Well, here we are! John, Garrison, Grant and Me. After much preparation and anticipation we are in flight. This is the first leg of our European Vacation.
First up: Pittsburgh to Chicago. The great thing about this trip is that John had enough frequent flyer miles to get all of our airfare at a total cost of $300! The bad thing is that you have to travel where the airlines send you and you might have to go around the world-even if it means going in the opposite direction of your destination-to get there. So our flight schedule is Pittsburgh to Chicago-Chicago to Frankfurt, Germany -Frankfurt, Germany to Rome Italy our final destination.
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| This is the flight path. |
We will see how this goes. I hate these long plane rides and connecting flights. I just want to be there.
Chicago flight was delayed due to weather so we are cutting it close and hurrying to the gate to catch the connecting flight to Germany. We get to the gate and they are just starting to board. Whew!
Nice flight. Short and sweet. But this is just the beginning. This will be the second of nine flights we will be boarding throughout our whole trip.
Frequent flyer miles means you also may have to travel on other airlines,
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| Lufthansa Airlines Flight B747-8 The Airbus. |
This is the biggest airplane I have ever been on. Just when you think you have reached the back of the plane, it opens up again and there is another section the same size! And it has a second floor. There were over 500 people on this plane. It is packed.
This is the part of travel I dread most. An overnight flight over seas. I'll try my best to sleep. John bought some melatonin for all of us to take before this flight but we are all scattered on different seats and can't get to each other! It's so crowded and impossible to get up and move around right now. I'll just deal with it and try my best to sleep.
8+ hours later.....
We made it. We arrive in Germany. The worst part of the travel (hopefully) is over. I guess I slept. I can never really tell. I don't feel terrible. I think I'll be OK. But that flight was delayed as well so here we go again hurrying to catch the connecting flight to our next destination: Rome, Italy!
We make it to the gate and even have time to spare.
On the plane and headed to the runway!
A couple of hours later.....
Ahhh Roma, Italy. We have arrived.
Not feeling too bad but boy do I want to take a shower. We get through the airport and miraculously all of our luggage arrived as well.
An airport taxi takes us the 40 minute drive to our place.
We arrive at our apartment on a typical cobblestone side street in the city.
Standing out in front of the Fraschetteria is a lovely lady who cheerfully greets us as if she were expecting our arrival. We crowd our tired bodies and luggage on to the skinny sidewalk and wait to get into our place. John calls the landlord to let him know that we are here. But he is running late and won't be here for 20 more minutes. Upon hearing this the lovely lady graciously offers us some espresso and delicious pastries that she quickly prepares. We all stood outside of the restaurant feeling very grateful for the refreshment. This is a nice introduction to Italy!
Finally the landlord arrives. We go upstairs to the room and while John is checking in and getting information from the landlord, I hurry up and jump into the shower! Ahhhh....clean!! Very small shower but it feels so good! Now I am refreshed and ready to go. I haven't felt the effects of full on sleep deprivation yet. Maybe because we are arriving in the early evening and my body hasn't caught on yet, but that shower is a huge energy boost. This is a nice little apartment with all of the amenities. But the kitchen is very small. So small that they had to put the oven in the living room! Crazy Europeans.
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| Prosecco #1 |
We can't decide where to meet for dinner so Freddie, Caro, and the girls come over to Frescheterria to meet us. This place is so small we fill it up with just our group. But it is perfect. GREAT pasta, wine, (more Prosecco.) meat and cheeses and limoncello to finish. It's so nice to see the Schwertfegers in Italy! Elsie, Lucy and Loveday are troopers dealing with the slightly strange food.
After the meal, Garrison and Grant 'hit the wall' and head back to the place to sleep. But the girls want a gelato. Yes! Gelato! So we walk a few blocks and find a place. I can't believe I am still walking and coherent. But after dessert, It's time to call it a night and go our separate ways for now.
We will catch up with the Schwertfeger's again when we arrive in Siena
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| Loveday and her gelato |
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| Outside our place at night. Mopeds are the way to travel here. |
Tuesday June 12
After a good night sleep John wakes me up at 8:00am for breakfast. Ugh. It's still too early. I'm not ready.
So he and Grant and Garrison head out on their own and bring me back coffee and pastries.
Aaaah... Coffee....pastries....Ok, I'm ready now.
We have a tour reservation at the Vatican at 1:30. So we set out early for the long walk. But on the way we have a few stops to make.
First: A nice walk through town. This is a typical side street in Rome.
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| This is real. |
Then: The Treve Fountain
A few other stops:
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| This is something famous. I think. |
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| I forget. But it's nice. |
Then The Pantheon. Amazing. Built 1900 years ago! Still standing. Fully intact.
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| That's a hole. Not a window. |
Then a quick stop for lunch at a sidewalk cafe'
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| These are a must in Italy. |
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| I mean, really.... |
THE PEOPLE! OH MY. THE PEOPLE!
