that night. I then headed back to the hotel to put my things in my room - I was assigned room 896 in the old section of the hotel. I got situated and rested only for a few minutes, then headed back to the Dominion Theatre for the show. That show was AMAZING! If you like Queen's music, this is a don't miss show. I can't wait to see it again (if the theatre had not been dark the next day, I would have seen it again). I stopped into a convience store on my way back to grab a quick bite to eat - I bought a premade dish that required no heating up (pasta with pesto, pine nuts and spinach), and ate it back in the room (I was back at 11pm).

April 5th-7th - Dublin

The 5th of April brought us another good breakfast (I really loved the fresh fruit), and some good conversation with some of the other guests. We checked out, dropped our bags over at the Kilronan House, then went to return the car rental (Dan Dooley has a location on Westland Row), then went sightseeing. We purchased tickets for the Dublin Bus Hop on/Hop off bus (a ticket is good for 24hrs, unlimited use during that period) and went for a ride around the city. We did a full loop to see where we would want to return, then we got off at Trinity College. We saw the Book of Kells, luckily before the groups of international students came in so we weren't rushed or crowded. We walked down to the Tourism Center on Suffolk Street (inside what used to be St Andrews Church), took the Hop on/Hop off bus back to St Stephen's Green which we then walked through to go back to the Kilronan House (about a 15 minute walk). We checked in and were given room 12 (Mom & Dad) and room 15 (me). I was supposed to get a single ensuite room, but was informed that they upgraded me to a double. Very nice rooms. Mom & Dad were in the new section in a room with skylights, while I was in the original section of the house (my room had the toilet/shower in the bathroom but the sink was in the bedroom area). We settled in, had a coffee, relaxed for a little bit, then were off again. We walked back to the St Stephen's Green Hop on/Hop off stop and took it to O'Connell Street. We walked around but most of the stores were already closed. We had made reservations for dinner at the Knightsbridge Bar (at the Arlington Hotel) as they had a show with live music and dancing, and decided to head over there. This show is definately geared towards tourists, but the food was good and the entertainment was enjoyable. We then took a cab back to the Kilronan House.
Thursday started out with some great choices for breakfast, a nice variety. We again got onto the Dublin Bus at the St Stephen's Green stop and headed over to St Patrick's Cathedral. That was breathtaking! The only thing that we thought looked out of place was the gift shop inside (that didn't stop us from buying things though). We then walked over to the Temple Bar district, saw the Liffey River and the Ha' Penny bridge, walked past Trinity College, down to Grafton Street, and then ended up back at the Kilronan House. We got directions from Alex to the Harcourt Launderette and Dry Cleaners where we went to do laundry and were able to get onto the internet at the same time. Dinner was at Kitty's Bistro on Merrion Row (another recommendation from Alex).
We began our last full day in Dublin with breakfast at the B & B and then headed out to the LUAS station (Dublin's state of the art light rail transit system) and took a ride on it - between the St Stephen's Green station and the Sandyford station (roundtrip $3.90EUR per person). We explored the St Stephen's Green Shopping Centre, then Mom went to Dublina (an exhibit that portrays life in medieval Dublin), Dad did the Viking Tour of Dublin in a WWII vintage amphibious military vehicle called "Ducks" (http://www.vikingsplashtours.com/), and I looked at the Christchurch Cathedral, then hung out in the lobby of the Jury's Inn Christchurch waiting for my parents. I was able to have a coffee, sit on a comfy couch and stay dry while I waited (there were a few showers during the time I waited). We walked back through the city, ending up in Merrion Square taking pictures of the Oscar Wilde statue (getting caught in a rain storm on our walk). Dinner was at Foley's on Merrion Row, and then we headed back to the Kilronan House to pack up our stuff.

