Our First Walking Holiday
Our first trip to Europe was a walking holiday in Dingle Ireland. We booked the trip through Ireland Walk Hike Bike, so they took care of all our lodging, itineraries and luggage transfers from inn to inn. There is SO much I want to share about this trip, so I’ll divvy it up into separate posts.
Travel to Tralee
Bad weather in Houston caused us to miss our flight in Chicago. We arrived just before our connecting flight was scheduled for take-off but United had given our seats away, so they put us on a flight to London and then we hopped on an Aer Lingus flight to Shannon. A jolly Irishman named Mike Malone was waiting for us at Shannon Airport, and while we tried to stay awake he pointed out castles and shared tidbits of Irish knowledge. Just when Eric would nod off, Mike would yelp “Jesus!” when people cut him off.
Our first night was at Derreen Tighue House with the Varleys. Mr. Varley was a quintessential Irishman with witty humor and a merry twinkle in his eye. Mrs. Varley didn’t know what to do with us Americans — when I asked if she had any washcloths, she looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language. I had to repeat myself before she responded “we don’t use those…haven’t been asked for that in years.” We were so naive, no one had ever told us that Europeans don’t provide bathing washcloths!
The mattress was hard as a board and the pillows were flat, but a great location close to dining and bus station. We strolled downtown Tralee and dined at Cassidy’s — a small, old classy building with excellent food. We ate Parmesan Herb-Crusted Sea Bass fillets, Spinach-Mushroom Risotto, and Seafood Chowder with brown bread. We heard “fuck” from a well-dressed older woman at the restaurant and “pussy” from our B&B owner at breakfast (talking with a fellow guest about a “football” player). It was a great introduction to Irish lingo and the perfect start for an Irish walking holiday.
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