Thursday, April 9, 2026. Ireland and England

Thursday morning was a lazy time for the old folks, but a busy time for the youngsters. Garth headed into work today in Donegal at Abbot Laboratories. Zoe loaded the kids in the car for a very busy day. First stop was at the Fun Zone Place where the kids got to run around with their buddies, burning off excess energy while Zoe enjoyed a coffee and visited with some mothers. Then Esme headed off to a buddy’s home for a play day while Zoe returned home to pick up the Nebraskans. While Zoe took Arthur for a scheduled visit to the audiologist for an exam and hearing test, the adults, accompanied by our tour guide 9 year old Iris, were dropped at The Model, a former school building turned into an art gallery. We viewed art works on display and enjoyed a coffee, a slice of banana nut bread and huge chocolate chip cookie.

Leaving the museum, Iris led us on a “curated” walk through downtown Sligo ending at her favorite place, Fabio’s Ice Cream & Gelato Shop. While waiting for Zoe to arrive for the meet up, Iris and Deb partook of the products on offer (Deb and her love of the frozen desserts!) When Zoe and Arthur arrived, they purchased a pair of small cones as well as a take-way portion for the absent Dad and Esme. We walked back to the parking lot for the car, pick up of Esme and drove home.

We had earlier engaged the services of a local girl, Holly, as a babysitter for Thursday evening, and the adults drove back into Sligo for a restaurant meal. Zoë & Garth had selected an upscale place, Otto’s and we enjoyed sit down service, cocktails, some nice starters and gourmet pizza. One dessert was ordered and shared, together with an excellent bottle of wine as recommended by our waitress. Alas, after the cocktails and the pleasant conversation, no one remembered to write down the name of the wine (it was a wonderful red!)

Following dinner, we walked a few blocks to a famous pub, Connelly’s, for a nightcap. The place was packed and every TV was tuned to the playing of the Master’s Golf tournament where Rory McIlroy was in a commanding lead. Garth was the Designated Driver of the evening, so Mark, alone, was forced to try what is reputed to be the world’s finest tasting Guiness on offer, while Zoe selected a Jameson and ginger ale and Deb stuck with her red wine. We had a wonderful (if shouted) conversation and finally arrived home at 11:00. Deb had prepaid the baby sitter, so Garth drove her home while the rest of the troupe headed for beds.

Friday morning, our final full day wth the Highland family. We spent the morning with coffee, talk and wrangling children. After a quick lunch, we loaded into two vehicles for driving into Sligo for some errands. The day before, Mark had been tasked with measuring all the kitchen cabinet door fronts. They are currently a bright glossy red hard vinyl and the plan is to get new doors. Our first stop is the cabinet door shop store (a real place called Silver’s.) While Deb took charge of corralling the children and assuring that nothing was damaged by them as they roamed around the display floor, the other three adults discussed various options with the owner. While no final decision was made, options were discussed and the measurements were left for calculation of an estimate. 

Next, Mark and Garth departed on their own, while the other five headed to a store for some grocery shopping. All returned home and groceries were stowed and, as the afternoon was depleted, it was time for children to relax in front of the idiot box (television) while Zoe prepared dinner and the other adults enjoyed an appropriate beverage. We dined on a wonderful bolognese sauce over fettuccine noodles, plus some broccoli as a green. Dessert was a homemade cherry-apple strudele. After dinner, Mark and Deb took some time to pack their luggage for the coming early departure, and the children watched a promised movie while the adults visited (some dozing,) The children went down amidst much crying at our impending departure, tears and kisses were exchanged and they were tucked into their respective places.

Saturday morning we were awake by 4:30 for our early departure. Amazingly, Iris popped out of bed and was standing in the hall way for a final hug and kiss. Deb went into the bedroom for a quick hug with Esme and then Zoe appeared in her robe for a quick send off. She gave us a travel mug of coffee, some fruit for fuel and a last kiss goodbye. 

During the week, a protest had erupted around Ireland, centered on the cost of fuel (occasioned by the Israel/ U.S. war on Iran.) The resulting fuel cost increases were causing major hardship for businesses, trucking, delivery of products and enormous increases in cost of agriculture. The protesters were out clogging the roadways; tractors and semi-trailers were staging a slowdown on all major highways, especially around Dublin. Their aim was to get the Irish government to reduce or rescind the heavy taxation levied on fuel in order to ease the burden. The impact to us was  potential delays in  our three hour trip back to Dublin Airport and a missed flight  departure. 

We were on the road by 5:00 with Garth as our chauffeur. Although this was early and it was a Saturday, we weren’t sure of the impact on the roads. The traffic was light, and as we neared the airport, Garth took us off the freeway and onto some back roads to skirt any potential trouble spots. We arrived at the airport in good time, around 8:15 and said our goodbyes to Garth; immediately inside the terminal, Deb realized that her phone was missing from her coat pocket - a quick call to Garth and he swung back around to the departure area for Deb to retrieve her instrument, crisis averted.

