This page will be updated as I have time. I hope those of you viewing it enjoy it as much as I did visiting the actual places. Besides giving you some information about the places I visit I will try to put some photos here. If you want to e-mail me my address is jerry@grandtravel.com. I will try to check for e-mails at least three times a week.

I departed for Ireland on May 17th and will return to the U.S. on May 25th. On May 28th I depart for Germany. My expected return from there is Dec 23rd.

I have been in contact with Jenni, my foreign exchange student daughter. Jenni has agreed to meet me in Ireland and tour with me.

Well as expected things didn't start off perfect. I was late leaving the house and made it to O'Hare with about 1 hour to check in for my flight. After turning in my rent-a-car, it was cheaper to rent one then take a taxi to the airport, I had about 40 minutes to get checked in and make it to the gate. I made it to the gate with only five minutes to spare. Thought I was lucky, that was WRONG. The aircraft was being serviced by maintenance. That didn't sound good, and as it turned out it wasn't. After around 40 minutes we were told that our aircraft was broken and couldn't fly. Next they said to stick around and they, American, were going to try and find another plane for us to fly on. Of course no idea how long that would take. Well after almost 2 hours, they changed gates and found an airplane for us. We boarded and had to wait for the food caterer to bring the food from the old plane to the new one. After almost 30 minutes of waitng the truck shows up with our food. They load everything and then we find out that some of the food carts tipped over in transit from one plane to the next and not all of the food was loaded on board, but we were taking off anyway..

Originally I had a little over 2 hours time to connect to my flight in Boston. Well when I arrived in Boston I now had less then 10 minuets to make the connection lucky for me that plane was also delayed, so I ended up waiting around for some unknown reason. When we finnally left from Boston we were now about 35 minuets late.

On arriving in Shannon Ireland, I picked up my rent-a-car and had something to eat. Now I had a 3 hour wait, it was 730 in the morning, before Jennie showed up from London. Naturally she was hungry, so it was back to the airport resturant to get her some coffee.

We then, I mean I drove, to the town of Limerick. On the way we drove past Bunratty Castle, which we visited after checking into our hotel.We stayed at a place called the Sarsfield Hotel situated on the River Shannon. Our room was very small but functional and had a great view of St. John's Castle, and the river Shannon. City of Limerick After lunch in the hotel we drove back to Bunratty Castle and did the full tour of the castle and a surrounding functional village. Which included a short stop for a cold one at a pub. By this time we were hungry so we drove back to our hotel and looked for a place to have a traditional dinner of fish and chips. After dinner it was into the hotel bar for some more cold ones. Dinner was in a fish shop and was good. The beer was even better. In the morning, after getting cleand up, we found a small local shop that served a full Irish breakfast. That's eggs, bacon, sausage baked beans a half of baked tomatoe, along with both black and white pudding. We both passed on the pudding, because we didn't know what it was. From here it was check out of the hotel and off to visit St. John's Castle After the castle we headed off to the town of Tipperary, you know the song,"It's a long way to Tipperary," well there isn't anything to see here. We stopped off for lunch in a local shop and then procced to The Rock of Cashel There is a castle here that is the castle of the kings.This is the castle of the first actual king of entire Ireland, not just his province. We managed to take a guided tour of this castle, and it was very interesting. Don't know why the Irish Tourism Buerau doesn't promote things like this in the states. We drove past Holcross Abbey and stopped just long enough to take some photos. Then it was through Thurles, Nanagh, before returning back to Limerick and finnaly on to our hotel on the grounds of the Shannon Airport. Dinner was great. But the best part was the nightcap after. This was the Great Southern Hotel and is fantastic. So far we have found the people of Ireland to be very friendly and helpful

It is now the next morning, the 20th, and we are starting a new day. After walking all of 50 yards to the main airport terminal we spent some time checking e-mails. We then drove to The Cliffs of Moher What's the best way to describe this place? Giant cliffs with shear drops that frame the Alantic Ocean. It's something you have to see to believe. It's free to get into, but to get out you have to pay 4 Euros. That's something different isn't it? After viewing the cliffs we drove to a Dolman. This turned out to be an almost 5000 year old burial site. From here we drove to the Caves of Aillwee. We took a tour of the caves, which lasted about 45 minutes. After the caves we continued on to a Perfumery. This is where they make perfume. Of course we spent some money. By this time we ready to head home. The only thing wrong was on the way home my GPS system failed and we got somewhat, but not totaly lost. Dinner in the hotel sucked tonight, but the drinks were very good. Last night dinner in the hotel was out of sight. We check out of this hotel in the morning and head in the direction of Galway.

