Ireland: Our Daughter's Wedding, Some Sightseeing and a Mini Fodor's GTG

Waiting eagerly.

Remember all your planning--looking forward to hearing all the details about the trip and the wedding. Photos, please!!!

I look forward to your report - In the meantime I think I had better start mine?!

Thanks for the feedback, ileen, Cath and tod!

Here's a link to the Ireland photos my son has up:

http://europeanadventure2009.shutterfly.com/26

As you can see, because he was in the wedding, he took almost no pictures that day. We're working on gathering enough for a page on the wedding. I have some on my camera which he hasn't downloaded yet. And we're getting some from family and friends.

Sorry, forgot to add that I suggest using the slideshow function.

CAPH52, can't wait for more!

Looking at the photos remind me how much I want to visit Ireland (which I haven't been).

And those photos only cover a very, very small part of Ireland, yk. Not even the tip of the iceburg. I highly recommend that you check it out. The only downside would be that it's not big on the museums and such that you enjoy so much. But when it comes to beautiful scenery, warm people and traditional music, it's hard to beat!

Hi CAPH52, I have been wanting to visit Ireland for some years now! While I like museums and such, I do enjoy outdoor scenery (yes, can you believe that?!). The problem at this point for me, is that if I go, I'll have to go with my husband so that we can rent a car. It's difficult to visit Ireland by public tranport only, and I don't trust myself driving solo. There are so many places in Europe that my husband hasn't been to yet sort of pushes Ireland to the bottom of the list. But, I even thought about just flying to Dublin by myself for 4 days sightseeing... Hmmm... don't tempt me.

I always wanted to visit Ireland..Great photos..A wedding to remember..

I completely agree with you, yk, that Ireland is best seen with a car. And, like you, I wait for my husband when it comes to car rental. Which is why, when I visted my daughter during her internship there two years ago, we flew to Paris!

But flying to Dublin by yourself would definitely be preferable to not going at all. While Dublin's not my favorite part of Ireland, it's worth seeing. And there are museums and theater there.

Plus there are ways of seeing some of the countryside even without a car. There are good day trips available from Dublin. Or you could take the train to Galway and do a bus/ferry trip to the Aran Islands from there. My daughter and I had a wonderful overnight stay on Inis Mor.

Definitely keep Ireland on your list. I will tempt you!

Thanks, kismetchimera!

Because I started posting to ask for help before my daughter left for her internship (and while I was planning my visit), many of you have been along for this whole ride. But a little background for those who haven't:

In February of '07, my daughter left for a 4 month internship with the Rape Crisis Network of Ireland. Although she did it through her school (Hampshire College in Amherst, MA) for a semester's credit, and they helped as much as they could, because it wasn't an established program, she was pretty much on her own. She didn't know until a couple of weeks before she left exactly what organization she'd be interning with. And it wasn't until after she got there that she learned she'd be based in Galway. Because this was an internship rather than classes, my daughter wasn't eligible for campus housing. Though Hampshire had set her up with a woman who was supposed to help her get settled (and whom she, of course, had to pay), she really wasn't terribly useful. All I can really say is that she did sort of point my daughter in the right direction in terms of finding a place to live. However, considering how things turned out, I guess we can't complain too much!

She spent her first week at Kinlay House Hostel while she looked for housing. And that was a good experience for her. She met people she stayed in contact with throughout her time in Galway.

I still clearly remember my trepidation when she told me she'd looked at a house she really liked. I was wondering how her father would react when he learned that the other three occupants were all male! As it turned out, her father took it better than her brother did!

By the time I went to visit her in mid-March, I was beginning to get the feeling that she was dating one of her housemates. And I can't say I was thrilled! From the time she'd decided to go to school in Massachusetts, I'd been worried that she'd meet someone there and never move back to the Chicago area. So having her fall in love with someone half a continent and an ocean away was not exactly my fondest wish!

But then I met him and, pretty much immediately, none of that mattered. I could see right from the start that they seemed to have a special connection. My standard response, when asked whether we like him (and I'm somewhat amazed how often I'm asked that question) is, "We love him. He's kind, responsible and he adores her. What more could we possibly want?" The amazing thing is that I knew all of that within a very short time. I could add that we all get along very well with him in terms of similar interests. Something else I learned within hours of meeting him.

By the time our daughter returned home in June, they knew that they wanted to be together. I'm sure that, under other circumstances, they would've waited longer to marry. But the immigration situation being what it is, the only way they could stay in the same country for any length of time was to get married. Something that probably should bother me. But it doesn't.

He'd actually applied for a work visa for the US some time before that but hadn't been able to get one. He was, however, able to get a 12 month work visa for Canada. So at the end of August, he flew to Chicago. He drove back to school with her before heading to Toronto to stay with a cousin and find work. Which he was able to do.

During the time he lived in Canada, they were able to spend quite a bit of time together. And he came to spend a few days with us over Christmas. It was during that time that he asked for our blessing to propose to her. And told us that he was willing to live in the Chicago area. A huge relief to me!


In January, he began the immigration process. Post 9/11, it's necessary to get permission from Homeland Security before you marry. Or perhaps a better way to put it is that, if you don't go through the immigration process first, marriage is no guarantee that you'll be able to stay in the country.

They'd decided that, since they planned to live here, it was only fair to his family to have the wedding there. They wanted the opportunity for her to get to know his extended family and friends and vice versa. But part of the deal with the immigration process is that, once they grant permission, you have three months to marry or the whole thing becomes null and void. Not exactly enough time to plan a church wedding. Especially in another country!

So they set the wedding date for this month, figuring that should allow time for the immigration process and for them to plan the wedding. But they didn't want to be apart that long. So they decided that, as soon as their marriage was approved, they'd have a quickie civil ceremony here so that he could move here and they could continue planning the formal wedding.

Meanwhile, last June, about a month after her college graduation, our daughter got a work visa for Ireland and moved in with him and his parents for four months. During that time they were able to get a lot of the preliminary stuff done for the wedding.

Things didn't always go smoothly, there were a few bumps in the road both with Homeland Security (like immigration interviews scheduled for the wrong city) and with the Catholic Church in Ireland (having to get very reluctantly given permission from the Bishop to have a wedding ceremony even though, by that point, they would already be legally married). And then there was the statement of financial support from us which, the day before it was due, was FedExed to the wrong city! But it all worked out in the end.

In mid-October they were granted permission to marry. Our daughter came home in late October. Her fiance came about a week before Thanksgiving. The Saturday after Thanksgiving they were married at the County Building in downtown Chicago. They didn't waste any time because he couldn't file for a work visa until they were actually married.

As for planning a wedding long distance, it was a challenge! Our son-in-law put a lot of work into it and was able to accomplish amazing things. But we all owe a huge debt of gratitude to his family. They have two older daughters who are married so they'd been through all of this before. And they had some pretty strong ideas of what they wanted this wedding to be. Fortunately, they were more than happy to put their time (and money) into turning it into the wonderful celebration that it was.

I apologize if I've spent way too much time on this background info. But it's difficult for someone as verbose as I to explain two years of background in a few paragraphs! And I do think that knowing at least something of what came before is important to the story.

What a great love story! Thanks for sharing.

CAPH52, I'm so glad you told more of their story! I remember your posts when your daughter was getting ready for her internship and I'm so excited to hear about this part of their story.

My pleasure, yk! In rereading it, I realized that I left out things I meant to add (like mentioning my SIL going back to Ireland before his 12 month Canadian visa had expired), but given the length, that's probably just as well!

I've got the first day and a half of the actual trip done. But I wrote it on my son's computer. Since I haven't yet mastered copying and pasting on a laptop, it's probably not going to get posted until tomorrow.

I was composing as you were posting, jent. Thank you for letting me know you enjoyed it. I really appreciate the feedback from you and yk as I was a little afraid people might just find it tedious. After all, it's meant to be a trip report! But, as I said, I do think the background is important to the "story".

CAPH52, I'm a mom of one "kid" and I found your story so fun and interesting to read....all moms unite! We usually do care a lot about weddings, love stories, boyfriends/girlfriends, fiances, and such. I haven't been thru a wedding yet with DS, but have been involved when 2 favorite nieces married.

DH and I went to Ireland in '99 and I fell in love with the country. What a special place for a wedding. I look forward to reading your report and re-living my time in the Emerald Isle. I can tell it's going to be a good report.

Aw, thanks, RS. What a sweet post!

I'm loving it too! I am more of a lurker here but post sometimes...my (very difficult) mother who is 86.5 lives in Ireland and I'll be making my 16th trip in Sept. (along with England and Scotland) my neice is getting married in Derbyshire England in Sept....my first trip was in 1970 and Ireland was very different then...but I fell in love with it. Anyway, can't wait to read the "rest of the story"...

Shadow

Also have to add that your pictures are awesome!!
Shadow

Great photos of a beautiful country...first time I saw Ireland
was on a plane refueling coming from Russia - what a contrast!

Add me to the list waiting for your continued report!!

Great photos of Wicklow, Glendalough and the fleeting glimpses of the lovely bride, her groom and brother! Thanks for the background story--my husband in English and we married pre-9/11 but the process was much the same.

All went smoothly other than friends having to re-schedule an engagement party because once his visa application was filed, he couldn't enter the country on any other visa i.e. "tourist" during the waiting period. Little things, that at that time, weren't that well communicated.

Thanks, Shadow. I remember your story. You've responded to my posts before. Not sure whether it was last summer when I posted asking about traditional Irish weddings. Or maybe one of my trip reports. Anyway, it's good to "see you" again!

I know what you mean about how much Ireland has changed. The first time my husband and I went was in 1982. The next time was in 2006. Wow, talk about changes! Since you've been so many times over the years, I'm sure you've seen the changes happen a little more gradually.

Enjoy your September trip and the wedding!

And thank you, Rhea! I'll pass along your compliments (and Shadow's) to my son.

Speaking of that 1982 trip.... We were asked many times by my SIL's family and friends whether this was our first time in Ireland. In the course of answering, we got into discussions several times about the fact that, on that trip we'd visited Tara and Newgrange (and I'm pretty sure had stopped in Navan to use a phone to call ahead for lodging). All very near where my SIL's family lived.

That was three years and a few months before our daughter was born. At a time when we still weren't sure we'd ever have kids (we celebrated our 7th anniversary on that trip). Our SIL was about six months old. Who'd ever have dreamed at that time that we were in such close proximity to a baby who would grow up to be our son-in-law! It kind of boggles the mind.

Caph--Beautiful pictures! So glad that you are sharing this story. I remember when she first went over and when you posted that you thought she had a bf I have not been to Ireland...yet!

Hi, Cathinjoetown. I'm hoping to have links to more wedding photos soon. Thanks for the kind words.

Sounds like your story is similar to theirs so I guess things weren't all that much easier pre 9/11! It also sounds like you may have had to spend more time apart. And I know what you mean about communication! I don't think that part has improved any! I'm glad it all worked out for you though!

Hi, mms! So good to hear from you! Hope all's well with your family.

Thanks for the compliment on the pictures! I'll pass it along.

You definitely have to plan a trip to Ireland! When you posted to help me with Scotland it sounded as though your family had enjoyed that trip. I'm sure you'd enjoy Ireland as well.

Thanks for sharing your daughter's story. I am looking forward to hearing "the rest of the story".

A few years ago one of my "honorary nieces" married an Irishman and there were so many traumas with visas etc. leading up to the wedding that we wondered if it would ever take place. But it did on a gorgeous day with a beautiful bride and delightful Irishman.

So glad that your Kerrianne and my "niece" were able to work it all out. It seems as if a couple who can survive all the visa work, has the stamina and patience to make a marriage work. God bless them all.

Going through all of that certainly is a trial by fire, isn't it, irishface?!

Thanks for your kind words!

Oops, meant to add that I'm glad it worked out for your niece too!

Finally, the trip!

Sunday, May 31: Departure Day Is Finally Here

After knowing the wedding date for nearly a year, it was somewhat surreal to realize that it was really time to leave. (Though not nearly as surreal as it is now, after 6 months of obsessing about this trip, to know that it's all behind us. But that's another story!)

Our SIL had flown to Ireland the previous Thursday evening. Our daughter (who wasn't able to leave until Tuesday) couldn't take us to the airport because she had to work that day. A good friend of mine had insisted on taking us. As bad as I felt about taking her away from her family on a Sunday afternoon, she didn't have to twist my arm too hard! I'd been dreading trying to figure out which cab company to call and would've been worried that they'd be late or wouldn't show...

Our flight wasn't due to leave until 6:50. But we made sure to arrive at O'Hare by 2:30. My MIL and her brother were flying up from St. Louis and were to be on our flight to Ireland. Their AA flight was due in at 2:45 and DH wanted to be there to meet them.

My sister-in-law had gone to the travel agent in the small town in southern Illinois where my MIL lives to buy the tickets for my MIL and her brother. The travel agent had arranged for both of them to have wheelchairs at every airport along the way. So we assumed, or at least hoped, that we would meet up with them at the Aer Lingus gate on the other side of security.

