07/18/17- Booked this trip in January and time has flown. Leaving this morning for Europe once again, but this time with my son, Kelvin as my wingman. First ever father-son trip and it should be a good one. Will be spending the next nine days in Paris France, Ibiza Spain and Dublin Ireland.
5:30am wake up time. On the drive to LAX there was of course an accident on the 101 which delayed everyone for a bit, so we had to take surface streets to get around. Still made it to our terminal within two hours. Our first leg of the flight is domestic to Chicago so no worries there. A little hiccup getting our luggage tags as the machine I used was out of ink, but we managed and left on time.
Surprisingly there were free movies on the plane, which I thought was more of a luxury on in state flights. Food was still for purchase however. Either case I used this three hour plus window to try and sleep. I say try because there were two enfant babies in the row behind us taking turns crying in surround sound. One of them for twenty minutes straight then the other. Luckily I was tired enough to not care much. Other than that the flight was nice and got us here.
We land in Chicago, taxied for fifteen minutes and found our next gate quickly without having to take the train to another terminal. After about two hours waiting for our next flight, we board the 787 and again take off on time at 6:30pm.
This seven plus hour flight was very smooth. I didn’t get much sleep this time around as I watched about four different movies. I did ask for a jack and coke on the first round of drinks but this flight apparently makes you pay for mixed alcoholic beverages. No freebies this time around.
07/19/17- Landed in Paris shortly after 9am local time. The line for customs was longer than I’ve ever seen it before as it stretched beyond the escalators. People were held back on the top level from even going down there because of it being over crowded. We did get through eventually and Kelvin got his passport stamped. He now has one from Japan and France which makes him a happy person.
Ventured to baggage claim and our luggage was right there for us to pick up. We then leave the terminal and walk about ten to fifteen minutes to the train RER station that will take us into the heart of Paris. I thought about a taxi, but that would be twice as much and luckily I booked a hotel not far from the station there. I did have some trouble trying to transfer my phone over to the Global network but was able to figure it out on the train. Free data and texting international- gotta love it!
Thirteen stops later, with a few blocks walking and we arrive at our hotel (Eugenie). Our room wasn’t ready yet, however, so we left our bags and started walking around. Strolling around our area, we decided to stay close as our room should be ready in about two hours. We took this time to grab some kabobs to eat and view Notre Dame. We didn’t go in as there was a line and we were still quite tired from the long plane ride. The walk was quite nice. The weather was getting a bit warm and sticky for us as we were still in jeans, but manageable. We ducked into a few places to explore, some smaller churches and a book store that looked pretty cool. Overall, it was nice to view the city and for me to get reacquainted.
At 1:30pm we make it back to our hotel and enter our room shortly after. The air conditioning was a blessing to escape from the heat and our legs definitely needed the breather. We had some time before we needed to be at the Eiffel Tower so we used this moment to relax a bit.
With over an hour to spare, we take off towards the train station in hopes of taking the RER C straight to the Eiffel Tower, but the line was closed. We had to quickly double back to the metro station and take two trains to get there. We still were able to make it by our ticket time of 5pm. I felt bad for Kelvin as he was still tired and with the plan change on how to get there we had to rush a little bit up and down some steps. He was a pure trooper though.
At first we jumped into the long queue line before realizing that was for non-ticket holders. We then found the timed-ticket line and ushered straight in. We decided to take the elevator and not WALK up to the level for obvious reasons and once we made it to the floor we were greeted with a stunning view of Paris.
It’s been ten years since I first came up here, and that time was closer to sunset. So it was nice to see it differently this time in more light. The sun also was hiding behind clouds and the rain hit every now and then to cool us off. We didn’t mind that at all. We stayed up another half an hour before taking the elevator back down to the bottom. From there we proceeded to walk across the bridge to get a nice shot of the Eiffel Tower from a distance. I actually have this shot at night from the last time I was here, but a daytime shot was on my mind this time around.