Hundreds and hundreds!. And HUNDREDS!
But surprisingly in the midst of chaos every one moves along relatively orderly.
It is spectacular and very much worth it.
We saw the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica.
St. Peter's Basilica. (you can't take photo's in the Sistine Chapel)
Wow. Great tour! So much to take in. But we have been walking and touring for most of the day and we are done in.
Rome just feels like constant chaos. But I think it's just their way of life. Anyway this is a huge tourist attraction and there are hundreds and hundreds of people visiting from around the world-daily!
It is a good place to go ONCE.
We decide to save our legs and take the Metro back to our place.
We get off the metro a few blocks from our place and John stops at a corner store to pick up three Peroni beers. One for me. One for him and one for Garrison. (Yes, Garrison is enjoying the loose rules on alcohol here in Italy.) Ahhh. Relax. Peroni. So happy to not be walking anymore. And we have air conditioning.
We all just chill at the apartment for a while. Garrison naps. (He doesn't even drink most of his Peroni! Looks like I will have to step in and pick up the slack.😉)
John is napping and Grant is on his phone. I am writing this journal.
Tonight we have reservations for dinner at 8:00 at one of the best restaurants in Rome.
After some down time and relaxing we head out to the restaurant.
It's fancy. The food is very good and it's a very nice place. Maybe a little too fancy for us. But this Prosecco was so good I had to film it. It was a great meal but from now on we will stick with more casual fare.
After dinner we head home. We have an early morning reservation to tour the Colosseum.
Wednesday, June 13.
Up at 6:30am. Ugh. We have to be packed up and out of our room before we leave. This is our last night in the city. After our tour of the Colosseum we head for Siena, Tuscany.
It's a lot to do so early in the morning, but we manage and head out. The landlord said we could leave our luggage in the room until after the Colosseum and come back and pick it up.
That is a big help. Our plan is to get an Uber after the tour to take us to a car rental place about 40 minutes away so we can then have our own car for our trip to Siena. Then we would drive back to our place and pick up our luggage. But you know what they say: The best laid plans.......
Hundreds and hundreds!. And HUNDREDS!
But surprisingly in the midst of chaos every one moves along relatively orderly.
It is spectacular and very much worth it.
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| Not the Sistine Chapel but still...pretty good huh? |
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| Walkway to the Pope's Palace |
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| The Pope's balcony |
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| Tourist's Balcony😉 |
We saw the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica.
St. Peter's Basilica. (you can't take photo's in the Sistine Chapel)
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| Fun Fact: The Swiss Army guards the Vatican. |
Wow. Great tour! So much to take in. But we have been walking and touring for most of the day and we are done in.
Rome just feels like constant chaos. But I think it's just their way of life. Anyway this is a huge tourist attraction and there are hundreds and hundreds of people visiting from around the world-daily!
It is a good place to go ONCE.
We get off the metro a few blocks from our place and John stops at a corner store to pick up three Peroni beers. One for me. One for him and one for Garrison. (Yes, Garrison is enjoying the loose rules on alcohol here in Italy.) Ahhh. Relax. Peroni. So happy to not be walking anymore. And we have air conditioning.
We all just chill at the apartment for a while. Garrison naps. (He doesn't even drink most of his Peroni! Looks like I will have to step in and pick up the slack.😉)
John is napping and Grant is on his phone. I am writing this journal.
Tonight we have reservations for dinner at 8:00 at one of the best restaurants in Rome.
After some down time and relaxing we head out to the restaurant.
It's fancy. The food is very good and it's a very nice place. Maybe a little too fancy for us. But this Prosecco was so good I had to film it. It was a great meal but from now on we will stick with more casual fare.
After dinner we head home. We have an early morning reservation to tour the Colosseum.
Wednesday, June 13.
Up at 6:30am. Ugh. We have to be packed up and out of our room before we leave. This is our last night in the city. After our tour of the Colosseum we head for Siena, Tuscany.
It's a lot to do so early in the morning, but we manage and head out. The landlord said we could leave our luggage in the room until after the Colosseum and come back and pick it up.
That is a big help. Our plan is to get an Uber after the tour to take us to a car rental place about 40 minutes away so we can then have our own car for our trip to Siena. Then we would drive back to our place and pick up our luggage. But you know what they say: The best laid plans.......
We call an Uber to take us to the Colosseum. A shiny new black Mercedes picks us up. Ain't no Uber's like this in Pittsburgh!
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| Modern Gladiators |
It's like this giant ancient ruin in the middle of a city.
We hook up with the tour guide and off we go.
I find out more than I want to know about what kind of things went on inside the Colosseum.
But it is amazing to see something so old still standing (somewhat) and be in the spot where there is so much history.
After the Colosseum the tour takes us to the Forum. Which I honestly could have done without. This tour is loooong. 3 hours of walking and standing. It's hot and we are all getting tired. We stick it out and head to the exit as soon as the tour is over.
