We had a very early wake up call this morning: 3:00 a.m. The hotel was kind enough to have a Continental breakfast for us before we left, and we were on the road shortly after 4:00 a.m.
I wish it had not been as dark out when we left, because the sights were beautiful. The driver took the back way (or at least it seemed that way) to Limerick. The road was narrow, and several times we had to slow down for the sheep in the road. We also went by a couple of areas where the guard rail was next to an extremely steep descent. (Maybe it was just as well that we couldn't see that clearly!) We pass by many of the sights and places we had encountered along the way: the Clare Inn and Bunratty Castle.
Shannon Airport was much smaller than I anticipated. We checked in with no problems, and had "one last time" to shop in the Duty Free shop. Then it was time to say good-bye to James. He was, without a doubt, the best delegation manager I have experienced. His careful attention to every detail made our experience memorable.
Once we boarded the plane, we were disappointed to learn that there was an engine problem being checked, and we would be delayed. An hour and a half later, we left Ireland. I wasn't too worried about the delay, as we had some lay-over time in Atlanta, but Tony and his delegation had less time in Atlanta than we did. There were also some people on the flight who were making connections for Cincinnati, and it was going to be close for them. But, the flight attendants told us that they would hold the flight, so we all felt better about that.
Atlanta was a nightmare. It all started with the baggage claim area. Some of the bags started coming up, but then...nothing! We waited and waited, remembering that our bags had not arrived from Atlanta at the beginning of this excursion. After a long while we learned that the conveyor belt on the baggage machine broke, causing the delay. Eventually we started seeing luggage again, and to our delight, all of our bags arrived. Tony's delegation got their bags about 10 minutes before their flight was due to take off, and they still had to clear customs and security. They took off in a run.
We headed off quickly, too, wanting to get to the gate in plenty of time. We had to leave the bags in an area just around the corner from customs, and it was a mad-house! They were telling us to just leave the bags by the airport personnel and go. Dump it and go! There had to have been four or five different flights heading that way and all of the luggage was thrown together. I didn't have a very good feeling about that.
By the time we cleared customs and security, and took the train to our gate area, we arrived to see that the plane was already loaded. We were able to walk right on. However, once we were on the plane, we learned that we were delayed again due to an oil leak. We were able to contact one of the other delegation members to find that Delta did not hold the plane, and they were to be put on the next flight, around 6:45. An hour later we were on our way home.
Everyone was excited as we touched down at Port Columbus. We let out a loud cheer as the wheels touch down on Buckeye ground.
My misgivings about the luggage proved true: about half of the people on the flight did not get their luggage. Delta promised that they would deliver it to our homes the next day.
And with that, our fantastic journey ends. We learned, and experienced, a great deal, and made some great friends along the way.
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