Our flight to Leeds-Bradford airport in the U.K. was on time and we arrived in England by 11:30, ready for the Yorkshire portion of our spring holiday.  Our bags showed up (unlike in 2023) and we are off to find our low cost car rental! We had called to request an automatic car and said we would pay the difference.  Unfortunately, the only automatics they had were a LARGE SUV or a Mercedes sedan.  They said both would be the same upgrade price and insurance, which was much more than already paid.  So much for saving money.  So here we are driving around Middle Earth in a black Mercedes.  Mark is driving like a pro and I never worry.  We take our time, admiring the scenery and head to Leyburn for groceries and some soup & scones at The Post Horn, our favorite watering (and de-watering place!).  The weather is very, very cold and rainy and Deb does not feel dressed for the heavy winds and sleety rain.  Once we have picked up groceries for breakfast and some wine for tonight at Campbells, we head the 7 miles to Reeth and our home for the next 7 nights, Dinmore Cottage.  It is small and charming with all the mod-coms and a fireplace that works, which we start immediately.  By 7pm, we are snug in front of a TV that we can’t figure out how to work too well BUT with a glass of wine and some snacks.  To bed by 10pm and we slept like (very big) babies.

Ireland and England 2026, April 6

We are once again headed for Europe. We spent the past weekend overworking ourselves, hosting Abigail, Darcy and Bud (with attendant canine grandchildren,) for pancakes Sunday morning and then the rest of the afternoon in the gardens trying to clean up the areas prior to our departure. Monday morning, finished packing, Mark made the 2026 initial lawn mowing foray, and Deb was out in her pajamas cleaning up a pile of weeds and  doing some pruning. Darcy arrived at 1:30 to transport us to Eppley Airfield for our flight.

We arrived in Chicago a bit ahead of schedule and then spent some time at the food court eating an overpriced cheese pizza with glasses of red wine ($57.00 !!) Departure for the direct flight to Dublin was on time and we were boarding by 8:25 and off the tarmac by 9:30, eastward bound. An uneventful flight on an almost full plane but we were lucky to have a pair of aisle seats with an empty seat between us. Deb dozed a bit, Mark logged a fitful 26 minute nap and we landed slightly ahead of schedule at Dublin. Rapidly clearing customs & immigration, we waited over 45 minutes for the luggage to arrive. No mishaps and all three checked pieces made it through.

Zoe was there to greet us, and after a quick coffee, we loaded into her car for the three hour drive to Sligo, our destination for this trip. Her children are on spring break which is the timing for this trip. Garth took a few days off as well and all were happy to see us when we arrived around 2:00. We visited for a bit and had a quick cup of homemade mushroom soup before retiring to our guest bedroom for a bit of a nap in an effort to get a jump on the inevitable jet lag. 

Garth had been cooking dinner all day and we, after a glass of wine, we sat down to a delicious meal of chicken curry with veg.  Yummy!  Deb broke out some gifts for the children and after they were down for the night, we sat up and talked until the old folks were ready to pass out from their strenuous day of travel. Sleep was welcome and there was no lingering awake this night.

Wednesday morning broke clear and sunny, a relative rarity for the northwest coast of the emerald isle. Mark was up early, and the kids, who had been up and waiting, were quick to commandeer him into a game of Monopoly, the Omaha version, we had brought with us as a gift. Mark was the banker, and the kids were quickly into the game. Predictably, some squabbles broke out and attention lagged. Only one child made it around the board before the game was brought to a halt. 4 year old Arthur was struggling with the concept of “go to Jail” and didn’t understand that he lost a turn. Such is life kid!

While the children went outside to enjoy the day, playing in the yard and squabbling a bit, the adults enjoyed their coffee and plotted the day.  After a light lunch (with homemade ice cream sandwiches!!), Garth and eldest daughter Iris elected to remain home and the other five of us were off for a bit of sightseeing.

We drove northward a bit through the village of Grange, past the summer home, Classiebawn Castle, of the famous Lord Mountbatten. It was in the harbor of Mullaghmore that Mountbatten kept the boat which was blown up and he was killed, all the handiwork of the Provisional IRA, in 1979. Mountbatten was a maternal uncle of the Prince Phillip and a second cousin once removed of Queen Elisabeth II. He was a favorite uncle of the then Prince Charles. 

We drove on past and down to the beaches and cliffs of Mullaghmore Head. Across the Donegal Bay, were the scenic Slieve Mountains.

We drove into the village of Mullaghmore, a favorite summer resort town with a number of vacation homes. Lightly populated in this off-season time, it was very picturesque. There were walkers all along the roads; we were able to get some truly magnificent pictures of the scenery.

After a quick stop for ice cream for the kids (and Deb) we returned home, where Garth had prepared a wonderful roast chicken with vegetables together with some roasted potatoes. We enjoyed some wine, the kids opened another round of presents, this time books, and then they were off to bed following their bedtime stories from the new books. We again enjoyed a lovely evening of conversation and catch up, then into bed by 11:00 and fast asleep. We are becoming rested after a busy two days.

 

October 31 - November 2, 2024

The Highland’s new house is really a perfect place for this very active family of 5.  It has three full bathrooms and 4 bedrooms, all quite spacious.  They ended up with almost an acre of land and hope to add a garage/workshop as well as gardens but that might have to wait until Arthur is in school.  He is quite a handful but fortunately for him, cute as a bug!  Garth and Zoe have lots of plans for fixing up the house but both work full-time jobs and after getting the kids fed and to bed, there is little time left.  most of us know that feeling and we all know it will get better but I know they are tired.