Again, the rain comes down in spurts, causing us at one point to hide under some trees. It lasted maybe two minutes before it cleared up allowing us to grab a few more photos of us with the tower in the background. Calling it a night, we take the metro back to our hotel and crash around 8:30pm. Somehow with very little sleep, we were able to make it this far. Which is a very good thing because now our schedule should be on Europe time by tomorrow.
07/20/17- Got plenty of sleep last night and feel well rested. The Louvre ticket is for 9:30am, but it’s not too far of a walk from our hotel. Seeing Paris in the morning is an awesome experience. The clouds were still out so there was a chill in the air. There were hardly any people around either so it felt like we had the place to ourselves.
Once we get to the Louvre that changed as we saw the long line to get in through the main Pyramid gate. Knowing this before we arrived, we made our way to one of the side entrances through the mall. Instead of a two hour wait, we were in line for maybe twenty minutes. Once inside, we used our tickets to get right in (Kelvin being free due to his age). Our first stop was to try and find the Mona Lisa. I heard that it gets crowded after a bit of time, so the earlier the better.
After a whirl wind of maze like rooms and of course stopping to get photos along the way, we make it to the Mona Lisa and low and behold photography is allowed. Ten years ago they were very strict on that rule but I guess they’ve eased up a bit now.
We stayed at the Louvre another few hours looking at the Egyptian artifacts and Venus De Milo before leaving and finding a place to eat. Kelvin is definitely into local foods so we ordered a Parisian sandwich which fit the bill. I was able to use my French skills quite nicely, although I'm unsure if Kelvin noticed or cared too much on that. I didn’t ask either way. It was strange when I paid that the amount was 20 Euros for 2 sandwiches and a soda. It appears they charged quite a bit for the soda and perhaps even a sitting down tax. Who knows. I didn’t mind too much as the difference wasn’t worth the trouble.
Next, we got in line at Notre Dame to view the inside. The ticket was free and it was nice to show Kelvin what a medieval church looks like up close. We didn’t try to go to the top as our legs were worn out and the line would have been ridiculous. Also, it was now cold and windy outside.
After some souvenir shopping we make it back to the hotel around 2pm for some rest. Not wanting to call it a day just yet, we go back out shortly after 5pm and take the fifteen minute walk towards the Pantheon. Unfortunately they shut their doors to new arrivals even though they don’t officially close until 6:30pm. We were able to see the outside and I was able to capture a part of Paris I have yet to check out before. Undeterred, we continue walking another twenty-five minutes to the Catacombs. This is another thing I have not done before and it was a treat to see.
It took an hour waiting in line but once inside we were walking through underground tunnels and seeing the thousands of skeleton bones and skulls buried under the city. Many of them were lined up in patters into the walls and stacked upon each other. It was a strange feeling to be around real skulls and get to touch them.
Towards the end, Kelvin was caught by one of the guards picking up one of the skulls (which we had no idea we couldn’t do). The employee yelled at us to leave and ushered Kelvin through a gate. For a moment I had lost Kelvin, not knowing where he went to. When the guy stated he will be waiting for me at the end, I felt nervous wondering how true that statement was and if that guy really did work there. Luckily the end was just around the corner and once I made it upstairs I saw Kelvin waiting for me. Still don’t understand how you can do that to a child and not inform the parent of what’s going on, or even making sure I was with him. That did upset me some. I’m just glad he’s safe and not kidnapped. That would have been hard to explain.
Taking the train back to our hotel, we find a decent restaurant and order the three course meal. Kelvin had the lamb (Which he has never had before and it appears never will again) and me the sirloin. The view was also nice as we were right next to Notre Dame Cathedral. I was not happy they charged us 8 Euros for bottled water, however.
Finished the day getting night shots of Notre Dame and got to bed around 12:30am.
07/21/17- Check out is not until 11am, however I couldn’t sleep until then. Woke up around 8:30am and just enjoyed the hotel for a little longer. After check out we took the metro towards Sacre Coeur. Took about ten stops and a change of trains before we arrived.
