Tuesday, November 6 – Leaving Dingle for Shannon

Nothing much to report here, so I’ll try to keep it brief. Last night I went to dinner with Roz. We ate mediocre food in a pub, but went in search of some Irish music afterwards (finally!). We were successful at the Small Bridge Pub where we took a seat and waited for the music to begin. Two young guys set up their equipment and began to play. One of them played the guitar and looked like Elvis, the other played the banjo and looked like a pudgy Jack Miller (my former cycling coach). The music was amazing. Some of you might know that I’m a major sucker for the banjo, and this guy was good. I realized that I have only seen American style banjo players, who use all of their fingers to pick the strings. This guy was using only one guitar pick and boy was he fast. Many of the notes had a double or triple sound to them, making the music sound very Celtic. Who knew a guitar and a banjo could sound Irish? During one of the breaks my mom called to tell me the good news about Dartmouth. I went back inside, we listened to one more song, and took off.

I didn’t get to bed until too late because I was enthralled by all of the low budget English/Irish soap operas. Some of you might remember the MTV show of yesteryear called “Undressed.” These shows were hardly as scandalous, but had a similar addicting feel about them.

I woke up to the bluest skies I’ve seen yet in Ireland. I had breakfast with Roz and two other Americans before saying my goodbyes and heading off. I stopped at the grocery again to stock up for lunch. I took Connor’s Pass out of Dingle to the north. Though hardly as pant-wetting as Independence Pass, there are certainly parts of Connor’s that are far narrower than Independence, only wide enough for one passenger car to barely fit through. Still, Connor’s definitely does rival Independence in beauty. After that, the drive to Shannon was uneventful. I have become quite used to driving on the left side. Driving in Normandy will definitely be an adjustment.

On Angela’s recommendation I stopped at Dunbarry castle very close to Shannon. Before going in, I had my lunch picnic out of the trunk of the panda. The place looked pretty abandoned and was clearly a tourist trap. Whatever. I had nothing better to do. The castle itself was quite impressive, though somewhat smelly. The knick-knacky village surrounding it was stupid.

I continued on to the airport where I dropped the car off. I was sad to see my little Panda go. She took me through thick and thin no problem. Screaming windy roads, wind, rain, even a river fording. She had plenty of power, even with her tiny 1.1 liter engine, and she, of course, got amazing gas mileage. Apparently I missed a mark on the bumper that must have happened when the previous driver curbed the crap out of the front wheel, but the guy let it go. Anyway, I’m gonna miss that stupid little Fiat.

The rental car guy gave me a short lift to my hotel, which is, literally, across the street from the small airport. The place is weird, but fine. It is like it is trying to be a nice hotel, but missing so many details. The room feels clean and new in some ways, but beaten to death in others. Some of the furniture is brand new, other pieces have their paint worn off. The bathroom seems very clean, except for some mold above the shower and missing pieces from the sink paneling.

I went for a run around the airport area, which included some estuary dirt road, some fuel storage and docking facilities, a sheer wall to the polluted bay, a golf course, and a giant parking lot. Why are industrial complexes always in estuaries? So stupid. My shower when I got back was one for the record books. Though the shower head was broken, there was still so much pressure that I felt like Sylvester Stallone in “Rambo: First Blood,” when they spray him down with a fire hose in the local prison. I can see now why there is mold above the shower and the sink is missing paneling. Heck, the shower probably blew the panels off and broke them.

Well, I guess this went longer than expected, but fewer pics today…and no internet anyways. Tomorrow I’m getting up at 4 am for my 6 am flight. I spoke to Laura, and I’m so excited to see her. I can’t believe this is actually happening. It will be great to see her, but I am starting to get anxious to return home. I guess that even when you live in a wannabe retirement community with your parents, there really is no place like it.