Tuesday

Hamish and I walked down to River Liffey to pick Rod up off the airport bus. It started to rain, so we waited for him in the comfort of a nearby Starbucks. We spent the afternoon at Dublinia, which is a tremendous little museum dedicated to the story of The Vikings and their part in Irish history.

From there, we had a quick bite to eat followed by an hour tour of Dublin Castle, complete with moats, ancient walls and the more modern entertaining rooms, which are lavish and gorgeous.

We had dinner at The Oak pub, a few doors away. Hamish has had a very hearty appetite so far on this trip and he made short work of an adult serve of Beef and Guinness pie.

Wednesday

After getting on the wrong bus and having to walk an extra kilometre with luggage (after reading Rod’s account of his transport woes in Germany, no wonder he put us on the wrong bus), we picked up our hire car and headed out of the city to Galway.

We stopped at Athlone along the way for morning tea. After commenting on his excellent coffee, our barista gave us great recommendations of where we could get good coffee in Galway. Irish hospitality at its best.

Not long after this, I started to feel a bit off. This turned into intermittent abdominal pain and nausea – we thought maybe I had a bit of gastritis again (not gastro). I’d had a spot of gastritis back in Wangaratta a few months ago and thought we’d managed it well.

We arrived at our BnB in the early afternoon and Rod got me some supplies from the local pharmacy. The boys went to the Galway Christmas Market for the evening and I went to bed. Hamish and Rod had a great time at the Christmas Market, eating all the sugary fatty foods they wanted without me there to keep a check on them!

Thursday

I woke up feeling better and managed a cup of tea and yoghurt for breakfast. Our plan for this day was to drive to Killarney via the Cliffs of Moher. However, five minutes out of Galway, I was in intense pain, coupled with the sweats and nausea – everything rolled into one. Rod pulled over, but he wasn’t really sure what to do. I took some more antacid medication, but this didn’t work and the pain started up again. I suggested to Rod he take me to the hospital.

Fortunately, we were close to the Galway Clinic. Looking very much like I was having a cardiac arrest, I was seen immediately. Got a full cardiac work up and imaging, but in the end, looks like it was an acute severe episode of gastritis. I was discharged with scripts, results and advice to follow up for a scope when I get home. The ED Dr also suggested I could have picked up a few shifts whilst I was there. If I’d realised at the time we were at a private hospital and we were going to be billed $1000, I might have taken him up on the offer!

The drive to Killarney was dreadful, in that I was nauseous for the entire trip. At one point, Hamish was desperate for a wee. Whilst Rod found a car park, I had to leave the confines of the car and walk Hamish into the Co-Op to find the toilet. I decided that I also needed to use the facilities. There were two empty men’s cubicles, so I told Hamish to wait for me. Alas, I’ll spare you the details, but Hamish had to find me some toilet paper. What a little champ. I told him I’ll never forget the time he saved the day and rescued me with toilet paper!

We arrived at our BnB just out of Killarney, where I showered and went to bed. Hamish found a friend in the hosts’ 7 year old son; they bonded instantly over Lego and Minecraft. Rod and Hamish went into town for dinner and to get scripts filled for me at the pharmacy.

Friday

After a restful night’s sleep in a very lush BnB, I woke up feeling great. The boys enjoyed the array of breakfast foods, and I had some tea and fruit toast. Again, we didn’t really get to explore the surrounds due to me being unwell, which is just unfortunate. We drove to our current stay, Ballinakill in Co. Laois via Cork. One of Rod’s Uni mates lives ten minutes away with his partner, so we are here for two nights. We’ve had lunch and dinner with Gerard and Fiona and met some of their friends. The roads are windy, narrow and hedge rowed. It’s a beautiful part of the world and we feel very welcomed here.

Saturday

Today we had a lovely breakfast of cereals, yoghurt and freshly made scones with homemade raspberry jam and fresh honey. What a treat. The hosts are both teachers and Anne is a primary teacher. She has spent much of the morning entertaining Hamish, which has been fabulous. Quizzes, games, collecting moss for Christmas wreaths – Hamish has just loved being here. Yesterday he helped walk the dog with Will and Rod. This morning it snowed for about 5 minutes – just long enough for us to get excited.

We ventured into Kilkenny today and loved it too! Although it was pretty cold – see for yourself from our Michelin-Man like appearance in the photo. We’re having dinner again with Gerard and Fiona tonight, then tomorrow we head to the UK, flying from Dublin to Manchester, then catching the train to Liverpool where we’ll stay for a few days.

 

If you’re thinking of coming to Ireland, definitely do it. The hospitality of the rural people is second to none. And other than me being unwell for a few days, we’ve had a wonderful week.