The Luck of the Irish

After nearly four months on the road, we arrived in our final country - Ireland on March 19, 2010. This had been one of Charlie's country picks, and we had five full days of driving the southern half of the country from Shannon to Dublin. Our first night was spent in Limerick with a steady rain. We have been extremely fortunate with our weather over the last fourteen countries, and I was wandering if our luck had run out. The next morning came with picture perfect blue skies and nice temperatures. We drove up to the Cliffs of Moher and were able to beat all the tour buses. See " Where in the World are the Reeve boys". The views were incredible and driving through the Irish counrtyside was very enjoyable. Ireland reminded us a lot of New Zealand, both in its beauty and the niceness of its people. Our second night was spent in Cork, which has a small but vibrant downtown with lots of shops and music everywhere.

Our next day was spent going to the most tourist destination this country has - The Blarney Castle. The castle is famous for its Blarney Stone, which upon kissing it bequeaths the Gift of Eloquence on the person. We all took our turn hanging upside down and backwards, fifty feet in the air while the attendant holds us while we kiss this certain stone in the castle wall. I can't say that I feel more eloquent after kissing it, but both of the boys have definitely gotten more "mouthy". Why did I come here again???? Even though this is considered a "tourist trap" by many, we all enjoyed walking around the castle and its grounds imagining how life was hundreds of years ago for these people. Our next stop would be our last on this incredible jouney - Dublin.

Arriving in Dublin felt like a lot of the other towns, but once you are walking around the heart of its downtown, it seperates itself from all others. There is something about Dublin that makes it just a little better than most cities. I don't know if it is the history, the ever present music, the friendly people, or the several hundred pubs!! We were only here for two days but it quickly became one of our favorite cities. My favorite time was spent taking a three hour tour of the Guiness factory at St. James Gate. This is the original storehouse for the brewery and was the tallest building in Europe when it was built. They have just completed a multi million dollar renovation by installing the museum inside of the storehouse and in the shape of a five story pint glass. The tour ends in a roof top circular bar that has 360 views of Dublin and represents the foam on top of a perfectly poured pint. Along the way, you learn the rich history of this company and the incredible philanthopy that the founder, Arthur Guiness bestowed upon his employees. Not only was he a kind man, but also a shrewd businessman. After creating the brewery in 1759, he convinced his landlord to lease him the 4 acre property for 45 pounds/year. In 1759, this most have been a huge amount, but his lease is good for 9,000 years!!! Talk about believing in your Product. I learned a lot including how to pour a perfect pint of Guiness in their "training bar". I would have taken school a lot more serious if I could have drunken my homework. Thank God for Guiness.

Our days and nights were mainly spent roaming the downtown area and exploring the shops, restaurants and pubs, many of which date back over a hundred years. My favorite was The Temple Bar which started in 1840.

Tuesday, March 23rd arrived, and we could not believe it. We were going home. As we boarded the plane for New York, we were all excited to be returning to the States and getting back to our house, our dogs, and our family and friends. We missed our home life and felt like we have done enough traveling for awhile.

There had been many times on this trip where I felt angel eyes upon me, and as we stepped out of the plane in Norfolk, I silently thanked them for keeping us all safe and healthy on this incredible adventure.

Next and final blog - In Conclusion.

Hail to the Queen

Going from Paris to London was a trip in itself. We booked the high speed Chunnel train and was impressed with its high end accomondations, and its extreme speed. The only downside was the ordeal in checking in. All throughout Europe, getting on and off trains couldn't have been easier. Checking in for the Chunnel train was more like flying in the U.S. - long lines, serious security, and required a two hour prearrival. Once on the train we settled in and enjoyed the French countryside blowing by at over 150 mph. I had wandered what the entrance of the Chunnel would look like, would it be an impressive entrance or just a typical concrete hole? Somehow I was watching at the right time and caught a glimpse of the entrance - a concrete hole with a basic sign.

Going under the English Channel only took about fifteen minutes and then suddenly there were English words again. It had been almost five weeks since we have seen English, and it was nice to feel like we were getting closer to home. Arriving in London, we jumped over to their Underground system and made our way to our hotel. I almost forgot to mention that today is St. Patrick's Day. I know that the best place to be is Ireland, but second best has to be London. We were immediately handed "free" Guinness draft flyers, good at any Pub, which are everywhere. After checking in, we headed for a classic Pub lunch - meat, potatoes, and a pint of Guinness.

Later that day, we headed to the Tower of London for their twilight tour featuring all the history of executions and murders commited over the centuries in this historic building. The tour was led by one of their guards - the Beefeaters and was very amusing to the boys. Sally wasn't so enthusiatic about the multiple beheadings, but enjoyed the unique history of this place. After the tour, we headed to Piccadilly Square to get the full effect of the St. Patrick festivities and find dinner. The streets were full of revelers and all the typical restaurants were packed. After five attempts to get in a restaurant, we became somewhat frustrated, but luck was on our side when we spotted a Thai restaurant - not the place you normally go on St. Patatrick's Day. The place was empty and the food was great. We ended the night with more street watching and then headed home. I finished the night with two more free pints of Guinness at the corner pub, bringing my daily intake to about 9 pints...can you say bloated.

Since London has so much to see, the next day we decided to do a classic double decker bus tour throughout the City. The weather was clear and cool and everyone enjoyed seeing the sights. We jumped off to have lunch at the original Hard Rock cafe and ended up staying over two hours. The day ended by heading to Oxford Circus to check out the shopping district. The boys' highlight was playing in Hamley's Toy Store. At 250 years old it is the oldest toy store in the world. I would have thought that after seeing the sights of the world, a toy store would be a little boring, but kids are kids and who doesn't like toys. The next day we are off to our last stop of this incredible journey, Ireland. Can our good luck hold out?