The Last Night :(

Well, our trip has almost ended. And while we're sad to leave, we're extremely excited to see you all again, sleep in our own beds (though these have been comfortable), and drive on the right side of the road!

This morning we drove the Dingle Peninsula. The views were breathtaking --- there really are no words, but I'll try to find a few: awe-inspiring, scary (at some points, there were 500 ft. drop-offs to the rocky Atlantic with no fence), but overall, beautiful. That drive was about 1 hour and a half, including a few picture spots and some pottery and antique stores along the way. After that, we headed off on the long drive to Bunratty/Shannon. It was at least 3 hours, give or take another 15 that we got lost (but quickly found our way back). We stopped in Bunratty, a small historical village that's halfway between Limerick and Shannon. We checked into our last B&B, stopped at the Bunratty Winery so I could get my usual bottle souvenir, stopped at the Bunratty Castle & Folk Village, then headed off for afternoon tea.

We left Bunratty, drove about 15 minutes to Newmarket-on-Fergus, a small, small town. There is a 5-star hotel castle, Dromoland Castle, that has housed the likes of President Bush, the Beatles and the Queen of England. We had "Mrs. White's Afternoon Tea." It was served on white Irish linen, complete with a 3-tier plate stand of finger sandwiches, pastries, fresh scones and clotted cream. The food was great, and we couldn't finish it all. The views were amazing as well, as we had a spot in the corner tower of the castle. As we left, we experienced our first Irish rain shower (finally!!). The joy was short-lived though, as it stopped raining in 15 minutes, hehehe. We drove back, taking a pit stop at the airport so we make sure we don't get lost tomorrow morning (good idea, Nicole). Knowing us, we would probably end up lost and driving around Ireland for the next 2 months! Beautiful as that sounds, we probably couldn't afford the gas! We filled up today for the second time, and our total gas bill for the week $91!!!! And we thought gas was expensive in the US!

Anyway, we leave here tomorrow at 4 am to make sure we're on time to the airport. Our flight is at 6:45 to Dublin, and even though Shannon Airport is tiny, we'd rather sleep an extra hour in the airport than in bed and possibly miss our plane. We should land in Dublin by 7:30, then take a 10:30 plane from there. With the time change, we'll land in Chicago sometime around 12:30, if all goes well.

Well, wish us luck -- we're going to get ready for bed as it is almost 8:00 at night and we want to try for at least 7 hours of sleep to beat the jet lag. Can't wait to see everybody when we get home! We have something ridiculous like 200 pictures, so that should be fun!

Love, Beth & Nicole