We wake up early and have quick coffees in the room and leftover scones from the sumptuous feast at Powerscourt. We are out early for the bus, and as we are the only ones waiting, the shuttle drivers takes us right over to the airport, exactly as we had hoped. Larry and am checked in on Aer Lingus with no problem, but Claudia had to wait a half an hour to check in on American, as they had limited luggage storage and her flight was not for three hours. We did finally connect for about 30 minutes in the business class lounge, where there was another full Irish breakfast plus fruit and yogurt and cereals and pastries etc.
We agreed that this had been a wonderful trip, with so many wonderful moments, time to talk, interesting mishaps to overcome, and lots of great memories. Larry and I headed onto the Aer Lingus flight, which was again very nice in business class, good food, super comfortable, and I even slept for about three hours (as I will arrive in SFO at about 7am Dublin time). Claudia again had a direct flight on American to Dallas, and she landed early and was able to connect with JJ.
Arriving at Chicago, we took the airport train back over to terminal 1 for United. Larry checked in fine but I had problems. It turned out that the very delayed flight on the first day did finally get off the ground and flew to Chicago, so I was listed as a no-show thus they could not check me in. 30 minutes and three supervisors later, they figured out how to rebook me and Larry and I headed to the United lounge to use my almost expired day passes. Finally arrived, we got some water and snacks and settled in for our five-hour layover for our flights home. I am looking forward to seeing Barney and Madeleine and Marley, I miss them so much!
Some things I learned on this trip:
* Careful packing meant I could indeed do a 10-day trip using a carryon suitcase and my backpack.
* Almost everyone we met in Ireland was extraordinarily nice … expected in tourist places, certainly, but also happened in non-tourist settings.
* Ireland’s ADA facilities are impressive, and several times people went out of their way to help me find an elevator or ramp.
* When traveling with other than a spouse, partner, or child, it helps to have a well-planned trip agenda agreed on in advance, to reduce the last-minute decision-making. We spent almost a year of periodic zoom meeting to plan this trip and it went smoothly.
* Fun and pleasant experiences are great, and yet the less-than-pleasant ones - like the non-working toilet in one place we stayed, or the completely fogged-in Cliffs of Moher when we first arrived (it late cleared to be sunny) - make for great stories afterwards.
* The “full Irish breakfast” is way more than most people can eat, and black pudding and white pudding are an acquired taste, and not really very tasty.
* Driving on the other side of the road takes a lot of focus but I learned I could do it. Still, I am grateful for past trips when Barney drive and I navigated.
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