Our first trip to Europe was a walking holiday in Dingle Ireland. We booked the trip through Sherpa Expeditions, so they took care of all our lodging, itineraries & luggage transfers from inn to inn. With travel days included & all expenses, this was a 10-day trip that cost us $3200 (airfare was free & I’ll talk more about that in future posts). Well worth the money. There is SO much I want to share about this trip, so I’ll divvy it up into separate posts.
Travel & Tralee
Bad weather in Houston caused us to miss our flight at O’Hare, where we taxied for 10-15min for no apparent reason (NOT my favorite airport). We arrived just before our connecting flight was scheduled for take-off but United had given our seats away (NOT my favorite airline), so they put us on a flight to London & then we hopped on an Aer Lingus flight to Shannon (LOVE that airline & airport). A jolly Irishman named Mike Malone was waiting for us at Shannon Airport, and while we tried to stay awake he pointed out castles & explained Irish driving & names as he drove us to Tralee. 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 & 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!” So, our 1st intro to the fact that Europeans don’t provide washcloths to bathe & in fact find it embarrassing & dirty. Apparently it’s seen by some as a personal hygiene product, much like sanitary pads — thank goodness we brought wet wipes for hiking! The mattress was hard as a board & the pillows were flat, but a great location close to dining & bus station!
We walked around “downtown” Tralee & dined at Cassidy’s — a small, old classy building with excellent food. We ate Parmesan Herb-Crusted Sea Bass fillets, Spinach-Mushroom Risotto, & Seafood Chowder with brown bread. We heard “fuck” from a well-dressed older woman at the restaurant & “pussy” from our B&B owner at breakfast (talking with a fellow guest about a “football” player — and no one seemed phased by this). It was a great way to start our Irish trek 🙂
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