Belfast Bound!

Belfast Bound!

Travel reservations are done*!   Yes, despite massive amounts of school work that I needed to do over the weekend, I managed to find time to shirk it all in favor of the much more enjoyable task of sifting through travel websites and hostel reviews.  Shocking, I know!  

Bus tickets are booked, hostel reservations are made, and airline tickets are purchased.  Now I just have to figure out what we're going to do there.  Of course, if Eamon has his way, we'll just visit all of their ice cream shops.  

Trip Advisor also has some suggestions and in their typically morbid fashion, they've suggested the following:  

Crumlin Road Gaol, which operated as a jail from 1845 until 1996.  Nope, not depressing at all...

Titanic Belfast, which admittedly looks cool in this photo but we all know what happened later... 

Ok, I'm kidding about the last one because I would really like to see where the Titanic was built but Trip Advisor really does need to step up their game and give some non-depressing trip advice!  Has anyone been to Belfast?  Where would you recommend that we visit?  

*Yes, grammar-nazis, I know that "done" is what a steak is and that the proper word would be "finished" - trust me, my 6th grade English teacher Mrs. Long is rolling over in her grave right now - but "done" just sounds better in this context!

Dublin, Dublin, Toil and... Troublin'?

Dublin, Dublin, Toil and... Troublin'?

Well, the ferry passage is booked, the hostel is reserved, and ground transportation is sorted.  Looks like we're headed to Dublin!  Now I just have to decide what we're going to do while we're there!  Obviously my mini-me is no help at all when it comes to trip planning.  However, TripAdvisor has TONS of unsolicited advice about where I should go and what I should do while I'm there.  (How did they even know?!) Their list includes the following:

Kilmainham Gaol, which appears to be where Daniel Day Lewis was imprisoned in "In the Name of the Father."  

Glasnevin Cemetery, which "houses" 1.5 million Dubliners - the non-living kind.  (Hmm, I'm sensing a really depressing theme here, TripAdvisor.  I'm going to need you to try a little harder to ensure that I have an enjoyable trip, not one spent weeping into a beer at the bar!)

St. Stephen's Green, an historic park and garden in the center of Dublin.  Ok, somewhat better but we can't forget the Famine Memorial in the park, which is still going to bring down the tone of the vacay.  TripAdvisor, I'm going to need you to step up your game.  Think of the children!  (Ok, just one but still, we don't want him weeping into his ice cream the whole time!)

What Dublin travel suggestions do YOU have?

Car Hire: Higher & Higher

Car Hire: Higher & Higher

It turns out that hiring a car was higher than I expected.  And since I wasn't expecting to hire a car... ugh!  Well, I knew that there would be some car hire happening but I was hoping I could put it off until the third or fourth country visited.  No such luck.  With that in mind, I feel that it is only fair for me to provide the following public service announcement to the United Kingdom:

People of England and Wales, take heed!  I will be criss-crossing through your lands like a soccer mom with a broken GPS who's late to the game and not sure what side of the road to drive on (because that's essentially my life anyway!) so please do us all a favor and move aside when you see me coming and don't curse me too badly. I promise to ingratiate myself to you with my effected yet believable southern charm!  

While I'm cheaping out and planning to make my 10 year old ride on top of the luggage, does anyone know if US GPS devices work in UK rental cars?  Enquiring/frugal minds want to know! :D

Btw, notice anything odd about the daily price and the total?  Considering that my rental period was only for five days and not ten?! :P The UK knows I'm coming and is already out to get me - and hopes I can't count.