An Irish Proverb: He Who Travels Has Stories to Tell!

An té a bhíónn siúlach, bíonn scéalach

One of the greatest joys in my “encore life” is my ability to travel the world. My big travel adventure this year was a large swath through Ireland, a drive through Northern Ireland, and a brief but spectacular touch down in Scotland.

My travel co-planner is my sister, Chris. We spend hours, weeks, months planning our European adventures to shock and awe our “don’t-ask-questions-just-go-with-it” husbands. Other blogs have described the wonderful and often hilarious times we have had with our travel and transport choices. My brother-in-law, Jack has had an aversion to Europe’s love affair with traffic circles. Experiences in Spain, Italy, and France solidified this aversion. With the mere mention of an upcoming roundabout, Jack’s shoulder’s rise, his eyes dart, his heart races. Did we learn from these past experiences? Well…no. We jumped right in and rented a car; albeit this time we rented one with an automatic shift and a GPS system!

RENTAL CAR REALITY

So now the men must deal with traffic circles again, and this time in a car with all the controls on the opposite side, in a paradoxical driving environment with narrow streets, unfamiliar road signs, and a GPS system that is…shall we say, somewhat unreliable. Our first challenge? The size of the trunk in our pre-arranged rental. Our protestations that we packed light and that a normal sized car should easily accommodate were met with “oh, you have a lot of luggage” from the perplexed car rental attendant. Clearly, an adjustment had to be made so that our first glimpses of Ireland were not impeded by our luggage. With our €1,200 adjustment (wow!) we were on our way…right into morning rush-hour traffic!

Our first stop – Dunboyne, outside of Dublin. As Chris and Jack had prior experience in Dublin, they suggested that we park the car and take the city bus, thus avoiding the hustle and bustle, the bumps and scrapes that is Dublin traffic. We utilized the bus system for our two Dublin days and found it to be comfortable, safe, and enjoyable…but on-time? Not so much. Dublin, sans rental car, was glorious. Walks around the many green spaces, over the interesting bridges, and through the historic streets were, as they say a lot in Ireland, “Perfect!” And, not having to worry about driving back to our lodgings after visiting and imbibing at Guinness Storehouse and Jameson’s Distillery was also PERFECT!

DESTINATION DONEGAL…DETOUR DERRYGONNELLY

On day three, we started the real road section of our Ireland adventure. We set off on a planned 3-hour-plus (plenty of time for stopping to see the sights) drive to Donegal, by way of Northern Ireland.

We were having a lovely drive through our Irish portal into the United Kingdom, when a truck decided to take more of the road then it was entitled to, forcing us into/onto something, resulting in a flat tire! We pulled off on what looked to be a rarely used, narrow, picturesque, foliage-overgrown, side road (little aware on day-3 that most Irish roads looked rarely used, narrow, picturesque, and foliage-overgrown). As there was no shoulder, and as the flat was on the front-left side of the car, we came to a stop smack dab in the right hand lane, blocking potential oncoming traffic. Jumping out of the car to inspect the damage and take a moment to regroup, Jon positioned himself at the end of the road to serve as our human hazard signal, while Jack searched for a spare tire. We soon found out that we had no spare tire, and no flat-tire insurance.

We stood there for a few moments, strategizing next steps, when the magic started. First a car came winding its way around our stranded vehicle. The driver stopped, assessed the situation and gave us the number of a local garage who could help with the tire replacement. Then another car came by and stopped. This time it was two lovely ladies who were taking their dogs somewhere for a walk. They said they would check on us on the way back. Then came Claire…our Irish angel. This take-charge woman, who also had been taking her dogs somewhere for a walk (I wonder where they go?), stopped, assessed the situation, and provided us with information on where to get cash in Derrygonnelly, her village in County Fermanagh. You see, all we had were Euros, the currency of Ireland, but we were in Northern Ireland where the currency is Pounds Sterling.  As we anticipated a cash payment for the tire repair, we needed an ATM quickly.  Not only did Claire provide us with information, she offered to take us to the convenience store with an ATM.

