Hi, Chris,

Yes, we're back, and everything was just great on the trip. The flights were good; I'd pay for that "economy comfort" upgrade again. I think the extra room and angle of the seat reclining is worth it. I was able to sleep some on the way over.

Charlie drove, and, aside from my thinking we were going to scrape off my side of the car, all was well. We did have one issue, the GPS didn't work. We tried it out on the M6 on the way from Dublin to Galway, just to make sure it worked, and it started telling us to turn right. We checked it out in a couple of other situations, where we did know where we were going, and each time it told us to go in the opposite direction that we needed. So we called Dan Dooley, and a nice man named Michael first said the GPS probably hadn't been upgraded since the M6 was built. When we explained that it wasn't just that road that it got wrong, and told him we wanted to turn it in early or whatever we had to do not to pay for it, he said he would enter a note in the computer that it was defective and that we would not be charged. I'm hoping and assuming that will be the case. I'm planning to send them a little email just to confirm today.

The weather was good for most of the trip. We did have truly unfortunate fog, rain and wind coming over the Connor Pass on the Dingle Peninsula. That was scary, but my bigger fear was that Charlie would be in Dingle and still wouldn't be able to see what I consider to be the most beautiful place in the world. But, of course, for at least part of the next two days, the clouds cleared, and he got to see it after all.

I'm pleased to have gone and pleased to be back home enjoying our memories. Thanks for all you did to help us make the trip, Chris!

Sarah

Chris,

Wow, what a trip!! We are back and safe and exhausted as expected. We were delayed in Philly for a couple hours on the way home but besides that all of our plans ran perfectly!! We truly had an amazing time. All of the hotels we stayed at were perfect, the food was great and the memories we shared are priceless. We ended up going to the Amalfi Coast in Italy on a day trip and wow, that is one for the books. My older brother proposed to his girlfriend there so we will always hold that place special in our hearts (and yes, she said YES). You mentioned that you needed to update your Italy trips; I would love to tell you all the great things we did including a restaurant that we just had to go back to multiple times in Rome. We treated my parents to a nice dinner at the restaurant you recommended in Venice and that was a hit!! There was a line out the door when we showed up there and we would not have got in without my previous reservation. They loved the family feel and they said the food was great!

When one of my brother’s girlfriends said… “Screw Mexican vacations, European travel is way better, this is SO COOL!!” It made all the stress of planning worth it. Until then my family had only been on Caribbean vacations filled with drinking and lying on the beach. Thanks to your help and our planning together we opened their eyes to a whole new world and gave them a new perspective on life. I would love to fill you in on more details and I know you wanted to hear about our opinion of Monte Claire. Maybe we can chat sometime and swap stories.

All of this planning and traveling again really made me miss my old days of traveling and backpacking to new places. I am thinking about getting into the travel business part-time. Are you hiring? Ha, all jokes aside do you have any insight on some of these options of “at home travel agents”. I am itching for something new to fill my “spare” time. I loved the whole planning process and loved that everything worked out just as planned when we got there.

THANK YOU so much for helping us out, and for all of the time that you dedicated to my family. I could not have imaged that the trip went any smoother. Let’s be in touch soon!!

Thank you,

Stephanie

Hi Chris,

We had a wonderful trip! We really enjoyed exploring such a beautiful country. The Cliffs of Moher and Ring of Kerry were so amazing. The weather didn't bother us much either.

Our favorite hotels were Cahernane (beautiful grounds; rooms are so well done) and Sheen Falls Lodge (it was great to have modern conveniences at that point of the trip - free in room wireless internet that actually worked). The Carlton hotel was a little remote and service spotty. The Davenport in Dublin was convenient and comfortable.

Thanks for organizing and booking our vacation!

Lisa and Vince

Hi Chris,/p>

Sorry, it took so long to get back to you about our trip. We couldn't have had a better time. The weather was so perfect the whole time. It was actually hot in London and our first two days in Paris. They were setting records. You must have had good weather in Ireland too./p>

The hotel in London, My Place Hotel, had a really good location because it was basically right next to the Earl's Court Tube stop, but I don't know if I would recommend it. We had a good room because we were on the top floor. However, we heard some people complaining about the noise from the nightclub that they had in the basement. They were on the third floor and could hear the music until early in the morning. Also, there were a lot of restaurants in the area. We covered all the main sights in London, even went up to Abbey Road. I would recommend getting the Oyster Card. One of our highlights was the tour of the state rooms in Buckingham Palace. I arranged this before we left home, and my husband just kind of rolled his eyes when I told him about it, but he was really impressed. We never made it to a West End show, I guess because the weather was so nice even the evenings. We just walked around and enjoyed all the sights and the parks. The last day we took a tour that went to Windsor, Bath and Stonehenge. It was a beautiful day, but not enough time at Windsor and Bath. Oh, I guess I would have to say if I had to choose the worst experience was the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. We got there an hour early and people were already three deep at the fence and once it began there was quite a bit of pushing and trying to crowd in front of you. What we could see was so repetitive.The police on the horses kept reminding you to watch for pick pockets.I think every tourist in London was there. We ended up leaving before it was over./p>

