The Obviously-A-Tourist

I wonder if the natives of Ireland--and other countries--look at people like me and Bonnie and see a large blazing "T" on our foreheads. I'm sure the bewildered facial expressions, neck-craning for the correct bus, and taking pictures of said bus are dead giveaways. (Ya think?!)
When we arrived in Dublin on the morning of March 16th, we bought tickets for the "Hop-on, Hop-off" Dublin bus tour. Since we only had about 5 hours, we wanted to see as much as we could of the city's famous landmarks and attractions. First we rode the bus for the entire tour, then did it again so we could get off and look at things we wanted to see more of--and shop! Our driver was very informative and funny, singing and reciting limericks for us. Among the stops on the tour are Trinity College, which houses the Book of Kells; Dublin Castle, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Temple Bar, the Guinness Storehouse, the Old Jameson Distillery, Grafton Street, and the colorful Georgian Doors. We took several pictures, but missed getting one of Molly Malone--"the tart with the cart." The bus driver did sing her song for us though: "In Dublin's fair city where girls are so pretty, 'twas there I first met my sweet Molly Malone..."
Many young people in Dublin dress just like kids in the U.S. with neon hair colors, multiple facial piercings, and some of the shortest skirts I've seen since I wore them myself in high school! Occasionally I'd see an older white-haired man with ruddy cheeks chatting animatedly with a friend in that lyrical brogue and think, "Now he is Irish!" There were plenty of redheads, too!
We arrived in Killarney that evening, starving and relieved to be caught up to our tour group after all the delays. The Killarney Avenue Hotel was an old building with beautiful woodwork and decor. We had a delicious dinner and met our tour director, Martin Guilfoyle. More about him later...
Wednesday morning, St. Patrick's Day! In Ireland!! Bonnie and I went down for breakfast-wearing green, of course--and met a few people in the tour group. We got on the bus and headed to the ferry across the River Shannon, making our way to the Cliffs of Moher. We sat near the back of the bus with the people who had already been designated the "rowdies" by the rest of the group. Three of them were women in their 30s-40s who had red hair of questionable authenticity. They had each gotten tattoos in Killarney the day before! There was also a college kid from Wauwatosa, WI who was on the tour with his grandma!
The Cliffs of Moher were amazing. It was extremely windy, and the waves were crashing at the base of the rocks. We took a bunch of pictures, and Bonnie walked up the far side of the rocks to take some from the opposite view while I checked out the shops that are built right into the hillside. I got myself a Celtic knot brooch made of Connemara marble. It is a green stone mined in Ireland, estimated to be 500 million years old!
After a quick lunch, we piled back into the bus and took off for Rathbun Farm. It is a working sheep farm, and we were able to see several varieties of sheep and other farm critters. We were given a glass of hot whiskey with sugar upon arrival, and later had coffee and scones before departing for Limerick.
We arrived at the George Boutique Hotel in Limerick around 5:30. I had texted Katie on the way, and she showed up shortly after. Hooray! I was able to give her a hug for the first time in two months. She gave me a claddagh necklace as a belated Christmas present, and we talked about what we wanted to do during our visit. First on the agenda was dinner....but we had a problem to solve first. Bonnie's carry-on hadn't been with our other luggage when we got to our room. After phone calls to the front desk and then Martin, the tour director, we learned that he had her bag--and had basically held it "hostage". Unbeknownst to us, (since we missed the first 3 days of the tour) carry-ons were supposed to be kept with each passenger on the bus, NOT put with the luggage to be stowed beneath it. He basically blamed Bonnie for not following his protocol and seemed to think she deserved the several panicked moments when she thought the bag was gone! We no longer thought he was a charming Irishman.
After this upset, we went to Bailey's for dinner. Bonnie and I had fish and chips and some Bulmer's cider--on Katie's recommendation. The waiter/bartender was a cute redhaired Irish lad named Gary. I told him that name didn't sound very Irish, and he said his real name was Gearoid (pronounced Guh-ROAD) Now that sounds Irish! I told him that maybe he was my long-lost son, and I could kick myself for not getting my picture taken with him.
After dinner we went back to the hotel, dodging puddles of puke left over from that afternoon's parade! We were mad at Martin, the tour guide, but still attended his "Farewell Irish Coffee" just to get our free drink. The coffee was delicious, but not a good idea at 10 P.M. Katie went back to campus, and Bonnie and I went to our room. We really needed a good night's sleep, but the caffeine kept us up till after 1 AM. Another big day coming up! Thursday: sightseeing in Limerick.
P.S. We don't recommend taking a trip with Brendan Tours!