WHIMSY IN ORGANIZED TOURS?

I wonder: Do all people have a lot of internal dialogue when they plan a trip?

My trip to Oaxaca, Mexico was a peach to plan for. 

I got an email inviting me on an all-girls trip to celebrate a friend’s 60th birthday.
It took me 30 seconds to reply Yes!!
Another friend sent me her flight schedule. It took me another 15 minutes to book on the same flights.

There were subsequent suggestions/questions from Priya, Kalpana and Lakshmi regarding places to visit and restaurants. I sent one combined response which took me 15 seconds: Anything you people plan is fine with me. 
The most time I spent on preparation was an hour setting up a Zelle account to transfer money as required. 

Total prep time for a one week trip: 75 minutes 45 seconds. 

And it was fun. Lots of food, drinking, shopping. Interesting sights. And great company, with our personal translator Durga.

 

A 12 day trip to Ireland, on the other hand, was a trifle more work.

It didn’t start out right. Two sets of friends were supposed to come with me. We had planned to take a car and drive around. With one friend I would have done a lot more shopping. With the other, a Nora Roberts fan, we would visit small, out-of-the-way villages staying in quaint places. I drew up a schedule to accommodate both desires. Neither was meant to be. They had to pull out for various perfectly legitimate reasons.
So back to the drawing board for a solo trip. 
Should I still plan a small-town Ireland schedule? Nah, it wouldn’t be the same without my friend. Also, booking at 8 or 9 different accommodations, checking each one out … I couldn’t bring myself to spend so much time on the task.
Which led to my 2nd question: Should I still hire a car and drive around?
I love driving and am very happy behind the wheel. But I remembered with trepidation a jaunt to Scotland in a friend’s car. A couple of the narrow roads were not exactly me at my best. And Irish roads are reportedly narrow, very narrow, especially the ones leading to Nora Roberts-locales. (Endorsed by a coach driver: You see the roads marked L? They are Local. Avoid them at all costs. The ones with R? Regional. Not down them, either. And those that are N or M? Meant to be easier. But not really. So how do you get around Ireland in a car? With great difficulty!)
And in November, which is low season, not much vehicular traffic to help if I had a breakdown. Let’s not call it an accident, in which I would mostly likely be the causer rather than the causee. Another twinge of concern.
I sighed deeply and decided to be sensible. No driving.
I would make day trips and do all the touristy things. I wouldn’t hunt down the uncommon experiences I would have favoured. I would see the Ireland that everyone saw and raved about.

 And that was my first good decision for the trip.
Next step, I listed all the must-see places, compiled from various official and commercial sites mapped on to travel blogs. Most of them originated from Dublin. Ireland is small enough that it could, by and large, be covered in a week or so, it seemed.
A no-brainer: Dublin would be my base.
Another step, accommodation. If I was taking 10 to 13 hour trips a day... If I was going to wake up early, very early, as early as 6.00 am. to catch these trips... I would pamper myself. Not a B&B where I may have to share space with strangers. A hotel, a good one, with slightly larger space than usual.
It had to be close enough that I wouldn’t have to walk miles to get to the pickup points for the coaches every day. Close enough to Temple Bar for the food but far enough for the night revelry to be muted.
The Morgan on Fleet Street, the perfect spot. My second good decision.

So for 12 days I had a wonderful time in Ireland. I was glad someone else was driving while I could look out the window, soaking in the extraordinary scenery of green fields, running water and the Atlantic Ocean. We drove through or stopped at enough small towns to satisfy my mild interest in Nora Roberts-mentions. 

    

                                              Literature .... History .... Culture

I elected museums and churches over the Guiness tour; I am not a drinker and even a Bailey’s hot chocolate made me sick. At Belfast I passed over a visit to the Titanic for a Black Cab tour by a Catholic who had lived through the Troubles. However, my first ever stop was at a petrol station for a loo break 😄

I preferred a literary tour through Dublin featuring Joyce, Wilde and Bram Stoker and, on the last night, I saw Jane Austen’s Emma at the storied Abbey theatre. 
The guides were chockful of quirky facts such as Jeremy Iron's Norman keep is painted pink and Raman spectroscopy was used in the preservation and analysis of the Book of Kells. 

Myths and legends abound in Ireland with faerie trees in every part of the country. My favourite story was that the Cashel Rock is the deposit of a bite the devil took from the mountain as St. Patrick chased him with incantations. 

I chose not to step into the bars though the music spilled out on to the streets as I walked back to my hotel. Two of the tour guides provided me the touch of Irish music I needed.

And every night I came back to peace and quiet and much-needed alone-time in my hotel room.

If anyone would like to replicate my schedule, take 75 minutes and 45 seconds of your time, and just ask me. I can be your Priya-Kalpana-Lakshmi!!

Oh, by the way, the visuals here are whimsical, too. Not a chronicle of every place I visited. Totally arbitrary and personal, just what I liked and would like to flip though again.

Before you go, would you like to take a quick stab at identifying some quotes from Wilde inscribed on his memorial in Merrion Square?