April 4th - Avoca, Glendalough and Dublin

Tuesday started out with yet another full irish breakfast (still yummy), then we went to explore the Avoca Wollen Shop. We drove through Avoca - a town made famous by the BBC show "Ballykissangel". I had seen the show before, so it was kind of cool to see where they filmed the series. Our next stop was Glendalough, a Celtic monastic site made famous by St Kevin, with supposedly the best preserved Round Tower in Ireland. We had a guided tour, then had time to walk around on our own. My friends Dorrie & Keith had visited here on their 2004 trip and highly recommended a visit. We had a nice day - lots of sun but still a little chilly. We spent a few hours here, then had to come up with the decision of where to go next. After much debate we decided to head into Dublin a few days early. We figured that way we could see all we wanted to in Dublin and not feel rushed (we originally scheduled 2 nights in Dublin, but now were going to have 4). So off we went. Driving into Dublin was not too bad, except that we couldn't find the turn off for Adelaide Road (where the Kilronan House is located). We drove around and then finally figured out how to turn on to Adelaide Road, and found the Kilronan House. I went in to see if they could let us check in 2 days early. Alex was at the desk and said they could get us in the next night, but they were fully booked for that night. He then called around to a few places to see if he could find us some where for 1 night. He was able to get us into the Number 31 guest house (Leeson Close Street, run by Noel and Deirdre Comer (with dog Homer), www.number31.ie), so off we went. Mom and Dad were given room 17 (on the bottom floor of the building), and I had room 44 (at the very top of the building - I had 5 flights of steps...whew!). We used the door that is on Fitzwilliam Place Street as our main door (down the street from Fitzwilliam Square). We set off to do a little bit of exploring - we walked towards St Stephen's Green, and then down Merrion Row. We decided to have dinner, and settled on The Rubicon restaurant on Merrion Row (good food). We walked a little bit more, then returned to our rooms.

April 2nd & 3rd - Rock of Cashel, Kilkenny, Meeting of the Waters

Another great breakfast started off that Sunday - french toast this time for Mom & I, Dad had the full irish breakfast. We drove thru Tipperary (it was a long way....sorry, had to do that), stopped at the Rock of Cashel, and the priory in the Kells (where the famous "Book of Kells" is from), then chose Kilkenny as our next overnight stop. We found 2 rooms at the Carraig Rua B & B (Dublin Road, run by Una, no direct website) and were given rooms 1 (Mom & Dad), and 3 (me). We walked into the city and had dinner at Breathnach's Steak and Ale House. Alot of the shops were already closed, so we then headed back to the B & B where we did some planning for the next few days.
Monday took us back into Kilkenny after another full Irish breakfast. I left Mom and Dad near Kilkenny Castle, while I went to drop off my digital camera's memory card to transfer the pictures to CD (4.99 Euro per CD). I met back up with them, then we went to explore the Kilkenny Design Center. Mom decided to hang out at the Center while Dad & I went on the guided tour of the Castle ($9.00 EUR for both of us). Beautiful castle and grounds. After the tour, we met back up with Mom and walked back to the B & B to pick up our car (we had been allowed to leave it there for the day even though we had checked out that morning). Off we headed in the general direction of Glendalough. We stopped in Arklow for a pit stop, then at a rocky beach in Wicklow (near the Wicklow Golf course). We couldn't decide where to stay, so we kept on going. We decided to stay at the Meeting of the Waters (County Wicklow) where the Avonmore and Avonberg Rivers meet to form the Avoca River. This spot was also immortalised by Thomas Moore's song "The Meeting of the Waters". We were given rooms 3 & 4 (overlooking the street, and the parking lot where I kept a good eye on the car, just in case), dropped our bags, and headed downstairs to the pub for dinner. This was the worst night's sleep I had, only due to the fact that I was worried about the car. I kept waking up and looking out the window to make sure everything was ok.

April 1st - Cliffs of Moher & Doolin

April 1st had us checking out of the cottage - we were off once again. We drove to Tarbert, took the ferry over to Killimer and drove on to the Cliffs of Moher. What an amazing view! Extremely windy though. I had intended to try to climb/crawl out to the edge for a crazy picture but chose not to do this because of the wind (it was pushing us around). There is construction going on - they are building a new welcome center. We ended up timing this perfectly - as soon as we got back into the existing welcome center (with the gift shop and cafe), and sat down for a coffee then the skies opened up and it started to pour. We waited it out, then headed out to Doolin. We went to several different B & B's trying to find some rooms for the night - most places didn't even answer the door (not sure if it was because they didn't have room, or if they weren't open for the season yet). We finally found space at the Killilagh House (run by Bridget "Brid" Shannon, http://www.doolin-ireland.com/) and were given rooms 7 & 8. We dropped our things and went out exploring. We drove through Lisdovarna, and The Burren. We saw "The Table" (real name is the Poulnabrone Dolmen) and the .................. ring fort), and then headed back. We parked the car back at the B & B, then walked down the street for dinner. We ate at the restaurant next door to McGann's Pub (don't remember the name) - some interesting dishes, very tasty. We headed then to McGann's for some trad music. We sat at a table with a couple from County Mead who were in Doolin for the weekend. We shared some good "craic", good music and pints of Guinness.