Chris and I gratefully accepted her offer and headed to the store, but first we had to stop by her place to let the dogs (two well-behaved and beautiful Cavalier King Charles Spaniels) in. Once that task was complete, she drove us to the store and waited, all the while greeting her friends and neighbors. When I had retrieved my Bank of Ireland pounds sterling, Claire instructed me to go to the cashier and exchange them for any and all Bank of England pounds sterling the young cashier had on hand. You see, Chris and I tend to overshare, so we had explained how we ended up in Northern Ireland, our plans to go to Scotland for a few days, then our plans to head back to the big island. Claire explained how Scotland would not accept Bank of Ireland notes. “But aren’t you all one big happy family in the UK?”, we asked. “Well yes…and well…NO,” she replied. I dutifully exchanged my pounds as instructed. Piling back into the car, Claire returned us to our injured vehicle, where we found the boys with a tall gentleman who was speaking on a cell phone to someone.

Claire smiled and explained that the nice tall gentleman was their retired police chief, and that he would ensure that things were taken care of. “When he calls and asks for something, people do it like that”, she said with an accompanying snap of her fingers. As we laughed and explained how grateful we were, Claire noticed that I was slowly counting out my money, like someone who had never seen foreign currency before. She said, “give me your money; you’ve known me long enough to know I won’t steal it!” She was right.  Then she stuffed the Euros (“yo-yos”) into one purse pocket, the Bank of England pound sterling in another (“For Scotland”), and with the rest, we counted out what was needed for the tire repair.

As we were standing there, the two lovely ladies from earlier returned from walking their dogs. Stopping as promised, they offered to take Chris and me to their home (“it’s just up the road”) to have some tea while we waited for the repairs. We thanked them wholeheartedly, but refused. We had seen a church ahead and decided to go explore. Then Claire offered to drop us off at the church, her last kindness before leaving us.

The wonderful people of Derrygonnelly had come to our rescue…“In the end we are all people who need help,” Claire said explaining their kindness.

Go raibh maith agat, Claire!

Go raibh maith agat, Derrygonnelly!

THE LORD OF THE RING

While Jon did a wee bit of driving, most of the responsibility fell to Jack. I had been warned by other seasoned travelers that when driving through Ireland, not to look ahead, look out the side windows at the stunning scenery. I exercised this advise often, but never more often than on our day trip around the Ring of Kerry.

I had heard about this storied road trip and envisioned a 4-lane highway that encircled County Kerry. Boy, was I wrong! This steep, often narrow, picturesque, and foliage-overgrown roadway was shared by all things with wheels…cars, buses, bicycles…and quite a few without wheels…sheep! I may have even seen a jaunty cart next to the Google Earth car! But Jack was a trooper. He bravely faced the oncoming traffic with frequent moves to the left to allow passage. Upon hearing our oohs and ahhs with each gorgeous sight at each turn in the road, he would pull to the side for the obligatory photo op, playing leap frog with other driving/stopping tourists.

THE CRAIC HAS BEEN GREAT!

Ensuing days took us on other narrow roads with the dreaded roundabouts, affording us with thousands of photos (thank goodness for digital cameras!) of gorgeous vistas. With Jack at the helm, we saw castles, manors, churches, abbeys, graveyards…castle ruins, manor ruins, church ruins, abbey ruins, graveyard ruins…cliffs, parks, gardens…sheep, deer, pigs, ducks, cows, goats…distilleries, breweries, and pubs…lots of pubs. We traveled from Dubin to Donegal to Dingle…from Clifden to Killarney to Kilkenny, from the Rock of Cashel to the Cliffs of Moher. We traveled by bus, by car, by bike, by foot, by jaunty cart, and by ferry.  We explored the Wild Atlantic Way. We had great fun, lively conversations, fabulous food, and mighty drink! We met some incredibly friendly and helpful people.  Everything was…well..”PERFECT”. Did we see it all? No. We had to leave something to come back to see…again, and again. Thank you Ireland.

“Put some whiskey in my coffee because it is Ireland somewhere!”

Sláinte!

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