After Garth headed out to work, we finished cleaning up the girls and dressing Arthur. Zoe and Mark loaded the brood into the Prius and drove into Sligo to drop the girls at their swimming and arts camp at the Community Center; as Arthur was in quarantine, he continued on with us as we ran errands which included dropping a mis-delivered large package back to the department store and then some grocery shopping. Watching Arthur running around the grocery store was Mark’s job while Zoe traipsed around the aisles loading wine and other provisions into the rolling basket.

Back in the vehicle, we drove the 20 minutes back to the house to find Deb hard at work dealing with some details of a trip she was planning for some clients. No rest for the unretired! Garth returned home and he and Mark drove out to collect the girls from their day camp. Much chatter in the car on the return trip about the vending machines. These are a continuing topic of conversation as the girls take their allowance to the community center day camp and feed it into the vending machines for candy and popcorn to be shared with their buddies.

Back home, Deb broke out her first little gifts - windup monsters that “pooped” out candy as they walked across the table top. Nothing like a series of poop jokes to get 3, 6 and 7 year olds to fall down laughing! Zoe prepared a lovely chicken corma over rice for dinner and we inspected the children’s costumes in preparation for the next BIG day.

Halloween day was rife with excitement. Arthur was cleared  from his quarantine to attend his play school, so every sub-adult was trotted off to burn off some steam. Garth worked a half-day schedule as he and Mark remained at the house while Deb and Zoe drove the kids into town for school. Upon their return, we drove in separate cars back into town for a leisurely lunch and a pint at Walker’s Pub. Deb and Garth enjoyed a wonderful Guiness pie while Mark and Zoe opted for toasted ham & cheese sandwiches and soup.

Following lunch, Zoe drove Mark and Deb around for a tour of the peninsula showing off the ocean, the multi-million Euro houses overlooking the ocean, the small dock areas and breakers along the beaches, and many of the houses they toured during their home search. The home they eventually purchased is about a half kilometer from the sea, on a lovely country lane. it was formerly a Guest House labeled “Eight Gables” and includes four bedrooms and three bath locations. One of the first things they did was to remove the Eight Gables sign from the front yard and now they are in the process of renaming the home “Ceol na Mara”  which translates from the Irish as “Music of the Sea.”

Garth had picked the children up from school and got them organized into their costumes and professionally applied their make-up. When we arrived back, they were ready to roll out for candy. There are three or four homes on the lane and only one other of these has children. The two families banded together and after a stop at each home, they were off in the car for a night of pre-pubescent revelry. Deb & Mark stayed behind to hand out candy to any late comers, though there were none; the word was probably out that all Garth put in stock were gummies! 

After nearly two hours of foraging, they returned, hyped up on excitement and sugar laced with sweet corn syrup. They separated their stash, begrudgingly paid the chocolate tax Mark imposed, and were soon off to bed complaining that they didn’t get enough candy. This is what keeps us coming back to Ireland - the pure joy on the faces of the children (not to mention the love we have for these long suffering parents. We keep telling them that these are the good years and the teens will be much worse, but when you are as busy as these two, juggling jobs, commutes and multiple schools, it seems depressing to think it can get worse.) But, Oh the smiles upon their little faces and the lights in their eyes!

The next morning, there were three very tired children shovelling down some cereal and getting dressed for their last day of community camp. Mark and Garth drove the girls into town amidst much arguing about the coming vending machines. A quick search of pockets revealed that both were toting all too much cash from their home allowance stash to drop into the machines. Papa confiscated the excess, bringing on quick tears and protests, followed by resignation and a quick forgetting of the issue. Deb and Zoe dropped Arthur at his day care and we then left one car in the parking lot and, fresh coffee cups in hand, we drove out towards  the village of Foxford and its famous woolen mills shops. We perused the goods, made some purchases and then settled in at their restaurant for a late lunch of mushroom soup, quiche, lasagna and fish tacos. All very tasty. 

During our lunch, Zoe received a call that Arthur was feeling a bit sluggish and out of sorts. We headed back but were at least two hours away. By the time we arrived to pick him up, he was over his malaise and was happy as a clam. Garth and Mark picked up the girls, and all returned home for our last evening with the Highland crew. We dined on pizza and a Caesar’s salad, some wine and lots of leftover candy! The children were all atwitter as Deb broke out all the presents she had stashed in her suitcase. New pajamas, new sweaters, lots of underwear and a shirt for Garth, some hand knit socks for Zoe, and as much love as we could spread around. 

The kids were beginning to show the stress of the holiday, so they were bundled off to bed, although Arthur was having none of it for a while, but finally settled down. The adults talked for a bit and then off to bed, Deb and Mark to finish packing, and Zoe and Garth for some much needed rest.

