Day 11 – Ms. Toad’s Wild Ride To Dublin

Our Irish Holiday: Day 1 – Day 2 – Day 3 – Day 4 – Day 5 – Day 6
Day 7 – Day 8 – Day 9 – Day 10 – Day 11 – Day 12 

We both slept in this morning, all the way until 7:30 am, when there was a sound at the door.  I jumped up and headed to the door, soon realizing that 1) I was in my birthday suit and 2) Mary was about to swing the door open.

Not wanting to terrify the help, I jumped into bed head first and threw the covers over my gloriously naked body.  Dang, that was a close one.

We had a delightful breakfast and proceeded to pack up our belongings.

We called for our car, but the chap did not believe we had a Rolls Royce, so we settled for the Pew-Got.

We made it in about one hour and forty minutes.

We headed out of the Mount Juliet Estate at 11:00 am, and using the iPhone GPS, we were fine, except the roundabouts were complex.

Leaving the estate was sad; we wanted more.

The first ten miles were on narrow country roads (more narrow than the one below).  I did not take pictures as both hands were on the grab handles, my eyes were closed, and I was saying my prayers.

Did we say narrow?

As we departed, Becky texted us. She and Dan took the remaining wedding flowers, which were beautiful, and placed them in the local cemetery. They were very thoughtful.

Please pay it forward.

Before entering the motorway (their equivalent of our freeways), we saw a sign and had to stop!

Clever, these Irishmen.

It is definitely The Emerald Isle.

Greenery and flowers everywhere.

Mary’s driving was amazing. She swerved in and out of the silly Irishmen going the speed limit. She went through two red lights, and unfortunately, they were on top of police cars.

This is the before picture.

We got out of the car as soon as the steam stopped exiting what was the front of the vehicle.   Exiting was easy since the tires were all flat and the car was lower to the ground.  I have never seen anyone drive on two rims after the rubber tires fell off.  We looked like the Beverly Hillbillys coming into Beverly Hills.

After (the tow truck just departed)

SERIOUS NOTE:  Mary was a superb driver, and I had no worries, but I will have to see the hand doctor to get my fingers uncrossed.

We dropped off what was left of our car at the airport and picked up a cab.  We had him go to the midtown Hilton to pick up Mary’s coat, which I had left last week.

Our cabby loved Elvis!

We drove for an hour and a half and saw a lot of the city. Our cabby/tour guide was excellent.

The waterway into Dublin.

We were hungry, so we went to the Hilton restaurant. It was nothing to yell about, but it served its purpose.

Sometimes, my ordering skills need work.

Mary did the soup and I went for a Ceasar salad.  We had reservations in about two hours to dine again and have our one last Irish coffee.

Dessert before we hit the sack!

Returning to our room, we examined our suitcases.  The dirty clothes are certainly stacking up.

We looked for a laundry, but no luck.

We went downstairs to have a pizza before going to bed.  Mary found the ladies lounge and took a picture of the potty.  Now we have to get one at home.

Mary wants one of these at home.

We finally returned to our room at 8:00 p.m. and set up all the “wireless” wiring, which meant charging everything for tomorrow’s trip. He said there were a total of eight HDMI circuits in use.

We must be up and moving at 4:30 am to catch the bus at 6:00 am to get to the airport.  The first flight is 90 minutes from Dublin to Heathrow, and then the twelve-hour leg from Heathrow to LAX.