Day 7 / 8 - Saying Goodbye to Eamon and Saying Hello to Glasgow and Gordie

Getting up at 5 wasn't easy and Nick didn't enjoy it either but at least he had a better time of it. We went and checked out and got directions back to Dan Dooley's Rental. I had to call them on the way to make sure I was going the correct way but we got there.

We said goodbye to Eamon and hopped into the van to ride to the airport. Once we got to the airport, that's where things got hairy. I knew that Ryan Air is will nickel and dime you but we had to pay a 150 Euro fee for excess baggage. They said that we could move stuff around between the two bags but it was a good thing I just sucked it up because we wouldn't have made it to the plane on time. *sigh*

I was so upset because of that and then the rental car made it so much worse. I was going to be charged around 250 pounds for the car but it went up to 600 pounds with insurance. Next time, I *KNOW* to get the damned insurance ahead of time. I probably could have covered both cars with one insurance policy instead of using two different ones. I spent around $700 that I didn't plan on on that day and thinking about it still upsets me.

Not much I can do about it now though...live and learn.

So after the debacle with the rental car, we went out to see it. We got to the car and I realized that I had been given a Ford. Now, anyone that knows me well knows I HATE Fords. Two have let me down and I didn't want to ever give another one a try for 3 strikes. However, I was already so upset that I wasn't even in the mood to deal with it. I was frustrated, all out of sorts and in the mood for a good cry. I wanted to go home so badly at that point and had I known before flying to Glasgow about the extra $700, I probably would have tried to switch our tickets right there.

Nick and I went back inside because I needed a break and figured I needed to kill some time before heading to our next B&B. We went to the Starbucks in the airport and I watched people and Nick walked around and checked out the arcade.

Finally, after about 1.5 hours, I was ready to go. We went back to the car and decided to name him Gordon (aka Gordie) because, as Atkins, we're a part of Clan Gordon.

Driving in Scotland is about the same as driving in Ireland. Many of the signs are the same but the difference with the roundabouts is that they're marked on the pavement to let you know which lane to go in to get to which exit. It's still sometimes confusing but I suppose it helps, especially on the large roundabouts or the wonky ones.

Day 7 - The Drive Back to Dublin

We woke up at the Ashford Castle and it was still raining and overcast. It took awhile to get up and get ready so we didn't eat breakfast there. We hurried up, packed up our things and went outside to see the grounds. We didn't have much time to look around. I knew that if an Irishman said it would take 3 hours to get back to Dublin, we could count on it taking us at least 5.
The drive back was pretty uneventful except that we had to head back towards the Dublin airport in order to find the Regency hotel again. I decided that we should eat dinner at the hotel again because it was just easier and it was getting late.

At first they put us in a smoking room and I accepted that (because we were tired and I figured we weren't going to be there that long). Then, our neighbors were loud (there wasn't much of a wall between us on that floor...or perhaps it was the connecting door), so I chose to go downstairs and ask for a new room. I think they might have charged us for the room but I have to check my account when I get internet access again.

The night was pretty restless for both of us...we had to get up at 5 in order to get to the airport on time...