Chicago kin Irish visit 2004
February 25 - March 9
In February 2004, Dad, Laura,
Dan and Emma came to Europe
for two weeks. Nine days of this
was in Ireland while a long
weekend was spent in Paris
visiting my aunt Jeanne and her
kids.
While in Dublin, everyone stayed
at my house (Simon's place was
being, er, 'renovated'). We also
went down to West Cork for three
days. The latter decision proved to
be a very good one, as the
weekend that we went (March 5th -
8th) was sunny, showing off the
best of that beautiful part of the
country.
It's only the second time in 22
years (or is it 23?) that Dad has
been back to Ireland and he was
often wide-eyed with the changes
in culture and landscape that he
noticed. (Although all were taken
aback by how expensive the place
has become.)
While in Dublin, they caught a play
(Dancing At Lughnasa), wandered
around Georgian Dublin, had
chips from The Miami and fought
off various illnesses (Dad and
Laura's stomach bugs, Laura's
hobbled ankle and Emma's
alleged recurring headaches
which came on around getting-up
time every morning). Dad also met
up with the Byrnes over a pint (not
for him) in the Autobahn and
caught up with my uncle Declan
over the phone.
Despite getting mugged on the
exchange rate (about $1.25 per
€1), they snagged some excellent
deals, getting all four return
airfares to Chicago for $1,300 on
Aer Lingus and a hire car for €75
(four days rental). Hard to beat that.
Kilcatherine, Beara Peninsula, West Cork, Saturday 6th March, 10.15am. Laura and I wait for the traffic to
ease up just outside our gate.
On our travels around Ireland, we stopped in Cashel, Bantry, Kenmare, Glengarriff and
Castletownbere.