My legs are crying. But we manage to call an Uber to pick us up right outside to take us to pick up our rental car.
This Uber is nice. It's a large van. Mercedes, of course. Roomy and comfy. This is great. We will get our car at the rental place and drive back to our apartment to pick up our luggage and then head to Siena.
We get to the rental place 40 minutes later. John tells the lady at the desk he has a reservation for a car rental. The lady then asks for his passport. We don't have our passports. They are in our luggage back at the apartment..
In Europe your passport is like your driver's license. It's really your only valid ID as an American citizen. So guess what? NO PASSPORT. NO CAR.
We have to go back to the apartment.
We call UBER again. Same guy. Same car. He obviously didn't get too far away.
It's another 40 minutes to the apartment. We get the passports. Grab the luggage while we are at it and it's 40 minutes back to the rental place. The Uber driver made some money that day.
A small setback. But in the end, John was grateful that he didn't have to drive through the city of Rome. He's done that before and that can get crazy.
Off we go to our next destination: Siena, Italy. A two hour drive. We have our own car now and it's nice.
We arrive in Siena and the closer we get to our place the higher the walls and the smaller the streets. It's like we are driving on the sidewalk. Pedestrians everywhere. It feels like cars should not be allowed.
Every turn is precarious as the streets are so narrow and we are surrounded by tall brick buildings.
We are kind of lost. And our GPS is not helping. John is texting the woman at the place but she speaks very little English so everything has to be translated through text.
After circling the block a few times and with John's masterful driving, we find our place and check in.
After the Colosseum the tour takes us to the Forum. Which I honestly could have done without. This tour is loooong. 3 hours of walking and standing. It's hot and we are all getting tired. We stick it out and head to the exit as soon as the tour is over.
My legs are crying. But we manage to call an Uber to pick us up right outside to take us to pick up our rental car.
This Uber is nice. It's a large van. Mercedes, of course. Roomy and comfy. This is great. We will get our car at the rental place and drive back to our apartment to pick up our luggage and then head to Siena.
We get to the rental place 40 minutes later. John tells the lady at the desk he has a reservation for a car rental. The lady then asks for his passport. We don't have our passports. They are in our luggage back at the apartment..
In Europe your passport is like your driver's license. It's really your only valid ID as an American citizen. So guess what? NO PASSPORT. NO CAR.
We have to go back to the apartment.
We call UBER again. Same guy. Same car. He obviously didn't get too far away.
It's another 40 minutes to the apartment. We get the passports. Grab the luggage while we are at it and it's 40 minutes back to the rental place. The Uber driver made some money that day.
A small setback. But in the end, John was grateful that he didn't have to drive through the city of Rome. He's done that before and that can get crazy.
It's all good. Remember: perspective.
We are on vacation.
We are in ITALY!
We arrive in Siena and the closer we get to our place the higher the walls and the smaller the streets. It's like we are driving on the sidewalk. Pedestrians everywhere. It feels like cars should not be allowed.
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| Yes, they really do hang their clothes out like that! |
Every turn is precarious as the streets are so narrow and we are surrounded by tall brick buildings.
We are kind of lost. And our GPS is not helping. John is texting the woman at the place but she speaks very little English so everything has to be translated through text.
After circling the block a few times and with John's masterful driving, we find our place and check in.
This place is big. It's a basement apartment but it is cozy and comfortable. After checking in and settling in a bit we head out for a short walk to check out the town.
Siena Nightlife.
We walk back to our place. Feeling a little tired but we need some food. However the Kids. Are. Done. They don't want to go anywhere, anymore today. So John and I head out for a pizza and tell them we will just bring them some back.
Quite a building.
We find a nice little place around the corner. I get my daily Prosecco and we order our food. At the next table there are three old men sitting together just drinking Prosecco. All I hear is 'pop' 'pop' 'pop' as bottle after bottle is opened. As service goes, I get the sense that they aren't impressed by Americans. In fact, they may even be annoyed by us. I don't know about the rest of Europe but I know in Italy and Ireland tips aren't really a thing. They will get to you when they get to you and you just have to deal with it. And it's not like you could complain about it. I don't think they really care. It's good food, though. So we eat and get another drink and take some pizza back to the boys.
After we get back I am done too. I climb into bed. Put my sleep mask on and tell everyone NOT to wake me up for anything.
We need to sleep in and have a slow morning.
Thursday June 14.
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| Here is the place in the daytime. |
After we get back I am done too. I climb into bed. Put my sleep mask on and tell everyone NOT to wake me up for anything.
We need to sleep in and have a slow morning.
Thursday June 14.
Ahhh. Sleeping in is nice.
We are having our slow morning for sure. It is 10:52 am and no one here is showing any signs of urgency. John is the only one who has made any real movement as he went out earlier to find breakfast. He brings back coffee and pastries.
It was really good but I could use more coffee. So I dig around the kitchen and find some ground coffee and a Mota Pot. I have never used one of these before so with a quick online search I am able to make myself an espresso. It's not bad for the first try.