Well, we arrived at the airport only to find that there was no one working at the Aer Lingus check-in point. We'd arrived too early! If I recall correctly, the sign said that they'd be there at 3:10. This, of course, made my husband very nervous. As soon as he thought her plane might have landed, he began calling his mother's phone. And then his sister's back home. Finally someone told him they'd been met at the plane with wheelchairs and were at the Aer Lingus desk.

When we finally got up to the Aer Lingus check-in desk, we explained the situation. The woman checked and said that they'd arrived and had been checked in for the flight to Ireland. She said we'd see them at the gate. But when we got to the gate, they weren't there. After much running around and talking to people, my husband finally found them at Aer Lingus check-in, on the other side of security! He went through security with them and got them to the gate.

I'd posted here somewhat frantically shortly before we left for the airport. I was worried about our luggage. It's quite a challenge to try to pack light when your trip involves a wedding (not to mention the rehearsal, etc.) and destinations with fairly different temperature ranges! But the 4 pieces of checked baggage between the 3 of us (DH, DS and me) were weighed without comment. And not a word was said about my carry on. I wasn't really worried about the small duffle I took on. But I was worried about my "purse". It was big and overstuffed (and heavy)! Getting it under the seat in front of me wasn't easy. But I managed!

Our flight began boarding an hour before we were due to leave. And we actually left about 10 minutes ahead of schedule. A real novelty for me! My previous 8 flights had been on American Airlines and at least 4 of them had been delayed! The flight was uneventful. It was my first experience with the individual entertainment screens, which I really enjoyed. I spent much of the flight playing Hangman, Who Wants to Be A Millionaire and Trivia! Unfortunately, I got virtually no sleep. I thought the dinner was served very late, really cutting into sleep time. And it seemed like every time I began to nod off, we'd hit a patch of turbulence.

I was going to ask if you had any problems with the luggage --so glad you didn't have any issues with that!

Me too, skibumette! I knew we weren't out of the woods as we had inter-European flights ahead of us (including one on EasyJet). But, at that moment, I was just worried about getting to Ireland with what we needed for the wedding.

I just realized that I probably should have given some info on booking our plane tickets, prices, etc.

In January we all received e-mails from Aer Lingus announcing their spring/summer sales. I put in our dates and saw that my husband's ticket (leaving 5/31 returning 6/13) would be $587.90. My son and I were planning to stay an extra 8 days, putting us over the mid-June mark when fares rise. So ours (leaving 5/31 returning 6/21) would be $637.90.

I knew those were good fares for June. But I posted here because I was concerned that it was still a little early. I thought we might be able to get lower fares by waiting a couple of months. This was based on my experience booking tickets on American when I visited my daughter in '07.

I was assured that those were, indeed, very good fares. And I was cautioned that, since we absolutely had to be there for those dates, we'd best book and not look back. Which we did. And I have no regrets.

Although I didn't go out of my way to check after we'd booked, I don't think we could've done much better. None of the e-mails we received from Aer Lingus after that advertized any better rates. And, while one of our daughter's friends, who decided to go pretty much at the last moment, did get a better fare on American (I don't remember the exact amount but it was under $500), that wouldn't have worked for us. For one thing, of course, we couldn't have left it that late. Secondly, the dates she had to fly in order to get the fare wouldn't have been convenient. She had to leave pretty early on the morning after the wedding.

As I've mentioned, my two most recent trips to Ireland had been on American. I'd pretty much decided that I'd prefer not to fly with them this time. Mostly because of delays but also because of comfort. I think their seats are really packed in there.

I certainly have no regrets about choosing Aer Lingus. I've read here that, due to the large percentage of Aer Lingus now owned by Ryanair, things are probably going to change. But we were happy with our flights this time.

CAPH, I know what you mean about Aer Lingus. We always fly UA out of O'Hare. With Aer Lingus we were also amazed to depart a little early and actually arrive 20-30 min. ahead of schedule in Dublin. I like the seating better too. Sure glad it worked out well for you. Going abroad for a wedding would be the time one would pray for no airline screw-ups!

I don't know why it didn't strike me before, but I now realize earlier you mentioned living in Chicago. DS has been up there for 11 yrs., and he is now living in Elmhurst. I'm taking the train up to visit him in Aug. DH & I have lived down state(Galesburg)all our lives...just had to share with a fellow Illinoisan.

Your photos are wonderful and bring back such nice memories of Ireland. I'm going to enjoy your report very much and the added big event of a wedding will make it even more fun to read.

CAPH52:

When we flew from St. Louis to New York for our son's wedding I was worried about our luggage because of the special clothes we had to pack. You must have been pleased no problems with that part.

As someone who flies home to the UK yearly I was surprised to see American Airlines currently running a special from St. Louis to London effective August 17 thru October. We booked tickets earlier this year St. Louis to Boston and they have also dropped. I have learned once I find a fare I can live with to just go with it and not look back, especially when you must be somewhere on a certain date. Purchasing airline tickets is a gamble.

Please talk about the wedding cake. Any special meaning to the three cakes in the photo? Very nice pictures.

Looking forward to much more.

Sandy

CAPH, I hadn't looked at the photos yet when I commented earlier, but wanted to say I really enjoyed them! Your son's got a good eye for composition. I loved the Glendalough pictures in particular - I loved my visit there and wish I could go back. Also enjoyed all the cows.

Yes, Sandy, I am very much tempted by the American Airlines Europe Sale. Those airfares are the lowest I've seen in a long time ($600 all-in to fly Boston to Prague, return from Berlin)!

RS, we're just one suburb over from Elmhurst! It's a lovely town. Unlike our 'burb, it has a nice downtown area. Which is the location of our recently discovered and now favorite pizza place, Two Brothers! Is your son enjoying living there?

How far is Galesburg from Chicago? I have only a vague notion of where it is. My husband and I grew up in southern Illinois, about 45 miles east of St. Louis. My mother was from about an hour farther south. And my father grew up north of Bloomington. My brothers have both been in Normal for probably 30 years now. And we visited Springfield often when I was growing up because my parents had friends there from the years they'd both lived and worked there. My husband and I have lived in various parts of the western suburbs for over 25 years now. So I have "connections' to many different parts of Illinois. But, though both my husband and his sister have friends who've lived in Galesburg, I don't think I've ever been there.

Sandy, the wedding cake was made by:

http://www.georgespatisserie.com/cms/publish/article_16.shtml

Apparently, traditional Irish wedding cakes are fruit cakes. My daughter hates fruit cake! So they were quite pleased to be able to get something else. I know my SIL ordered the cake when he was home for his nephew's christening in March. I can't remember whether they'd gone there for a tasting prior to that. But the cake was really, really good! It was extremely moist and at least one of the layers was drizzled with Bailey's. When we finally get the wedding photos up, we'll post pictures of the cake that were taken closer. It was really beautiful too. The picture my son took doesn't do justice to the beautiful lily shaped chocolate "leaves" on top.

I'll probably mention this again when I get to that point, but my husband and I were charged with picking up the cake the morning of the wedding. You can imagine how nervous we were every time we hit a bump!

As for the significance of the three cakes, I don't know for sure, but I think it was just because of the chocolate leaves. When I first saw it I thought, "How on earth are they going to stack those layers?". Then I saw the stand.

jent, your kind comments have made my son's day! Thank you!

CAPH, what a coincidence you're that close to Elmhurst! Our son has only been in Elmhurst since early Dec., but he seems to like it quite well so far. He was in Addison before this move, and he works at the Lombard branch of West Suburban Bank. Over the President's Day weekend my husband & I really enjoyed walking around Elmhurst's downtown. We'll have to check out Two Brothers. We always enjoy going up to visit and trying out new restaurants our son has discovered. We are still in awe of the choices available up there!

Galesburg(pop.32,000)is almost exactly 3 hrs. drive from your area. We are located 1 hr. northwest, actually more west of Peoria. Our big claim to fame is Carl Sandburg birthplace and Knox College which is the site of a Lincoln-Douglas debate. A long time ago we couldn't do much for our honeymoon, so it was spent over 2 days in Bloomington/Normal. I have visited there a couple other times and the same with Springfield. I do love Chicagoland, though.

Caph...

First off Congratulations! I remember reading the posts about your daughter's internship and your trip to Ireland/Paris.

I'm really looking forward to your trip report. Your son's photos are spectacular...makes me want to go back to Ireland!

Thanks for the info on Galesburg, RS!

And thank you, LowCountryIslander. I know how you feel. I'm ready to go back too!

Your son's photos are breathtaking beautiful dear CAPH. Thank you so much for sharing them with us. I purposely waiting until I poured a glass of wine this Sunday late afternoon to enjoy them, I knew I would, but I had no idea how absolutely spectacular they would be! And your beautiful daughter and handsome son and now your precious son-in-law. Your cup runneth over dear friend.

The three tierd cake..I have no idea but I thought perhaps they symbolized The Trinity.

I like everyone else am so looking forward to your next installment. And you know that I sure understand all the traumas, legal ramifications etc. etc. with one's daughter marrying an European, lol. Somehow it does all get worked out in the end however.

Thanks, LI! You're right, my cup does run over! I'm glad you enjoyed the pictures!

What a sweet story and a great trip report! I'm looking forward to reading more.

Thanks, Meredith!

I'm trying hard to work on our first day in Ireland but running into many distractions, both here on Fodor's and in my "real life"! With a little luck, I may get it posted sometime today though.

I just thought of a "story" I should probably have included in the background info. I warned you that I'm having trouble focusing my thoughts!

Anyway, as I mentioned, things were still quite up in the air when she left for Ireland. She was excited, but understandably, quite nervous. When she called from her hotel in Dublin the morning of her arrival, she was in tears. She was tired, scared and alone. Hanging up the phone at the end of that conversation was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. Every maternal instinct in my body screamed at me to tell her to get back on the first flight home!

But I knew this was something she really wanted to do. And I knew how hard transitions always were for her. (Every time she left for school, she had trouble leaving us and every time she left school she had trouble leaving her friends!) I remember telling people at the time that, when it came time to leave Ireland, it'd be just as difficult for her. Little did I know...!

Okay, back to the trip!

Monday June 1st: We're in Ireland!

We landed half an hour early. But everything we gained was lost in the line for passport control. We stood in that line for an hour and a half! At one point, not moving at all for 10 minutes. Absolutely ridiculous! Somewhere along the line we heard that it was a "blue flu" situation. But were later told there weren't enough people working because it was a bank holiday.

My husband went with my MIL, her brother and their wheelchair escort. Of course, they zipped right through line. But then they had to wait for us!

I'd asked my SIL if he'd be willing to come pick up my MIL, her brother and our luggage (his parents' home is half an hour or less from Dublin airport). Since we'd rented our car from Dan Dooley, I knew we were going to have to take a shuttle to pick it up. Not to mention having to wait a while before we could pick it up in order to avoid having to pay for an extra day because of an hour or two (as I'll get into more later, my MIL's return flight was in the afternoon, making it necessary to turn in the car later in the day). I didn't want my MIL and her brother to have to deal with that. While we were in line we got a text saying that both our SIL and his father were there to meet us. His father was going to take my MIL, her brother and our luggage back to the house. Our SIL was going to stay with us and make sure we didn't get lost in the wilds of Co. Meath!

Thank you again for all of your help with the car rental situation, Bob (aka Itallian_Chauffer). I hope you had a great trip! And thanks to all of the other posters who so generously shared their car rental experiences. Car rental in Ireland is a complicated business!

I booked our car on April 20. We needed to be able to seat 5 people and I'd decided to pop for an automatic. My husband drove a standard the first time we went to Ireland and was willing to go with one this time. But I knew he'd really rather have an automatic. And I figured we had enough other stressers to deal with on this trip!

We also decided to use our world MasterCard to waive insurance. We were told that this would result in a deposit being put on our account (I think €2000). But I can't tell from our statements whether it ever was.

So we chose group G and our paperwork lists a Renault Megane. I put only my husband as a driver as I have no desire to try to drive in Ireland! Thanks to Bob, I used the discount code from http://www.irelandexpert.com/ which saved us 10%. Our total came to €388,30.

Thanks to our long wait for passport control, by the time we helped get my MIL, her brother and our luggage into our SIL's father's car, we just had time to grab a cup of coffee before heading to the Dooley desk.

We'd used Dan Dooley three years before without any problems. But I'd read of less than happy experiences in the meantime. So, as the saying goes, I was hoping for the best and prepared for the worst! Mostly I was trying, in my exhausted, jet-lagged state, to stiffen my backbone in preparation for their trying to talk us into popping for the super CDW instead of using our world MC to waive insurance.

But I needn't have worried on that score. The pleasant young man who waited on us didn't say a word about it! As we'd expected, we were told we had to pay for a full tank of petrol (€60). Which would be refunded if we returned the car with a full tank. He then told us there was a car waiting for us and gave us directions to catch the shuttle to their lot.

