August 10: Good Bye Ireland

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We return home today after a wonderful vacation in beautiful Ireland. We drove close to 1600 km (~ 1000 miles) all around the island !

We are fortunate to have experienced the exquisite beauty of the Irish landscape and the warmth and humor of the Irish people.

We were booked on United to Newark via Washington DC. However, when we checked in, we were informed that we were re-routed via London. So, it was Dublin-London on Aer Lingus and London-Newark on United. We reached home at a reasonable time and the flights were actually comfortable ! I quickly read up on Irish history again from the guidebook -- it was fascinating and i could grasp and relate to it so much more after all the places we visited !


Beautiful Dublin from the aircraft.


As the Irish say, we had a "savage craic" time in Ireland 😄😄😄

What we would change in our itinerary to have a better trip: Make it a 12 day trip :-)

1. On the day we land after a trans-atlantic flight, try to minimize driving. We did a drive of 5 hours to reach our hotel and due to stops along the way, we got to our hotel almost 12 hours later. This was way too tiring. We were jet-lagged, sleepy and had to drive in a new country in rain and on the left side ! In retrospect, we should have stopped at Kilkenny for the night.

2. We only had a carry on and a backpack each. We could have traveled even lighter. The cars are small and roads are very narrow in Ireland. It was hard to fit in the luggage we had into the car we got (Opal Corsa) and car felt cramped.

3. Be better prepared with waterproof gear and clothing. It rains a lot in Ireland !

4. We were on the move everyday. It would have been good to have a rest day somewhere in the middle of the 10 day trip.

5. Stay 1 night in Killarney and then stay overnight or 1-2 days in Dingle Peninsula. It's a beautiful area and has lot of hiking options.

6. Two days in Dublin would have been better to better appreciate the city. Dublin has a lot to offer.


Comments

  1. UnknownAugust 11, 2018 at 8:27 PM

    Hiya Love! We are fortunate that you shared your experience with us! Looked forward to reading your blog every night. I am sure you'll miss Ireland for next few weeks or months & we'll miss your wonderful pictures & commentary. Great experience Indira, thanks for sharing it with us! You catch up on your sleep now & i'll catch you later in our weekly status calls ;)

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    Replies
    1. induAugust 13, 2018 at 12:14 PM

      Thanks, Sumana. We have updated most of the posts this weekend after we got back, with more details, photos and relevant historical tidbits. Do check it out. Glad to hear you enjoyed the blog 🙂

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