Walking through the streets it was easy to tell that this was a different area then the others. Much more touristy with quite a few people going in and out of small shops which lined the street. We walked right past and quickly came upon the basilica looming over us. It reminded me some of the Himeji Castle in Japan.
There were plenty of stairs to walk up to get to the actual church, but we powered through as best as we could. We took it slow as we really didn’t want to kill our legs so fast as we have no hotel room to retreat to for awhile. Finally we reach the pinnacle only to find a long line in front. This peaks my curiosity as I read that there isn’t a line for this, but we waited anyhow. Come to find out it was just a security bag check line and went pretty fast.
We enter the basilica to find it nice and cool. A big change from the warm weather outside. It’s not as impressive as Notre Dame of course, but it had some interesting things inside to keep us occupied for a bit. Took maybe twenty minutes before we were ready to brave the climb to the top. I say brave because the stairs turned out to be small but plentiful and mostly in a spiral, enclosed tower.
As exhausting as those stairs were the view itself was well worth it. I was finally able to capture the Eiffel tower from afar as I have been wanting to do for quite some time. Very fortunate to have done this on a clear day as opposed to yesterday when it was cloudy and windy the entire time.
After the descent down, we took our time to make our way back down the stairs to the street level, making sure to rest up in a shaded part of the stairs for some time. My legs were absolutely in pain as they struggled to adjust to all of the torment I have put them through. After awhile, we find some food nearby and continue to sit around the steps to enjoy our meal. This time around it was only 10 Euros total (compared to yesterday at the restaurant when it was 20 Euros).
We finish up our meal around 2pm and start walking around Montmartre for a spell. Moulin Rouge was just down the road and I wanted to check out the famous red windmill. I didn’t realize the area was full of sex clubs, however, which was quite interesting. During the day it still seemed touristy, but I’m sure at night it gets much more crazier.
Tired from the day, we take the metro back to our hotel to rest up in the lobby. After about an hour we head back towards the Pantheon. Yes, the same one we were turned away from last afternoon. Instead of walking or taking the train, I decided to try and order an uber. Within about two minutes one arrived but we had an issue finding where he parked. He called me and we took another five minutes before finally finding the car. About 8 minutes and only 6 Euros later we arrive without incident. That was my first time ever using Uber and it just so happened to be overseas. He did tell me that he is surprised I don’t speak French.
At the Pantheon, we enter with no problems this time and walk around. This place reminds me of a smaller version of the basilica at the Vatican. Very large and spacious with a crypt down below that housed the remains of some famous French people.
Feeling tired we travel back to the hotel (fifteen minute walk) and rest up before our flight. Our taxi gets there at 7:30pm and we are at Orly airport within twenty-five minutes. The line to check-in was not very long and the security line was even shorter. Needless to say we were resting by the gate in no time with plenty of time to spare.
Plane takes off on time and I quickly fall asleep. The ride only lasts about 1 ½ hours in flight but I was very tired. Got off the plane and retrieved our bags only to find a very long line waiting for us for a taxi. Luckily it went faster than expected (which is good because there were smokers everywhere). Got to our hotel around 1:30am and crashed. One city down… two more to go!
Side note: Got walked in on twice by French women the last two days. The first was at our hotel when the cleaning lady just opened up our door without knocking and peeked her head in. The second was at the airport when I was using the urinal and the lady walked right in and started cleaning around me. Very, very different culture here.
07/22/17- So yesterday our chargers decided not to work. My laptop cord made a spark before going out and Kelvin’s iphone charger went dead. I did have a spare for myself, but we had to buy a cord for his phone. Ten Euros seemed quite steep, especially in a shade area of town and no box, but I thought if it would last just a few days we’d be good.
Turns out his phone charger we bought is a piece of crap and barely worked. This morning however we decided to try our chargers again. Mine miraculously worked and so did his. Interesting! I am actually very happy with this as my laptop charger is a European one we bought ten years ago. I only use it for Europe trips and it has a nostalgic feel to it for me. And now it appears we don’t have to buy him a new one either so win-win.
