We left Arundel around 3 PM on a post-rainy Saturday afternoon, took the bus from Portsmouth to Logan Term C and after a closer than usual TSA inspection ( " Sir, your boots have produced an unusual swab code. Please step over here and left me inspect everything in your bags. "), we made it to the blessed Priority Plus lounge outside Gate 19 and relaxed over the free goodies & quiet until our Aer Lingus flight was called at Gate 20.
Following an uneventful and actually rather pleasant 5 & 1/2 trip across the Atlantic, we arrived in Shannon at 7:30 AM, made it through Immigration in our now-usual split fashion (Joan zipping through the EU line; me slogging behind in the All Other crawl) and after picking up our small checked package of goodies intended for relatives to be met once we get to Innisheer island in a couple of days, went outside to catch the bus to Ennis.
We were the only passengers on the bus (fare 8 euros, 50 cents each) and rode swiftly through the quiet Sunday morning scenery. Once arriving in the deserted bus station, and finding that the bus to Doolin didn't depart until 10:30, the bus driver started calling a taxi for us (very nice!) until I noticed a taxi pulling in right behind us. Walking over, we met the driver - Mrs O'Rourke - who took us the 40 km over to Doolin for 60 Euros. She was very friendly, showed us the sights as we drove through the Cliffs of Moher area and finally dropped us at the Doolin View B & B we had booked on line. It's a delightful place, set a bit away from the little town on a hill, with quiet cow-filled green fields surrounding the place.
After finding that our room was not yet available, we went to the dining area, had a great Irish breakfast and relaxed in the lounge until about 11:30 when our lovely host, Sandy, brought us to our room (the James Joyce room) and we collapsed into bed, exhausted. Now it's 3 pm on a gorgeous sunny day and we're going exploring. We need to find an ATM quickly, since the taxi fare nearly exhausted our Euro supply! So far, a good start.
Joan is delighted to be back in Doolin. It was some 44 years ago, as a young nursing student on a short assignment in Dublin, that she hitch -hiked here and talked a fisherman in giving her a 5 mile ride across the water to Inisheer, the smallest of the three Aran Islands from whence her grandmother Delia Joyce had emmigrated around 1900 to Woburn, Mass.
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