Introduction

Welcome to my blog about my trip to Ireland with the Greeley Chorale in May/June 2013.  This site will consist of blog entries for each day of the trip and contain pictures (that I took while on the trip), excerpts from the blog I kept while we were in Ireland (which will be placed in quotes and italicized), and just some various other bits of information or my thoughts/feelings about the trip now that we are back and I've had a chance to soak in and process the journey we took.

The Chorale left in two separate groups for this trip.  I was a part of the first group to leave but the second group to arrive.  The group I was in was made up of all the people who were staying an extra 4 days for the extension portion of the tour.  This group included my parents who were excited for the trip as well.  My dad is a part of the Chorale which is why we were getting to take such an amazing adventure.

Ireland is a place I have always wanted to go.  Anytime someone would ask me, if you could go anywhere in the world where would you like to visit most, I could quickly and without any hesitation say Ireland.  Usually before they even could complete the question.  :)  That made this trip a dream come true for me.  We were going to visit many of the places I wanted to go (Ring of Kerry, Cliffs of Moher, Blarney Castle) as well as a few areas I had never had a specific desire to go (Belfast, Dublin). However, even those places I hadn't had a specific desire to go to were exciting prospects, mostly because, I was going to be in IRELAND!

I hope you can enjoy the journey with me as I walk back through my trip and share the experiences that make me still answer the question of where I would go if I could go anywhere in the world with a quick and resounding IRELAND....AGAIN!

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Wednesday, May 29th (DIA, CO --> JFK, NY)


This day started kind of crazy for me.  I took Tuesday off work so that I could relax, focus on making sure I had everything I needed and possibly grab a few hours of sleep before the trip, but ended up having a doctors appointment that afternoon.

We had to arrive at the airport around 5:30-5:45 AM....which is normally about the time I get off work.  I never did sleep.  "At about 4:45AM Bryan and I left the apartment and first went to King Sooper where we each got a refresher.  I also got a lunchable with turkey and cheddar cheese.  Then we headed to the airport." 

After about a 30 minute drive I was dropped off, quick hugs and unloading of bags happened and I waited for the rest of the group to arrive...who were coming from Greeley.  I didn't have to wait long and then came the joy of trying to get that many people checked in.  It was quite an adventure, but we made it through and headed to security.  We were flying out of gate C42....which is where we waited for awhile.  I wasn't hungry, having already eaten a bit on the way there so I just relaxed and let the fact that I was sitting in an airport headed to Ireland wash over me.


"About 8:10 AM or so we started to board the plane to go to JFK....I tried to sleep for awhile but struggled." The plane trip was uneventful and I did manage to fall sleep for awhile after watching most of the in-flight movie.  I was awoken when the plane landed with a pretty big thud. I even remember grabbing my mom's arm as I was jolted awake.

Once at JFK we had about a 7 hour layover.  I was really hoping to make a trip into NYC, but it didn't happen.  "First we got on the shuttle to terminal 2, where the C gates are.  Then we wandered a bit and decided on a place to eat....then we went to gate C68, where we thought we were flying out from.  I ended up falling asleep for a good couple of hours."  That sleep was gotten curled up in an airport chair kind of like a cat.  It was NOT good for my poor back, but it was nice to get a little sleep.  They did end up switching our gate to C62 during that 7 hour wait.


"At about 9:20 PM (local time) we started boarding the place to Dublin.  We taxied for a VERY long time and had to wait for quite awhile before taking off."  I NEVER thought this plane was going to leave.  It seemed like we were planning on driving to Ireland with how far out we were needing to taxi, but we did finally make it off the ground.  The flight to Ireland was about 6 hours long and would land in Dublin's airport about 9:40 AM (local time) on the 30th.

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