After a good night’s sleep we walk towards the beach. Our first destination is for food which we found a place nearby. With no drinking age here in Ibiza we ordered the Sangria for two. Also split a large hamburger and had some hot wings to boot. Our waiter was supposed to bring out some extra sauce for the wings so we can spice it up how we like, but he never did. We even reminded him twice and no dice. Finally another person came around and took our wings back to put some sauce on it.
Afterwards, we cruise down the beach and find an open umbrella with chairs. About five minutes later a guy comes around to charge us for it (which was expected). Turned out to be 21 Euros for the day. 7 Euros each chair and 7 for the umbrella. Knowing we are going to be spending quite some time here I went ahead and paid the good man. Did seem a bit steep, however.
Dipping into the water was quite nice as the temperature is a good 80 degrees (which was same as the actual weather outside). Realizing we needed sunscreen, I walked over to the shops to buy some for us as well as a football to throw around. Over the next few hours we had fun tossing the ball while swimming and enjoying the sun with the gentle breeze. I would say everything seemed like a perfect day, except for the guys trying to sell us drinks every two minutes. There were so many of them and many kept stopping at our location to ask us directly instead of just moving on. Hey, at least Kelvin got to experience his first topless beach.
We hit up a few souvenir shops before retreated back to the hotel for a bit. Around 7pm we take a walk around town to see what’s around the area only to find the beach now deserted. Apparently, this place closes its beach portion at this time and becomes club mania. I checked into a few options but poor Kelvin is still too young to get in. I really wanted to check out the foam party too *sad face*
We did book a boat trip that takes up through caves and allows us to do water sports like paddle boarding, snorkeling and even a hand held jet-ski. Sounds like a plan. Around 9pm we call it a night as Kelvin is visibly famished. We grab some slices of gourmet pizza and rest up.
Very surprised by Ibiza so far. I thought it might be one big party zone like spring break, but even on the weekend in the summer it seemed pretty tame down. There were definitely all types of people here, from families to young people, to regular tourist. I’m sure the clubs are definitely jumpin’ though so hopefully I’ll get the chance to check one out myself. Still having my fingers crossed for the foam party.
07/23/17- Slept for about ten hours or so as it was much needed. Decided to walk around town to see what else was around and found it mostly empty. It seems that the majority of things going on is definitely around the beaches. We stopped for food at subway, as we were dying for something familiar this time around, and walked back to shore.
Our adventure excursion may be in jeopardy as a storm seems to be coming in, but hopefully it will clear up before 4pm. So glad we were able to do the beach yesterday when it was nice and sunny. Today is pretty much all clouds, however the weather still feels nice.
I also purchased my late night club ticket to “Amnesia” (run by Paris Hilton of all people). It’s the foam party I’ve been wanting to do for quite some time now. It’s partnered with another club “Black Out” where you can hit both for the same price. Sure to be a fun night.
Rested for a bit at the hotel before going back out around 3:20pm to catch our adventure boat. The previous cruise was running late so we got a twenty late start ourselves, but man was it worth it. Aside from being shown celebrity homes and caves along the way, we anchored in open, calm water and did everything from jumping off the boat, stand up paddle boards, snorkeling and even operated a SeaBob. If you are not familiar with a SeaBob, it’s like a mini wave runner or jet ski where you can dive under water with it. It was amazing.
Kelvin enjoyed the water as well, but really liked the boat trip out. On the way back he got himself his first full beer. Good times!
Once again we retreated to the hotel after grabbing some food. The club doesn’t open until midnight and I was advised to wait until closer to 2am to go. After getting a few hours sleep in I decided to head out about 12:30am and get a drink from the local bar (only 7 Euros to do it this way instead of at the club). They handed me a wine glass with ice, poured rum half way and then a small can of coke to pour myself. Needless to say I felt very girlie doing it this way.
Didn’t take me long to pound that down before walking around the corner to the bus station. Apparently they start running at midnight for the clubs and cost only 3 Euros. After that fifteen minute (standing room only) ride, everyone heads straight for Club Amnesia. I get to security, hand him my pass and they let me right in.