We loved Paris. I would recommend the Excelsior Latin Hotel. It was very clean and the bathroom had just been remodeled. The beds were kind of short. We had three singles, but it was ok. The hotel had a lot of character. The only thing that may be a problem for some people is the lift. It is very tiny, one person one suitcase only. We didn't mind because we just took the stairs all the time. We loved the location. You could walk to Notre Dame in about five minutes and the Louvre in under fifteen. There was a RER metro stop close by where you could catch the C line and go just about anywhere without having to transfer, and it was an easy trip to Versaille. Also, the Panthron and Luxembourg Gardens were very close to the hotel. We really liked the Latin Quarter. We felt safe walking around at night. There were countless restaurants with outdoor seating and bars very close to the hotel with reasonable prices and friendly waiters. We found the people at the hotel very helpful and friendly. I hadn't been to Paris before and had heard the French people were not very patient or friendly with Americans. We didn't have any bad experiences. In fact, I think some people went out of the way to help us. We didn't run into very many other Americans, most were European tourists. It was hard to pick a favorite in Paris. Notre Dame was impressive, and we arrived in Paris on Sunday and got to experience a soloist singing. It just filled the whole church. We came back another day and climbed to the top of one of the bell towers. You got a really nice view of the gargoyles and the Latin Quarter. We spent a good part of a day in the Louvre. Of course we went up in the Eiffle Tower and went back at night to see the flickering lights.Versaille was much larger than I expected and the grounds went on forever. The museum pass is a good bargain you can even use it at Versailles. The only thing that would fit in the least liked category is if you are in Paris during the first part of the week and the first Monday of the month you have to work around that most of the museums Napoleon's Tomb and Versaille are closed on Monday. The Louvre is closed on Tuesday. I had read about this before we left, but if you weren't aware you could waste some time showing up and not being able to get in. /p>

You are probably aware of a lot of this information. I just wanted to thank you for arranging this trip for us. It was a really great experience. I had to look up Slan Abhaile,To bid good bye while traveling home./p>

Thank you again./p>

Debbie Markich

Chris-

Thanks for the welcome back email. Meeting you in Doolin was such a pleasant surprise and I loved that you shared part of your experiences with us. That helped make the trip special.

Yes I would go back to Ireland. I feel like I kind of rushed us a bit and we should have spent longer in each place (especially the places where we only had a day.). I didn’t realize that so much of the time would have been taken up by just getting there. ..I remember that you asked about Killarney and that most people think of it as a tourist trap. I enjoyed the small amount of time that we spent there and honestly wish I had at least another day or two. Killarney seems like a great place if you wanted to go hiking or spend time outdoors in the National Forest. Also, it has a great nightlife with at least two bars open until half past two. Allison and I visited Torque Falls and it was as lovely as I had read about. I wish we had more time to explore and hike in the forest.

Driving there still scares me a bit (probably because I can’t drive stick), but I would give it a try. Dublin seemed the most crazy part to drive and some of the windy, curvy roads with buses coming at you seemed a little hairy. I would probably want a GPS as I am directionally challenged. It was wonderful having Gene drive us and play the part of tour guide. I think having a driver was a great way for us to get our feet wet in Ireland.

Thanks!

Liz

Hello, Chris,

We returned from a great vacation in Ireland. All of the arrangements that you made worked very well and we had a wonderful time. (It took a day or so to get used to driving on the left but we managed without difficulty.) Thanks for your help with this trip.

Kevin

I'm back but not recovered. Unfortunately I caught a bug on the plane back & stayed home today because of it. But I get sick pretty much every time I'm on a plane! Besides that, how can you "recover" from Ireland?! The place is AMAZING! I'm already planning my next trip (literally). I've done some research into staying a full week in Dublin next October!

I did get your e-mail but we didn't call the car company. We were on the go so much that we were leaving early in the morning and not getting home until late so I never even tried to call their office. They didn't say anything about the ding...but it was a bit bigger than a ding. it was a full blown dent. We told them about the reverse gear thing and I asked if that was normal for european cars. He laughed & said "no, definitely not." But they checked us out without saying they were going to charge us for anything. I was curious about whether they 'were going to come back later & ask for the deductible. But I don't think they will. I forgot totell you that we also didn't get a gas cap with the car. But a very nice gentleman told us where to get an emergency gas cap. It worked wonderfully!

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the trip! Your comment about it being the people is so true. I've never encountered such kind and fun loving people! Despite all that they've suffered and continue to suffer, they're amazingly kind and happy people. They embrace life, live it to the fullest and try to share their joy with everyone else. I loved the people!

I liked Northern Ireland but to be honest, I think we got a little too aggressive with our itinerary because we really didn't see much of it. We met a really nice girl in Derry. She was our waitress at the hotel and she had just returned from doing an internship in Boston. She commented that she's so happy to see Americans in Northern Ireland because of the stigma from the IRA. She has family here in DC and I gave her my contact information so we can hang out next time she comes for a visit. She was really nice.

