Ken Fitzgerald
10-11-2016, 9:40 AM
One week ago today we returned from our 12 day tour of Ireland. The next morning I awoke with the cold that had been going around on the bus. Thankfully, I managed to escape it until the trip was over. My wife caught it while we were there. She was taking boxes of tissues and pens from the hotel rooms.:o
I will try to not be boring but I want to report our experiences for use by anyone who might be considering international travel. While a Creeker recommended a contact there who might have some suggestions for woodworking, the local only had one recommendation and as it turned out we were so busy it wouldn't have been manageable. Thus, the only woodworking involvement was the splendor of the finish carpentry in some castles, an abby and Russborough House. There were also some very fine furniture. It was difficult to get good photos as most places only permitted non-flash photos so the lighting made things difficult on drab dreary days.
Our previous trips to Australia, New Zealand (2) and Fiji were custom designed trips. While we used commercial travel, we were alone, by ourselves, with no scheduled meals. We might fly into a town where a driver met us at the airport and drove us to the hotel. When we departed that city we might drag our baggage to a nearby bus or train station or catch a cab to the airport. Our meals were unplanned EXCEPT I insisted we be able to eat breakfast in the hotel as often tour buses would pick us up at the hotel early or we might have to walk a block or so to catch a tour bus.
This trip was different. Late one evening after making all the hotel reservations for our driving trip to Minnesota, Illinois, Kansas, Wyoming and home, I received an email from the company who vets tour companies. They were involved in making tour company recommendations for our previous trips. They suggested a trip to Europe, Ireland, Great Britain, Scotland might be in order as the Euro was decreasing in value. This happened on a Tuesday evening. By Friday night the trip was paid for, I'd made airline reservations and packed a bag for our driving trip to the midwest which started the next day.
We used a "canned" trip this time. Initially the vetting company recommended a tour company which specializes in custom tours of Ireland, Great Britain and Scotland. They contacted us by email and made a proposal. It amounted to 8 days, always staying in 5 star hotels with a private driver for the entire time. My wife went ballistic. She wanted to do the "tourist things" in Ireland. I agreed. When we didn't respond to their initial suggestion, the representative from Ireland called our home. After a 1/2 hour discussion with my wife, he sent a 2nd email. This time, it was a "canned 12 day tour of Ireland" with a 3rd company. The 2nd company would only be involved in making arrangements for a driver to pick us up at the airport in Dublin when we arrived and 12 days later pick us up in Drogheda to return us to the Dublin airport. The total cost went down by 40% per person, we had an itinerary doing all the tourist things, the price included 4-star hotels every night, one night in a castle and most of the meals in the form of full Irish breakfast, 2 lunches and 8 table d'hote dinners (3 and 4 course dinners). It included all the entry fees to the sights, a guide/driver, luxury coach(bus) and even tips for some of the servers. From the time we landed in Dublin until the morning we left we never touched our checked baggage. Daily, we placed our luggage outside the door of our room, our luggage was transported by a porter to the bus and loaded. When we arrived at the next hotel, the luggage was delivered to our rooms. We shared a luxury coach with 30 others including the driver/guide.
I was a little skeptical about this type of tour having read horror stories. It worked well. So well, my wife informed me on our 27 hour return trip home that we'd be renewing our passports which are due to expire in less than 2 years. Among our fellow travelers, there were people from across the US from all walks of life from factory workers, a retired department of corrections officer, retired high school principal, a retired teacher, his wife a retired HS librarian, a family of adults and friends. We truly enjoyed the company of the others. Yesterday my wife received a scone recipe from a wife of a couple on the tour. They live in Salt Lake City, UT.
I have wanted to tour Ireland since I was a young adult. With a surname of Fitzgerald, I wanted to see from where my ancestors immigrated. When we first began dreaming of this decades ago, my wife flat out stated she had ABSOLUTELY no desire to see Northern Ireland. She remembered all the television news of what happened in Northern Ireland in the 70's, 80's, 90's and is referred to as "The Terrible Times"in Ireland. You need to ask her now what she thinks after spending 2 nights and 3 days in Northern Ireland.