Getting there close to 1:30am the place was still a little stale. People were dancing but mostly just bobbing around listening to the music. I made my way out onto the main floor of the first club “Diamonds”, and settled in. Within five minutes I am immediately met with a group of guys forming a circle and pushing a few people back to widen it. A few people started to come in and quickly bailed, but I know what to do in this situation. I hit that open circle, without even a warmup, and busted out a few moves for about five seconds. Of course this is where I am greeted by several people slapping my hand and saying how sic that was. Good times!
As the night went on, I skated over to the other club next door “Blackout” to check out that scene. Similar music but slightly different variety with the DJ. Wasn’t feeling that as much so ventured back over to Diamonds where I stayed for the duration. Not too long after there was a very loud cheer and Paris Hilton makes an appearance. At first she dances and waves from the 2nd deck, but soon after she comes to the booth, puts on headphones and proceeds to DJ for the next few hours. I was quite surprised by this and the music was pretty much on point. The only incident came when someone got to close and accidently pulled one of the cords out causing the music to stop. She blamed the fan, apologized for the delay, told everyone they need to kick his ass and then started playing again.
It took a bit of anticipation for the next phase to begin. Paris finished her set and there was another half an hour before the place went crazy again. She showed back up on the 2nd deck in a change of outfit preparing everyone for the foam. Counting down to one the foam sprays out from the large cannons in every direction, slowing filling up the room. At first it was the floor that was literally caked with suds, then it began rising with each cannon blast they made (which literally hit us directly in the face. We had to shield our eyes for cover, otherwise we were completely covered). Before I know it I am head to toe on the main floor. I am utterly drenched like I just went through a car wash without a car.
The place went berserk. There were large animal floaties being used and tossed around, people completely unrecognizable, and random people asking to take a picture with me. It was nuts. Shortly after, I went outside and called it a night. I first had to try and remove the suds from attire as I’m sure the bus would not appreciate it much. Then when I got to the bus and paid, it was still virtually empty. I had to wait about twenty minutes for it to be full before we traveled back to our town. I was literally freezing, even though it was 6am now and the sun was actually rising.
Walked the two blocks to my hotel, changed for bed and crashed. Wow, what an epic time I will hopefully never forget. I mean EVER!
07/24/17- Ughhh! If you combine the two hours of sleep I got before the club I technically only got five hours total. If that! But this was our last day in Ibiza and Kelvin is ready to get some more activities done which I don’t mind one bit.
First thing we do is find a restaurant to sit down at. I ordered the spaghetti with seafood and Kelvin had the chicken kabobs. Both were very good and different than we‘ve had so far. We then check out the booths and find parasailing high on the menu. For $40 Euros each we decide THAT is what we are going to do today. The next time slot was 2pm (which we were 50 minutes away from) so we had enough time to hit our hotel, change, rest for ten minutes and make it back. Unfortunately we did forget to put on sun block.
Back at the booth, we are instructed on how to put our gear on and given life vests. We were also told to empty our pockets, which I had my credit cards and cash on me. Instead of putting it in a bag with everyone else’s stuff, he gave me a protector to slide it in and put it with his personal belongings.
Soon we are off into the sea. We are five groups total (some tandem and some with three people). We are the fourth group so we get to see how others are conquering this. This is actually my first time ever parasailing so I was curious to know myself. When our time finally came, we sit down in position, harness up, and have our go-pro camera turned on. Within a few moments we are bouncing gently off the boat and into the air. The harnesses act like a seat so there was no problems with that and the view was awesome.
After a bit of time we find ourselves going even higher. So much so that we can barely even make out the boat below. Looking around we can see the entire city to one side and the wide open sea on the other. I couldn’t help but just soak in all of the beauty that surrounded me. And it was effortless as well, except for a gust of wind that blew us back a bit. After about ten minutes or so we are hoisted back down. Before landing on the boat they purposely dipped us into the water not once, not twice, but three times. We loved it!