October 28-30, 2024

We are hitting the road for a fall trip; once again headed towards Ireland and then the Yorkshire Dales in mid central England. Climbing out of bed at 5:30 AM on a dark Monday morning, October 28, our good friend Deb arrived at 9:15 and drove us along the continually ‘under construction” Omaha streets to the “under construction expansion” of Eppley Airfield where we boarded a United Airlines flight to Chicago and then, after a 20 minute hobble through O’Hare to terminal B, to board a flight to Newark. (Did I mention that, due to the arthritis in my lower spine, I am now frequently using a walking stick (Deb says “cane” although the subtle difference of no curved handle top escapes her.) The O’Hare walk was advertised as only 18 minutes, but with two rest stops, we made it in 25! 

The Newark flight was smooth and arrived a few minutes early. Again a terminal change, advertised as 28 minutes. We took nearly 20 minutes to get to Terminal C where we were to head to Gate 128. A young lady pushing a wheelchair saw me struggling and asked if I would like to hop into her chair. Deb encouraged this as she was tiring of having to stop for me to catch up. Although the ride was great, Deb, looking healthy, got to increase her step count for the day by trailing along, bringing up the rear. The young lady earned a healthy tip and we were fortuitously deposited at Gate 128. There was a bar serving food immediately adjacent. Not having eaten so far and now it was nearly 3:00 PM, we took advantage and enjoyed a glass of red wine and a plate of French fries for the tidy sum of $68.00! isn’t this country great! 

Our flight boarded on time and the Boeing 767 taxied away from the gate and arrived at the line of planes queuing for take-off. The pilot then told us there would be a bit of a wait as there was some “technical difficulties” in the Air Traffic Control Tower. Over an hour later we were finally airborne and our arrival in Dublin was pushed back. We had smooth air and the pilot made up some time - we arrived at 7:30 AM on Tuesday morning, only 15 minutes after the scheduled arrival time.

Deb was able to take a few short naps en route, Mark not so much. The food served on the flight was inedible, but we weren’t particularly surprised. I guess to make up for the wait on queue, we did get a gratis glass of red wine with our unknown meal (claimed as either chicken with rice or “pasta.”)

Good weather all the way, and we arrived in Dublin in good spirits. We passed through Irish Immigration and Customs quickly, and our passports were date stamped for October 29, 2024. In looking at our passport pages, we noted that we last landed in Ireland on the same date, but one year prior. As Yogi Berra famously said, “Deja’ vu all over again!” We always choose this time of year to visit as the Irish school system has an annual school break for Halloween each year, especially for us visiting “grandparents” to visit and see the little angels and cherubs take off their normal persona and replace them with witches, goblins, ghosts and skeletons begging for candy and treats, Isn’t it grand: the American traditions we have exported around the globe!

Zóe left got up at 4:30 AM, left home and drove three hours fromSligo at the western edge  across the island southeast to Dublin to pick us up at the airport. We had a breakfast and coffee at the airport restaurant and then headed back north for our destination of their newly acquired home to begin the five day visit. Husband Garth and Arthur “the prince,” were there to greet us! Later, Garth and Mark drove into town to pick up Iris and Esmé from swimming practice and for a grocery/wine run.

Returning home, we visited, drank some of the wine, joked with the children and dined on roast chicken, salad and pizza  for the kids. We managed to keep ourselves upright until 7:30 PM before finally crashing into our beds, fully 33 hours after arising in Omaha.

10 hours and 49 minutes later we crawled out of the bed at 6:00 AM, as Arthur sounded the 6:00 wake up call. Garth wisely headed off to work while Zoe prepared us some bagels and added some much needed coffee. Later we bundled the girls off to swimming camp. Arthur was relegated to sick bay as he had contracted a case of impetigo! A great start to the trip! 

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!

Thursday, November 2, 2023

Thursday morning we arose ready to hit the tourist trail. Zoë dropped Arthur at the babysitter, and then she and the girls joined us at our hotel for an another second breakfast. Next we loaded into Zoë’s Prius for a stop at the Tubbercurry library to return some books and then day long tour of the area. We traveled northward through Sligo and towards the northern coast. The scenery was beautiful and the weather was cooperative. We ended our travels in the village of Foxford, the birthplace of Zoë’s mom, Bernadette, and also the home of the Foxford Woolen Mills. The mill store is in a building that was once an elementary school, the one Bernadette attended. 

A good two hours were spent shopping for some wool throws and eventually a slice of Victorian Sponge for Deb and a Lemon Meringue Pie for Mark as well as some chips for the girls and a bowl of soup for Zoë. We returned to Tubbercurry, we to our hotel to freshen up, and Zoë, Iris and Esmè to pick up Arthur and head home. Around 6:00 we drove back to the house after picking up some wine, and joined the family for take-out Chinese which was different from that in Omaha but quite tasty! The kids went down around 8:00 and we finished the wine and talked until 9:00 before returning again to our temporary quarters.

Friday, we returned to the house and we, together with the entire Highland clan, including the dog Blue, clambored into their two vehicles for a day’s drive. Garth had completed some work from home and so was free to join us for the day. We drove around, looking at homes they had investigated. Until Garth completes six months in his job, they are unable to apply for a home mortgage, but they are actively looking in order to get a feel for the housing market and the schools. A move to Sligo would remove Zoë’s commute and cut Garth’s to less than an hour. Needless to say, come February, they will be ready for the move from the small attached rental duplex to a home of their own.