Unfortunately, there wasn't a car waiting for us! But it didn't take them very long to find one, wash it and inspect it. We happily helped to make sure all the various scrapes and dings were recorded on our paperwork! (I'm sure she loved that! ) We figured there were so many of them that we'd have to do some major damage before they'd be able to prove that it was our fault! All in all, not a bad looking car though. I got out the paperwork to get the make and model but can't find it listed. All I know is that it was a silver Nissan.

Monday was the first of many beautiful days. We were to learn that, most of the time we were in Ireland, it was warmer there than in Chicago! To be expected during the winter, but not in June!

We had a pleasant drive to our SIL's parents' home where we were greeted very warmly by his mother. She was all set to fix us a full Irish breakfast the moment we arrived. A very tasty and much appreciated welcome!

With all the car rental information, I'm afraid this day is going to turn into a fairly long installment. So I'm going to split it at this point.

I am enjoying your photos and your personal trip report, really interesting. I just love Ireland, at every turn there is a beautiful lush historic scene.

Thanks, SeaUrchin. It truly is a beautiful country!

Arghh! I just realized that I forgot to say that the €388,30 was for 8 days. I kind of rushed that post because I had an errand I needed to run. So I'll probably find other mistakes or ommissions. If so, I'll correct them.

CAPH - I've been looking for your report and of course somehow missed the start of it. Wonderful report so far, and some really nice pictures.

And yes thanks for the additional background (which I had also previously somehow missed). Really nice to know the story behind all the posts and advice. I guess all of us parents wish for such a romantic notion of weddings for our kids, but yours seems especially so. Can't imagine anything much more romantic than an Irish wedding.

So looking forward to hearing about the rest of your trip.

[BTW - we're having such a record heatwave I'm already looking into flights to the North Shore!!!]

Thanks so much for your very nice post, dfr!

We're back to more reasonable temps here. In fact, we've been able to turn off our A/C. But I have to tell you, last week was tough! We spent the last part of the trip in Scotland, where, at times, we nearly froze our you know whats off! So coming back to temps in the 90's was really miserable.

And it didn't help that we had no A/C! We had a new furnace/air conditioner put in in December. We were to call them in the spring to get the A/C charged up and running. But, due to the wet, cool spring, I hadn't gotten around to it before we left. Fortunately, they came out the day after I called.

The thing is, I think everyone else in this area was suffering as much as we were because, as so often happens, the weather went straight from too cool to too damn hot!

But we're enjoying the current respite. Hope you get one too! And, if not, it's a good excuse for that trip to the North Shore!

June 1st, continued

When we first began making plans, we assumed we'd fly to Ireland in the middle of the week before the wedding. But, one, my husband changed jobs in January. He appreciated being given the time off that soon and didn't want to make it any more inconvenient for his co-workers than necessary. Since he works Monday through Friday.... Two, though we'd sent measurements for my husband's and son's tuxes, we knew they needed to get in for fittings.

So that was the only thing on the agenda for that Monday. However, we hadn't realized, until we hit the tie-up in the airport, that it was a bank holiday. And, even if we had, given the way stores are in the US, we wouldn't have realized that they'd be closed. But I think it was probably just as well. The extra day didn't seem to make any difference with the suits. And, let's face it, we were all exhausted!

And knowing that we'd have to deal with it the next day forced us to rethink my tentative plans to drive through the Wicklow Mountains to Glendalough on Tuesday. Which I now think would have been a disaster given how tired we all were.

After we ate, the guys had a little tour of the grounds and then went to run some wedding errands. Errands that included a pub stop or two!

Meanwhile, my daughter's MIL, my MIL and I showed each other our dresses for the wedding. And my daughter's MIL (who shall henceforth be known as M) set in motion the hunt for the perfect wedding headpieces! Neither my MIL nor I had a clue about such things! But, according to M, they're huge for Irish weddings. And, judging from an ad I would later see in an English magazine, they must be big there too.

M had quite a collection she'd gathered from weddings over the years. When we finally get the wedding pictures up, you'll see some of them, I hope. But, meanwhile, basically they're head bands with feathers, bows, etc. Quite festive! M had a lovely red one she was going to wear with her red dress and shoes. She found a light blue one that we all felt would work with my navy dress. And she had a beige one, to which she added a butterfly, that we all agreed would go well with my MIL's purple skirt and jacket. Especially as she was going to wear beige shoes.

Best of all, I learned that it was the mother of the bride who determines when the headpieces will be removed. When she takes it off, sometime after the dinner, all the other women do too. Finally, some power!

After that, we walked around the huge yard, admiring L (my daughter's FIL) and M's beautiful flowers. They have somewhere around 150 rosebushes that were just beginning to bloom, as well as hundreds of other beautiful flowers and shrubs. We saw where the marquis was to be erected for the reception and where people would be asked to park. (Every time my MIL looked at the beautiful garden, she decided that she had to plant more flowers when she got home. Until she remembered that she'd have to get out in the southern Illinois heat to tend them!)

That evening L cooked steaks and chicken on the grill and we had a very nice dinner on their lovely patio. It was a gorgeous evening. Although I think a little warmer than my daughter's in-laws would've liked. We enjoyed it though!

I'd decided not to nap that afternoon. So, by 8:30, having had a couple of cans of Guinness, I could literally no longer keep my eyes open.

CAPH52, I really appreciate all the care and detail you're putting into this report. Looking forward to the rest when you get to it.

Lee Ann

Thank you, Lee Ann! As you know from experience, writing a trip report is a great way to relive the trip. So I appreciate having this opportunity!

This is SO interesting! What a neat tradition with the headpieces, and you, CAPH get to decide when they come off. I'll bet the roses were just beautiful.....looking forward to more.

Thanks again, RS. I really appreciate your feedback!

CAPH52:

"We had a pleasant drive to our SIL's parents' home" Are you staying with them?

"After we ate, the guys had a little tour of the grounds" Is this the parents' garden with the 150 rose bushes?

I do hope you will post pictures because it sounds quite grand.

Wedding headpieces - different to a hat from what you have told us. How interesting.

Great report - keep it coming as you think of it.

Your SIL's mother sounds kind and lovely.

Sandy

Yes, Sandy, we stayed with them. Part of my pre-trip nerves! We'd made it clear several times that we'd be happy to get a B&B. But our SIL said his parents wanted the opportunity to get to know us.

I always find it somewhat stressful staying with other people. You want to be a good guest and aren't always sure just what that entails! But I think this worked out pretty well. It was indeed a good chance for all of us to get acquainted. And it was a lot of fun! It also made it easier for us to help with the wedding prep which was important to us.

The first picture on my son's shutterfly site is of the back of the house. I have more pictures on my camera which he still hasn't downloaded. And I suspect my MIL took even more! So eventually I hope to have some to share.

Definitely different than a hat. I'll have to see if I can find anything on Google to link.

Yes, she is kind and lovely! A wonderful hostess for sure!

Thanks, Sandy!

Loving your report!! I have yet to attend an Irish wedding, though I've seen plenty while there, coming out of the church, at hotel receptions, etc. My good friend in Co. Sligo's son got married and I thought...good, I might get invited to that...but, the son got married in Finland to a Finnish girl!!! And, it was a very small wedding. lol My friend wore one of the feathery pieces you have mentioned...so, I know exactly what you are talking about.

Loveing the report!!
Thanks!!
Shadow

CAPH52, Great report and you really seemed to enjoy the wedding.

With reference to the cake, LoveItaly is probably correct in that it represents the Trinity but traditionally a wedding cake was a very rich fruit cake with lots of brandy covered in Royal Icing. Each tier had pillars underneath to hold the upper tier. The largest tier was cut and served at the wedding reception, the other 2 were sealed and stored, one was used at the couples first wedding aniversity and the other at the christening of their first born!! In recent years the trend has been for Chocolate cake or the French Croquembouche as very few people actually liked the rich fruit cake and icing that would break your teeth, needless to say the 3rd tier is no longer kept for the the Christening.

The feathery piece is called a fascinator and is very popular at weddings and race meetings.
http://www.johnlewis.com/Fashion/Women's+Accessories/Fascinators/Fascinators/5544/ProductType.aspx

Thanks, Shadow! I hope you will eventually get the opportunity to attend an Irish wedding!

Ah, a fascinator! So that's what it's called! Thanks, cambe!

Very interesting about the cake! Though it's the custom here to save the top layer for the first anniversary, I always assumed that the number of layers depended on the number of guests. And, I think, to some degree it does. Here, I mean. I grew up in a heavily Catholic area. But also an area where it's the norm to invite around 500 people to the reception! So wedding cakes are generally quite big!

LI, I'm wondering now whether you made that guess based on Italian weddings? Or weddings in your area? I know that you too were raised Catholic.

Tuesday, June 2nd: A little wedding stuff, a little tourist stuff

I might have been better off taking a nap! At least then I probably could've stayed up a little later. Which, in turn, might have meant not waking in the middle of the night. But, as tired as I'd been on Monday, I was afraid trying to get up after an hour or two would be miserable. And I did get back to sleep again before it got light (which is very early in Ireland that time of year!). So it was no great disaster. Just something to think about next time. Though it's nice to think that perhaps next time I won't be quite as stressed and exhausted when we leave for the trip!

Anyway, I woke to another beautiful morning in Ireland! After a breakfast of brown bread and tea (love that Irish tea!), we set off on errands. DH, DS and SIL headed for McKenna Menswear in Navan for those tux fittings. M, my MIL, her brother and I went to Blooming Krazy to check on the flowers. And, after that, made a stop at the gift shop of the church in Navan. My MIL's brother wanted to pick up rosaries to take for some of the people on his "gift list" and M figured that'd be a good place to look.

By then, we were starting to think about lunch. M suggested stopping at Earl's Kitchen, a little deli type place, to pick up food to take home. We got ham, chicken, potato salad, cole slaw, an interesting bean and grain salad and a very nice red cabbage salad (I think it had beans in it too) along with a few lovely scones. A very good lunch for a warm summer's day!

At some point that day the marquis was delivered. My memory is a little fuzzy. I can't remember whether they started to erect it that day or whether it was the next day. Either way, I remember thinking that it seemed awfully early. That was before I realized just how elaborate it was!

After lunch we decided to get out from under foot and do a little sightseeing. This was my MIL's first trip overseas. Her brother had only been out of the country while in the military many years before. And, while our son had been in Ireland once before, he'd only been in the west. So we wanted to make sure they got in a few tourist sites. And Newgrange was at the top of my list of places I didn't want to miss. So that's where we headed.

We just couldn't have had a nicer day for it! It was a very pleasant, short drive (about 20 minutes). Following L's instructions, we parked, went into the Bru Na Boinne visitor's center and headed straight for the desk to buy tickets for the bus/tour of Newgrange. You can also buy tickets for Knowth but we decided Newgrange was enough for us that day. The admission was €6 per adult. There was a small reduction for students but DS had left his ID in his room! There was also a discounted seniors rate, which my MIL and her brother got.

L had warned us to buy tickets right away as they're usually being sold for tours an hour or two away. He also told us to make sure we all got the same color stickers/badges! The time stamp on our receipt is 3:11 PM. There were still a lot of people around but I'm guessing it wasn't nearly as crowded as earlier in the day. We really only had time for a quick look around the visitor's center (and to watch a 7 minute movie) before heading over the bridge to meet our bus.

As you can see from my son's pictures (the cows along the Boyne), it was a very nice walk. There were quite a few people waiting when we got to the bus stop. And, in fact, they took two buses to Newgrange. We wound up getting separated. No big deal as it was a very short ride. I had a pleasant conversation with a gentleman from New Orleans on the way over.

Once we got to the top of the hill, we were split in two groups, according to the color of our stickers. The tour started in front of the mound with what I thought was a very good spiel about the age of Newgrange, the speculation about it's purpose, etc. And then we went in. I stayed at the back of the group. Though I'd been in it 27 years earlier, I was afraid I might be more claustrophobic now. As it turned out, it didn't bother me at all. I'm so glad I went in! For lack of a more sophisticated way of putting it, I think Newgrange is so cool! How often does someone from the US get to see something that old?! I was so pleased to see that my MIL really enjoyed it too.

When we returned to the visitor's center, we looked around a little bit more, mostly in the gift shop. And then headed back "home".

As much as I wanted to go to Newgrange, I'd been slightly apprehensive about it. I'd read so much about crowds, waits, etc. I was afraid it may be a bit of an ordeal for my MIL. But, other than a driver who was slightly gruff when he informed us we'd need to take the other bus, it was a great experience all the way around.

That evening L & M wanted to take us to dinner at their favorite restaurant, also their "local", O'Brien's in Johnstown, on the edge of Navan. I'm somewhat hesitant to name names here because I don't want to repay our hosts' hospitality by crowding their favorite restaurant! But for one thing, they're listed on the County Meath tourism website. For another, I don't think that's a terribly heavily touristed area. If it's possible to say such a thing about any area of Ireland!

While we didn't get really dressed up, we did all "clean up" for dinner. I was wearing a new pair of dress shoes that were a little loose in the heel. Although I'd put in heel cushions, I was a little nervous about them slipping off. And, as a result, managed to twist my knee as I was stepping off the bottom step as we were leaving L & M's, aggravating an old injury.