We make it back to shore after about an hour and a half on the water and wait another twenty minutes for our pictures and video they took of us. Once we have them in hand, we race back to the hotel to view them and are very satisfied with the results. What a very cool adventure. They even provided us with buy 1 get 1 free drink coupons for a local Irish pub nearby, which we used while playing a game of pool.
Overall, Ibiza is much more than I ever thought it would be. We didn’t even explore other parts of the island as apparently that will have to wait until another time. Tomorrow we have an early flight to Dublin that we have to prepare for. So long Ibiza, we will miss you!
07/25/17- Where to begin? Very early wake up at 4am. Had a taxi take us to the airport and arrived two hours early. As we went through check-in we were given only the tickets for the immediate flight to Madrid and not to our onward journey of Dublin, despite our bags going all the way through. I asked about it and he stated to get my tickets in Madrid.
Our flight takes off without an issue and during it the woman next to me fell asleep on my should for a short time. I didn’t have the heart to move her as she seemed very wore out herself. I have half asleep the entire one hour flight anyhow.
We land in Madrid, exit the plane and find our next gate not too far away. We look around for any staff from Iberia that may help us retrieve our tickets for this coming flight but none can help. We are told to wait until our crew arrives at the desk. Taking this time, we stand in line for some much needed food and as I am now third in line I see the staff person. I patiently wait until we finish our order, which was stupid because the guy in front ordered an orange juice and she had to make it from scratch.
Finally, we talk with the staff lady and find out that we should have retrieved all of our tickets in Ibiza. I know! They were nice enough to get us situated with seats but said that our bags may not make it as it was too little time between flights. This is exactly what I was afraid of. We get onto the plane after a disorganize queue to board and find the aisle seat empty next to me. I felt very fortunate to have an extra seat in our row to stretch out in (first of this trip so far).
This second flight took almost two and a half hours, but we arrive without any issues. Come to think of it all five of our flights so far have been fairly smooth. I normally am a bit on edge when flying (no matter how many flights I’ve taken in the past), but for some odd reason I have been perfectly calm this trip.
Exit into the airport and find the line or passport control. We find get into the EU line by mistake and quickly realize we have to go to the All Other Passports line. We get our stamp (Kelvin now has stamps from all the places we’ve been to including Paris, Spain (well Madrid) and now Dublin) and once we find our baggage claim our luggage is right there waiting for us. YES!
Quickly, we go outside to get a bus to the city center and find the Air-Coach available for 7 Euros each or 12 Euros each if we purchase a round trip. As it’s cash only, I reach into my pocket and find one of my 20 Euro bills missing. Somehow I have lost it. Perhaps it fell out of my pocket but the bills were together. I did take it out and put it on the tray during the security scan. Could someone there have lifted one of them? Strange. Either case I am only able to purchase our one-way tickets for now.
Takes about fifteen minutes before we are at our stop. My GPS originally starts to bring me one way, but I know our hotel is located in the other direction. After having to walk a bit for my GPS to catch up it finally directs me in the right direction. Within six to eight minutes we find our AirBnb. The instructions we have for the door code were a bit confusing but we managed to get it open, but then we were greeted with only stairs to get to the 4th floor. Lovely!
Taking our bags up was quite a chore but we managed somehow. Half way up we saw debris hitting a nearby window sill and I was very much hoping it was not our room. Unfortunately it turned out to be as they were working in the room to fix something. The cleaning person was also there who in turn did not speak a lick of English. With it only be around noon we decided to leave our bags in the room, grab a few items and begin our journey in Dublin.
We hit up a nearby restaurant and ordered a chicken salad (large), burger and fries for Kelvin and Seafood Chowder for me. The food was excellent and a good way to being the day. We then go out on a search for transportation to get to the Guinness Store house and find a taxi. I ask him if he accepts credit card and he replies yes he does. He was quite a friendly person as he gave us a tour of the area a bit before dropping us off, however this is where we learn he actually only accepts cash. Since I lost my 20 Euro bill early I was short by 7 Euros. He did end up driving me down the road to an ATM and back at no charge as he apologized for not hearing me fully about the credit card earlier.