We ended the day at one of their favorite beaches where the kids ran over the sand, Garth threw the tennis ball for Blue to chase, Deb and Zoë walked the sand, and Mark stayed seated at the camp chairs they had brought along. The North Atlantic creates some lovely scenes with the roar of the surf, the scent of the salt air, and the miles of sand available at low tide. The beach was cold, windy, but lovely; there were even some surfers in their wet suits playing in the waves.

We returned home while driving through some mountains and enjoying the scenery. We arrived home around sunset and tucked in for their normal Friday night fare of pizza and a movie, sans the movie for the adults.  We polished off another bottle of wine after Arthur was down - the girls curled up in the front room for some television time and the adults reminisced about our seven years of close friendship. The parting was truly “sweet sorrows” for us all, kids and adults, but we had determined that the evening time was best to say our goodbyes, as the next morning we would try for an early start for County Antrim and the Belfast area.

As we sat out front in out car waiting for the windshield to defog, Zoë came running out with Deb’s forgotten scarf, waving it in the air and saying “don’t leave, take me with you, I have a green card!”  A good laugh to end a wonderful visit.

Saturday, we were packed and out after our last Murphy’s Hotel breakfast by 9:00. Our goal today was to reach County Antrim and the village of Ahoghill outside of Belfast.

Deb’s ancestors are from this area, and Abigail had tracked down some information on her genealogy sites about gravestones in the area. We arrived at Ahoghill around 12:30 and started the hunt. In requesting cemetery information from Google, we were non-pulsed to find over 14 cemeteries in the area. Where to begin? We stopped in a small grocery store to pick up some supplies and the helpful manager pointed us to one of the older cemetery sites at an older church. We arrived and started searching out the old tombstones, looking for some that were erected in the 1860’s with the name of Picken. We didn’t find any, but a helpful lady tidying a grave told us of a nearby cemetery that contained a few Picken headstones.

We traveled there, found the Picken gravestones, but they were newer. Deb surmised that the Mary Picken buried there, was her known Great, Great Aunt Mary, whom she had never met, but was aware lived in the area. As it was getting late and we had yet to drive a nearly three hours back to Dublin, we aborted the search and headed South. The traffic going through Belfast was hellish at 5:30 on a Saturday night, there were accidents and diverted traffic. We made it through and hopped on the divided highway towards Dublin and the airport. We arrived near 7:00, returned the car and hopped the rental service shuttle to the airport to catch a cab. Two young women students from France rode in the shuttle with us, and we learned they too were headed to the same area as we, so we shared a cab in from the airport. They were obviously on a budget, so we waved off their offer of sharing the cost of the taxi - there was no up charge for the additional passengers, and we were glad to do it. Deb was reminded of her summer of backpacking through Europe on a very tight budget.

We arrived at our destination, the Morgan Hotel, in the Temple Bar area, and loaded into our room. A nice room until the A/C kicked on; the rattle was so bad that we demanded a room change, which we were granted. We arrived in the new room, found it acceptable, and broke out the chips and wine we had provisioned in Ahoghill, in for the night and our last few days in Ireland.

Sunday morning we arose and had a leisurely breakfast. Mark stayed in the room to read for a few hours and Deb headed out for some minor shopping. She returned, we rested and then headed to Jamie Oliver’s Chequers Lane restaurant nearby for an evening meal.

Mark is a Jamie Oliver groupie, sometimes even cooking from one of the many Jamie Oliver cookbooks he owns. We each had a roast duck leg, over a bed of jammy red onions and accompanied by roast potatoes. For dessert, Deb had a huge chocolate sauce covered Profiterole and Mark enjoyed some Irish cheese and a wee nip of Connemara Whisky.

We thoroughly enjoyed the evening and were home to read and rest for the evening. Monday morning, we again enjoyed our last Irish breakfast in a hotel, and then went for a walk about; at 12:30 we met Zoë’s mother Bernadette for a lunch at a small French bistro, Chez Mac. We visited and dined on Mussels Marnieres for Deb and a pair of Croque Monsieurs for Mark and Bernie. It was great to also catch up with her and visit about her life in Carrick on Suir, her home about 1:30 minutes south of Dublin. a wonderful familial ending to a truly fulfilling trip. we returned to the hotel and rested and read until time for dinner at The Shack, at which we had dined with Howie and Lee last year. we loved it and decided it would be a good place to return.Tomorrow home! Look out king bed, bidet and washer/dryer. You are all in for a workout.

We 

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.

Tubbercurry, Monday, October 30, 2023

Sunday morning, we arose at 6:00 for a shower and clean-up; disaster, as the hot water didn’t start to come on until after 7:00! Deb managed to wash her hair by bending over the tub and rinsing with ice cold water. Not a great way to start the day, but quite an eye-opener. Luckily, mark had showered the night before. We departed Bainbridge without our beloved morning breakfast and were out the door, loaded and driving away by 7:40. It was a grey but dry morning and a great day for a drive. We headed east to Leyburn and then southeast towards Leeds and our eventual flight. We arrived at the Leeds Bradford airport car rental agency. The car rental center did not open until 11:30, we were forced to lock up the car and drop the key in the key drop box, hoping for the best. In the terminal we finally tracked down Mark’s traveling bag, although its interior was a bit disheveled from its sojourn (and probable search) all was in place. We rechecked all three bags, plus Deb’s carry-on, which was too big for this plane’s requirements, and settled in for a breakfast in the lounge.

