Day 1 8/17 - 8/18/07

It was a good day, it was a bad day.
Dave worked home for BNY, Jill finished packing. Around 3:30 we went up to Jill's parents' house on Staten Island and caught a cab at 5 to JFK. Both were cost-saving moves - the cab cost $100 less from Staten Island, and the plane tickets were $1000 less on Delta from JFK than on Continental from Newark.
On the way to Staten Island we grew concerned because the rain began pouring down in buckets - cars were pulled over on the Parkway with their flashers on. Amateurs! Jill had no problem. We were worried that the cab to JFK might take forever being a summer Friday at 5pm in the rain, but we arrived around 6 with only the expected delays. Cab driver became our buddy after I gave him a $20 tip on a $75 fare.
Lengthy checkin and security. Amazingly, Dave noticed that the idiot check in girl forgot to put our last bag on the conveyor when she quit work; as Jill went back up to the desk to get it taken care of the guy next to me remarked that we would have NEVER seen that bag again if we had not noticed.
The Delta terminal at JFK is like being in an airport in Nigeria - it's an embarrassment to the entire country. We boarded around 8:30 after spending 2 hours being blown about by giant fans. The Irish contingent looked like they had all spent all week sleeping on uncle Frank's sofa in Queens, which many probably had.
Boarding was pretty much a free-for-all but we had good seats in the bulkhead row. Took off a little late due to the weather and skipped the bad meal for the most part. Tried to sleep and got a couple of winks but not much more. Kristen was pissed because there was no in flight TV screen. Flight time was only a little over 5 hours!
Shannon was ok, we got out quickly because Dave & Kristen went and got the Europcar while Jill claimed the bags. Our car is a Ford Focus, and it's pretty roomy. Stick shift on the left, and don't forget to drive on the left! I did once today... you don't get to make that mistake too often.
We thought it would take about 3 hours to get to our house in Sneem but we only made it to Killarney by then. Dave was getting pretty beat and the weather (60, rain) and driving (lots of turns, roundabouts, some traffic) made it worse. By the time we got to Killarney National Park I'd had enough, even though it looked beautiful, even in the rain. Stopped at Ladies' Rest to use the loo, then in Kenmare for groceries. Dave tried to buy a pay as you go cell phone but too expensive. "T'would be madness for 2 weeks" said the girl in the store. Finally got into Sneem around 2:30. Followed the directions and got lost multiple times trying to find the house on little back roads. Where it was really narrow and I had to back up. Without being able to see. In the rain. It really sucked and I was at the end of my rope. After about an hour of this, Kristen hearing words she usually doesn't, Jill first spoke to a guy working on his wall, then went into a store in Sneem to ask for a phone, and the woman knew where the house was! We had the directions turned around because we were coming from a different direction. But they sucked anyway. Finally got to the house, a couple of miles up a small road (no doubt more backing up is in my future) around 3:30. The place is really nice, very new and modern. If the rain and fog stops the view will be unreal. 3 BR, 3 BA, nice kitchen with all mod cons, a couple of fireplaces, nice great room with skylights. Should be really nice. |
Decided to skip the nap and had some tea... we'll have an early dinner and bed later. Central heat is on. Ipod is hooked up to the stereo and we're listening to Irish guitar tunes. No rain now, just fog. Jill is finishing unpacking. If we have a glass of wine it will be sayonara... so we'll save that for later.
Made it till about 8 or 9 pm, which is key to avoiding jet lag.
Day 2 >>>
Made it till about 8 or 9 pm, which is key to avoiding jet lag.
Day 2 >>>