2023 Adventure Wrap Up, Tuesday, November 7, 2023

As noted previously, we dined Monday evening at The Shack.We enjoyed a glass of Shiraz and each a bowl of Irish Lamb Stew that was suitably delicious. Deb wrapped it all up with a “Trinity Mess” dessert of meringue, whipped cream and strawberry jam. Mark was allowed a taste. We then wandered back to our hotel for final packing in preparation for our flights home tomorrow.

We were awake shortly after 5:00 AM on Tuesday and down to the lobby with our bags by 6:00. We checked out and our transfer arrived a bit early. Off to the Dublin International Airport for our 9:00 flight home. We  had already been notified that the flight was delayed about an hour so we had plenty of time. We received our boarding passes for the three upcoming flights and then headed for security. Dublin has a wonderful set up for returning U.S. passengers. After security, one proceeds to U.S. Customs and Immigration and then to the U.S. restricted gates. The whole process eliminates having to pick up your bags upon arrival on home soil, hauling them through immigration and customs and then loading them back onto another trolley for re-tagging for your next flight within the States. Very civilised and smooth.

We had plenty of time and so “enjoyed” the worst waffle with fried turkey bacon that exists on the planet. We could not finish it, but did enjoy the coffee. When we checked our bags, we were assured that although our two hour Newark connection time was now shortened to an hour, it should be no problem. Right!

A pleasant flight into Newark and we strolled off the jetway, stopped for a quick bathroom break, and walked down the three gate areas to our next flight, Newark to Chicago, arriving just as they were calling for boarding. Beautiful timing. However, United Airlines decided that there was no way we would have ever make the connection considering the delay caused by their late arrival of the original plane. Therefore, somewhere over the Atlantic, they cancelled our seats and rebooked us. (Artificial intelligence?) We placed our issued boarding passes on the reader, it lit up red, and the attendant told us we were not on that flight. I held up the boarding pass that clearly showed my name, the flight number and the proper city codes. She said no we weren’t on the flight. We stepped over to the counter to commence a huge argument with the ticket agent. She said we had never booked the flight. I said how did we get issued the boarding passes in Dublin. She said we had never booked the flight. Our travel agent pointed out to her on her computer that we had! Further discussion ensued. Clearly, UAL had bounced us, sold our seats to some other passengers and were not allowing us on the flight. 

We were “agitated and aggravated;” we were afraid the ticket agent was about to call airport security, so we grudgingly went on to the customer service counter and dealt with another incompetent part-time agent. She claimed there was nothing to be done and there were no seats on that flight. Further, our  Chicago to Omaha bookings had also been cancelled by their “headquarters” scheduling computer.

We finally negotiated two middle seats on a flight from Newark to Denver and then another two seats on the Denver to Omaha flight. Rather than arriving home at 5:30, we flew over Omaha by 500 miles and then returned, landing in Omaha around 8:45. Abigail was there to meet us and, amazingly, our luggage accompanied us on this odyssey. Nothing ended up in Amsterdam! We had been in transit from the time we boarded our airport transfer in Dublin until we arrived home. Multiple time zones and 20 hours sitting or flying. 

We were home and fell into our own bed. At least someone had left the lights on for us!

HALLOWEEN, 2023

Halloween is a time for kids, a time for meltdowns, a time for candy, a time for parents to consider running away or at least drink heavily. It is clearly the same the world over. We started Tuesday morning by enjoying a few hours sorting ourselves and then breakfast at our Hotel. It being Halloween, the Highland children had a scheduled dental appointment this morning. Excellent timing. We drove our Renault into Sligo, found the parking lot and joined them at a local pub for lunch. We, being still full from our breakfast, restricted ourselves to a half pint of Guiness and cider to accompany our soup and bread. The family chose chicken nuggets for the kids and split a soup and crostini for the adults. Next we walked along the riverfront in downtown Sligo, stopping for a gelato as dessert. 

Next back home for the kids to prep for the evening, while we returned to the hotel for a rest before heading over for the great walkabout. We were greeted by a witch, Wonder Woman, and a would be magician who refused to wear a costume. Garth had stayed in Sligo for a late appointment so the rest of us settled in for some chicken Parma over rice. Following dinner,  Deb and Zoë  accompanied the monsters on their rounds and Mark stayed behind to pass out the loot to the neighboring visitors. After a 40 minute walkabout, they returned all excited and promptly dumped their loot on the kitchen floor to sort and check. Sugar was consumed in quantities.

Garth had returned to watch the carnage and then wrestled Arthur into bed, the girls stayed up for a while to apply some more sugar to their newly cleaned teeth and then eventually went down. Did we mention that this week is a school holiday so the kids are off and so are the teachers, which is a civilized way to control Halloween week. We finished our wine and returned to the hotel to end the evening quietly.

Wednesday we awaken to sunshine and went down to a late breakfast as Zoë and the girls were to join us at the hotel after dropping Arthur at the sitter’s for the day. Although a bit behind schedule they did arrive for a second breakfast, ala Hobbits. After an inspection of our room (always important to kids for some reason) we loaded into Zoë’s Prius for a sightseeing tour. The skies promptly opened up to the heaviest rain we have encountered on this trip.

We drove north past Sligo and up into the mountains, around the beaches and gazed at the Atlantic. We forget how much of this island is coast and how important the sea is to the Irish. Zoë reports that they visit the beach and walk along the sand most every week, sunshine or rain. the kids seem to love it.

We, however, did not get out in this rain to stand on the beach.We headed back south to Grange and then to an establishment - “Five for Fun.” This is a total kids experience with indoor climbing equipment, slides and tunnels in the huge building that, to Deb and Mark resembled a former auto display area. The fee was 10.00 Euro for each child, but adults were in for free! By the time we settled in with coffee, some cake and a sandwich plus nuggets and chips for the kids (after running around for an hour or so,) we were probably some 50-60 Euro in, quite a business model! The place was packed with kids running and screaming. We only endured one breakdown, Esmè  suffered a scrape on her wrist, but after a little first aid and a bandaid for support, we were back to normal.

Next we went to Smitty’s Toy Superstore. Esmè had birthday money to spend and Iris had saved up a bit to spend; they were flabbergasted that they got both the Fun Room AND the toy store. A great day if you are a kid. We headed back to Tubbercurry and the hotel for a rest up. Next back to the homestead for a dinner of roast chicken, pesto pasta and salad. Garth returned from work and we enjoyed a quiet meal as the kids were either in bed or passed out from all the excitement in front of the TV.

We were back in the hotel by 9:00. We watched a bit of television ourselves and then were down for the count. We are definitely out of condition for this parenting gig. It is for youngsters, not old folk.