My Airline Bargain and Catching Up With the Locals

Up front, I am going to say that thanks to the undeniable overuse of my United credit card, I was able to obtain a round trip airlines ticket from Newark to Dublin for only $46.  There were moments during the flight however, that I thought I might have been taken to the cleaners. 

 I am of average height and weight, but I swear to God, either my butt has gotten a lot bigger or the seats on the plane have become a whole lot smaller! For a short flight one can  live with an undersized seat and no leg room (or in some cases, come to terms with a bigger butt) but when you are on the early side of your mid-sixties and want to sleep at least for an hour on the flight, $46 is a lot of money for so much discomfort. I was however, armed with Tums, as I have noticed that the meals on the last few United flights have consisted of some overly cheesy, glue-like looking pasta and curry chicken.  I always choose the chicken because the pasta is that unappealing, and thus, the need for the Tums for this 63-year-old stomach.

After landing, we unfolded ourselves out of our seats, limped out of the plane and began our Irish adventure. We picked up the car, and that was our first adventure because it took us 15 minutes to figure out how to start the damn automobile—a  hybrid. We had a three hour drive from the airport to the west coast and the drive was magical, partly because I had my Sea-Bands on, and was  less worried about getting car sick so I could enjoy the view.  It’s cold here, and while there was no snow, frost was everywhere and the scenery was just beautiful. 

 It was early when we began our ride, and as is our tradition, we were tuned in to a morning Irish radio program, “Marty in the Morning,” which included the most eclectic set of songs, beginning with the theme from “Northern Exposure,” then an aria from “La Boheme” and ending with a bang with Elvis’s  “In the  Ghetto.” The good news was that we were able to catch up on all the Irish gossip, including such listener updates like, what was going on with Siobhan in Tipperary and a “Marty” shout-out to the Morans of County Donegal on their wedding anniversary. What can I say, it’s a small country.

We arrived at the house and of course, opening it up included a bit of cleaning. No one had been in the house since July, and as the Irish would say, there was a “wee- bit” of dust. As the house has been in my brother-in-law’s family for quite some time, in days gone by, there used to be girls (pronounced “garls” in the Irish), living in this small town, who were happy to run the vacuum before the family’s arrival.  Not any more.  They’ve apparently moved on to Dublin, Sydney, or just north of Lisbon, where a big enclave of Irish girls… and boys, have moved to take advantage of the fresh fish and the cheap rents. And so, after a bit of sleep, we set out to remove some cobwebs and Hoover up the rugs. 

Our first full day consisted of an incredible hike around a Lough Erne, in Northern Ireland, IN THE SUNLIGHT,  and a cozy lunch in the oldest building in Beleek, home of the famous pottery. Tomorrow, we are seeing “our man,” a gentleman I have never met, but is well-known to my sister because he sells homemade furniture and our dusting and cleaning identified a few empty places that needed a table or a bureau…at least that’s what my sister thinks. 

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