The first day of traveling was riddled with complications, which will be covered in a post about traveling with chronic illness. The fun stuff starts once we finally got settled in...
We hadn't slept all night because the flight was freezing and we had left Vermont during a historic 102 degree day (climate change is terrifying), so we were unprepared for the frigid temp and froze all night. We then had to drive to Limerick on the wrong side of the road, in the wrong side of the car, in a manual with a different configuration of gears than in the US, while completely sleep deprived. I drove because I get less sick when I'm the driver, but I also have the unhappy habit of falling asleep at the wheel, even when I've slept well, so I was terrified. Luckily it was a short drive, and the lovely people at The Boutique Hotel helped us find discounted parking. The hotel was beautiful inside, with unique old architecture and gorgeous modern decorations. It's one of those places where every time I walked through it I noticed something new. The room was very cramped, and not as fancy as the hallways and entryway.
We desperately needed a nap, but our room wasn't supposed to be ready until 3, so we had a lot of time to kill. We went to a cute coffee shop across the street. Dan got his first full Irish breakfast -- the only one with mushrooms the whole trip! I drank chamomile. At some point we realized it was our anniversary, but were too tired to do much celebrating.
The hotel was able to get our room ready by the time we finished breakfast (hours early!) so we took a nap. Unfortunately, Ireland doesn't really do AC, because it's usually not too hot, but we arrived a week or so into a heat wave. Our room was incredibly hot, and the bed quite uncomfortable. It took me a long time to get to sleep, and once we woke up I was totally disoriented, but we didn't want to succumb to jet lag, and pushed ourselves to get up and explore.
Limerick is a very cute city. It has the feel of many small European cities, quirky old architecture and no skyscrapers, but with beautiful castles and churches mixed in. I also loved seeing pubs that celebrate rugby! The city is made even prettier by the River Shannon, with swallows and martins swooping through the air catching insects.
We walked around reading menus and ended up eating at the Locke Bar. There was beautiful live music inside, but we chose to eat out by the river. Dan had a tasty fisherman's pie. I decided to live a little and not worry so much about my diet. I got a salad with chicken (without the sauce), apples, and blueberries, with my simply dressing of plain Himalayan pink salt. All of our food was locally sourced, and every common allergen was labeled on the menu!
After dinner, we hung out at the Old Quarter Gastro Pub, our hotel's bar, and watched the World Cup. It was so hot that I worried I was going to get a huge mast cell flare. At one point I left and took a freezing shower in the smallest shower I've ever seen, but it helped and I was able to feel ok again. After the game, I had to figure out my meds. The time change threw everything off, plus I had missed a dose somewhere along the way. I figured I'd get reorganized until it got dark, and then we'd go explore the city at night.
So, I waited, and waited, and waited... but it didn't get dark! Finally, it looked like dusk-ish, so I checked the clock and it was 10:00 pm!! I had no idea how far north Ireland was -- the days were so incredibly long! We were exhausted, but went out in to the now much cooler/more comfortable city. It was lit up by beautiful festive lights, and the castle and graveyard looked awesome at night with no one around.