The flight was loaded by noon, and we departed promptly at 12:30 for the trip back over the Irish Sea. The flight was uneventful and we landed in Dublin at 1:30 to reclaim our bags. All were accounted for this time, although if Mark’s bag had gone missing on a single destination flight with no stops, we would have been extremely suspicious. After baggage collection, we wheeled our four cases over to the SIXT Car Rental counter to pick up our reserved car. As the cute young attendant, Emma, returned Mark’s driver’s license, she helpfully noted that the next time he came to drive in Ireland, he would need a doctor’s certificate stating he was competent to drive, as he would then be over the age of 76. Evidently, in Ireland, after you achieve 60 years of driving time, one must then have an outside opinion on skill. We collected our vehicle, this time a Renault, loaded up the bags, and set out towards Tubbercurry. The drive was nearly three hours once we had cleared the Dublin airport snarl with only one or two wrong turns in the maze of freeways. It was a pleasant enough drive, but as we were restricted to google maps on the car screen we never felt like we had any idea of our location

As the European time zones returned to standard time from daylight savings time last night, it became dark around 5:00 and so slowed us a bit. We arrived in Tubbercurry at our lodgings, Murphy’s Hotel, at 6:30. We checked in, hauled our bags up the extremely slow lift, and then back down to the restaurant to meet Zoë. Hugs all around and then she drove us the 4 minutes to their home. Hugs and screams from the children, Iris, Esmè and Arthur and a firm hug from Garth upon arrival.

Garth had prepared a roasted chicken with roast potatoes and carrots for dinner and we soon tucked in for a proper meal; this was of course after distribution of some swag for the kids! The meal was delicious and after putting the children down, we enjoyed some wine and conversation. Zoë retuned us to our hotel around 10:00 and we fell into bed (twin beds as it turned out) for the evening. It had been a long, tiring day but seeing the Highland Family (the whole reason for this trip) erased all our tiredness.  

We slept in a log-like state until nearly 8:00 the next morning. We went down to the restaurant for our included full Irish breakfast of sausage, bacon, beans, fried eggs, white and black puddings, and coffee. The sausage was not as tasty as the ones we had enjoyed last week, but still very enjoyable. We then drove over to Highland's for the days adventures. We went for a Forest Walk at a nearby “forest,” this being a planted multi-acre ash and oak grove being reclaimed from bog ground. It was raining, off and on, but we were prepared.

Trails are graveled through the forest and the kids are well versed in the area, pointing out where the fairies live, where the donkeys  usually live (though not present today) and showing Dad the mushrooms and fungus. It was raining off and on, the girls were all decked out in their wellies and raincoats, and Arthur in his wellies and rain suit, or “trash bag” as Garth calls it. We stomped through puddles, Deb told off color kids’ poo jokes, Garth and the dog Blue explored a little deeper into the woods. We ambled for about two hours, wearing down the children’s energy and draining the old folks.

Returning home, Garth had prepared some meatballs (his first attempt) so set those in the oven to cook and brown while he prepared red sauce with mushrooms. Zoë prepared the spaghetti, garlic bread and a salad, we opened a bottle of wine and had a wonderfully delicious home cooked meal. Next it was time to carve the pumpkins for tomorrow’s holiday. The carving was a long and complicated task - each child drew on their respective gourds, and then Dad proceeded with sharp knife and steady hand to interpret the drawings. Mark handled cleaning out the “guts” and Zoë helpfully located some matches to light the candles for a test run.

The kids finally went down a little after 8:00 and the adults finished the wine and talked for a bit. We headed back to Murphy’s and were in bed by. 9:45, a bit exhausted but happy. 

2023 Autumn Journey

Saturday, October 21 dawns as a warm and leaf dropping day. We are packed and ready to leave home by 9:00 and darling Darcy arrives 3 minutes early, accompanied by her faithful companion Norman the dog, to take us to the airport to start what will undoubtedly be a long 24 hours of travel. We have three bags to check: one with Deb’s clothes, one with Mark’s clothes and one with gifts and loot for the Highland family, whose home in Ireland we are going to visit as part of our adventures. We check the bags all the way through to Leeds, U.K., our final destination for this first week.

We leave on time from Eppley Airfield in Omaha, headed for O’Hare in Chicago and then onward to Liberty Airfield in Newark New Jersey. The schedules all work out fine, no rushing from terminal to terminal, and we even score a slight upgrade in Newark as we board the 777 for Dublin. Most of the flights are full, with the exception of the Newark to Dublin leg, which is probably about 60% capacity. We arrive in Dublin at 7:00 AM local time and then find a lounge to rest for a few hours prior to our final leg from Dublin into Leeds.