We started with drinks in the bar area of O'Briens. Ah, my first draft Guinness of the trip! We ordered there and were moved to a table just before our food was ready. It was very good! I had an excellent cheeseburger (there were several other toppings besides the cheese but I can't remember what they were!) served with a salad and I ordered a side of chips. My MIL and her brother had soup. M and DS had cod and mash. I think L and DH both had seafood surprise. And I can't remember the rest. But it was all good!

While we were having our drinks, we were met by my SIL's sister and her approximately 6 month old son. They'd just arrived that afternoon from Rome. Her sister-in-law had been married there the previous Saturday. And her husband and two year old son were due back the next day. They had quite a whirlwind couple of weeks!

When I responded to Sandy about staying with my daughter's in-laws, I neglected to mention that our SIL (and, when she arrived, our daughter) and our son were staying at this sister's house.

Geez, I still really don't have it together!

No sooner did I hit post than I remembered how we started the day!

As we were discussing going to check on the flowers, M said that she wanted to go by the church first. She'd originally planned to bring the flowers for the church from her own garden. But as the wedding drew closer, she realized that it would take more time and energy than she had at that point. So she wanted us to look at the church so we could decide what best to order.

This was between 9:30 and 9:45. Her husband reminded her that there's a daily Mass at 10:00. So it was decided that we'd attend Mass. M was pleased as it would give her a chance to talk to the Sacristan (which proved to be very helpful). My MIL and her brother were thrilled to have a chance to go to Mass in Ireland. I, OTOH, not being such a good Catholic, was not so thrilled! But I swear that was the shortest Mass I've ever attended! (And, having spent 12 years in Catholic school, I've attended a lot of non-Sunday Masses!) I don't think it even lasted half an hour!

Oh Caph!! I am loving your report and all the emotion and detail you are sharing. I confess - I welled with tears when you told of your daughter and her now dh ... and her going to Ireland to begin with! Keep it coming!

Thank you, Dawn. The feedback is very, very much appreciated!

Well keep writing. Seriously - I feel like I am on the journey with you. Off to look at the photos now.

Finally, some wedding photos. And they're fabulous! These were taken by a friend of my daughter's who just graduated from Hampshire with a film making degree. And he's graciously given me permission to link them here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/joefenstermaker/sets

Obviously, you want to click on the Irish Wedding ones. They're not tagged. But, even if you can't figure out the main players, I think they give a real sense of the day.

Caph--I am really enjoying reading about all of this. So glad that you are keeping at it and that we don't have to nag you Sounds like you really hit it off with your SIL's family, which of course is priceless!

Of course, mms, it's easier to get along with people who live thousands of miles away! Just kidding!

Oh, I'm loving this! Wonderful photos of the wedding, I feel like I'm there with you all. Your daughter looks so beautiful and SO happy. Those are terrific photos of the wedding, really captures the excitement and feeling of the day.

Congratulations on the extended family - now you know you'll have to be back, right?

Paule

Caph--LOL!!! Too bad that trick didn't work with mine

Thanks, progol! I think he's a very talented young photographer!

I certainly hope to go back! There's still so much in Ireland I've never seen. And, as you said, we now have lovely "family" to visit. Many of the pictures of kids were of my SIL's nephews and niece. I especially miss them. Such adorable kids!

mms!

Oh, the wedding/reception looks like a grand and joyous affair! The photos are great. What is the meaning of the guys lifting up the bride and groom? They are such a handsome pair. And, I didn't even think about the wonderful Irish music. I'm sure there was much gaiety out on the dance floor.

No wonder you miss SIL's nephews and niece....how cute! I love the little suits on the boys.

I think DH & I need to bankroll a European tour for DS on the chance he might meet "Miss Right", get married abroad, and give me the opportunity for a once in a lifetime wedding.

CAPF - wow! Those ARE great wedding pictures. He obviously has a lot of talent. And everyone is so beautiful. You must have been on cloud 9.

And I'm REALLY enjoying your great, descriptive detail. You make everyone feel as if they're there.

I was rather verbose in my Greek trip report from last Nov, but your style is so personal it's a pleasure to read.

Well, can't type this morning. Obviously I meant CAPH!

"I think DH & I need to bankroll a European tour for DS on the chance he might meet "Miss Right", get married abroad, and give me the opportunity for a once in a lifetime wedding."

Hey, you never know, RS! From my perspective, it's worth a shot!

Thanks again for your very kind words, dfr! As you can tell, I'm just naturally verbose! For every person who enjoys this, there are probably ten I've bored to tears! But I figure trying to remember all the detail is a good exercise to stave off Alzheimer's!

Seriously, I do really worry that I'm getting too personal. But, if I'm going to do it, I have to do it my way. I'm not very good at "cut and dried".

I'll have to find your Greek report! But I guess I should wait until I finish this. If I don't keep my nose to the grindstone, I'll never finish!

If someone finds your report too detailed, they can stop reading and ignore it on future days. I, and obviously many others, however, are really enjoying your tale with all its ups and downs, mostly ups. I loved the pictures of the wedding, especially the little lads larking about. It was precious when the little girls joined them.

Thanks for sharing.

"If someone finds your report too detailed, they can stop reading and ignore it on future days."

That's pretty much the way I see it too, irishface. There's such a variety of writing styles to be found on Fodor's that I think most people can find something that suits their taste. Or their needs if they're just looking for quick info. Cutting to the chase is obviously not my style!

I'm still very excited about those pictures. When he answered my e-mail asking for permission to post the link, he told me he'd taken around 800 photos! I'm anxious to see them all! But I'm also very impressed that, out of all those photos, he did such a good job picking ones for his Flickr site that "told the story" so well!

Thanks for your support, irishface!

RS, I realized I didn't answer your queston about the groomsmen picking up the bride and groom. I don't know! I must not have been in the room at the time because I didn't know anything about it until I saw a photo of them lifting my daughter on another friend's Facebook site. (A photo I loved, BTW!) And didn't know they'd also lifted the groom until I saw those photos yesterday.

Maybe someone else will let us know whether that's a common pose for Irish wedding photos?

wonderful photos!

Thanks, Dawn!

Loving your report. Just back, myself, and pretty 'fried'. Sorry to see that it DID rain on the Wedding Day.

May the "Soft" day foretell a long and soft life.

Bob

CAPH, you mean you weren't in the room EVERY minute, shame on you! It is such a fun photo...glad you found it.

Bookmarking ....I love gush and mush, must savor for later, though.

CAPH, I knew the three layers of cake represented The Trinity because I am so clever. LOL, I only wish! To tell you the truth dear friend the thought just popped into my head. I have gone to many Italian weddings and also Irish weddings here in my area as we had many families that were either Italian or Irish. I don't recall a three layer cake like at your daughter's wedding but maybe at one wedding there was and I just don't recall. In any case I love the wedding cake!

And the photos brought tears to my eyes. Your daughter is beautiful and radiant! And it is strange but your dear husband could be the son of my late Godfather. Honestly CAPH it made me jump when I saw his picture escorting your daughter down the aisle, and the other pictures of him too. I wish I could post of picture of my beloved Godfather and I know you would agree.

And the precious children! They are beyond adorable.

CAPH, I love your writing style! I feel like I was right there with you. Personal comments, talking about feelings etc., is what I enjoy reading. Add in all the wonderful pictures and I am in seventh heaven.

I cringed that you banged up your knee but guess you didn't have any problems from that incident? Us Fodorites so often seem to get banged up knees it seems.

I too was wondering about the custom of holding up the bride and then the groom. They all looked like they were having fun. And I was interested in the chairs in front of the altar. An Irish Catholic custom I assume.

Sending you a hug and a big thank you for this wonderful and fabulous thread!

I've just been out for a little while. What a thrill to come home to such nice comments!

Bob, thanks very much for that kind wish for them! You say you're pretty fried. I hope it's because you had a wonderful time!

And thank you for your lovely post, LI! I'm so glad you're enjoying this!

Very interesting about my DH and your Godfather!

More about the knee to come...

Yeah, I was kind of wondering about the chairs too. I know we knealt during our ceremony on the same kind of kneeler that they used. But I don't remember having chairs. Can't remember whether we knealt through the whole ceremony? And, for the life of me, I can't remember how I've seen it done at more recent Catholic weddings here in the US. But I sure don't remember seeing chairs on the altar.

I'm still hoping to get at least part of the next day posted today.

At most of the Catholic weddings that I have attended in the last few years, the bride and groom have sat on chairs.

An old Polish lady I know always says, "Lucky the bride who has rain on her wedding day; it means she will shed few tears in her married life." Of course, I noticed that she never trots out this little nugget when the sun shines.

"Of course, I noticed that she never trots out this little nugget when the sun shines."

I'll hang onto it nonetheless, irishface!

LoveItaly--You referring to me? LOL!

Caph--I hope your knee is ok. I managed to tumble down quite a few steps in Versaille the other week, and I am looking at knee surgery from that. So I really hope you have better news than I do! BTW, one of the first things I noticed in the pics is that your DD ALWAYS has a huge grin on her face...that tells it all

I'm not sure that the photos of holding up the bride and/or the groom are specifically Irish. We have similar photos from our daughter's Virginia wedding -- it seemed to be a favorite pose of the photographer [could she have learned it in Ireland???] and it did make for wonderful pictures...especialy in our case of our SIL, who was stretched out across the laps of the bridesmaids, with his head propped up on his hand and a big grin on his face!

You and me and others dear mms. I have banged up my knees twice in Italy but thankfully only bruises and cuts and no knee problems afterwards. Sure felt like an idiot both times however the wow Milano hunks that stopped their car and offered to take me to the hospital was a fun memory, lol.

Now back to your wonderful report CAHP!

I'm really sorry to hear about your injury, mms! Surgery, yuck! Did you have to go to the hospital while you were there? How much did it affect your trip?

Yeah, she does look pretty happy in those photos, doesn't she?!

Wow, skibummette, that sounds like a great photo! I don't know why they didn't do one of our SIL with the bridesmaids. Then again, since I didn't know about any of them at the time, maybe they did!

As for getting back to my report, LI.... First thing tomorrow morning, I promise!

she looks SO happy. I love that.

Thanks again, Dawn. I suspect some of it was sheer relief that the day had finally arrived!

Caph--I really debated about going to the hospital, but in the ended decided against it. I knew we had a great knee surgeon here since DS had his done last year. We had trip insurance, with extra medical making it the primary. I cannot tell you how glad I was to have that. While we didn't use it, I knew that at any moment I could be taken care of without worrying about payment. My knee really affected the trip, but in a way it was good. It made us slow down, and we usually go gung ho. Except DD wasn't thrilled having to play nurse

Wednesday, June 3rd: More Participants Arrive, More Touristy Stuff

As I mentioned, we definitely wanted to sneak in some sightseeing. But in this case, it was very hard to plan ahead. The part of my brain that likes to over-organize travel found that very difficult to handle! But, of course, we wanted to be there to help with the wedding preparations in any way we could. And we had no idea just what we'd be able to do to help or when. Added in to all of that was wondering what activity level was too much/too little for my MIL and her brother.

And then there's that fine line between helping and being in the way. And not wanting to look like we were shirking our duties and spending all of our time being tourists. Remember those pre-trip jitters I mentioned?! Though I tried to do it quietly, I really freaked out a lot about all of this stuff before we left. I really wished someone could tell me exactly what we could do to help, what was expected of us and when we might be in the way so could/should go off on our own. Which, of course, was an impossibility.

But, once we got there, it wasn't as intimidating. In hind site, I really wish I hadn't wasted so much time and energy worrying about those things. But then, as they say, hind site is 20/20. While I'll probably never be in exactly this situation again, I hope that I at least came away from this having learned a little bit about not trying so hard to manage situations I can't yet read. If that makes sense? Maybe I should just say that I hope I've learned to chill out a little bit!

Anyway, I really am leading somewhere with all of this! DS really wanted to find time to go in to Dublin and do the hop on/hop off. At first, I thought the two of us would do it. Then, at one point, I'd decided that it might be a good thing for all of us (DH, DS, MIL, her brother and me) to do. I knew that there were stops that each of us would enjoy. And I thought it might be a not too strenuous way for my MIL and her brother to see Dublin. After all, I figured they could choose to just stay on the bus for long periods of time if they were tired.

Well, by this point, I'd decided that it probably wasn't a good idea. My MIL had her second hip replacement surgery in October. Though she did very well with it, she still can't handle a lot of walking. And I was afraid that getting off and on the bus more than a couple of times could be a problem as well.

Her brother fell on the ice in January and broke his hip. So he too had hip replacement surgery. He doesn't get around as well as my MIL does. So I was definitely concerned about his doing the hop on/hop off. Though I think he was very disappointed not to get to do the Jamison Distillery tour!

I'd figured out some time before that, if any of us were going to do it, this was the day that made the most sense. My daughter, all the wedding party from our area and another friend were flying in that morning. So we'd be able to hitch a ride to the airport with our SIL and then take a bus into Dublin from there. A good plan, I thought. But all the more reason why it might be too much for my MIL and her brother.

