I Have Died and Gone to Five Star Heaven

I rarely stay in hotels of this class, but am so glad I chose the Westbury for my last three nights. (Especially after the too-firm beds and foam pillows I endured in Galway, which are torture on my old back and neck injuries.  I was in misery all morning, even on Advil.)

The Perfect End to my Ireland journey.

(Click photos to enlarge.)

The Westbury

A hot towel for my face and hands at reception (my return -- their presentation was much better than my folding.)  I was also asked which newspapers I would like delivered every morning (free, of course) and I chose the Irish Independent and the New York Times.  (I could get used to this!)

No styrofoam cups here.

Proper coffee.

For a proper coffee machine.

Oh my.  (Water's complimentary, not the other goodies.)  I might break down and drink the champagne in the back...

Ahh....

A phone by the loo (or whatever they call it in Ireland.)  No yelling to the stall next to you for toilet paper.  I guess you just ring reception for it.

Warm towels, anyone?

Even drawers in the vanity!  And a scale underneath.  (Not on your life, mister.)

The base of the tub/shower is cherry, like the rest of the wood in the room.  Oh my.

View from my room.

Just what I need after being in the Galway house alone!

No taxis, no buses, just step out the door and you are in the midst of it!

Heaven!  A soft, cushy bed and wonderful feather pillows!

Even crown moulding.

Beautiful, traditional doors.

Flat screen on the wall.

Media hub, 220V outlet and 120V outlet!  Wow!

Finally!  A clock on the nightstand!  None of our other hotels had clocks, which we thought so odd.  Neither did the Galway house.  Can't figure that out.  Love the little reading spotlight!

Unpacked, famished.  No breakfast or lunch, so afternoon tea at 4PM will be it.  Waiting in the bar for a window seating to free up.  Gotta do it right!

The first floor reception area and Tea Room.

My waiting place in the bar.

The deep chairs and sofas in the Tea Room will do in my back, and no tables have opened up by the windows (their chairs look comfy) so I have asked for my afternoon tea to be served in the bar area.  I'm ecstatic to have Americano coffee with "pouring cream" at last!

First the sandwiches.

And halfway through, I am told a window seating in the Tea Room has become available, so I move.  This is my lovely view.  I watched a brief rain shower and then the sun came out.

Finishing the sandwiches.

Then pastries and scones.

Close up of the pastries.  They are really small, though they appear huge here (camera angle.)  Only three bites each.  The mini chocolate cream puff (foreground) was amazing.

I am stuffed!  The sandwiches and pastries were so small, and I only had one bite of one scone, because (1) I don't like scones but (2) I wanted to try clotted cream.  Yummy!  So why am I so full? Could it be the three bowls of Americano and one hot chocolate I had?  I need to go lie down.  (And what's with that spoon?)

Ahhh.

Looking out my window from my bed.

A dove in the mirror.  Okay, okay, I think it's really some kind of gull.  But a dove would be a nice end to the day.

It's 8PM.

It's 9PM.

I'm going to love Dublin.

(And did I mention the nightly bed turn-down with chocolates?  Dark chocolates.)

Galway to Dublin

I am so happy to spend my last three days in Dublin.  Whatever made me think I could skip the city? A "big city is a big city" in not true of Dublin.  Their building ordinances allow no highrise buildings, so the sky is visible always.  And the architecture!  Oh, the architecture!  Just looking about on the taxi ride from Heuston to my hotel was amazing!  I can't wait to get out there tomorrow -- early -- and go to breakfast at Bewley's or Bruxelle's and stroll around!

Here is a bit from my train journey from Galway to Dublin.

(Click on photos to enlarge.)

Before I leave Galway, did I ever post this picture?  This guy handed me a card with columns of addition (2 numbers each) and asked me to choose one.  Then he said, "Okay, do you have the sum?"  When I said "yes," he told me to turn the card over.  It said, "You're correct!"  Ba-da-Bing!

Ah, now this is the train we'd seen days ago, the one we thought I'd be on to Limerick.  Even has a snacks-drinks rolling cart.

The train conductor.  Really nice guy.

Passing through towns.  Some intrigued, some fatigued.

The whole way.

"Let's all go to the snack bar!  Let's all go to the snack bar!" or something like that, you know, the song at the drive-in?

You might be sick of them, but I'm not.

Station.

Another station.

This woman helped carry luggage onto the train to say goodbye to a visitor.  But the train started and she was stuck riding to the next station.

A third station.

Just a Story, No Photo (darn!)

Wouldn't you know the one day I hop a cab, hair in need of washing tied up in a pony tail, no makeup except for the remnants of mascara I'd slept in (for shame!), unshowered and in wrinkly clothes........

I'd meet a guy.

While choosing my long-missed vegetables at Joyce's grocers in Knocknacarra, I spontaneously turned to the person next to me to ask how to figure the price since it was in kilos and my item was in grams -- or some such equation -- and as I inquired, I looked up into the face of the most handsome male I'd seen on my trip.  Oi.  No hole to jump into and cover myself up. 

And I hadn't even brushed my teeth yet that morning.  Double Oi.

He started asking me questions about where I was from, what I was doing there, and all of that, so there was no way to avoid a conversation.  And here's the surprising part (aside from the fact he didn't back away from me, holding up a cross in front of his face)  --- turns out he was a 31-year veteran high school geography teacher from Toronto, 13 years in Galway now.  Divorced with five kids in the Irish school system, he proceeded to tell me about it (the ills, anyway) for the next 20 minutes, when he learned I spoke education.  

