Last Day Eve

Nolan’s B&B, Kilkee, County Clare
Friday, December 29, 2006

Greetings from the country of magical lands, friendly folks and winds up to 140km/hour. Actually that was the wind a bit north of us. I doubt if it gusted past 80km/hr here. So, it was a keep my good hat in the pocket and forget about chip and putt golfing day.

Renee and I went for another fabulous drive, mostly along the coast. It remains spectacular. We went from Kilkee through Kilrush and Killimer then on to Killbill and Killbill part 2. Just kidding about those last two (wanted to see if you’re paying attention).

Kilrush is where we downloaded the blog accounts today. It’s a fair sized little city, bigger than Louisburgh but not as large as Athlone. If that description doesn’t help, and I don’t know how it couldn’t, let me say that Kilrush is smaller than New York City but larger than the back seat of a Porche 911.

In any case, they had an internet café (five Euros an hour) and some real interesting places to eat and a good sized tourist information building. All of which were closed. Why was everything closed? Well, it is Christmas week still, also a lot of these places are seasonal and we got there before 1pm. This is really odd, to us anyway, if you go to a good sized city or village before 1pm, it is seemingly deserted. After 1pm, it suddenly becomes thriving. This even happened in Galway City.

Tomorrow is our last full day in Ireland. If that’s not sad enough, then listen to this. We will get on a plane Sunday that will take us from wondrous Ireland to an airport in New Jersey. Talk about culture shock, Arrrrgggh!

Today was a slow day picture-wise, we took a little under 300 pictures. Oh well, it was raining dark and windy. Of course it was also sunny, clear and warm. The weather does change frequently around here. Quondo, Quondo, Quondo, Quondo…

We’re leaving? Noooo!!!! Tomorrow is our last day? Oh, Noooooo!!!! Renee here, experiencing separation anxiety just thinking about departing Ireland.

I know one of the things I will miss is the friendliness of the people driving on the roads. I’m not kidding. I have grumbled to Kevin about driving through our own neighborhood in Sarasota and NOT getting a return wave of “hello” from 99% of the people. Growing up in rural New Hampshire everyone waved to everyone. Now I don’t mean a big hand-waving greeting, just an acknowledgement as you pass. Well, driving here I have found that 99% of the drivers DO at least give you a finger, and no, I don’t mean THAT finger. Just a raised index finger uncurled from the grip on the steering wheel to acknowledge you in passing. Of course you will get the full raised hand if you do something worthy, such as wait your turn and let oncoming traffic pass before you on a narrow road, etc. It makes me giggle every time.

Tomorrow we will return to the B&B and try to pack everything into the suitcases. Wish us luck, they were full when we arrived. Ha! Happy New Year to all.

Oh, this may very well be our last posting from Ireland. We may find an internet connection at the airport(s) but if not, it's been grand.

This blog is not finished. "Project-Ireland" is the process of moving to Ireland and living in Ireland. So please check us from time to time. Slan.

personal note: Joyce, I tried to e-mail you at your "roses Comcast" address and it bounced back to me. Please e-mail me so that I can get your current address. Don't post it here, just e-mail me.