The more I realized that their going wasn't a good idea, the more convinced I became that DH should go with DS. I wanted to stick around to help with some wedding details. And, since I was going to be traveling with DS for 8 days after DH returned to the States, I really wanted them to have the time together. Twisting my knee the night before sealed the deal! That was the final piece to keep DH from feeling guilty about being the one to go!

I think there are two companies that do the Dublin hop on/hop offs. This is the one they chose:

http://www.dublinsightseeing.ie/citytour.aspx

They were on some buses with the live commentary, some with the taped. They definitely preferred the live.

The first bus they got on had a live guide who they really enjoyed. My son said he was very funny. It was a beautiful day for riding 'round Dublin on the top deck! Since they knew they didn't have time to see everything they'd really like, they decided to stay on the bus for the whole circuit. That way at least they'd get a good overview of the city.

It's pretty easy to see from my son's pictures what stops they later made. They walked around the campus of Trinity but didn't go in to see the Book of Kells. My husband had seen it in 1982 and my son wasn't interested enough for them to want to spend the money.

They had a real gourmet lunch at SuperMac's! My son had fish, chips and curry sauce. He still talks fondly of that greasy but tasty meal! My husband had fried chicken which he enjoyed too.

They really wanted to go to Kilmainham Gaol but ran out of time. As an aside, the Hampshire group of friends/wedding party did go and really enjoyed it.

I know hop on/hop offs aren't popular with a lot of Fodorites. But I definitely think they have their place. Particularly in situations like this, where time is short. And I think my husband found it to be a very relaxing way to see Dublin. He seemed to enjoy it far more than I'd expected. I was really glad he'd been the one to go as I think it provided a much needed break for him.

This is probably a good place to break this so that this installment doesn't get way too long.

You make a good argument for trip insurance, mms! I'm glad you didn't have to use it though. And so glad the injury didn't cause you to have to end the trip early! I'm sure it was a relief knowing you had a doctor you trusted to see when you got home.

Caph--I agree, trip insurance is a must for me for now on! I also agree with the hop on/hop off buses. We did that last time in Paris with my mother and it was perfect for that first day. We didn't feel the need to do it this time, but they do have their place and are enjoyable.

mms, that's something I really wish my daughter and I had done in Paris. But it wasn't something I even thought of at the time. I'm not sure I was even aware that there were hop on/hop offs in Paris! Next time!

OMG! I have been so caught up in my own travel world (and moving DS and all that goes with that trauma, lol), that I didn't even know that this report existed!!

CAPH, thanks for sending me the pictures. They are absolutely lovely!! DD was a beautiful bride and the photos that her friend took really captured the spirit of the day.

Now I need to start reading all of the wonderful details of the wedding and trip!

Hi CAPH, I finally got around to catch up. Wonderful wedding photos! Everyone looked like they were having a GREAT time. Your daughter looked SO happy.

Thanks, STW! I hope the move went smoothly?

And thank you, yk! As I said earlier, I think part of the reason she looks so happy is the relief of knowing the day was finally here and all was going well. We had dinner with them today and DS and I were just talking about how much more laid back she seems than she has for months. I think she was a lot more stressed than even I realized!

Of course, the fact that they've moved into an apartment in a great neighborhood in the city and have an adorable new puppy doesn't hurt either!

What's up with all the knee injuries??? Must be a Fodor's curse!

How'd you twist your knee, Caph?

STW,

"While we didn't get really dressed up, we did all "clean up" for dinner. I was wearing a new pair of dress shoes that were a little loose in the heel. Although I'd put in heel cushions, I was a little nervous about them slipping off. And, as a result, managed to twist my knee as I was stepping off the bottom step as we were leaving L & M's, aggravating an old injury."

Trying to get back on track. I hope to get more posted today.

June 3rd, continued: Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch...

It must've been around 11:00 when N (our SIL) and his best man pulled in with their cars full of wedding party. I'd warned our daughter about our delay getting through passport control on Monday. But, fortunately, they didn't have that problem.

Being the neurotic that I am, I'm always relieved when someone arrives safely, no matter their form of transportation. But I was especially relieved that day because the Air France disaster had occurred the same night we flew over. My daughter says an accident just before she flies makes her less nervous as she figures the odds are in her favor. And I understand the reasoning in that. But it just makes me more aware of what can go wrong. So I was even more relieved than normal to see them all safe and sound.

They stayed around the house for a little while as it was too early to get in to their lodging. N had booked two units a few miles away for all of the bridesmaids, one of the groomsmen and several friends who'd come in from the US. Here's a link:

http://www.balrathcourtyard.com/

With so much else going on that week, I was only able to get over there once. But I made a point of running in to take a quick look. They were very nice! The pictures of the bridesmaids getting dressed were all taken in one of the two units. I think they'd make a nice self-catering base for someone wanting to explore that area.

It must have been while they were there that morning (another "fuzzy" point) that DD tried on her wedding dress, which N had brought the previous week. My MIL made the dress. She'd realized after the last fitting that she'd forgotten to add the "loop" which DD would use to hold up the train. And M had noticed a slight tear in the lace. So my MIL wanted to get the loop added and the tear mended. I should add that, despite bringing the dress, N stuck to the traditon of not seeing the dress until the wedding!

Shortly after they left, M, my MIL, her brother and I headed to Tara. My uncle-in-law (?) still had a lot left on his "gift list" and M thought the gift shops at Tara would be a good place to look. We also planned to have lunch there. Apparently Maguire's is quite popular among the locals as well as with tourists. And I can see why!

It's a nice little tea room type of restaurant. My MIL and her brother both had vegetable soup (which, of course, came with brown bread) that they said was very good. M and I had open-faced prawn sandwiches served on brown bread with Marie Rose sauce. I can't remember exactly what else was on the plate but I remember being impressed with it at the time! It was delicious! The lunch, including two teas and a 7Up, came to €34.

We spent quite a bit of time in the two gift shops. And M was, quite understandably, beginning to get a bit worried about getting back. Among other things, the wine was supposed to be delivered that afternoon. I'd been hoping to actually get to Tara itself and considered trying to make a quick run up the hill while they finished up in the gift shop. But I didn't want to hold up M. And, with my knee, I realized there was no such thing as a "quick run"!

On the way back we stopped at a chemist so that I could pick up a knee support. I wore it for the next few days and it definitely helped. But it had a tendency to roll up and cut off my circulation. So, as soon as I felt my knee was "better", I quit wearing it. A decision that may have been partially responsible for the injury coming back to haunt me later.

On Tuesday the caterer had dropped the box containing the vases for the tables in the marquis. All but four of them broke! When we got back from Tara he gave us what he'd been able to find to replace them. Basically, a bunch of mismatched and very dirty (in some cases, spider-infested) vases. So I spent the next hour or so washing vases. Which I was very happy to do as it made me feel useful! They washed up quite nicely. And, once they'd been filled with the lovely lilies a neighbor had brought, I seriously doubt that anyone noticed that they didn't quite match!

When DH and DS decided to hitch a ride to the airport with N that morning, we'd thought N would pick them up from the bus in Ashbourne that afternoon. But poor N had been running all day! After taking the Illinois part of the wedding party to get settled in their unit, he'd gone to meet the Hampshire contingent. They'd been traveling around Ireland for the past several days and bused in that day. M took pity on her son and she, her grandson and I went to Ashbourne.

That was my first time meeting the 4 year old grandson. What a cutie! When we left the following Monday, he'd still never said a word to me! But I was quite taken with him nonetheless.

The main thing I noticed about the ride to and from Ashbourne was the traffic. This was late afternoon, probably around 4:00 or 4:30 and we were seeing the results of so many people now choosing to live farther out and commute in to Dublin for work.

We'd originally planned to take everyone out for dinner that evening. My MIL's 78th birthday was the day before. Our daughter wanted us to wait until she got there to take her grandmother out. But over the course of the afternoon, we began to decide that maybe going out wasn't the best idea. My MIL didn't feel cheated as we'd gone out the evening before. Our daughter was, of course, tired, having arrived that morning. And, besides not feeling up to going out, M wanted to use the salads we had left from the previous day's lunch. I think L was a little disappointed. He'd had his weekly golf outing that afternoon. Had he known in time that we weren't going out, he would have stayed for dinner there.

But it worked out very well. It was a very nice, casual dinner. M, her granddaughter (who, once she's warmed up to you, doesn't share her brother's shyness!) and I went in to their small village to pick up a little more ham and to get chips from the local "mobile chipper". Some of the best chips I've ever had!

Earlier in the day, just before N and his best man took the wedding party to their lodging, L had announced that we'd be holding a meeting that evening. He and M, the bride and groom, the groom's two sisters and my DH and I would be discussing what needed to be done the next few days and who would be doing what. An excellent idea! I think it had much to do with how smoothly things went.

After the meeting, we went on to have a wonderful evening. I think it had made all of us feel that things were under control. And we were all able to relax and enjoy ourselves. Of course, the beer, wine and brandy didn't hurt either!

N's two sisters continued to work on the seating charts throughout the evening. At one point, one of them mentioned "Mr. Pistol". "Pistol" is a good friend of my brothers'. And, since DH grew up in the same small town we did, Pistol has ties to his family as well. When he was very young, Pistol was a huge fan of Pistol Pete Maravich, the basketball player. Hence, the nickname. I think the fact that he and one of my brothers share the same first name has something to do with why that particular group of friends still call him by that name.

Pistol was with my brothers, the wife of one of them, DH, DD, DS and I when we'd gone to Ireland in March of '06. So our daughter had said she'd really like to invite him to the wedding as he'd been there for her first visit to Ireland. When I emailed him about it, he'd said to please send them an invitation as his new wife had always wanted to visit Ireland.

When N's sister asked who he was, in order to figure out where to seat him, I was quite surprised! No one had mentioned to me that he was coming. And, as it turns out, he'd accidentally been put on the wrong list. All of this led to a discussion of N calling him "Mr. Pistol", which strikes me as very funny. But not nearly as funny as N's niece found it! The name caused her to go into fits of giggling! She laughed about that name off and on the rest of the evening. And she was far too young to have had any of the beer, wine or brandy!

At some point in the evening, M put some Irish music on the stereo and her granddaughter treated us to a bit of traditional dancing. She's quite good! And her shy little brother even got into the act. A very memorable evening, indeed!

STW, a better answer to your question about my knee would have been that I was just being my usual, klutzy self!

June 4th: Tea With a Charming Fodorite and the Rehearsal

We all got a bit of a late start that morning. And everyone had things to do. We decided to give L & M a break by piling in the car (DH, MIL, her brother and me) and having lunch at a little coffee shop in nearby Johnstown. I can't remember whether it's called Joy Cafe, Cafe Joy, Joyful Cafe... It wasn't anything special but was a pleasant place to have an inexpensive lunch. My MIL, her brother and I all had the soup of the day, a very good potato and leek. Can't remember what DH had.

Meanwhile, DS had brunch at Xano with his sister, N and N's sister. http://www.menupages.ie/restaurants/xano_coffee_and_gourmet_bagels/menu.aspx
He had the tuna melt bagel, which he said was very tasty!

We went back to L & M's where we picked up DS and headed for Slane. Fodorite Padraig and I had arranged to meet for tea/coffee at the Conyngham Arms Hotel in Slane. The location was Padraig's suggestion. And a very good one! It was a very quiet, pleasant place for a conversation. Not only was it convenient for us, but the rest of our merry band very much enjoyed exploring the ruins on the Hill of Slane while Padraig and I met.

As I mentioned earlier, I'd posted for help before my daughter left for her internship. I got great help from many wonderful posters. But none more so than Padraig! He even gave me his phone number so that she could contact him should she run into problems. I thought that was incredibly kind! He also got into the spirit and gave me lots of good info on Irish weddings when I posted about that last summer. So I was very much looking forward to meeting him and thanking him in person.

And I enjoyed it very much! We had a very pleasant conversation during which I learned a lot. As I usually do from his posts! But now I'm even more indebted to him as he brought me a beautiful piece of Carrickmacross Lace! Such a lovely and thoughtful gift! Thank you, Padraig! For the lace and for sharing your time with me. If we get back to visit the daughter's in-laws, I'd love to do it again.

I've now had the privilege of two mini Fodor's GTGs. And both were wonderful experiences! The other was lunch with STW last year.

When we returned, I was quite surprised to find preparations underway for an after rehearsal dinner. This was proving to be another evening of changing plans! Originally, we were to have done the hen and stag parties after the rehearsal. The night before, I'd heard that the plan was to have dinner at the home of one of N's sisters and then hit the bars. Now I was being told that everyone would come to L & M's for dinner and just stay there.

I have to admit I'd been looking forward to the opportunity to catch some traditional music in a pub. But I'd also been concerned about the logistics of getting everyone from pub to pub and safely back to their lodgings.

The rehearsal went well. I never did ask why it was held on Thursday night rather than the night before the wedding as is usually done here. I don't know whether that's customary there. Or whether there just happened to be something going on at the church on Friday.

