Originally posted by Mr. Dumass
How was your vacation? Did the Holy Ghost find peace in your heart?
It was quite eventful actually.
We are a family of four and we love to travel. We were going on a trip to Ireland and my brother, who has a friend from Ireland, decided to join us. His friend offered to let us stay in their cottage while we were there. This was an extremely gracious offer and considering the positive impact on our travel budget, we accepted.
We visited Cork for a few days and did some sightseeing prior to heading north to the cottage. First, I would like to note that the cottage was located exactly in the middle of nowhere.
We stopped twice for directions while driving in sleet. The second stop was one of my favorite experiences of the whole vacation because of the authenticity of it. It was late at night and we were on a country road looking for our turn.
We pulled into a pub and walked in to a room that looked very much like someone’s living room with a fire place and a bar in the middle of the room. The bar was lined with little old men who were only able to give us directions once they figured out the family tree of the person who owned the cottage. They pointed us in the right direction and when we pulled into the driveway of the cottage, it looked like something out of a fairy tale (from the outside).
My wife and brother went in to get a fire started and to turn some lights on. We got inside and found a lot of bugs, a single wood burning stove that had not been used in quite some time, and no way to wash/dry our bedsheets in order to go to bed. We were tired, hungry, and a little scared to turn the lights out. We made some macaroni and cheese and played UNO in the kitchen/living room while we waited for the stove to heat up the room. Since this was the only room that was warm, we pulled the chairs together and decided to sleep as best we could. I drew the short straw and slept straight up in a chair with my 7 year old daughter draped across me.
About an hour after we had all fallen asleep, we noticed the room started to smell smokey and the pipe coming out of the top of the wood burning stove was glowing bright orange. I quickly gathered the kids and our bags and headed to the car. On the way to the car, I noticed dozens of blinking eyes reflecting at me from the dark. Apparently, we were surrounded by a field of sheep, which I wish I could have seen in the daylight. My brother and I put the fire out and returned everything to the way we found it.
We got in the car and drove to Galway to find a hotel room. There was a sporting event going on in the city, so after stopping at several hotels, we started to get a little discouraged. Finally, I remembered the hotel we had originally booked, which was just outside of town. We showed up at 2 a.m., bedraggled and wreaking of smoke. The gentleman at the desk, who obviously felt sorry for me, told us that he did not have a room to sleep five, but we could take a double room and drag the cushions in from the couch in the hallway for one of the kids to sleep on the floor. We gladly took it and enjoyed the rest of our trip.
How was your vacation? Did the Holy Ghost find peace in your heart?
It was quite eventful actually.
We are a family of four and we love to travel. We were going on a trip to Ireland and my brother, who has a friend from Ireland, decided to join us. His friend offered to let us stay in their cottage while we were there. This was an extremely gracious offer and considering the positive impact on our travel budget, we accepted.
We visited Cork for a few days and did some sightseeing prior to heading north to the cottage. First, I would like to note that the cottage was located exactly in the middle of nowhere.
We stopped twice for directions while driving in sleet. The second stop was one of my favorite experiences of the whole vacation because of the authenticity of it. It was late at night and we were on a country road looking for our turn.
We pulled into a pub and walked in to a room that looked very much like someone’s living room with a fire place and a bar in the middle of the room. The bar was lined with little old men who were only able to give us directions once they figured out the family tree of the person who owned the cottage. They pointed us in the right direction and when we pulled into the driveway of the cottage, it looked like something out of a fairy tale (from the outside).
My wife and brother went in to get a fire started and to turn some lights on. We got inside and found a lot of bugs, a single wood burning stove that had not been used in quite some time, and no way to wash/dry our bedsheets in order to go to bed. We were tired, hungry, and a little scared to turn the lights out. We made some macaroni and cheese and played UNO in the kitchen/living room while we waited for the stove to heat up the room. Since this was the only room that was warm, we pulled the chairs together and decided to sleep as best we could. I drew the short straw and slept straight up in a chair with my 7 year old daughter draped across me.
About an hour after we had all fallen asleep, we noticed the room started to smell smokey and the pipe coming out of the top of the wood burning stove was glowing bright orange. I quickly gathered the kids and our bags and headed to the car. On the way to the car, I noticed dozens of blinking eyes reflecting at me from the dark. Apparently, we were surrounded by a field of sheep, which I wish I could have seen in the daylight. My brother and I put the fire out and returned everything to the way we found it.
We got in the car and drove to Galway to find a hotel room. There was a sporting event going on in the city, so after stopping at several hotels, we started to get a little discouraged. Finally, I remembered the hotel we had originally booked, which was just outside of town. We showed up at 2 a.m., bedraggled and wreaking of smoke. The gentleman at the desk, who obviously felt sorry for me, told us that he did not have a room to sleep five, but we could take a double room and drag the cushions in from the couch in the hallway for one of the kids to sleep on the floor. We gladly took it and enjoyed the rest of our trip.
Edited by Loco Moco on Jul 19, 2010 09:37:50
Edited by Loco Moco on Jul 19, 2010 09:34:24