Once we do get moving we are planning on meeting up with Freddie and Caro again today. Caro said they want to tour a vineyard. Now we are talking! (I love Caro.)
We finally get it together, get some lunch, walk around Siena a bit then head out to the countryside.
We are having our slow morning for sure. It is 10:52 am and no one here is showing any signs of urgency. John is the only one who has made any real movement as he went out earlier to find breakfast. He brings back coffee and pastries.
It was really good but I could use more coffee. So I dig around the kitchen and find some ground coffee and a Mota Pot. I have never used one of these before so with a quick online search I am able to make myself an espresso. It's not bad for the first try.
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| I just love portrait mode on my Iphone. |
Once we do get moving we are planning on meeting up with Freddie and Caro again today. Caro said they want to tour a vineyard. Now we are talking! (I love Caro.)
We finally get it together, get some lunch, walk around Siena a bit then head out to the countryside.
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| Skinny street/sidewalks |
It's a nice drive and nice to get out of the congestion. Tuscany here we come!
We meet up with Caro at a little grocery store near their place and buy food to make dinner.
This is fun!
Pasta, lots of pasta. And cheese! We must have cheese!
Pasta, lots of pasta. And cheese! We must have cheese!
The drive is too hard to navigate on our own so I drive with Freddie and the girls in their car and John drives with Caro in ours. We set out and after about 10 minutes on a winding road, we turn onto a gravel road and drive another 10 minutes through a heavily wooded area. Then we reach the top of the hill and WOW!
This place screams TUSCANY. It is every picture perfect scene of wine country. There is a beautiful sweeping view of the countryside. A terrace to look out over the hillside, a stone grill, a small Tuscan style cottage, tables outside, a swimming pool in the back and wait for it...THEIR VERY OWN WINERY!! YES! Just feet away from the house. A little building that is stocked with lots of wine, Prosecco, and beer! They can take as much as they want. It's the honor system! WOW! So cool!
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| The Winery. (That's Freddie!) |
We made lots of pasta for dinner. And had wine and cheese on the terrace to watch the sunset.
This is where I want to stay the next time I come to Italy.
OH NEVER MIND THAT! I want to LIVE HERE!!!!
We stay just until it starts to get dark and then head back to Siena. I am so happy that we got to see this. The kids loved it. It was so relaxing and lovely. Also fun hanging out with Freddie and Caro and the girls .
We are coming back tomorrow! (hope they don't mind!)
Friday June 14th
The next morning we take it slow again and get ready to head out to the countryside. The kids want to swim at Freddie and Caro's so we set out early.
This is where I want to stay the next time I come to Italy.
OH NEVER MIND THAT! I want to LIVE HERE!!!!
We stay just until it starts to get dark and then head back to Siena. I am so happy that we got to see this. The kids loved it. It was so relaxing and lovely. Also fun hanging out with Freddie and Caro and the girls .
We are coming back tomorrow! (hope they don't mind!)
Friday June 14th
The next morning we take it slow again and get ready to head out to the countryside. The kids want to swim at Freddie and Caro's so we set out early.
We drive up to the cottage and meet the Schwertfeger's. We all decide to go to a local restaurant for lunch. It's about 12:30pm so we have to get moving because all of the restaurants close at 2:30pm and don't open again until 7:30pm. Crazy Italians!
It's a lovely and quaint little place where we all order different food and 4 large bottles of beer. These beer bottles are the size and shape of champagne bottles.
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| This is beer. |
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| A meat and cheese tray is a common appetizer. |
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| EVERYTHING IS GOOD. REALLY GOOD. |
I
Then we head back to the cottage (villa)to digest our food. The kids swim, the adults hang out. Freddy opens another bottle of Prosecco. (I love Freddie.) This is vacation.
Home to pack as much as we can. We have a 2 1/2 hour drive back to Rome in the morning to catch an 11:30 flight to Dublin.
June 16th
Saturday. 6:00am
We are up and packing quickly. It's early, but we manage to get ourselves out the door and on the road.
Off we go to Campino Airport to catch a flight to Dublin.
We arrive at the airport and it's chaos from the beginning. Lines, lines and more lines. A lot of waiting in lines. Noise. Yelling. Never sure where exactly to go. Again, Italy is just a general state of chaos.
We arrive at boarding. There is a huge crowd of people accumulating at the gate. I don't know how any sense is made of all of this. But we are apparently waiting to board a bus to take us to the plane. There are no lines here-just crowds. More and more waiting.
Finally we board the bus to take us to the plane. This is somewhat excruciating but I try to keep my perspective. Life could be worse. It is vacation.
RYANAIR Airlines. I have never heard of it before. And I am a little skeptical. There are a lot of airlines I have not heard of in Europe.
We exit the bus and board the plane from the runway. We enter from the back of the plane and it feels weird.
Finally though, we are able to sit down. Of course there is a delay and we sit for some time. The pilot comes on and tells us this will be a 3 1/2 hour flight.