As you can see from the pictures, it was a very nice evening and we were able to eat on picinic tables outside. The food was good. I think it may have been from Earl's Kitchen (the place we'd picked up deli for lunch on Tuesday) but can't really remember. The younger group hung around until 11:00 or so and then continued the party at their lodging.

I have been keeping my head down on this thread for fear CAPH52 would tell the truth about me, but she is a woman of her word and kept her promise to tell the diplomatic lies.

I also enjoyed our meeting, and was flattered that she made time for it in what was obviously a very busy few days -- although she seemed so relaxed that you would find it hard to imagine that she was in the process of getting ready for her daughter's wedding, thousands of miles from her home base. That's quite a challenge, and she was fully equal to it.

Me, too, CAPH52: I'd be happy to meet again. Next time, I get to pay for the drinks. I believe the Poet's Rest in Slane has become a good venue since it changed ownership a few years ago.

I'm not sure "relaxed" is exactly the right word. More like overwhelmed to the point of giving an appearance of calm! But I certainly appreciate the kind words!

As you probably know, Padraig, Poet's Rest is connected to George's Patisserie (they did the wedding cake). We wound up having lunch there the day after the wedding, which I'll get into more when I get to that day, but it was indeed a very pleasant spot. I will look forward to meeting you there sometime in the future!

Oh, I love these mini GTGs! It is amazing how far some Fodorites will go out of their way to help someone who he/she has never met in real life.

Isn't it, yk? As nasty as things can get on the political threads in the lounge, and, unfortunately, sometimes on other threads as well, for the most part Fodor's reconfirms my belief in the innate goodness of humans. Padraig is certainly a prime example of that. As is the outpouring of kindness for P_M in the Lounge.

yk wrote: "It is amazing how far some Fodorites will go out of their way to help someone who he/she has never met in real life."

And I didn't even have to do anything!

Oh, but you did, Padraig! You have no idea what a comfort it was to me to know that she had someone to contact if she ran into a problem!

June 5th: My Family Arrives, More Wedding Errands

Both of my brothers, the wife of one and the kids of the other arrived that morning. I'd warned them of our wait for passport control. And I'm happy to say they had no problems. Again I was very relieved to see them arrive safely.

They stopped by L & M's for a while in order to touch base with us. My niece and nephew seemed to get a kick out of trying tea and brown bread for the first time! Since they still had a bit of a wait until they could get in to their B&B (and we wanted to get out from underfoot), we decided to go out for lunch with them. We all felt it would be easiest just to go back to the coffee shop where we'd eaten the day before. So they followed DH, MIL, her brother and me as we swung by to pick up DS from N's sister's and headed for the Johnstown Shopping Center where the restaurant was located.

This is where they stayed:

http://www.athlumneymanor.com/

They were very happy with it. They described it as comfortable and quite nice. The owners were friendly and helpful. In fact, their last morning they were served breakfast half an hour earlier than the normal hours so that they could make an early flight. Touches like that are, of course, always much appreciated. My brothers also really liked the location. It was an 8 to 10 minute walk to the city center.

After lunch, they headed to the B&B and we headed back to L & M's. We dropped off my MIL and her brother and picked up N to head back in to Navan to pick up the suits. I was quite surprised when we'd learned, a few months before, that the tux rental didn't include the shirts. Every experience we'd ever had here -- our wedding, our son's prom, etc., the shirt came with the tux. So I don't know if this situation is typical of places outside the US. Or whether it was just that particular shop. Anyway, because of the cravat type ties, these tuxes required a shirt with a particular type of collar. We'd found them here but the price was about the same as the shop where they were getting the tuxes. So we just bought them there.

We picked up all the tuxes and all the shirts and headed back to L & M's. Unfortunately, when we got back there, DH took a good look at his suit and realized that there was a stain on the vest. Because of the fabric, it'd been hard to detect at first. So back to Navan we went!

Throughout the day, N's family had been popping in and out as they arrived in the area. Both of his parents grew up in County Galway. My MIL was engrossed in a good conversation with N's granny (and I think her brother was napping). N had headed out to drop the Hampshire group at Newgrange. So it was just DH, DS and I who headed back to the mall.

After taking care of the vest, we walked around the mall a bit and wound up in Tesco. We did buy dandruff shampoo (I'd realized that the bottle of shampoo plus conditioner that I thought I'd brought was actually a bottle of conditioner!). But the rest of our purchases were just the really important stuff! DS had fallen in love with Jaffa Cakes (cookies with orange marmalade and a dark chocolate top) so, of course, we had to buy some of those! And then there were the Walkers crisps, the Milka bar, etc.! I bought one of the Praline Flake bars. Damn, those are good! I hadn't ever seen them before this trip and had a hard time finding them when we were in the UK a week later. Maybe I just didn't look in the right place....?

We decided it might be best to stay out from underfoot a while longer. So when we left the mall, we headed for Tara. Unfortunately, it was really crowded and we couldn't find a place to park. If we'd really worked at it we probably could have found a spot. But we just weren't that energetic! So, for the second time that week, I was at Tara without actually seeing Tara! But it was a beautiful afternoon and a nice drive.

From here on things get very fuzzy. I know that DH was "on call" to pick up the Hampshire contingent from Newgrange. And I think he did, but I just can't remember. My brothers were planning to go to Trim (which they did) and then we were going to see about getting together for dinner and/or to try to find some music in a pub. But everyone was too tired. We wound up having a dinner of leftovers from the night before (which was quite tasty). People came and went throughout the evening. But we all managed to have a fairly early night.

CAPH52:

I wanted to let you know how much I am enjoying your continued report of the events. Are you writing strictly from memory or did you keep a journal.

How lovely that you met up with poster Padraig. He sounds like a dear man.

Your daughter was very blessed to have so many of her family travel to Ireland for her wedding.

I look forward to coming home from work to see if you have posted more.

Sandy

Caph--I too am still enjoying reading about everything! That is great that so many friends and family were able to make it there for the big event. And how nice to meet a fellow Fodorite

That's too funny you mentioned the M&S Jaffa cakes. I love anything with chocolate & orange, as I grew up eating Club Orange biscuits. Anyway, a few years ago, I bought the Harrods' version of Chocolate/Orange cookies and my husband loves it. But they are so darn expensive. So on my following trip, I went to M&S and bought the Orange Jaffa things for DH (they were on sale too). However, it turns out he doesn't like the texture - too soft, unlike the crunchy cookies. So now I buy him the regular chocolate/orange "biscuits" from M&S.

Thank you, Sandy! I really appreciate the feedback!

Unfortunately, I'm writing from memory. In hind site, I really wish I'd kept a journal. But to tell you the truth, there really wasn't a lot of spare time. And when there was, I was tired! I did write down a few things the first or second night we were in Barcelona. But not enough and I didn't keep it up.

Though I was half-joking when I said it earlier, I really do feel like it's good exercise for my brain to try to remember as many details as I can. The downside of trying to be so detailed in writing it is that it takes a lot of time. I just hope that, by the time I come to the end of the three week adventure, I'll still be able to remember anything!

Padraig is, indeed, a dear man! He's given good advice to many posters here.

She was very lucky to have so much family at a wedding so far away. However, my brothers love Ireland and were very glad to have an "excuse" to go! I don't think I mentioned this upthread but forgive me if I did. When we got together with them to celebrate the Christmas before she went for her internship, one of them said he hoped she'd meet someone there so they'd have someone to visit!

It meant the world to her to have her grandmother there. And it meant the world to her grandmother as well! But, to tell you the truth, what touched me the most was how many friends came. I know that for some of them too it was an excuse to go to Europe. But still...

Thanks, mms! I guess without knowing it, I responded to your comments in my response to Sandy!

Are Club Orange biscuits British, yk? I'm guessing they must be if they're called "biscuits"! But since you mention growing up eating them, I'm wondering whether they're available here?

Actually, it wasn't until we got to the UK that we had the M&S version of the Jaffa Cakes. We were to learn over the next couple of weeks that my son likes any and all versions!

Hi CAPH, yes, those Club Orange biscuits are British, but they aren't popular in UK now. I had lots of difficulty finding them last May (found them on the bottom shelf @ the Waitrose in Windsor), and couldn't find any at all in London last Nov even though I went to at least 5 or 6 supermarkets.

I don't think they are available here in the US, unless you buy them online through some British Foodstore websites. I didn't grow up here.

CAPH:

Information on biscuits/cakes go to www.nicecupofteaandasitdown.com

Sandy

Very interesting, yk! And now I remember your mysterious answer to a thread that had something to do with how far you live from where you grew up! Don't suppose you'd care to tell us where you grew up?

That looks like a very interesting website, Sandy! Thanks!

Sorry, I did not read carefully enough.

New shoes can be leathal!

Very understandable, STW. I'm very wordy!

When are you leaving on your European adventure?

What a fabulous report! Can't wait to read more. Loving all the details

Thank you, starrs!

Hello CAPH, I am enjoy a late glass of wine and so enjoying your thread! Friends and family arriving in Ireland for your daughter's and son-in-law wedding is priceless. How you kept track of all the activities I will never know but you are impressive dear one. Hugs!

Actually, LI, I think trying to remember all of this stuff is taking every brain cell I have. My son has had to yell at me several times the past few days when I've started to take wrong turns, go in the wrong direction, etc. He's convinced I've lost it!

No going the wrong direction on one way streets or anything dangerous, mind you. Just distraction to the point of forgetting where I'm going! This usually only happens to me in the midst of holiday stress!

Yesterday I went back and reread some of this. And I realized that, for those not familiar with Ireland, I really should have put in some links for the tourist places we visited. Just to give a little explanation of what they are for anyone who's interested.

A little bit about Newgrange:

http://www.knowth.com/

Tara:

http://www.mythicalireland.com/ancientsites/tara/

The Hill of Slane:

http://www.mythicalireland.com/ancientsites/slane/index.html

June 6th: The Big Day Begins

I've heard that Irish weather forecasts are notoriously unreliable. Unfortunately, they weren't that day! We'd been hearing for a couple of days that the beautiful weather would come to an end on Saturday. And it did!

As I've already mentioned, DH and I were assigned to pick up the cake that morning. The flowers were also on our list. Not knowing how much space either would take in the car, we figured we'd better make separate trips. And we decided to do the cake first. We'd been told to watch for the bakery when we went to meet Padraig on Thursday. But, of course, we forgot! Which meant we took a few wrong turns Saturday morning. But Slane's not a very big town so we didn't lose much time!

I was very nervous about transporting the cake. But I kept thinking that surely they must pack them very well. Wrong! Each of the three cakes was in a standard bakery box! As we were musing about which part of the car to carry them in, the young woman who was waiting on us told us in no uncertain terms to please put them in the boot (trunk)! She went on to tell us about someone who'd put their cake on the backseat and then had to stop suddenly at a traffic light. We got the picture!

We drove very carefully back to L&M's! It was gray and raining lightly. At that point, we were holding out hope that maybe it would clear by afternoon. We very gingerly took the cake and stand in and put them on the dining room table. The caterers were to handle it from there. While I didn't notice it that day, I can see from the picture my son took that they didn't do a very good job of centering the tablecloth on the cake table!

My son thought he'd added some random wedding pictures to his shutterfly site. But I see that they're not showing. I'm going to bug him about trying to get those up today as there were some better shots of the cake. I'll come back and add a link later.

Once we got the cake settled, we headed back out to the Johnstown Shopping Centre to pick up the flowers. My MIL came along with us. While the florist finished up our order, we looked around the stores a bit. My MIL wanted to pick up just a little something to add to the card she'd brought. And she found a lovely wedding-themed picture frame.

As it turned out, the flowers took up very little space because the florist had delivered the arrangements for the church. We had only the bouquets, boutonnieres and the mother's corsages.

Apparently it's traditional to have a full Irish breakfast, or "fry-up", the morning of the wedding. And champaign for the wedding party. I think this is the point at which we ate ours. I know I ate it. I just can't remember when! The groomsmen had their champain fry-up at N's sister's house. I'm not sure the poor bridesmaids got theirs!

M and I headed out, in what was by then pouring rain, to pick up my daughter (who'd spent the previous night with her bridesmaids) and her maid of honor. The four of us had 1:00 appointments to have our hair done at a salon called You're Georgeous (that's the spelling on the receipt!) in Duleek. This was my one time seeing the place the wedding party was staying. And, as I mentioned earlier, I ran in to get a peek of the inside of one of the units.

M had taken K (my daughter) to the salon the day before so she and the owner could discuss how she wanted to wear her hair. Since she wanted curls, the owner felt that, with her heavy hair, he should go ahead and put it in rollers then and there.

He gave us each a glass of champaign while we were having our hair done. We thought that was a very nice, festive touch! There were two or three people working on the four of us. So we were out fairly quickly. But getting back to the car in what was by then a driving rain was quite a circus! One of the hairdressers walked out with each of us, holding an umbrella over us. But it didn't help a lot! Had Joe been around to take pictures of that, I'm sure they would've been hilarious!

When we got back to the house, N's sister, who is a make-up specialist, began to work her magic. After doing K's make-up, she did her mother's and mine. I was so thrilled when she asked if I'd like her to do it! And then K's maid of honor took off my red nail polish and replaced it with a champaign type color. She did a much better job than the manicurist who'd done it the week before!