Wow, this blog is still going. Okay, so we are at Guinness and pay for our tickets to get in. This place is quite huge for a brewery and set up very nice with exhibitions. There is even several tasting rooms. One in particular is on the top floor which gives a 360 degree view of the city. They also provide a free pint of beer with your ticket. Overall it was a nice experience, one that I did over nine years ago but since then has been updated. Kelvin loved it as the free samples were just to his liking.
We decide to walk back to our AirBnb taking our own tour through Temple Bar. This turned out to be quite strenuous for Kelvin as his legs were having a hard time walking any longer. He is not use to a trip like this with me and even though we had the last several days of relaxation he still wasn’t feeling it. We rested for a bit on an open bench only to have a drunkard come up to us asking to exchange weed for bus fare. I politely said no and off we went again. We finally make it back and find our place to be fully ready for our arrival. Now it’s rest time!
A few hours later we again try to venture out to a gift shop down the road, but Kelvin’s feet were still hurting him. We turned right back around and called it a day.
07/26/17- And now the last full day of our trip arrives. We were supposed to pick up the rental car at 8am, however since Kelvin was feeling too well yesterday I thought perhaps we would just stay in and use today as a rest day. I stayed in bed until 8am when I saw Kelvin up and seeming like he wanted to try and make a go of it. So, I got dressed and we walked the six minutes to the car rental place, Sixt.
We arrived forty minutes late but it didn’t seem to matter. We walked right in and got our car. They did charge us an extra 28 Euros for “mandatory” insurance. Apparently it’s an Ireland thing for this. I asked since I wasn’t expecting this expense if he could throw in a complimentary GPS, and he hooked me up for free. That’s at least half of that amount back.
We find the car on the 4th floor of the lot and get the GPS ready. When I turn the car on initially I hear the enjoy roar, but then it goes quiet. I tried a few times to turn the car off and on and the same. I decided to just put the car in gear and see what happens and after taking the parking break off I was good to go. This car is absolutely so quiet that you can’t even tell that it is on. We also were told that there was no air conditioning on the initial booking but it did come with it.
Being on the opposite side of the road, it didn’t take me long to get reacquainted with the driving. New Zealand was very good practice for me, which is good because driving within the city of Dublin is quite challenging. Lots of traffic, people walking and construction. Also, the lanes end without warning sometimes. Didn’t take long for us to get out of town and soon we were out in the country.
We stopped for food in a small town outside of Glendalough. After parking the car, we walked back towards the center of town when we noticed most of the stores were not open. It was 11am on a Wednesday so that struck me odd. Then we saw a person outside of his home look at us strangely then quickly go inside. Finally we heard what sounded like a saw in the distance. All this was missing was fog and we are in a Silent Hill movie. Never-the-less, we found a local market where they served hot food.
About 15 Kilometers later we finally get to Glendalough Visitor Center. I’ve been here once before about nine years ago on a tour, but this was the first time I drove. We walking into the visitor center and see a charge. When we asked we were told that is for the instructional video. The park was actually free to roam around towards the lake. Without hesitation, we left the building and headed straight down the path.
Not too far away we meet our first destination. It’s an old monetary complete with a tower and graveyard. As we start walking around I notice the rain spitting at us. Kelvin also had no jacket as he says he doesn’t need one, but since he wasn’t feeling well he looked cold. I offered him mine and he turned me down. You see a mother would have brought his jacket anyhow. Just some things I don’t think about and take for granted I guess.
The monastery was bombarded with tour groups. So much so that when you enter the broken down buildings, there was no place to take a photo of it without a bunch of people in the background or in front of you. I felt this was very poorly designed. Regardless, we were able to see the area and get some photos. Continuing on, I see a sign for the lake that states 1.4 kms away. Kelvin is not going to be happy about this, but we made it this far so why turn back now.