WHAT?!! 3 1/2 HOURS?!! I thought this was only an HOUR!
Oh my. This is when I hate traveling. (Again, perspective, Mary. You're on vacation.)
So I just plug in my iPad and watch some downloaded movies.
This airline feels cheap. Well it is cheap. SO cheap you have to buy any food or drink on the plane. And they don't take American credit cards.
I later find out later that this is common on flights between European countries.
I mentally prepare to not survive this flight. I do that sometimes when I don't feel things are right or normal. Well, I think I do that on EVERY flight but this one is more sketchy.
But thankfully we do survive and About 4 hours later we arrive in Dublin. After more waiting and waiting we get through the airport and all of our luggage has miraculously arrived again!
We get our rental and head up North to Bangor. Another 2 hour drive.
For as much as a pain all of this is, it goes quite smoothly.
Bangor, Northern Ireland.
Aaahhh, Bangor. Our favorite place. I think we have stayed in Bangor every time we have come to Northern, Ireland for the last 16 years. We know the town well. We arrive at the same apartment where we have stayed for the past 3 years. It's a nice little place right on the coast. We unpack a bit. Settle in a bit and then it's off to our favorite Bangor restaurant, Dunnigan's.
It is a beautiful evening as we walk down the sidewalk along the coastline. It is sunny but not very warm. This is Ireland, after all, and it is rarely warm. It's about 55 degrees and people all around us are wearing shorts, tank tops and not shivering at all. I, however, am wearing long jeans and a long sleeve shirt, socks and tennis shoes and wishing I had a jacket.
Dunnigan's is great! The people are so friendly here. They remembered us! Feels great to be in an old familiar place.
We order steaks for John and the boys, a burger for me. Guinness of course for John and Garrison and Smithwick's for me. I think the last time I had Smithwick's was here-two years ago!
A lovely meal followed by a lovely and chilly stroll home and off to bed. It has been a long day. And we have to get up to go to church tomorrow. This church is called The Crescent. It's a lot of John's family goes to church so we will be seeing family for the first time tomorrow.
Sunday June 17.
We are up and packing quickly. It's early, but we manage to get ourselves out the door and on the road.
Off we go to Campino Airport to catch a flight to Dublin.
We arrive at the airport and it's chaos from the beginning. Lines, lines and more lines. A lot of waiting in lines. Noise. Yelling. Never sure where exactly to go. Again, Italy is just a general state of chaos.
We arrive at boarding. There is a huge crowd of people accumulating at the gate. I don't know how any sense is made of all of this. But we are apparently waiting to board a bus to take us to the plane. There are no lines here-just crowds. More and more waiting.
Finally we board the bus to take us to the plane. This is somewhat excruciating but I try to keep my perspective. Life could be worse. It is vacation.
RYANAIR Airlines. I have never heard of it before. And I am a little skeptical. There are a lot of airlines I have not heard of in Europe.
We exit the bus and board the plane from the runway. We enter from the back of the plane and it feels weird.
Finally though, we are able to sit down. Of course there is a delay and we sit for some time. The pilot comes on and tells us this will be a 3 1/2 hour flight.
WHAT?!! 3 1/2 HOURS?!! I thought this was only an HOUR!
Oh my. This is when I hate traveling. (Again, perspective, Mary. You're on vacation.)
So I just plug in my iPad and watch some downloaded movies.
This airline feels cheap. Well it is cheap. SO cheap you have to buy any food or drink on the plane. And they don't take American credit cards.
I later find out later that this is common on flights between European countries.
I mentally prepare to not survive this flight. I do that sometimes when I don't feel things are right or normal. Well, I think I do that on EVERY flight but this one is more sketchy.
But thankfully we do survive and About 4 hours later we arrive in Dublin. After more waiting and waiting we get through the airport and all of our luggage has miraculously arrived again!
We get our rental and head up North to Bangor. Another 2 hour drive.
For as much as a pain all of this is, it goes quite smoothly.
Bangor, Northern Ireland.
Aaahhh, Bangor. Our favorite place. I think we have stayed in Bangor every time we have come to Northern, Ireland for the last 16 years. We know the town well. We arrive at the same apartment where we have stayed for the past 3 years. It's a nice little place right on the coast. We unpack a bit. Settle in a bit and then it's off to our favorite Bangor restaurant, Dunnigan's.
It is a beautiful evening as we walk down the sidewalk along the coastline. It is sunny but not very warm. This is Ireland, after all, and it is rarely warm. It's about 55 degrees and people all around us are wearing shorts, tank tops and not shivering at all. I, however, am wearing long jeans and a long sleeve shirt, socks and tennis shoes and wishing I had a jacket.
Dunnigan's is great! The people are so friendly here. They remembered us! Feels great to be in an old familiar place.
We order steaks for John and the boys, a burger for me. Guinness of course for John and Garrison and Smithwick's for me. I think the last time I had Smithwick's was here-two years ago!