What luxury! I've never been pampered so much in my life! That was the first time I'd had my hair done since I was maid of honor in a friend's wedding back in 1972 or so! And I'd never had my make-up done before. The pedicure I'd had the day before we left for Ireland was the first I'd ever had. Now that's something I could get used to! I told my daughter that day (we'd gone together) that, from now on, that's what I want for Mother's Day!

Wonderful report, CAPH--it reads as though you're telling it in person. I only wish you were here to go through the photos to tell me who is who! I love to look at other peoples photos and yours are really beautiful--you took some terrific family pics at the reception--loved the pics of the little boys, loved seeing my favorite flower, the gerbera daisies, held by the brides maids, your daughter is so beautiful and that dress! Everything is just so beautiful. Thanks for all the background info--I enjoyed reading how Kerianne arrived at this time in her life--it all seems like a dream. Thank you so much for sharing your story with us. I am really happy for her and wish her and her husband all the best. ....and I look forward to reading more!

Even with the rain, it sounds like a good start to the day! I would bet that you start getting gift certificates for mani/pedis I do that for my mom for Mother's Day most of the time.

Thank you so much, AnnMarie! For your kind words and your good wishes!

Gerbera daisies! I'd heard M say what they were but couldn't remember. Thanks for telling me the name. Using them for the bridesmaids was her idea and I think they worked very well. They really stood out against the black dresses. She really knows her flowers!

I wish I could take credit for the pictures. Joe did a great job, didn't he? They have the ones from the professional photographer now. Six discs of them! They haven't gotten through all of them yet so I suspect it'll be a while before we see them!

I sat with my son last night going through pictures, deciding which ones to add to his shutterfly site on the wedding. But when I went to link it just now I see that they're still not all showing! But, with a little luck, this'll link to a close up shot of the cake:

http://europeanadventure2009.shutterfly.com/kerianneandnoelswedding/22

So now I have to tell my little story! When they got married downtown in November, we had a party afterwards. Very informal, but lots of food and drink. Including, of course, a wedding cake. Kerianne really wanted a bride and groom for the cake. So her dad and I went all over looking for one. The only one we could find was at a "party store". After all that, it didn't really work on the sheet cake we'd ordered from the grocery store bakery! So it sat on the table next to the cake. I was really touched when we got to Ireland and saw it sitting on the vestibule table at L & M's. They'd sent it over to be put on this cake.

That's what I'm hoping for, mms! Or that she'll make time for us to go together. That would be even better!

I'm sure your mother really appreciates those gift certificates. My MIL used one just before she left for the wedding. Her daughters had given it to her sometime before and she'd been kind of reluctant to use it, having never had a manicure before. (This is a woman who, up until a few years ago, not only permed and styled her own hair, but cut it herself too!) Well, she's decided she liked that bit of pampering and is glad there's enough left on the certificate to go another time or two! I told her she's got to try a pedicure!

That's a cute cake!

Love that cake! My gosh, are those ribbons on top? Are they made of chocolate?!

Thanks, yk and AnnMarie! They were lily petals, AnnMarie. Yep, made of chocolate. You can see why we were so nervous about transporting it! Amazingly, none of them broke enroute!

Not that it's a matter of great importance! But, since we had some discussion of the subject upthread, turns out the brand of Jaffa Cakes my son liked the best is McVitie's. Those seemed to be the most widely available too.

First of all, I'm sorry I haven't posted for a while. It's a combination of getting very busy with some projects around the house and feeling a bit of writer's block! But I'm hoping to get this wrapped up this week.

The Wedding

The ceremony was everything we could have hoped for. Other than the near catastrophe when, during the lighting of their candles on the altar, the groom leaned too close to one of the candles in front of the altar, nearly setting his coat on fire, everything went off without a hitch!

When I posted here last summer asking for information on Irish weddings, I was warned by SiobhanP that the Catholic church in Ireland has really cracked down on non-church music during weddings. And she was certainly right about that! They managed to sneak in one traditional song, She Moved Through the Fair, as the entrance song. (If memory serves, Siobhan said they had that song in their wedding too.) But I was really struck by the fact that even all the same songs that are used in Masses here had a distinctly Irish sound to them. It was really lovely.

The priest who married them was a family friend. That lent a much more personal feel to the ceremony. Because it was a small church and the groom has a fairly large extended family, most of the pews were filled which I think also provided a warm and festive feeling.

One thing they did that I've never seen done before was to take family pictures on the altar before the bride and groom walked back down the aisle (and, obviously, while the guests were still in church). And another thing done differently was that, right after the ceremony, L & M and I rushed right back to the house so that we'd be there to greet any guests arriving for the reception. It wasn't until I saw the pictures that I realized there was the usual receiving line at church! And, other than the aforementioned couple of pictures taken on the altar, there were no other formal pictures taken in church after the ceremony. However, that might have been at least in part because we were cutting it close on getting out of there before the evening Mass!

As can be seen from the pictures Joe took, there were traditional musicians at the reception. They played from the time the guests began arriving until dinner. Those of us who were involved in the wedding missed most of it though. The wedding party had champaign at the house when they arrived and then began posing for the professional photographer. And the immediate family was in and out of the house for photos as well.

The dinner was wonderful! In fact, when asked by my brother this past weekend which were the best meals we had on our entire trip, my son immediately said the wedding dinner! The bridal table, which included the parents, was served. Everyone else went through a buffet line. Our choices were salmon, roast beef, chicken curry and vegetarian lasagna. There were also some very nice salads, garlic potatoes and several other wonderful sides. And the dessert plates they brought us were to die for! We were each given a piece of the wedding cake plus three or four other things! Other than the cake, my husband and I didn't have exactly the same things on our plates and I can't remember for sure who had what. But I know that among the items were some sort of really good mousse, cheesecake and small eclairs.

After dinner came the speeches. Far more of them than I'm used to at weddings. Both fathers, the bride and groom, the best man and maid of honor and one of the other bridesmaids all spoke. And they all did a wonderful job! But the speech that sticks most in my mind is the groom's. And that's because he told a story about me! One that I'd totally forgotten about until then.

It was about the morning that he asked for our blessing to propose to our daughter. And he did a wonderful job of telling it, much better than I will here. He began by telling that I was in the kitchen and he, very nervously, came in and asked me to come in to the living room as he had something he wanted to talk to my DH and I about. He said that I immediately looked very nervous as I went in to sit on the couch. And that, as he began his speech, I proceeded to look more and more white and nervous. Which in turn, made him more and more nervous. (He did an excellent job of building the tension and conveying how nervous I looked and how much it was freaking him out!) And then, after talking to us about how much he cared for our daughter, his willingness to live in the US and so on and so forth, when he finally got to the point of asking for our blessing, I immediately blurted out, "Thank God, I was afraid you were going to tell us she's pregnant!"

As you can imagine, it got quite a laugh! Not least of all, from me! As I said, I'd forgotten all about it up until that night. But when he told the story, it all came rushing back. I remember listening to him and thinking, "She's still got another semester of school left. But surely, she can't be that far along... She should be able to finish school..." Let's just say it was a huge relief when I realized he was talking about proposing, with the marriage itself nearly a year in the future (first wedding)!

After the speeches came the dance. Somehow I managed to miss the first dance! I'm guessing I must have gone to the ladies room, not realizing they were about to begin. And that was really the only "formal" dance. There was no father/daughter dance or any of those that you usually see at a wedding dance here. But it was so much fun! The band was fantastic! They played a really nice mix of the occasional traditional song and lots of old favorites from the 60's on. What I really noticed was how many songs they played to which everyone knew the words. There was as much singing going on as there was dancing. I'm not sure who was responsible for picking the band, I think it may have been one or both of the groom's sisters, but whoever it was did one hell of a good job!

At some point, one of my brothers noticed that I still had my facinator on and that most of the others had taken theirs off. I guess they'd gotten tired of waiting for me! I blew my one chance at a bit of power!

At midnight the band stopped and a DJ took over. He played until the wee hours. Having grown up with live bands at weddings, high school dances, etc., I don't feel a DJ can ever compare. But this guy was good! Everyone continued to dance and have a really good time.

The roast pig was also served at midnight. I was still too full from dinner to have more than a taste of it. But it was very good! And someone must've been hungry because almost every bit of it was consumed that night!

Unfortunately, it continued to rain, often hard, throughout the afternoon and evening. And, of course, it made getting to and from church and the reception a pain. As well as getting to and from the bathrooms during the reception. Which, by the way, were amazing! These were not your usual porta-potties! This was a trailer that had separate men's and women's facilities, mirrors, tissues and such set out on the counter in the women's part, etc. Quite fancy!

But, as was discussed often afterwards, in a way the rain was probably a blessing. The groom's family told us that, at Irish weddings, the guests often wander outside. Especially the smokers, of course. And that, had it been another of the beautiful evenings we'd experienced that week, people would have been scattered all over the yard. But, thanks to the rain, everyone stayed in the marquis. And that made for a much nicer party.

It was about 3:30 when I finally got to bed. And around 4:00 when L, M and my DH came in. The sky was starting to brighten! I'd been warned that Irish weddings often go all night!

I just can't begin to express what a wonderful and fun experience it was! The people were so warm and lovely. So many relatives, neighbors and friends came up to us over the course of the reception to introduce themselves and welcome us to Ireland. And they truly did make us feel welcome! Even had it not been such a momentous event in our lives, it would have been a night we'd never forget!

My only regret is that there's no video of the wedding. I later learned that L & M had mentioned it and our SIL said they didn't need one. I wish I'd been asked as I'd have gladly paid for a video! But at least we have lots of nice pictures (and, of course, wonderful memories). I finally got to see my brothers' pictures this past weekend and they had a lot of good shots of the ceremony and the reception. As soon as they email them to me, we'll work at getting them on shutterfly. They had some good ones of things people here specifically asked about, like the yard.

CAPH - what a great description and detail of such a memorable event. Guess I'm glad I didn't get married in Ireland - I'd never make it that late (or early). Is that really that common?

Can't wait for the rest of the trip and glad you're back to report. (Thought maybe you had had your fill and headed up to the North Shore for some r & r!!!)

Boy, would I like to head up to the North Shore, dfr! I'm barely recovered from the last trip, still have way too much trip report left to write, but I'm ready to travel again! Are you still thinking about a trip up there this summer? Or has the weather cooled a bit in your area? (It's been downright chilly here the past couple of days!)

Yeah, I think it is that common. I guess saying that Irish weddings often last all night is an exaggeration. But, from what I've been told, it's not at all unusual to have stragglers there all night. I think it was 2:30 or 3:00 by the time the DJ stopped and there were still quite a few people dancing!

This is going to be kind of a crazy week with lots of things I need to get done. But I'm really going to try to make finishing the Ireland part of my trip report one of those things! I'm getting really nervous about how much I'm going to remember about the other destinations.

Thanks again for your kind words, dfr. And for letting me know there's still someone reading!

CAPH - yea, we got a real cool front from last week. We've "only" had highs in the low-mid 90s. June was the hottest and driest month EVER in the 128 yrs we've been keeping records! We had the first measurable rainfall in 2 months this past Sat night. Brutal. Definitely trying to squeeze in that North Shore trip - even thinking somewhere on the Hudson Bay in Ontario!

Wow! Hudson Bay would be really interesting! If you go, I want to hear about that trip! Meanwhile, I hope your "cooler" weather holds!

I mentioned seeing my brothers over the weekend. We visited them in Normal (IL). The high that day broke records for the lowest high ever on that date! We're having seriously odd weather for mid-July! But, of course, I'll take this over 100 degree temps with high humidity any day!

Caph--I am so glad you are still writing! The wedding day sounds wonderful, rain and all I loved the story of SIL talking to you and DH...I was thinking the same thing, that I would think he was going to say she was pregnant, lol! This was definitely much better news

"This was definitely much better news"

Ain't that the truth, mms! I think it was one of those things where we were feeding off each other, the more nervous he seemed to get, the more I reacted, thinking it must be "bad" news, which in turn made him more nervous....

CAPH52:

Glad to see you are back and writing such marvelous details about the wedding. Interesting to hear about the marquis and all that it involved. Any damage to the garden or yard as you say in America?

Enjoying your report and wish you the best at finishing this week. Whatever you write will be lovely.

Sandy

Aw, thanks, Sandy!

While I can't say that I really went out and looked, I don't think the marquis did any damage. Now that you mention it, it seems like it would have. But because L and M take such pride in their garden, I'm sure that's something they would have checked into before they decided to go that route. And I think I would have heard them talking about it afterwards if there had been damage. I know that they weren't very happy when the truck that dropped off the marquis made ruts in the ground! Mostly because they were concerned that they'd cause problems for people who were walking from the area where cars were to be parked.

June 7th: Slane, Trim

As you can imagine, we all got a fairly late start that morning! Friends and relatives were dropping by as they headed back out of the area. So we decided it would be best if we gave them a little space. We drove over to pick up DS and headed into Navan to find some lunch. The plan was to find the bagel place, Xano, where DS had eaten a few days before. Unfortunately, it was closed on Sundays. As we were soon to learn, so were many other places!