First stop was Dromolan Castle, just outside Ennis. We discovered that this has been converted into a Golf Course and Hotel to preserve the grounds and castle. It makes one flashy golf course. From Dromland we headed North through Ennis and on the highway to Gallway. Upon arrival we experienced more Irish roadways...ie the sign posts come just after, or immediately on, the intersection (making it tough to navigate). After asking some friendly locals for directions we found the Information centre and booked a B & B in Beach Court down on Gallway Bay (yes near the beach). We dropped off the bags and headed for our next destination. Gallway to Cong - Next we tried a day trip around Lough Corrib. We passed by 'Ross Abbey' near Headford (its free to look around the ruins), before heading into the quaint little town of Cong for a Pub lunch (& of course a traditional ale or beer). From here we visited the 'Abbey' and walked the Road to Ashford castle. The walk passes Nottingham-like forests, full of greenery and rivers where fly fisherman seek their daily catch. Speaking of which, we watched a few cast off near the castle. OK now the finale, Asford Castle, what a gem on the horizon, surrounded by a river on one side and a lake on the the other, the perfect haven for any fortified castle. Ashford Castle is one of only six small leading hotels of the world, and it lives up to 'more than' its name. Stunning both inside and out, and complimented by the appropriate artwork and fixtures one would expect from a castle of this period. We then headed across to the Thatched tavern house (at the attached golf course) for a brew overlooking the fareway. Luck was on our side as we missed all of the rain. This was an added bonus as we headed around the 'scenic' side of the Lough. We passed rocky mountainsides (like Canada) that glistened with the water that dripped from rains only minutes earlier. A lovely drive home. That night we walked to the Spanish Arch precinct of town, and found dinner (spanish tapas and curry chicken) before heading to a local pub for traditional pints and Irish music (very small & crowded and full of atmosphere).In the morning we headed for our final destination 'Dublin' and County Wicklow.

On the way we experienced a taste of Ireland at the Tullamore Whiskey distillery. More interetsting for its history than the taste of their drop. In Dublin we booked in 'Temple bar' (the bar/club/restaurant district of Dublin), and headed only metres away to a restaurant and bar for an acoustic night (and a few ales). In the morning we explored the sights of Dublin, including Trinity College, Dublin Castle (with a fabulous and cost effective tour of the castle...4 Euro for 1.5 hour tour),then headed for Christchurch cathedral (which at first we thought was St Pat's), then walked further to St Patricks cathedral itself. From Dublin we drove to County Wicklow to a lovely farm stay B & B (Brides Glen B & B) for a well deserved rest. The highlight of this stop was heading into the nearby hills to 'Johny Foxes' a tradtional Irish Pub now convertd to a restaurant and pub that serves great Irish (& other) fish. The Pub is an orignal from 1600's and is filled with loads of memorobilia of the past. The tables consisting of old washing (machine) ringer, and sewing machine tables amongst other timber items. Dinner was great and the entertainment is laid on 7 days per week. In the morning we headed into the Wicklow Mountains to the Powercourt waterfalls, then onto Gelndalough to the 'round tower' and old Monastic site. You could spend hours here walking the grounds and up alongs the rivers on the trails. Next we headed South to Arklow, a town on the Irish Sea, and took the coast Road through to Wicklow. At Wicklow we stopped to visit the Olde Gaol and took a tour. This was entertaining as the tour guides were in character and provided an animated presentation of the times, from Jailer to school teacher, to the Captain and master of the ship that sailed convicts to Botany bay In New South Wales, Australia. We continued now back the express route to Shankill to write you our pages, and rest and pack for the journey home tommorow. Of course there will be one last night out at a local pub...a quiet ale, of course.

For those of you that don't write but check out this page anyway, HAVE A GREAT SUMMER!!