My poor momma got little to no rest on the flight. I had been able to doze off for some good periods of time...however, NOT comfortably. We awoke to flight attendants pushing breakfast carts and passing out trays at what would be 1am central standard time. Talk about throwing your whole body for a whirlwind. I know my stomach had to be thinking, "OH NO, this is just not right we don't do this kind of thing!"
It didn't matter though, mom had been kind enough to give me the window seat so that I could spot the green of Ireland upon approach. Here are a few pics from the plane.
At that moment we began to acclimate ourselves to our new time zone....Ireland was at 7am! Holy Hanna is what went through my mind as shortly there after we landed in Dublin only to be shot through more hoops.
View of Airport from Plane
Did you know that if you're not an Irish or British passport holder you must fill out a landing card and have your passport handy (that part I figured). That's just not something they tell you about. So in normal fashion to get off the plane...thinking that "oh yeah we'll have time to stop change clothes, freshen up and get on the road...this happened instead.
Grab your bags wait to deplane, head to the little girls room, make your way to baggage claim, but OH WAIT, stand in line to check in with the Irish Customs Security with our landing ticket and passport in hand. This took about 45 minutes to an hour of waiting in line, but GUESS WHAT??? I have an Irish Stamp in my passport, NANNER NANNER!
Finally we made it to get our luggage and then on the hike to find the so called car rental "Thrifty!" We asked directions and rerouted a couple times, finally finding it thanks to a wonderful DAA security guard. We got our paperwork ready only for mom to be surprised by the car she thought she reserved. She had in a mind a Ford Focus sized car, however we had a car the size of a hamster-mobile or what they call a Nissan Micra. OH MY! We continued with approving our rental only to pay more for the insurance than the rental itself...WOW-IE! We headed off to get the car...let me just tell you even though they mention the rental is in terminal does not mean that the car is there. We took quite a jaunt to the actual location where we were shuttled by this spiky haired fella.
Thrifty Shuttle Driver
We finally arrived at the location, picked up the keys and headed to our hamster-mobile in true American fashion. I, who would be the chauffeur for this 11 day journey, went straight for the left side of the car and mom to the right. Foolish girls didn't we remember we were NOW in Ireland for goodness sakes! We laughed and swapped places. Only to laugh harder at the fact that to fit our luggage in the car we would have to fold down the back seat. We were definitely not abiding by Rick Steve's guidelines.
Hamster-Mobile
So off we go praying that yes I can prove driving on the left side of the road, sitting on the right side of the car and shifting with my left hand really could happen. I know only by the grace of God it wound up becoming a natural feel. However there were a few moments like encountering our first round-a-bout...YIKES! Oh yeah, we made it through and jumped on the motorway. Our destination was the Irish National Stud in Kildare.
Successfully arriving we would briefly fix our hair and freshen our makeup in the parking lot before entering in to the sacred grounds. Too funny! I'm sure all the guests arriving were wondering, what the heck? Still we made do with the previous days clothes and were determined to begin our Irish sightseeing.
The next tour of the facility would start in 30 minutes so we had time to check out the Japanese Gardens.
Yep see those bees...they loved momma!
Momma
Me
That's us!
These orange blooms were found all along the roadsides.
Gorgeous!
We finished our walk through of the Japanese Gardens and made our way for our tour of the grounds. Our tour guide's name was Shawn. It was first established by a Scotsman in 1916 to use his stallion for the breeding of the British National Stud. Then later in 1943 it was turned over to the Irish National Government where they rebuilt and continued the tradition. We were first taken to the Foaling Unit....where over 300 foals were born in the 12 to 14 stalls. WOW! They also had an emergency/care unit for foals born under weight to get them stabilized. Then on to the Stallion Boxes which were lined with beautiful hanging baskets and shiny plates detailing their stats.
Stallion Boxes
Courtyard around the Stallion Boxes
Another Angle
It was mentioned that all stallions are behind double gates, there is security watching and that only 3 specific handlers work with each stallion. Shawn commented that he wouldn't even try jumping into their grazing pasture for fear of not making it out alive. These boys tend to be mean. We also learned that it was illegal to artificially inseminate thoroughbreds. Here are a few of the stallions.
"Invincible Spirit", Prize Stallion - 60,000Euros
"Art Connoisseur" - 4,500Euros
"Indian Haven" - cheapest 3,000Euros
"Big Bad Bob" - 6,000Euros
After the tour mom and I finished the stroll of the property. We even got to get close to some mares and foals. They were such beautiful creatures. There's just nothing more precious than a baby horse!
Ponies
Baby and Momma
Another momma and baby
So precious
Mom with one of the foals.
My turn with this sweet baby.
We headed back to the gift shop for a few items and a bite to eat in their cafe. Our first experience with the food at the cafe was less than to be desired but we managed and then made our way back on the road. On the road again...headed for Enniskerry only to make a detour into Bray. We encountered some very small roads, a dressed up McDonald's and we never found that pesky Tourist Info.
Fancy McDonald's
After searching and giving up on that detour, we made a call for directions to Mary Drexler our B&B host for the night. All went good until reaching Enniskerry Village and the place to turn and a weird round about. Talk about a few tense moments. We arrived at Brook Cottage B&B and were welcomed by Mary. She showed us to our room, said for us to make ourselves at home and she would have tea and cookies waiting for us upstairs.
Sadie in front of the house.
Me just outside.
Our Room
We made it upstairs for a pot of tea and great conversation with Mary. She introduced us to Sadie their 3 legged Greyhound rescue...such a sweetheart. Mom and I were very tired....Mary mentioned that she would make us sandwiches.We appreciated the offer but mentioned that we wouldn't be staying up long. And that was pretty much what we did....showered, got in pj's and were out for the night by 7:30pm. What can I say...it had been a long long night and day!
That was the end of our first day, August 21st. No one could have been happier to be laying their head on the pillow and waking up in Ireland than ME!!!!
More to come....this was only day one.
~Curls~
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