The food was non-existent on any flights except the over the water leg to Dublin. We both opted for the cheese stuffed pasta over the chicken on offer. It was fair, but not award winning. The wine however was gratis, so that made the dinner a little more palatable. The morning sandwich of egg and cheese on a hamburger roll was horrible! The cheese appeared to be onions and not cheese and the egg patty surely never saw the back end of a chicken. We each took one bite and stopped. Did we mention the coffee was undrinkable, this even for Deb who normally doses hers up with milk and sweetener.

Needless to say, we were glad to find a lounge in the Dublin Airport just a few steps away from our next gate. We talked our way in, even though Deb didn’t bring the proper entry card. We rested, had some excellent coffee and juice, together with a scone and some raspberry jam.

The announcement for our flight to Leeds was made at 9:55 so we headed to the gate for loading. We learned that we were boarding a bus to take us to the aircraft. Out we go across the tarmac and pull up to a 70 passenger propeller plane - we hadn’t been in a prop for years. The trip was smooth over the Irish Sea and we landed in Leeds 45 minutes later. We were tired; Mark did not sleep on the overnight flight and Deb only managed a couple of hours. We were cranky and tired of airports, this was our 5th in less than 24 hours.

Did you catch the rooky travel mistake we’d made? You might recall that in the first paragraph above we described our packing. We have known, and usually try and practice spreading our packing over both suitcases, some underwear, socks and a shirt for each of us in each suitcase. Well, this time we weren’t paying attention and we are paying the priced. Mark’s suitcase is amongst the missing. (Son Jake will be quickly sending an “I told you so” message; he counseled us to purchase some Apple Air Tags for the luggage, but I poopooed the idea.) 

The errant bag may actually still be in Leeds, or at any of the other 4 airports we visited. Leeds had a plane slide off the runway in a storm last week. No one was injured, but they were forced to close the airport for a few days and the luggage stacked up. There was one large room filled with bags, although we didn’t see our missing one. I know, I know Jake; if I had installed an air tag I could have found the bag if it was there. We filled out a “missing person” report and are hoping that it shows in the next week. For the moment, Mark will be rinsing his underwear and wearing a long sleeved tee-shirt of Deb’s (suitably uni-sex looking but he is not picky.)

We then proceeded to National Car Rental to pick up our ride for the next week, a nice 4-door SUV on the small side, with only 426 miles on the odometer. Our lodging for this week is the Low Mill Guest House in Bainbridge, a small village tucked into the Yorkshire Dales National Park. We picked this village as we had driven through it a number of times last year on our visit and decided to home base in the same general area.

The drive to Bainbridge was about an hour and one half, the weather was perfect and the traffic was relatively light. The area has received lots of rain in the last few weeks, and many of the rivers had flooded over their banks. It was wonderful so see and hear the rushing water in the rivers and brooks as we drove along. Our original plan was to stop and find some shirts, socks and underwear for Mark, but after arriving, we were too tired. We bought a bottle of wine and some soda water, broke out the red hot pretzels we had stashed as a snack, and we were down for the count by 6:00 - a very long day, but we ended up right where we want to be.

The Great Adventure, Sunday, July 31, 2022

Our last day in Dublin. Howie is up and out for a run, By the time he has returned, his shirt is soaked through - Irish sunshine drizzle has hit and he is damp with a capital D. Howie dries off as the rest of us enjoy some coffee, toast and orange juice in an attempt to clear out our provisions. We depart at 9:45 towards Trinity College Dublin, its famous library, and the renowned Book of Kells. We had purchased on-line tickets a month ago for this timed visit. Our assigned time was 10:30.

We arrived in time and only had to spend a minute or two in queue before they let our lot in. The Book of Kells, one of the great treasures of medieval Europe, is an illuminated manuscript written in Latin, and containing the four gospels of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) together with various introductory texts and tables. It was created around 800 AD by Early Christian monks and is a masterwork of Western calligraphy. Previously displayed in the Long Room of the Library, it now is housed in its own specail interactive display room. 

The main chamber of the Old Library, built between 1712 and 1732, is known as The Long Room.

This chamber contains over 200,000 books. The Long Room also has on display the Proclamation of The Irish Republic. This is one of the few remaining original copies printed in secrecy in Liberty Hall the day before the 1916 Rising began. Also on display is a 15th century Irish Harp, which false legend says belonged to Brian Boru an ancient king of Ireland. The national Symbol of Ireland is modeled after this harp.

Following our walk through the library, we ventured out on the streets of Dublin, first heading to see the statue of the mythical Molly Malone, the fish monger heroine of the song “Alive, Alive O.“

Next on to the pedestrian area of Temple Bar, a walking district renowned for its art galleries, restaurants and pubs. Past visits have proved to us that one does not want to be in Temple Bar of a Friday or Saturday night - party time! 

We stopped at The Shack Restaurant, for lunch, tasting Irish lamb stew, bangors & mash, a seafood chowder and a chicken tagliatelle. All accompanied by wine and Irish ale. Excellent food, finished of with a dessert of  “Trinity Mess,“ Dublin‘s answer to England’s Eton Mess.

