Well thank you Zee!
It was a very tiring trip back and I slept most of yesterday.
My sleep pattern is messed up, but I don't have anything planned until Monday.
It's a bit difficult to adjust....it's good to be back, but I left a big chunk of my heart over the Pond.
Yes I got a BIG welcome home! O'Malley was not at the airport as it was too hot to put him in the car.
We live only 10 minutes from Orlando Airport, so I called Dave as I was walking through Terminal B and he met me at the door.
When we got to the house, O'Malley heard my voice and he ran, leaping all over me.
He's in great shape (except for being blind).....Dave has done a great job taking care of him and the house.
On the table was a card, and a vase containing 100 flowers.....Wow!
I am still gathering my thoughts about the details of my 3 visits.....to Ireland, Yorkshire and London.
All were amazing. I could have done with more time of course, in all 3 places......but I am very fortunate to have
been able to do it all.
I'm also lucky that I am very familiar with all three places so I didn't need to play "Tourist".....this was all about
family and people who are dear to me.
My only diversion was in Yorkshire, where I drove to a little coastal resort to spend a few hours.
The weather was wonderful, could not have been better. There were a couple of showers in Ireland, just enough to keep everything green, but I didn't need a jacket or sweater. Temperatures were in the range 65 to 75 F the whole time.
The only time I wore my rain jacket was on Wednesday 4th August for one hour, and it was fun because it gave Thomas Patrick the chance to show me his umbrella with tractors and trucks on. We had just spent 3 hours in one of his favourite Parks, and Chris was taking us to a café. Thomas had a "babychino" which looks like a cappuchino but it's whipped milk with chocolate sprinkled on top.....he loves it.
I got off on the right foot on 15th July by arriving at Orlando Airport only 55 minutes before take-off, I think that's why I was upgraded because they had filled Economy, and Business Class was half empty. I was very lucky, I would not usually recommend turning up late.
The flight back to Orlando in Economy was uncomfortable and noisy, although the Aer Lingus staff did their best.
I was glad to hear the flight announcements made in Irish first....after all, it is the first language of Ireland.
The man next to me said "I can't understand a word he's saying" and was so busy complaining he missed the English translation. New signs in the countryside have place names in Irish first.
I will post a review of my time in Ireland here in "Celtic Culture" because it was so typically and wonderfully Irish.
But now I'm going back to bed.