A lovely meal followed by a lovely and chilly stroll home and off to bed. It has been a long day. And we have to get up to go to church tomorrow. This church is called The Crescent. It's a lot of John's family goes to church so we will be seeing family for the first time tomorrow.
Sunday June 17.
It's Father's Day and Irelanders celebrate it here too!
Off to the Crescent. This is a really nice church. It is very welcoming and friendly. The service is very good. It's uplifting and has a good flow. They have a breaking of bread service (communion) which I haven't been to in many years. I know this is something John has been looking forward to. He misses this service.
After church we head to Lester and Vivienne's. Vivienne is John's first cousin. This visit is with all of John's dad's side of the family. This is always fun. They have a huge house in the countryside. It's a beautiful view. They have all the fun stuff too. A giant chess board, a giant connect 4. Acres of land and a quad! So, of course our boys love it. And there are a lot of kids when we all get together. Garrison and Grant are the oldest ones. Lester and Vivienne have a family reunion cookout every time we come over. All of the relatives gather. It's so great to see everyone. They are a wonderful, loving family that I have enjoyed seeing and getting to know over the years. I am grateful that John has cultivated the relationship with all of them. Our kids have been deeply enriched by it.
They seem to really appreciate that we come over to see them all so often. In fact, I came to realize that they don't really see each other UNTIL we come over. It just validates our trip all the more.
We stay until evening then say our long goodbyes. It was lots of fun. Except when I was leaving and tripped down their hard to see brick steps. OUCH! I twisted my ankle but thankfully not bad and it still hurts a bit today but there was no real swelling and some ibuprofen helped.
Home and to bed.
Tomorrow we go to the farm to see Uncle Alex.
Monday June 18
We all awaken relatively early. I slept in longer than everyone. (as usual)
We eat our soda farls (triangle shaped biscuits) with jam and butter and each make our own instant Nescafé coffee. The taste and smell of Nescafé always reminds me of Ireland. If they aren't drinking tea they drink Nescafe'
Off to the Crescent. This is a really nice church. It is very welcoming and friendly. The service is very good. It's uplifting and has a good flow. They have a breaking of bread service (communion) which I haven't been to in many years. I know this is something John has been looking forward to. He misses this service.
After church we head to Lester and Vivienne's. Vivienne is John's first cousin. This visit is with all of John's dad's side of the family. This is always fun. They have a huge house in the countryside. It's a beautiful view. They have all the fun stuff too. A giant chess board, a giant connect 4. Acres of land and a quad! So, of course our boys love it. And there are a lot of kids when we all get together. Garrison and Grant are the oldest ones. Lester and Vivienne have a family reunion cookout every time we come over. All of the relatives gather. It's so great to see everyone. They are a wonderful, loving family that I have enjoyed seeing and getting to know over the years. I am grateful that John has cultivated the relationship with all of them. Our kids have been deeply enriched by it.
They seem to really appreciate that we come over to see them all so often. In fact, I came to realize that they don't really see each other UNTIL we come over. It just validates our trip all the more.
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Most of John's Belfast family. |
We stay until evening then say our long goodbyes. It was lots of fun. Except when I was leaving and tripped down their hard to see brick steps. OUCH! I twisted my ankle but thankfully not bad and it still hurts a bit today but there was no real swelling and some ibuprofen helped.
Home and to bed.
Tomorrow we go to the farm to see Uncle Alex.
Monday June 18
We all awaken relatively early. I slept in longer than everyone. (as usual)
We eat our soda farls (triangle shaped biscuits) with jam and butter and each make our own instant Nescafé coffee. The taste and smell of Nescafé always reminds me of Ireland. If they aren't drinking tea they drink Nescafe'
Then it is off to the farm. We arrive and Uncle Alec greets us warmly. He looks good. His hair is whiter but he looks healthy.
There is always a bit of anxiety going to the farm. Uncle Alex. He is John's mother's brother. All I can say is that it is best to listen to him and not disagree. He is a man truly set in his ways. It's always good to see him but I have to be so careful of what I say. In fact I don't really say much at all when I am there.
We sit down for a chat. He pretty much just talks to John. I just sit there and listen. It's always interesting though, listening to Uncle Alex. You definitely know where he stands on issues.
There is always a bit of anxiety going to the farm. Uncle Alex. He is John's mother's brother. All I can say is that it is best to listen to him and not disagree. He is a man truly set in his ways. It's always good to see him but I have to be so careful of what I say. In fact I don't really say much at all when I am there.
We sit down for a chat. He pretty much just talks to John. I just sit there and listen. It's always interesting though, listening to Uncle Alex. You definitely know where he stands on issues.
A life long bachelor he still lives alone in a small house on hundreds of acres of farm land. It used to be a thriving dairy farm when John's grandfather was alive. But now Uncle Alex just rents out the land for other farmers to keep their cattle.