It was a bit of a hike with an uneven ground to boot but we managed to make it to the lakefront. There we were greeted by a group of people again, but this time they didn’t stay long. The lake itself seemed quite dull since the clouds were looming overhead, but every now and then the sun would come out and light up parts of the hills. I’m sure if we continued to walk we would have had a much better vantage point, but with legs tired we decided to just call it as it is and head back to the car. By the way at this point I insisted Kelvin take my jacket and he did. Unfortunately, he also asked for Tylenol for his sore feet and I left it in the car *slaps head*.
The walk back didn’t seem as treacherous as we laughed and talked about things on the way. There was even a funny moment when we heard a bird cry out in a funny manner. I responded back with a similar sound and the bird followed back. This happened six times in a row before I got my camera out to record it. As soon as I tried, the bird stopped. Once I turned the recording off, the bird continued. Again, I pressed record and it stopped again. Laughing about this we decide to just keep on walked when suddenly the bird was making the noise non-stop. I think it was mocking us somehow.
We make it back to the car at 1pm and drive straight back to Dublin. I set the GPS initially for our BnB, as it didn’t recognize the car rental address, but as we got into town it was apparent that the directions for that were off. I pulled out my phone and used that the rest of the way. Only issue now was the road construction causing us to go completely around some areas. At one point my GPS said it would take twenty five minutes to go 2 kms. Geez!
Then when we arrive at the building we had a hard time finding the car entrance. We had to drive completely around, using only one way streets to finally locate it. We park on the top floor and return the keys to Sixt. He asked if I filled up the tank and I said I completely forgot as I was lost trying to find the entrance to the building while there was road construction everywhere. He looked at me as if not very happy but seemed to understand. I’m sure I will see that on my credit card bill soon.
We walk back to the AirBnB and Kelvin crashes on the bed. He is virtually done for the night I know. I wait an hour before going back out for some more shots of the city and to pick up souvenirs and food. I found a take away place for fish and chips (which I got onion rings in place of it) and a cappuccino. It was pretty good. The wind outside was strong as it was scattering people around for cover too.
And with that, our journey is about done. Our bags are virtually packed for our early flight tomorrow back home. And as I write this, a gust of wind roars through and slams our bedroom door shut. That was freaky.
07/27/17- Yawn! Woke up at 3:25am to gather our bags and leave the AirBnB. Walked the two blocks in the cold to the Air-Coach stop (which we prepaid for last night). There were already several people there waiting but no form of line of any kind. When the coach arrived about five minutes later I was able to move myself towards the front with ease. Good thing I did to because there were already people on the bus and they couldn’t let everyone who was waiting on. Of course more people showed up after us.
Made it to the airport and checked in all electronically. Went through security and they wanted to check my backpack thoroughly. I guess there was something in the scan that they wanted to make sure of. Either case, we made it thought and to our gate with about an hour and a half to spare. Oh, and again I was ticketed only for the first leg of the flight and told to get the other tickets in London when I land. Hmmmm!
This first flight was awful by the way. The winds were still in high gear causing some turbulence and the baby behind us was screaming her head off the entire flight. Thankfully it was only an hour long otherwise I would have duct taped its mouth shut. The mother was barely paying attention as well, but tried to avert its attention. Some babies are just assholes.
During the layover we were able to grab our next flight tickets with ease, went through security and customs and boarded our plane. Unfortunately, there were some passengers still in security so we were delayed about an hour before takeoff. When we finally did get up in the air, again the turbulence was a bit shaky but not that as bad as before. I was able to watch a few movies and grab a few free bottles of jack daniels.
We land at LAX only five minutes behind schedule but we didn’t actually get into our gate until fifty minutes later. We circled all of LAX on the ground for that entire time. The entertainment movies were turned off, too. Customs was a breeze, but our luggage took forever. Finally, we get out of LAX with Sharece ready to pick us up.
What a fantastic journey this was and to spend t with my son made it that much more memorable. Yeah, there were some times when he had trouble keeping up, but he’s still a kid. I am just happy to be able to give him that experience that he can take with him the rest of his life.
END OF BLOG