We shared some moans concerning education, some laughs, and he asked if I missed it.  I told him yes, seeing my colleagues daily and the fun times with my students and the times I could see them understanding somehing new, but no, not the grading or daily wakeups at 5:00AM.  "So you're traveling the world on a teacher's pension!" he laughed.  I laughed, too, biting my tongue.

When he asked what my plans were for the next few nights here, I chickened out and said my friend and I were doing some side trips and would probably just collapse at the end of the day in our borrowed house.   (Note my "woman-traveling-alone" protective phrasing -- "my friend and I" -- never let anyone know you are on your own.)

Didn't even get his name.  Nor he mine.

But a fun story.  Better than the one the first time I went to London about the crowd of teenaged boys who flashed me at 8AM on a Sunday outside of St. Paul's Cathedral in London (and I have the photo to prove it.)

Pros and Cons of Ireland as I've Experienced It

When traveling through foreign countries, at first, you experience exhilaration of the new, the unknown, and your curiosity about everything takes priority.  You roll with the punches and laugh off any inconveniences. You savor the differences.

After a while, little things start to bug you.  You have bouts of homesickness, short-lived but very real.  You may even throw a hissy fit over some little annoyance which wouldn't exist back home.

Then you adjust and are able to weigh the experience in its entirety.  And though I always love the experience, I also always love coming back to live my American lifestyle.

By the time Friday rolls around and I am America-bound, I will be eager to get home, sleep in my own bed with my own feather pillows, see friends and family, eat tons of vegetables, and drive.

God, I miss driving.

So here is my Pros and Cons List (under construction...)


Pros

The Irish people!
Cute shops with flower boxes
Quaint architecture
Pubs with comfortable seating
Promenade and Galway Bay
Wicklow Mountains
Countryside with sheep and cows and stone walls
Bunratty Castle and Folk Village
Green, green, green
Cute, quirky phraseology
Tipping not expected, and then only up to 10%
Chicken Supreme


Cons
Weather (much of the time)
Driving on the opposite side of the road
Pubs with uncomfortable stools only
Irish TV
Taxis that won't take credit cards
Some accents so thick you can't understand a word
Disgusting bacon (called back bacon)
Lack of vegetables in restaurants
No refills on Americano coffee
Salads with barely any lettuce

Goodbye Limerick, Back "Home" to Galway

I've changed my mind back and forth about where to travel, and for several reasons, after a week in Limerick, have chosen to return to my "free" house in Galway.  Just arrived and it feels better than I imagined to be back, to pass the colorful city centre, drive along the Promenade and look again out across Galway Bay.  Such a lively city and such a beautiful waterfront.  Smart choice -- and no-cost lodging.

Good old Vinnie, our regular cabbie, picked me up at the train station exclaiming, "Well!  I thought I wouldn't be seeing you again!"

The problem remained of how to enter Sean and Mary's house, since I'd left the key where they'd told me to and it was irretrievable, except by another key.  They instructed me to set up a meeting with the neighbor who had a key to let me in, or if she wasn't home, where to dig up a hidden key. Lucky for me, excavating was not in the cards!

Now for five or six more nights here before heading to Dublin on my way home.

(Click photos to enlarge.)

Goodbye sports stars jerseys, soccer I guess.  Don't like soccer, won't miss you.

Goodbye history of the Strand.  You were lovely and I would recommend you.

Goodbye bar that I only got coffee from.

Goodbye bar eating area that I only sat in once.

Goodbye lobby.

Goodbye front door.

Goodbye more lobby.  I will not miss your open windows, wind blowing in when it was 60 degrees, and all of the desk personnel loving the "fresh air."  Brrrrrr!!!

Goodbye glass elevators.  Thank you for being oases of warmth against the freezing lobby.

Goodbye more lobby.

Goodbye dining room.  Full Irish breakfasts are good.  Once.  But I am having vegetable DT's and can't wait to go to the grocery store here.

Goodbye outdoor eating which was too cold or too windy most days, and upon which I cannot believe I am seeing people sitting now, especially in short sleeves when it is only 60 degrees with a breeze.

Hi folks at the train station sandwich counter.

And lovely little seating area.

Hi European train station -- I love train travel.

Hi train station on the trip back to Galway.

Hi another train station.

Hello Galway, more space, more TV channels, my own washer and dryer to clean my clothes, fridge, oven and microwave, and great travel show about training around Europe, my teenage dream.  Just might happen one day afterall.

An Irish Grocery Store

I thought it would be interesting to show a few grocery items and talk about Irish grocers for one post.

(Click on photos to enlarge.)

Hula Hoops are ring-shaped potato chips, kinda.

"Chips" in Ireland are French fries;  "crisps" are potato chips.

Really "hot" ketchup.

"Lollies" are lollipops, and frozen ones are popsicles.

"Topped to the edge."  I like that.  I hate it when you order pizza and all the "stuff" is only in the middle with like 2" of just crust.

They don't do fish sticks, they do fish fingers.  (Who knew fish had fingers?)

Many signs (not just in grocery stores) are also in Irish Gaelic.

A "staying down" price.  Love their phraseology.

In Tesco, at least, all of the produce shows locally grown information, like even the farmer's name, on signs above it.  So you can call him up if you have a beef.  (Ha ha, not really.)  But the local farm and farmer's names are really posted!

"Slan" doesn't truly translate into "thank you" or "goodbye," but kinda.  It's also an adjective meaning "safe."

Candy with no artificial anything?  Cool.

I can't imagine kids want to be slurping some of these flavors.  I sure wouldn't.

As far as soda, pop, whatever you call it where you live, Coke still has a corner on the market.