Day 35 - August 15, 2022 - Heathrow - Fly to Cork, Ireland
I am afraid this is another day with few photos to share. The days started out bad, but did end on a high note.
We were to have our luggage outside our door by 8:00 AM and be in the lobby ready to board our coach at 9:00 AM. Well, everyone accomplished this and were all waiting by about 8:50. Unfortunately, there was no bus. By 9:05, Tony our trip leader was getting anxious and made some calls. Although he had been assured by our previous trip leader, who turned the smaller post-trip group over to Tony, that the bus was confirmed. The bus company said they could find no reservation.
After several more calls and 20 minutes, we were assured that a bus would arrive no later than 10:00 AM. Thankfully, we had some extra time built into our schedule. We were planning to make a 30 minute stop at Sir Winston Churchill's gravesite. The bus did arrive at 10:00 and we made our one hour drive to Heathrow International Airport. Our flight wasn't scheduled till 1:45 so we were good on time.
There were still several snafus. Aer Lingus had recently initiated new guidelines for their luggage, and we all shuffled our luggage contents around to reach the "new" 20kg for checked and 10kg for carry-ons. In addition, the four of us,, along with some other travelers had never received a booking number for the flight and could not obtain a boarding pass from the machines. We finally got an attendant who was able to look up our information and get a pass. After talking with some other guests, it appears that OAT's probably mailed our information after we left on our first trip.
We were all in agreement that post-covid, Overseas Adventure Travel has definitely slipped in the customer service department. I feel sure it's due to lack of competent staff, but that doesn't help with our bad experiences.
When we took the boarding pass to check our luggage, we found that all our effort was for nothing - our bags would have been fine! We moved on through security, and as was the case when I entered the UK, the automatic passport scanner would not approve me and I had to go through manual screening. Then, the body scan required that I have a full scan. Do I really look that much like a terrorists?
Finally through check-in and security, we still had over an hour to wait till our flight. Thanks to Kindle, it passed pretty fast. The flight was smooth and took only a hour (after we finally got airborne).
Our new trip leader, Denis, was waiting for us as we exited baggage claim. I immediately liked him. He was friendly and had an air of competence.
We had a fast and easy check-in at our hotel, The Clayton Cork City Hotel.
At 5:30 we took a short walk in downtown Cork and ended up at the restaurant for tonight's dinner.
The Market Lane Resturant was not especially impressive on the outside, but the food was outstanding in quality and quantity. The service was also exceptional. I ate so much, my meal will have to have some time to digest before I will be able to sleep. I had mussels in garlic-butter sauce for an appetizer and the quantity alone was enough for a meal (they even provided me with a finger bowl). This was followed by a 10 oz. sirloin cooked to perfection (medium-rare) with mushrooms and onions along with some of the best fried potatoes I have ever had. Several at our table had more exotic desserts, but I just had vanilla ice-cream (well, I did spoon some of Kay's cream brulee over it). And of course everything was washed down with an Irish stout, todays was Murphey's. Oh, I am bursting at the seams...
Tomorrow morning we we have some excursions planned, one of which is to visit and kiss the Blarney Stone. I believe we will also be having lunch at a home hosted meal. I always look forward to these. It is so interesting to meet local people in their homes.
I'll give you a report tomorrow...
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