After a while we head out to lunch. There is a local hotel nearby that Alex always like to take us to.
We have lunch and a nice time together.
Then back to the farm.
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| His favorite place to sit. In a recliner right in the middle of his small kitchen! |
After a while we head out to lunch. There is a local hotel nearby that Alex always like to take us to.
We have lunch and a nice time together.
Then back to the farm.
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| Grant and Garrison on the farm. |
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| 97 Ballycoan Rd. This the lane leading up to the house. |
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| A view of Alex's house from the lane. |
I sit down with John and Alex and then the boys and I head out for walk around outside. After a while we head back inside and I go back into the kitchen to join in the ongoing conversation with John and Alex.
The one thing that Uncle Alex loves to do is race pigeons. He has a backyard filled with pigeon coups and homing pigeons. He has won quite a few races with them!
He made John take his photo with his favorite one!
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| Uncle Alex's favorite prized pigeon. |
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| The pigeon coup |
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| An old photo of Alex (left) winning the grand prize in pigeon racing. |
Uncle Alec tells us all of the same old stories and a few more. Then, after about a half an hour he abruptly says it's time for his nap and that it was really good to see us. Which means it's time for us to leave. (He isn't real subtle.)
So off we go. Another year to see Uncle Alec and the farm.
On the way back we stop at the grocery store for some more food and some tea to take back home with us.
It was a nice visit but I think we are both glad it is over. It is always a bit like walking on egg shells with Uncle Alex.
Home again after that long day. The kids again Do. Not. want to go out so John and I walk down to the nearest pub for some light food, beer and debriefing of the farm. We need to decompress.
We have a nice time and conversation and head back to the house.
It is a beautiful evening. It is clear and even feels warmer than it was earlier.
When we get home we chase the boys outside to enjoy the evening.
They go out for a while and bring back a pizza for themselves.
Tuesday June 19
John plans on meeting his cousin Philip for lunch and then he and the boys go golfing. So that means that I am on my own! Nice.
I take a short walk into town. I have to stop in certain stores and get my usual souvenirs: Tea towels, placemats and tea. Then to the Spar ( a small grocery store) for some food. I get a sandwich, chips a drink and walk home. I make some tea and eat my sandwich, blissfully alone, while watching the BBC.
Then I decide to lay down and take a little nap. I am not in the mood to sort out our mess yet before we leave. Maybe later......
I get a nice rest and enjoy some good alone time.
Shortly after, the boys all come home. It was a good visit with Philip and a good day of golf but they are exhausted, so they all plop down for a rest.
Catherine, another cousin of John's invited us over to her house tonight. Her kids have after school activities so it will have to be after 8:00pm
After we are all refreshed, we head out to another favorite restaurant: Pier 36.
It's raining kind of hard now. An Irish day as they say here.
After dinner, we head out to Catherine's house.
We have a really nice time at Catherine's. The kids had fun playing with each other and John's Aunt Louise, and Aunt Margaret were there. It was really good to see them.
We head home a little after 10pm. It's raining really hard now but we make the 45 minute drive back safely.
Now we are exhausted and there is no way I am sorting out our packing tonight. Tomorrow we head home but not until the afternoon. So we have time to pack tomorrow.
Bedtime for all.
Wednesday June 20
We awaken at a reasonable hour- about 8:00am and begin packing. It's always a big ordeal trying to fit everything back into our luggage. But it always feels good to pack up for home. It's a lot easier than packing to leave for vacation.
We pack all of our bags and head out to the long drive to Dublin.
Good Bye Northern Ireland. It was fun as always!
On our way to the newest Airbnb we stop off to see Uncle John. This might be the last time. We saw him at Lester and Vivienne's and he does not look good and he is very frail. Unfortunately he isn't home and so we have to leave without saying goodbye.
Since we have time we decide to try and see a few things in Dublin. But first we stop off for lunch at a little town called Newry for our last official fish and chips at a small chip shop. As most chip shops go, they do not have seating so we take our piping hot and very greasy food to the car. Good Times.
We decide to check out a little the museum on our way called Battle of the Boyne. This was a famous battle won by King William of Orange. It was short and sweet and interesting. (most importantly, short and sweet.)
Then we head to the place we are staying for the night. John picked this place because it was close to the airport. The pictures on the AirBNB website looked good. But it was awkward.
We are staying at someone's house. We have 2 bedroom and a bathroom. A couple with a young daughter live here. It just feels like we are in their space. It is not comfortable and they have some kind of weird smelling air freshener in diffusers in the bedrooms. The smell gives us all headaches and we have to move the diffusers to the bathroom because they are so strong.
At this point we all can't wait to head back home. We are ready. So much moving around. Airplanes, packing and repacking. It is wearying. So we head out for our last meal in Dublin. A nice restaurant with Smithwick's and Guinness so it's good. But we are tired of going to restaurants. We are tired of traveling. It has been a lot this time.
We are done.
