London to Ennis

Most of today was spent traveling – a taxi to Victoria Station, a train to Gatwick, plane to Shannon, shuttle to the rental car place, and a rental car to Ennis. The taxi driver in London tried to give me a “discount” fare of 80 pounds (down from 100) straight to Gatwick. I happened to know that it was only going to cost us 20 to Victoria station, and less than 40 for the tickets since the kids are half of the 14 pound fare. I didn’t take his “deal.” He later commented to Ruben (in the cab while we were all there) that I didn't take his incredible deal.

We had lunch in Gatwick airport – and once again Elias ordered lunch and didn’t eat. Matthew only ate part of his lunch – the mashed potatoes and peas, and a bite, maybe of one of the sausages. Elias ate one of his other sausages. On top of that, Elias threw up. Fortunately we had a bag available. Ruben took him to the bathroom, we finished up and went to the gate.

Ennis Ireland Aug 28, 2006 - 47 Photos

Ennis is a small sleepy town. Well it was pretty sleepy by the time we got there because it was after 6pm and everything seems to close up after 6pm except for the pubs. Our B&B (The Clare Rose Cottage), is really great, very clean, cool rooms. The kids were just down the hall in their own room with 3 beds (although they used 2). Our bathroom was small, but very clean. The showers were a little weird – they had instant on hot water tanks and very low flow.

We caught up with Kate and Michelle at the Poet’s Corner in the Corner house. Great food. Elias was better, but still complained about the smell of beer in the taverns and almost refused to go in. He did eat though. After dinner we walked around town and I started to notice that shops were more heavily protected – things like grates that cover the windows, etc. which is something that we didn’t really see in England. I think it was Kate that said that the personal crime rate (theft) is higher in Ireland than in England.

Then we got a call from our good friend Sheila who was shopping with Finn on the “Shannon side of Limerick” and would we want to meet near Bunratty. Of course we did. We piled into our van (it was a bit cramped) and drove less than 20 minutes to Bunratty and Durty Nellies. We had some drinks and some yummy apple pie a la mode and talked to Sheila about whether or not we could make it to her place on Achill Island. Unfortunately we couldn’t make the logistics work, so we’ll have to visit the next time we’re in Ireland.

Once back in Ennis, I stayed with the kids and Michelle, Kate and Ruben went to Cruises (est. 1658 next to the Abbey). Ruben said he had a blast, but that could be the 2 shots of Jameson’s talking. They listened to some Irish music and claimed it was like the Prancing Pony from the Lord of the Rings.