Ireland 22-30 Oct Introduction

Got into Ireland at 10 am. Had a good sleep on board Air Canada.  Took a public bus 3.10 Euro, from the Airport to the Hotel The Regency.  The public bus has wifi so it was great.  It was an easy ride to the hotel and a short walk from the bus stop.  Of course the room was not ready.  Decided to go get a bite and just popped over to the café next to the hotel.  I had the crispy pork belly sandwich and it was so so good.  I think I got the recipe down to the dot (after much pondering) and I will definitely have to try this yummy and mouth watering sandwich.

After a while, the keys were handled out and I got to my room and found my roommate, Mandy had already checked in.  She is a big lady, just 22 but almost 6 feet tall.  We did not really hit it out well (perhaps the age gap; I could be her mother) and it was during dinner that I mentioned that I snored loudly and her mother was not very pleased to hear it.  Her mother with her boy friend (Wayne) were somewhat friendly but became was less friendly as days progresses, definitely no love lost though.  They were from Melbourne and they are typical Aussie, they can really drink.  One night Mandy came back and got to bed and she was tossing and sighing and she slept after she puked in the toilet.  Something I do not understand this drinking habit.  Without fail, every night the whole family needs to drink.

It's a mixed bag of people on this trip.  Another mother and daughter team and a single man, Tim in his 60s.  Tim and the lady got along well, maybe they will meet up after this trip.  We have Shaun and wife from Kansas, a young couple who enjoy drinking too.  Then we have Cindy from California.  I had her for a roommate for 2 days.  A funny lady who never fail to speak her mind most of the time.  I told her that I had to bring her bag in and it was very heavy and she said, so what's your point?  I held my tongue, almost wanted to say, don't you know how to pack and do you really need to bring so much.  In the end, she admitted that she packed too much.  I am definitely sure her bag will be overweight; at each stop she would come out with a small bag of shopping. Oh well, definitely not my business.

We have a middle age couple, Paul and wife and they are from Brisbane.  Nice couple.  There are 2 elderly couple one from Australia and one from Canada.  The Aussie elderly man was very quiet, hardly heard him talk and he seem to be unwell at the beginning of the trip.  The other Canadian couple were fairly quiet too.  There was a newly wed couple from Canada.  Decent folks and love to drink too.

Then there is Kathy from Toronto originally from Brazil and she had her own room.  Another young gal, Anna from Texas (Hispanic with blond hair) only 24 and I wonder where she gets the money to travel.  She kept saying, need to take pics for her boyfriend to see.  She also had her own room.    Almost forgot Edmund Lee from Toronto and he has a room mate from Illinois, a librarian.  I like him, he is fun to talk to.  Another 2 ladies from Australia, Joanne and Robie, I like Robie she is a very nice and gentle lady.

Our tour director, Barbara is a very seasoned tour director and has been in this line for 20 plus years.  She speaks well and clearly and it's a good story teller too.  Behind the wheels we had Gerry, a plumb man but a very good driver and it was a massive bus and he was able to maneuver through all the small roads and tight corners. 

So all in all, 26 people took on the road for the next 9 days. 



This pic cost 10 Euro, not that I like to remember the group, felt bad that the photo has already been printed