Just as tasty although the meringue in this version was a bit chewy, according to our chief “mess“ tester. After lunch, we struck off down Grafton Street pedestrian shopping district and crossed the huge St. Stephen’s park on our way back to our BnB for an afternoon rest and pre-packing for tomorrow’s travels. We enjoyed a glass of our wine, again only to deplete up our supply and then left for a walk to our 6:15 reservation at Matt the Thresher Seafood Restaurant for our last Dublin meal. We arrived on time, and the restaurant seemed empty. We were seated on the upper level, and suddenly, the early reservation time made sense; the entire establishment filled up quickly. 

Matt the Thresher’s was clearly understaffed, as were so many of the places we visited in Ireland, and the staff here was working at double-time. They were friendly, accommodating and quick to make recommendations on our choices, but observing how they were hustling was startling. We enjoyed a wonderful meal, a house red wine, a roast salmon special of the day, caprese salad with steamed mussels, a mixed crab and seafood salad and roast Irish chicken Supreme (basically roast chicken breast on a bed of mashed potatoes.) Plenty of dark stout bread and butter. A satisfying meal.  We declined the dessert offerings and headed back to our abode to rest, complete our packing and read before bed. 

As we reflected on our twelve day Irish holiday, the highlights were our walk around Douth, the first meal in Athboy, the rope bridge at Carrick on Rede, the Japanese Garden in Tramore, the National Gallery in Dublin, the Trinity College library with its Book of Kells, our visit with Zoe, the children and Bernadette, and the overall greenness of the landscape and hospitality of the Irish people; Lina at the SIXT car rental, Rachel at the Tara Lodge, Collette at Molly’s Yard pub, Sue at Sharamore House in Clifden and the Egyptian mummy in the Ulster museum in Belfast all deserve special mention. The Guiness and Irish Red Ales weren’t bad either.

The Great Adventure, Saturday, July 30, 2022

We tried to sleep in a bit this morning, but we were still up by 6:30 AM. Howie went for a run while the rest of us cleaned up and made coffee. We discovered that a fledgling (huge) seagull had managed to trap itself at the bottom of our steps into the BnB and was unable to escape. After searching for the Ireland SPCA and other ideas to rescue (remove, relocate) the avian intruder, Deb, the bird whisperer, finally stumbled on the solution. She stepped out the front door and began laying bits of torn bread bits, up the steps and out into the street. Lo and behold, the intruder got the hint and hopped up the steps, out onto the sidewalk. It stopped, looked both ways as taught and then hopped down the street. Crisis solved.

Deb & Mark were scheduled to meet Zoe and the children, along with Zoe’s mother Bernadette Cleary at the National Gallery at 10:50. As this was also a destination for the Needelmans, we all left the premises together and proceeded in the light rain to the Gallery entrance across from the Merrion Park. First we stopped at the statue of Oscar Wilde and listened to the Statue Speaks bit on the iPhone app. An illuminating bit of history and a truly remarkable statue, by Sculptor Danny Greene. According to Wikipedia, “since marble alone was deemed inadequate, the statue was formed from different coloured stones from three continents. The torso is of green nephrite jade from British Columbia, Canada, and pink thulite from Norway. The legs are of Norwegian Blue Pearl granite with the shoes being black Indian charnockite and finished with bronze shoelace tips. The statue also wears a Trinity College tie made from glazed porcelain, and three rings – Wilde's wedding ring and two scarabs, one for good luck, the other for bad luck.” 

At the appointed hour we crossed the street to the National gallery entrance, Howie and Lee split off to spend the rest of the day viewing the galleries, and Deb and Mark to meet their friends. After hugs and kisses all around, adults and children repaired to the coffee shop for a chat. The girls were satisfied with some Danish pastries while the adults had coffee, a ham and cheese breakfast sandwich and coffee. We caught up on each other’s travels to the Emerald Isle and the Highlands’ plans for their move. After the girls became restless and Arthur had been fed and tucked into his stroller in the hopes of a nap, we headed to the children’s active art section where they were able to ”create” their own art while the adults chatted.

After bathroom breaks, we left the Gallery and crossed back to Merrion Park and the children’s playground. We spent a good hour at the playground visiting, while the girls climbed the paraphernalia and demanded pushes on the swings. Eventually, we departed the playground and walked over to Grafton Street, the pedestrian shopping area that runs through the center of the district. Our goal was the McDonald’s restaurant, where we found a large table and ordered Kid’s Meals, McFlurries, french fries and coffees. After this break we steered off onto Grafton Street for a walk and eventually parted company, a marvellous four and one-half hour visit with a sad departure but a promise to see them all again next year as we now have a regular reason to visit Ireland.

Deb & Mark stopped at a Zoe recommended pub, Neary’s, for a beer and Aperol Spritz before catching a cab with their recovered extra suitcase and back to the BnB.

Needelmans had returned some 45 minutes earlier. We had a glass of wine and planned our evening meal. We settled on walking to a nearby pub, McGratton’s and dined on Guinness, Smithwick’s Ale, bangors & mash, and shephard’s pie. We walked back to the BnB, stopping at the Tesco for milk and butter for tomorrow’s breakfast and coffee. We settled in to watch the final 2 hour episode of Stranger Things and then retired for the evening, watching as the Irish Sunshine (rain) drifted down from the skies onto the green of this island nation.