I talked about my family in "About" - my wife Debra and our children Jill and David. Jill is a journalist who covers a wide range of topics. Her favorite topics, though, are food and travel. I’m not a foodie, but I am a travel nut, so I was very excited when she received an invitation FOR TWO PEOPLE to tour Ireland in March 2019 and her fiancé couldn’t go. You see, his miss was my gain, as Jill asked me to join her. It took all of a few minutes to answer Jill with a resounding “Yes!” Eighteen days later, we boarded a plane on a direct flight from Phoenix to Dublin, and arrived a few days ahead of the tour so that we could see the sights in the capital city of the Republic of Ireland. It was a whirlwind 18 days, to be sure.
Our tour was sponsored by CIE Tours International, “one of Ireland’s leading tour operators and the largest carrier of North American visitors into Ireland every year.” In addition to Ireland, CIE offers tours in Scotland, England, Italy, Eastern Europe, and Iceland.
CIE had several tours of Ireland. The one we went on was the “Irish Adventure,” an eight-day all-inclusive tour that started and ended in Dublin. The itinerary included overnight stops in Waterford, Killarney (two nights), Galway, and Derry. As you can see from the map (click to enlarge), we moved clockwise around the island. And with many sightseeing stops between the overnight stops, this tour truly was an Irish Adventure!
The tour was well-planned and well-orchestrated, and customer service was impeccable. And our tour guide and driver, Bryan, was absolutely the best! He was a fount of knowledge, sharing historical and contemporary information about each place we stopped. And he was personable, good-humored, and a good storyteller and singer. Every day he regaled us with jokes, homespun stories and Irish folk songs, which was like the whip cream on top of the banana split!
The weather was...well...typical weather for Ireland this time of year. We had some rain every day (how else would Ireland maintain those 50 shades of green that it was famous for?), which was why we kept our umbrellas at the ready. It was cool, with daytime temps mostly in the upper 40s to mid 60s; we solved "warmth" by layering. But the sun shined down on us more times than not when we stopped at the many sightseeing destinations over our eight-day tour.
Jill and I had unforgettable experiences and saw beautiful scenery throughout our tour, and we arrived home with great memories of our eight days in Ireland.
Our tour was sponsored by CIE Tours International, “one of Ireland’s leading tour operators and the largest carrier of North American visitors into Ireland every year.” In addition to Ireland, CIE offers tours in Scotland, England, Italy, Eastern Europe, and Iceland.
CIE had several tours of Ireland. The one we went on was the “Irish Adventure,” an eight-day all-inclusive tour that started and ended in Dublin. The itinerary included overnight stops in Waterford, Killarney (two nights), Galway, and Derry. As you can see from the map (click to enlarge), we moved clockwise around the island. And with many sightseeing stops between the overnight stops, this tour truly was an Irish Adventure!
The tour was well-planned and well-orchestrated, and customer service was impeccable. And our tour guide and driver, Bryan, was absolutely the best! He was a fount of knowledge, sharing historical and contemporary information about each place we stopped. And he was personable, good-humored, and a good storyteller and singer. Every day he regaled us with jokes, homespun stories and Irish folk songs, which was like the whip cream on top of the banana split!
The weather was...well...typical weather for Ireland this time of year. We had some rain every day (how else would Ireland maintain those 50 shades of green that it was famous for?), which was why we kept our umbrellas at the ready. It was cool, with daytime temps mostly in the upper 40s to mid 60s; we solved "warmth" by layering. But the sun shined down on us more times than not when we stopped at the many sightseeing destinations over our eight-day tour.
Jill and I had unforgettable experiences and saw beautiful scenery throughout our tour, and we arrived home with great memories of our eight days in Ireland.
My Stories, One Day at a Time
I will post stories about each day of our tour, with a new story every month or so.
I will post stories about each day of our tour, with a new story every month or so.
The Kingdom of Dublin (Day 1)
The Kingdom of Dublin (Day 2)
Ha'Penny Bridge
Ireland's Ancient East
The City Where Ireland Began
The Gift of Eloquence
Nothing Beats a Good Road Trip!
Knock Shrine: Witnesses of Hope
On a Sheep Farm in Ireland
A Titanic Adventure...And More
This Was Donegal!
The Walled City of Derry
Between the Sky and Sea: A Tale from the Cliffs of Moher
