Where we arrived in Dublin and drove to our destination in County Leitrim.
Last time on the blog we made it to Dublin airport, despite the airlines actively trying to prevent us from getting to where we wanted to go.
Once through Irish customs (did we really pay €50 to get Duncan through customs?), we headed for the rental car - dragging our four suitcases, two laptop bags, one carry on, and one increasingly-heavy tuxedo cat.
We had planned on getting an electric car, but our plans continued to go sideways and we got a hybrid Toyota instead. The electric car we had reserved is (so we’re told) under recall and we still may be able to switch once the repair is complete (update, 9 September: not yet). In any case, the Toyota we have for now is great. It’s a good thing it’s a hybrid, because petrol (yes, we say petrol here) is not cheap. This is the price per litre (or liter if you prefer):
Yikes!
We played Tetris with the luggage (four suitcases, two laptop bags, one carry on, and one rather impatient but tolerant tuxedo cat) and got everything in the car, and started the two-hour drive to County Leitrim. On the not-right side of the road. We’ve been to Ireland and before and Kevin has driven here before and it’s still terrifying at first. Especially after a 33-hour trip, 8 time zones, 150 roundabouts (or so), an increasingly restless cat, and not-really-enough sleep.
Spoiler alert: We made it safely to our cottage.
The cottage is really cute and a lot rustic. We talked with the very nice hostess, settled in a bit, got Duncan her food (first things first, after all) ….
and went out for some dinner at the local pub.
Remember the foreshadowing?
After getting a bit settled at the cottage and unpacking, I started noticing a strong, unpleasant chemically odor in the cottage. It was annoying, but I could manage it… I thought. We went out for some fresh air and I was fine. We had some lovely walks around the area. It is stunningly beautiful.
Every time we returned to the cottage, after a bit I started feeling sick again from the smell. We absolutely loved the location, but in the end I couldn’t stay there.
We were planning on staying a few months at Bea’s cottage, but nothing is easy. Rather than fight my nausea, we made the hard decision to move on. We couldn’t find anything close by, so we booked a place near Sligo, packed up, and moved on.
(Update, 9 September: We have requested a refund through Airbnb, but haven’t gotten a decision yet.)
Next… Where we arrived in Sligo and started vacationing for real this time.