Afterwords we go back to our place and all just lay in our beds and watch our phones and iPads until sleep.
June 21st
Our last day.
The next morning we are up and out the door in a timely fashion. We only brought in the clothes from the car for the next day so not much packing here and we head to the airport which thankfully isn't far way.
We are now sitting at our gate waiting to board the flight to Edinburgh Scotland. Then to Washington, DC. Then to Pittsburgh. Another round of boarding and disembarking, security and waiting. I'm just glad that we are on our way home. Hope it all goes smoothly from here.
In the air. First flight on the way home. Dublin to Edinburgh, Scotland. Short flight, thankfully.
Edinburgh, Scotland. We arrive safely. But as we head to security John realizes that we are really cutting it close to catch the flight to DC. So we start to hurry. In fact, now we are running. The gate is so far away.... But we make it. We are the last ones to board the plane. Unbelievable. It would have been a disaster if we had missed this flight.
Surprisingly, this flight is not packed. John is in a different seat from the rest of us. So after the plane levels off. I go up to see John. He has THREE seats to himself! I go back and grab my things to go up and join him. But then I discover another THREE seats unoccupied across the aisle. BONUS!! I jump over to the seats and stretch out!
This is great! John has three seats. I have three seats. And the boys have three seats for the two of them!
This is the most relaxing trip home from Ireland I have ever had.
I discover that alcohol is free on international flights so I order a glass of wine and watch some movies. I can handle this.
Washington D.C. U.S.A. It is so nice to be on American soil. Not quite home yet but sooo close. I really love going to Ireland. There is such a comforting feeling there but I truly appreciate coming home to the U.S. Maybe it's just because this is my home but It is a huge sigh of relief to be back.
D.C. airport is another scene of chaos. Security. This is the nature of international flights. We have to pick up our luggage and recheck it. It's all crazy. But this time we are not running for our flight. We actually get to sit and wait for a while.
Finally we board. It's all good. Smooth flight. Smooth landing. Quickly through the airport. Luggage is there. Whew! For all of the traveling we have done things have gone remarkably well. So thankful.
We land in Pittsburgh. We are not only on American soil we are on Pittsburgh soil!
John gets the car and we get into my old trusty van and drive home.
U.S., Pittsburgh, Friendship, S. Atlantic Ave. Really home.
Buddy is there to greet us cheerfully and we settle back into life in Pittsburgh.
Reflecting on our trip, the Tuscan countryside was the highlight. John is already talking about a trip to that Villa in Tuscany next year.
Maybe....but for now I am so glad to be HOME!
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The next morning we are up and out the door in a timely fashion. We only brought in the clothes from the car for the next day so not much packing here and we head to the airport which thankfully isn't far way.
We are now sitting at our gate waiting to board the flight to Edinburgh Scotland. Then to Washington, DC. Then to Pittsburgh. Another round of boarding and disembarking, security and waiting. I'm just glad that we are on our way home. Hope it all goes smoothly from here.
In the air. First flight on the way home. Dublin to Edinburgh, Scotland. Short flight, thankfully.
Edinburgh, Scotland. We arrive safely. But as we head to security John realizes that we are really cutting it close to catch the flight to DC. So we start to hurry. In fact, now we are running. The gate is so far away.... But we make it. We are the last ones to board the plane. Unbelievable. It would have been a disaster if we had missed this flight.
Surprisingly, this flight is not packed. John is in a different seat from the rest of us. So after the plane levels off. I go up to see John. He has THREE seats to himself! I go back and grab my things to go up and join him. But then I discover another THREE seats unoccupied across the aisle. BONUS!! I jump over to the seats and stretch out!
This is great! John has three seats. I have three seats. And the boys have three seats for the two of them!
This is the most relaxing trip home from Ireland I have ever had.
I discover that alcohol is free on international flights so I order a glass of wine and watch some movies. I can handle this.
Washington D.C. U.S.A. It is so nice to be on American soil. Not quite home yet but sooo close. I really love going to Ireland. There is such a comforting feeling there but I truly appreciate coming home to the U.S. Maybe it's just because this is my home but It is a huge sigh of relief to be back.
D.C. airport is another scene of chaos. Security. This is the nature of international flights. We have to pick up our luggage and recheck it. It's all crazy. But this time we are not running for our flight. We actually get to sit and wait for a while.
Finally we board. It's all good. Smooth flight. Smooth landing. Quickly through the airport. Luggage is there. Whew! For all of the traveling we have done things have gone remarkably well. So thankful.
We land in Pittsburgh. We are not only on American soil we are on Pittsburgh soil!
John gets the car and we get into my old trusty van and drive home.
U.S., Pittsburgh, Friendship, S. Atlantic Ave. Really home.
Buddy is there to greet us cheerfully and we settle back into life in Pittsburgh.
Reflecting on our trip, the Tuscan countryside was the highlight. John is already talking about a trip to that Villa in Tuscany next year.
Maybe....but for now I am so glad to be HOME!
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