The Hunter's European Vacation

Well, folks, we made it back safely! No, we didn't decide to extend our stay in Ireland a few more weeks. Life has just been so completely crazy since we have returned -- the month of June has just flown by! Anyways, more on that later. For now, I want to focus this entry on providing a brief recap of our wonderful European adventure, so here goes . . .

After our long transatlantic journey from Chicago, we safely landed in beautiful (but sligthly chilly) Dublin. There we were greeted by our wonderful hosts, Toni and Harry Gallagher (i.e., Mama & Papa G) as well as the rest of the Phoenix crew. As my blurry eyes tried to adjust to the whole concept of driving on the other side of the road, I said a few silent prayers for our safety over the next several days. Let's just say that there's no such thing as defensive driving in that neck of the woods! Anyways, once we arrived to the Gallagher residence we were immediately introduced to their beautiful neighborhood and surrounding area of Howth(rhymes with both), a fishing and yachting port that also serves as a popular suburban resort just outside of Dublin. We went hiking along Howth Head and it was everything we would have pictured Ireland to be - gorgeous cliffs, lots of greenery and a mixed bag of weather. As we took in the views of Dublin Bay, we were also privileged enough to get our own personal tour of the attractions, courtesy of Orla Gallagher. As much as we love her, we soon learned that Orla might not be the best candidate to give us proper history on what we were seeing. For instance, she told us that Lambay Island was once used as a lookout point for the Vikings. Papa G then chimed in and informed us that it was actually designed as a lookout for Napolean. Same difference, right?!? We continued exploring this quaint community throughout the day and enjoyed our first Guinness break at The Abbey Tavern, an infamous 16th century pub completely furnished with all the trimmings you would expect -- a blazing fire, original stone walls, sawdusted floors, and friendly faces. Advised by many to "push through" the jet lag, we had no choice but to continue our evening in the Temple Bar area of downtown Dublin. During our evening out, we had a true sampling of what Irish folks are all about. The places we visited were jam packed with Guinness-drinking, foot-stomping, and the occasional arse-bearing patrons. Even when we were in transit from one place to the next, many a folks could be found actually dancing in the street. I couldn't believe my eyes -- it was honestly like a scene out of a movie!! It was a proud moment for me as well. As the one pregnant lady in the group, I pushed through my fatigue and lasted until about 1 a.m. If you knew what my bedtime has been lately, you would be proud of me too!

The next day involved us taking advantage of our first full day in Ireland and touring downtown Dublin. Be sure to check out our pictures on our Flickr website because there's quite a few great shots. Highlights from this tour included seeing St. Stephen's Garden, Christ Church Cathedral and The Guinness Storehouse. Not surprisingly, we continued our evening in Dublin with dinner and drinks (stillwater for me) and had a wonderful time. Surprisingly, I was not the one to let the lingering affects of jetlag take over and actually fall asleep while we were out. Another proud moment for me, not so much for our friend Kristene!

The next three days began our lovely boat adventure from up the River Shannon which we learned was the longest river in both Ireland and Britain. We were excited to take in the scenic countryside views and enjoyed our relaxing cruise until we ran into our first slight glitch on the trip. After only one hour from our Banagher departure, we managed to, as seasoned sailors like to refer, "run aground". Unfortunately, Brad happened to be at the helm when it happened. He was slowly cruising along, smack in the middle of the river where he should have been, with Harry by his side. He began to notice the depth gauge was dramatically dropping to alarmingly low levels and alerted Harry. Harry, with a typical laid-back Irish attitude, confirmed that it was okay and that the river had been a bit low recently. Before another word could be uttered, the boat shook with a violent lurch and we heard sounds from the bottom of the boat that no one should ever hear (imagine the underwater scene from Titanic when you can see the iceberg actually scraping the side of the boat). After painstaking silence from the crew and futile efforts to get "unstuck", we were fortunate enough to be rescued by some German pirates. Yep, you heard me correctly. A boat of Germans flying the pirate flag actually towed us to safety -- apparently they were pros at this since they already had to do it three times prior that week! We then ported at the next stop of The Shannon Bridge to make sure that there was no damage. After another slight incident with German boaters involving the exchange of registration numbers -- Capt. Harry assured us that the strong wind was the culprit -- we safely docked and confirmed that the boat was clear for continued travel. We were so inspired by the news, that we were almost compelled to re-enact another Titanic moment -- Jack and Rose flying toward the sunset on the bow of the boat. Thankfully, we ignored those urges and kept things on the somewhat normal side. Apart from witnessing more nakedness from a overly-friendly stranger on his balcony (what is it with these Europeans?) the rest of the trip was relaxing and uneventful. Our first stop was Athlone, a quaint little port, where we were able to appreciate the Athlone Castle and Sean's Pub, the oldest pub in Ireland. The next day we cruised up to Lough Ree Lake and then turned back around to port our second evening at The Shannon Bridge. We enjoyed our evening and the rest of our boating excursion as we took in more countryside, when I determined that Irish cows have got it made with all of the lush green pastures available for grazing! On our drive back toward Dublin, we stopped off at Locke's Distillery in Kilbeggan where they are infamous for their strong Irish whiskey. Based on the smells emanating throughout the tour as well as the look on everyone's faces during their whiskey samples, the Irish don't mess around when it comes to their whiskey!

Part three of our European vacation brought Brad and I to the London portion of our trip. Accompanied by my friend and colleague, Mary, and her pretty German companion, Wolfgang, we took in London like there was no tomorrow. We were centrally located in the city and had wisely invested in the London Pass, which made it easy to take many of the sites. We were able to see Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, The Eye of London, St. James Park, Buckingham Palace, Wellington Arch, Hyde Park, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, the Britain at War exhibit, St. Paul's Cathedral, Picadilly Square, and The London Dungeon. As comfortable as my shoes were, my feet were still on fire after all of this sight-seeing. Part of that may have to do with traversing 530 in one stop alone! Believe it or not, I actually got my pregnant body all the way to the very top Golden Gallery of St. Paul's where we were able to take in the most breath-taking views of the city. It was entirely worth it, although I'm not sure that Brad would agree after the lengthy foot rub he had to give me later in the evening. Oh well, I promised myself that a little extra "baby baggage" wouldn't slow me down at all on my trip. It didn't and the baby even got to take the experience in utero!

Our return to Dublin for our final evening brought us to the close of our trip. I have to say that as our plane slowly descended over Ireland, it felt like we were coming home. As much as we enjoyed the hustle and bustle of London, we truly connected more with the laid-back pace and gorgeous scenery that Ireland had to offer. We were sad to end such an unforgettable trip, but new that our gracious hosts would welcome us back at any time. Who knows, with his/hers first taste of Ireland, maybe Baby Hunter would be curious for more someday!