The start of this adventure, was an adventure indeed.  The itinerary that we checked constantly over the months leading up to our departure, indicated that our plane departed for Chicago at 9:45 am but just for good measure, D checked another sheet at 7:00 am (just before we were to depart for the airport).  We were living everyone’s worst nightmare-this schedule indicated that that flight was leaving at 7:45!  As a result, we missed that flight and subsequently our connections in America’s busy airports of Chicago and New York were less than 1 hour each.  To make a long story short, with determination and travelling mercies, we made every connection and arrived at Shannon, Ireland airport ahead of schedule. 

We were taking this journey with my beloved eldest brother and his wife- DK and PK.  PK and I had spent considerable time of the Villas’ website and pretty much knew what to expect.  Our husbands on the other hand, went from room to room upon our arrival, blown away by our home for our Irish adventure, exclaiming:  “We each have our own bathroom! There’s a fully lit bar AND a fireplace”!  We must have looked like the Beverly Hillbillies.  Our excitement was not so much the space and luxuries of the villas but of knowing how little we had paid for the accommodation! They were still finding features as we unpacked and settled in.

We were a little bit disappointed to find that we could not check in immediately upon our arrival at the Adare Manor that morning.  But no matter, this gave us an opportunity to snoop in the library and some of the other main floor public rooms before venturing into the village.  

We bought some provisions (read: cheese, scones and liquor) and saw the famed thatched roof cottages of the pretty main street.  We picked out which pubs we imagined spending future time at.

Upon settling in, the guys had their first pints of Guinness and I had my first taste of the Druid Celtic Cider that became my villa “unwind” drink.  Afternoon naps were in order and then we headed out for our first Irish dinner at Bunratty Castle- a perfect start to a wonderful week.

 Kath’s quote: “Cider was, next to water, the most abundant and the cheapest fluid to be had in New Hampshire, while i lived there, — often selling for a dollar per barrel. In many a family of six or eight persons, a barrel tapped on Saturday barely lasted a full week…..The transition from cider to warmer and more potent stimulants was easy and natural; so that whole families died drunkards and vagabond paupers from the impetus first given by cider-swilling in their rural homes…..”-Horace Greeley

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