I'll continue this on the next post.
I will try to not be boring but I want to report our experiences for use by anyone who might be considering international travel. While a Creeker recommended a contact there who might have some suggestions for woodworking, the local only had one recommendation and as it turned out we were so busy it wouldn't have been manageable. Thus, the only woodworking involvement was the splendor of the finish carpentry in some castles, an abby and Russborough House. There were also some very fine furniture. It was difficult to get good photos as most places only permitted non-flash photos so the lighting made things difficult on drab dreary days.
Our previous trips to Australia, New Zealand (2) and Fiji were custom designed trips. While we used commercial travel, we were alone, by ourselves, with no scheduled meals. We might fly into a town where a driver met us at the airport and drove us to the hotel. When we departed that city we might drag our baggage to a nearby bus or train station or catch a cab to the airport. Our meals were unplanned EXCEPT I insisted we be able to eat breakfast in the hotel as often tour buses would pick us up at the hotel early or we might have to walk a block or so to catch a tour bus.
This trip was different. Late one evening after making all the hotel reservations for our driving trip to Minnesota, Illinois, Kansas, Wyoming and home, I received an email from the company who vets tour companies. They were involved in making tour company recommendations for our previous trips. They suggested a trip to Europe, Ireland, Great Britain, Scotland might be in order as the Euro was decreasing in value. This happened on a Tuesday evening. By Friday night the trip was paid for, I'd made airline reservations and packed a bag for our driving trip to the midwest which started the next day.
We used a "canned" trip this time. Initially the vetting company recommended a tour company which specializes in custom tours of Ireland, Great Britain and Scotland. They contacted us by email and made a proposal. It amounted to 8 days, always staying in 5 star hotels with a private driver for the entire time. My wife went ballistic. She wanted to do the "tourist things" in Ireland. I agreed. When we didn't respond to their initial suggestion, the representative from Ireland called our home. After a 1/2 hour discussion with my wife, he sent a 2nd email. This time, it was a "canned 12 day tour of Ireland" with a 3rd company. The 2nd company would only be involved in making arrangements for a driver to pick us up at the airport in Dublin when we arrived and 12 days later pick us up in Drogheda to return us to the Dublin airport. The total cost went down by 40% per person, we had an itinerary doing all the tourist things, the price included 4-star hotels every night, one night in a castle and most of the meals in the form of full Irish breakfast, 2 lunches and 8 table d'hote dinners (3 and 4 course dinners). It included all the entry fees to the sights, a guide/driver, luxury coach(bus) and even tips for some of the servers. From the time we landed in Dublin until the morning we left we never touched our checked baggage. Daily, we placed our luggage outside the door of our room, our luggage was transported by a porter to the bus and loaded. When we arrived at the next hotel, the luggage was delivered to our rooms. We shared a luxury coach with 30 others including the driver/guide.
I was a little skeptical about this type of tour having read horror stories. It worked well. So well, my wife informed me on our 27 hour return trip home that we'd be renewing our passports which are due to expire in less than 2 years. Among our fellow travelers, there were people from across the US from all walks of life from factory workers, a retired department of corrections officer, retired high school principal, a retired teacher, his wife a retired HS librarian, a family of adults and friends. We truly enjoyed the company of the others. Yesterday my wife received a scone recipe from a wife of a couple on the tour. They live in Salt Lake City, UT.
I have wanted to tour Ireland since I was a young adult. With a surname of Fitzgerald, I wanted to see from where my ancestors immigrated. When we first began dreaming of this decades ago, my wife flat out stated she had ABSOLUTELY no desire to see Northern Ireland. She remembered all the television news of what happened in Northern Ireland in the 70's, 80's, 90's and is referred to as "The Terrible Times"in Ireland. You need to ask her now what she thinks after spending 2 nights and 3 days in Northern Ireland.
I'll continue this on the next post.