I loved Giants' Causeway!! It was really windy, rainy & cold the day we went so we didn't spend as much time there as I would've liked. It's definitely on my agenda for next time too. We caught the tail end of Hurricane Katria so that made the weather a bit crazy. We were in Donegal during the worst of it and I couldn't stop laughing at how ridiculous the winds were!

Cabra was AMAZING! When we checked in, they sent us to their "cottages" for our rooms. The cottages are more like small townhouse style apartments with locks on each interior door. I called the front desk & explained that we'd been expecting to stay IN the castle & asked if there was any way that we could get rooms inside the castle. They were able to accommodate us and didn't end up charging us the difference in room rates! The rooms were just beautiful and the grounds & castle were breathtaking!

There were a few places (hotels) that really blew us away. But to be honest, my brain is so foggy right now that I can't think of them.

The friend that was added on, Missy, was actually a better traveling companion than my sister was! :o)

I took 13.4 GB worth of pictures! I kept having to download my chip to my laptop to free up space.

Hello Chris,

Our trip was FANTASTIC! We absolutely loved it. It was especially enjoyable traveling with my parents because they are so congenial, we met more people than if it was just my husband & I. My personal highlights were the day in Northern Ireland, Killarney, & also our day in Dublin. We had a blast. We met so many interesting people. Loved the pubs of Doolin.

Thank you so much for your prompt response & for fixing everything. I actually wrote you two emails of response but was having problems with the computer at both the B&B and the gas station where we tried to use it. We figured out what had happened. On my itinerary, I wrote "night 1; night 2...but for nights 9 & 10, I wrote '9/10' instead of 9 & 10 which of course looks like September 10th. I'm sorry for not catching the mistakes sooner (I did NOT do a good run-through of the info you sent me; just skimmed it) but was grateful to have a travel agent at that point because I knew you'd be able to fix it & we of course didn't have phones or anything. The apartment worked out well for us. [NOTE: We had mistakenly booked Anne's car rental with a drop-off for the 9th instead of the 4th and the same with her hotel; we were able to fix that right away though we do ask clients to review their documents upon receiving them to prevent this type of issue]

We returned the car on September 4th. We weren't sure we'd get it in on time but ended up skipping the Beara Peninsula & having more time in Dublin as we were done with driving by the end of the trip. Thanks for all your hard work; let me know how much the credit is after you know...I'll owe my parents some money. Thanks again!

Hi Chris,

Yes we had a fantasitic time in Ireland. Our tour guide [Irish Pub & Folk Tour], Michael Hogan, was fantastic and really went above and beyond our expectations. There is no way we would have been able to experience so much if we had done a self drive tour. The tour went exactly as advertised and everything was so smooth. We definitely got our money's worth on this trip. We stopped at some terrific local places as well as the more popular tourist stops which was a nice mix. I know we made the right decision going with a tour for our first trip to Ireland and we know what to expect on our next trip. Thanks for all your help as well.

Rob

Hi Chris

I got your email..thanks for following up...had spotty internet so didn't have a chance to get back to you easily. I decided I wasn't going to let breakfast be an issue [NOTE: Suzanne thought breakfast was included in her hotel reservations however hotels are now removing this from rates or charging quite a bit more for it. Her reservation/emails indicated "with breakfast" where applicable. This was a misunderstanding that we are working on making VERY clear to clients] on an otherwise perfect trip...so no worries! No one else cared either so it really was ok. Everyone was super happy with the location of the Dublin Jury's Inn and pleased with the Cork Jury's Inn. Turns out my brother had just moved to a new apartment down the street in Dublin so it was ridiculously convenient. We really liked the Bewsley Airport hotel too. St Stephen's Green has a fantastic childrens playground so if you have any other clients traveling with little ones I highly recommend it. We were there 2 of the 3 Dublin days. Took the Mary Gibbons tour to Hill of Tara and Newgrange...fabulous; Gene and Santhe were fantastic drivers. It was actually through Santhe's father (he internet searched) that we were able to find my grandfather's cottage. Amazing. We have a lot of the records but no one thought to take them with us! Since it was a bank holiday lot's of things were closed in Cork, but loved it anyway. We were able to go to the English Market the last morning in Cork, had a lovely breakfast at Farmgate Cafe (have you been? sooo good), and bought lots of picnic supplies...which were all consumed in Enniscothy on the lawn at the 1798 Rebellion Museum. Half of our group got to see Prince in Dublin (how cool is that??)...a few people went up to Belfast for a Black Taxi tour...I think we all decided that if we don't move to Ireland we will at least visit again soon. The people are as nice as everyone says and the food scene is great.

I want to give you an especially big thank you. My family kept thanking me and I kept saying no you have to thank Chris! It really was a perfect week.

Ok, I'm totally jet lagged. I think brain fog is setting in. :) Please send me the link for reviews, I would be happy to add to it.

Again, thank you from all of us!!! My Dad was super happy about everything and that was the most important thing on this trip.

Best,
Suzanne