At one point we headed in to the mall to try to find the t-shirts DH's uncle still needed for his "gift list". We found neither t-shirts nor a place to eat! So we decided to head elsewhere. We wound up at Poet's Rest in Slane. It's the place Padraig mentioned upthread and is connected to the bakery that made the wedding cake.

When we were first seated we were a little intimidated, thinking it was a bit more upscale than we wanted. It's a lovely restaurant with a lot of wood and stone floors. We were seated in the back near a wall that was mostly windows. And the menu appeared to be a set meal that was pretty pricey. But we were told that we could order whatever part of it we wanted. We all ordered the potato and leek soup, which was excellent. It was served with a couple of baskets of bread that included not only the ubiquitous (and delicious) brown bread, but two or three other kinds as well. DH, DS and l also ordered appetizers. They both had a brocolli and blue cheese quiche that they said was very good. I can't remember what mine was called but it was round with a layer of an avocado mixture, a layer of prawns and sauce and a layer of salad. It was very, very tasty! The service was friendly in a very professional way. All in all, a very pleasant lunch! I don't know what it cost as DH's uncle paid the check before we had a chance to see it!

After lunch we decided to head for Trim. It was another of the tourist sites on my list. And one I'm glad we were able to fit in. When we got out of the car there we realized it was a bit on the chilly side and I'd forgotten my jacket. But it was pretty and sunny so that helped a lot. None of us really felt up to going in to the castle. But, as you can see from my son's pictures, we walked around the grounds quite a bit. It's really a lovely spot! And somewhere I'd like to spend more time if we get back to that area.

I think I dozed in the car much of the way back to L & M's! We were all pretty beat. But my brothers were heading out the next morning so we'd aranged to meet them in Navan for dinner and maybe some music. For the second time that day, we found ourselves wandering Navan's city centre looking for a place to eat! What we really wanted was an inexpensive pub meal. Well, as inexpensive as meals get in Ireland! But if there was pub food being served in Navan at that time on a Sunday evening, we sure didn't find it!

We wound up in an Italian restaurant called Il Gusto. It too was more than we'd really wanted to spend, but less than most of the other menus we'd read. My MIL and her brother had only soup, though he also had a beer or two. I think my niece and nephew and their dad split a pizza and possibly something else and I think he had wine and they had soda. The rest of us had pasta, some had wine or beer, some had soda and DS and I split an appetizer. The total for the ten of us was €139,75. The food was pretty good though. In fact, DS mentioned to me just last week how much he'd liked his pasta, which had salmon in a creamy tomato sauce.

They'd walked into Navan from their B&B. The only music we were able to find out about was a pretty good distance from where we ate. And there was no way we could fit everyone into our car. Not to mention that we were all tired and they had an early flight out in the morning. So we decided to give up on the music once again.

As I mentioned upthread in a response to someone, my brothers love Ireland and are always glad for an excuse to visit. But they were both quite put off by the prices this time. And it hadn't been all that long since they'd been there. In fact, one brother was there for a couple of days last September. But they found everything to be so expensive this time, particularly food.

The next morning they all went on to France. After a night or two in Paris, they went their separate ways. The one brother and his kids spent two nights in Paris and then went to Normandy and Brittany. The other brother and his wife spent just one night in Paris (both brothers and the one's wife had been in Paris several times before) and then went on to Provence. When we saw them this past weekend, they all commented on how much cheaper the food was in France!

They did, however, all spend one more night in Ireland as their Aer Lingus flights home were from Dublin. And they were quite pleased to get a pub meal at the Brazenhead that night!

June 8th: Carlingford, Glendalough and Saying Goodbye

We'd hoped to get an early start this morning to head down through the Wicklow Mountains to Glendalough. But on Sunday our daughter had asked us if DH would help get the Villa Park contingent to Carlingford. And he was glad to do so as they'd been so helpful in organizing things for the wedding. So DH and DS headed out early that morning for Carlingford. Which they really enjoyed! They said the drive there, mostly on the motorway, wasn't anything spectacular. But, as you can see from my son's pictures, Carlingford was quite nice. They also went into Northern Ireland to do a bit of shopping. Mostly soccer jerseys! While I'm somewhat jealous that I didn't get to see Carlingford, I must confess that it was nice to be able to sleep in a bit that morning!

I think it was about 1:00 or 1:30 by the time we headed out. And, unfortunately, what had been a beautiful morning had turned into an overcast and sometimes sprinkling afternoon. But, hey, it made the drive through the mountains very "atmospheric"!

We had a little bit of trouble finding the right exit off of the ring road around Dublin. It looked much easier on the map than it was in practice! And there was one point later on when we thought we might not be on the road we'd wanted (turned out we were). But, other than that, no problems. As I mentioned on another thread recently, it took us a lot longer than we'd thought it would to get to Glendalough. Not because of the distance but because we stopped so often to take pictures! We took R115, the Military Road, down through Sally Gap. Talk about a scenic route! I'm so glad we were able to make this trip because it gave my MIL and her brother a chance to see landscape so very much different than County Meath. And without driving very far.

It must have been around 3:30 by the time we got to Glendalough. As I've mentioned before, neither my MIL nor her brother can do a lot of walking. And we didn't have a lot of time as we were expected back to go out to dinner at 7:00. So we didn't see as much as we would've liked. But it was so worth the trip! Again as you can see from the pictures, we did get to the monastery ruins. From there my MIL and DH ( his uncle had found a seat a ways back) turned back towards the car. DS and I wanted to walk a bit farther along the loch. My DH warned us not to take too long as we didn't know how long it'd take us to drive back. So we went a bit farther but turned back much sooner than we would really have liked. Only to get to the parking lot and find them not there! Turns out DH's uncle had realized there was a gift shop and wanted to look for those d*^n t-shirts! Imagine our frustration as we sat in the lot next to the car for half an hour waiting for them!

As I'd suspected, it took us much less time to get back than it had to get there. We took a much less scenic but still interesting route, mostly along the motorway. However, having gotten hooked on Ballykissangel (a BBC series filmed in Avoca and another town, which is no longer on but available on Netflix) in the weeks before the trip, I got a bit of a kick out of passing Avoca! Even though I couldn't really see much of the town.

We got back in plenty of time to change clothes and go to dinner at O'Brien's with L & M, K & N. It was again a very nice dinner. And afterwards L made a lovely speech about how glad they were that we'd stayed with them, how much they'd enjoyed having us and getting to know us, etc. Just the night before, at dinner with my brothers, I'd said that if I had it to do over, I'd have pushed harder to get a B&B because I was afraid we'd been in the way. L's speech made me very glad that we hadn't!

Between drinks before dinner, the leisurely dinner with more drinks, etc., we were at O'Brien's for quite a while. After which we headed back to L & M's so that DS and I could gather up our belongings. We had reservations for the night at Bewley's Airport Hotel because we had a 6:40 flight out the next morning (which I'll go into more in my next installment). By this time it was dark. So I was very glad that L had, earlier in the day, offered to go with DH to take us. I think the plan had been for them to have a chance for a couple pints, just the two of them, after dropping us. But we got started too late!

The goodbyes turned into a bit of a tearfest as M asked me to take care of K & N and I told her how much we love N, etc. etc.! And, of course, it was sad to say goodbye. But I'm happy to say that L & M just recently booked tickets to come to Chicago in late September!

We had a bit of trouble finding Bewley's. It's a fairly new hotel and not where L thought it was! So it was midnight by the time we got there and we asked for a 3:15 wake-up call! Besides being keyed up, we were so nervous that we'd oversleep and miss our flight that neither of us slept much at all.

CAPH52:

How nice that L&M truly enjoyed hosting you at their home. It appears you were not in the way and they had plenty of room to put you up.

Pleased to hear L&M will be visiting you in Chicago in September and they will enjoy what should be very nice weather. Is this their first visit?

On my yearly visits home to the UK I constantly have sticker shock at the cost of everything. Football (soccer) jerseys are particularly expensive. Quite understandable how your brothers felt in Ireland.

My niece used to come over to the US with two suitcases, one empty to take back her shopping!

Carry on please.

Sandy

Hi, Sandy

They've been in the US before. Their oldest daughter, the one who is a make-up specialist, worked on a cruise ship that did the Alaskan cruises. While she was doing that, they took the cruise and then traveled through Washington and Oregon. I think they had a friend living in the PNW at the time.

But that was about 14 years ago and I don't think they've been back since. And they've never been to Chicago. So I think it'll be fun for them. I hope anyway! And I hope you're right about the weather! They purposely waited until then because they can't take heat. But, considering what an odd summer we've had so far, I'm afraid that we'll either get the heat then or it'll already be cold!

I can certainly understand your sticker shock when you go home! And they went to NI to buy the jerseys because they're cheaper there than in Ireland!

Now would be an even better time for your niece to come over with two suitcases! DS and I joked throughout the trip about how nice it would be to come home and not only see lower prices on menus, but know that the price was already in dollars (as opposed to knowing that the high price we were looking at would be even higher if we converted it to dollars)!

But then, OTOH, I suppose there's something to be said for looking at a price and not having to figure out how much higher it will be when they add the tax! A definite factor when you buy anything (or eat out) in Chicago with Cook County's 10% sales tax!

A little background on how DS and I wound up staying at Bewley's that night...

As I mentioned upthread, we grabbed our plane tickets early because we knew we had to be in Ireland for those dates and we knew the prices Aer Lingus was offering were good. We knew then that, as long as we were already in Europe, we wanted to add another destination. Neither DH nor DS had ever been on the continent and this seemed like a good opportunity. We also knew that DS and I were going to stay an extra week (which DH had encouraged us to do because DS was finished with school for the year and, by the time we got back, the school where I work would be out of session). So flying open-jaw probably would have been a good idea. But, at that point, we had only vague ideas about where else we wanted to go!

Once we'd finally decided on Barcelona, scheduling proved to be much more of a pain than I'd anticipated! Before I started looking into it, I figured that we'd be able to go to the airport together that Tuesday morning, get my MIL and her brother through security and to their gate and then find our gate for a flight to Spain. Wrong!

First of all, for some reason that I'll never fully understand, the travel agent had booked my MIL and her brother on the afternoon flight out of Dublin instead of the morning one. Since we didn't want to leave them sitting at the airport for hours before their flight, this, of course, meant taking them later in the day. But the real inconvenience was for my sisters-in-law who had to pick them up in St. Louis. I'm sure it was close to midnight (on a work night) by the time they got in, got their luggage and made the hour long drive home from the airport. Not to mention that this made for a very long day for my MIL and her brother!

There was one thing I figured out later, based on the fact that we also took the afternoon flight home and DH took the morning flight (which I had also taken two years before). When we took the morning flight, we had a stop in Shannon for which everyone had to disembark and go through immigration. For the afternoon flight, we went through immigration in Dublin and then flew straight through to O'Hare. I'm now wondering whether the travel agent knew that and booked them on the afternoon flight for that reason. Or whether it had something to do with the layover times at O'Hare before their flight to St. Louis...

At any rate, not knowing why she chose that flight, I was at first not at all happy about the later departure. But the more I looked into flights to Barcelona, the more I realized that the departure times to go there were so goofy that their flight time didn't really matter!

We first considered Ryanair. But that would have meant flying into Girona, about an hour from Barcelona. So we decided to pay a little more for the flights and save time by going with Aer Lingus, which flies into BCN. As it turned out, because we had transatlantic tickets on Aer Lingus, we were able to link the flights and not have to pay to check luggage. Which brought the fare closer to that of Ryanair. But, in either case, the flight times were not convenient for us! Both offered an early morning flight (though Ryanair's was not as ridiculously early) and an evening flight, nothing in between.

After much tossing about of ideas, we finally decided that DS and I would take the early morning flight and DH would take the evening flight. We figured this way DS and I could get to Barcelona, meet with the apartment people, get settled, etc. while DH returned the rental car, got his mother and uncle to the airport and then went in to Dublin for a little sightseeing before catching his evening flight.

We arranged with the wedding party, all of whom had checked only one bag (Aer Lingus allows two on transatlantic flights) to take two of our bags back with them. And that actually wound up working out well for my daughter too. While most people had given them money (knowing that gifts would have to be transported), they did get a small pile of presents. We had enough room in one of our bags for her to pack those things.

That left us with two bags to check, which DS and I took. We split the small amount of clothing DH needed for Barcelona between those two bags. That left DH with only a messenger bag to carry on and have to worry about while sightseeing in Dublin.

We also batted around various ideas for getting to the airport so early in the morning. We finally came to the conclusion that, since we really didn't want to disrupt the whole household at 3:00 in the morning, the best thing would be for us to stay at an airport hotel that offered free 24 hour shuttle service. And it just so happened that Bewley's was offering a very good deal. €59 a night! We had to prepay. But that worked out well for us too as the Euro was about 20 cents less when we booked than it was when we stayed!

More to come on leaving Ireland, etc.