Road Trip, Take 4

Having been there-done that, there isn’t much new stuff to add to the blog about our road trip. We drove to Cong for the John Wayne experience and to see the abbey. One new part to the story was our discovery that the abbey was actually an “abbey-by-number kit” so we’re not real sure if the history is correct or if it came with the kit.

We continued on to Kylemore Abbey and did the tour, stopped in the gift shop for a few souvenirs and had a bite to eat. Fattened up we squeezed back into the van and go for a drive through Connemara. This is where Collette and I started our 2-month adventure so it was fun to show the places where we stayed and visited to the rest of the family. Of course, we had to stop at Mannions in Clifden for dinner. It was just like going home, and they have great Irish coffee!

With our time in Galway over we head out for Dublin, about a 2.5hr drive on the motorway. Pretty quiet drive back, everyone is a little sad that the adventure is coming to an end. For Collette and I it didn’t seem like 2 months had past, it went by so fast. For the rest of the family I’m sure they thought the same of their 10 days. Wow, 10 days, 2 countries, that’s a lot of travelling! Still, it’s nice to go home.

Final stop is Mauldron Hotel at the Dublin airport. This hotel isn’t anything to write about but it’s close, clean and has a free shuttle to the airport that runs every half-hour. They offer a computer and printer for printing out your boarding pass and will make up a to-go bag of muffins and fruit if you have to leave before 6am. Also, SIXT will allow you to drop the car off in Mauldron’s parking lot making it a little easier to return the vehicle. Cost of the room with breakfast is about 125EU per night.