IRELAND. DAY 8. IRISH STRESSES
For our last day, we went back to Ireland. This day was a bit of a bust. Half of it was a bust anyway.
Our first stop was a lighthouse which we could not get to see because the gate was closed. Lame.
Next we went to see Glenevin Falls (pictured here). It is a very easy half mile hike, and we were the only ones on the trail. The light (again) was perfect, which is good because the trail/parking does not open until after 9am, so in other words you can only come to this waterfall in the middle of the day. It is a very gorgeous 60 ft. high waterfall. Nekoda and I hiked to the top of the falls; there were some nice views up from the top, but no other waterfalls to see. There is a lower falls as well, but it is on a side creek, and the side creek was only just a trickle.
After the waterfall, it started to rain a bit. We went to Carrickabraghy Castle, which was quite interesting. It was very cold and windy there. A lady we met there said it was the coldest spot in Ireland. I don’t know about that but it sure felt like it.
We then went back to Portrush and went to the Carrick a Rede rope bridge. We were told by a local that this was worth the money and we should do it, however in my opinion it was a total tourist scam. My wife liked it, but it cost us 22 pounds to walk across a very short and uninteresting rope bridge. No thank you. But you took my money anyway. Argh. What a waste. You can’t even take your time and take photos on the bridge, because they herd you across and back as fast as possible; however, I ignored them and went across slowly anyway, trying to take some video. I don’t think it worked though, because my family were herded across quickly, so they were not on the bridge very long for me to take video of them. Argh. Again.
The next day it rained. It was not just raining, it was very windy. This was the day we had to drive back to Belfast early in the morning for our flight home. I was watching the weather all week long, and I was concerned because all week it said there would be high winds. Our flight to London was delayed two hours because there were huge delays at Heathrow. Are you ready for it? I HATE British Airways!! The delay was not BA’s fault, obviously, but they boarded us anyway and made us sit in the cramped plane for two hours. They knew the flight was delayed. Why couldn’t they let us sit in the comfortable airport lounge for a couple hours before boarding us? So when we finally got to London, we now only had two hours before our next connecting flight to San Jose. It took the full 2 hours to get to our next flight, and we barely made it. Why ??? Because British Airways would not check our baggage through to San Jose. So stupid!! We had to collect our bags, then go through security again, and re-check in our baggage. They make you use their stupid automated check in machines, and their machines do not work! They have hardly any staff there to help you, so here we are waiting for help cuz their stupid automated machines do not work, and the line behind us is getting longer and longer. Argh! So bloody stressful! The actual flight was uneventful, but I could not get very much sleep, so I was over tired when we arrived in San Jose. The next part was not BA’s fault, but going through U.S. Customs was also an absolute nightmare. The lines were huge, and they had very few officers on duty. It took over an hour to clear customs. So stupid! Then to top it all off, the car parking machine stole my credit card and I had to call for help to get it back. Oh my gosh!
You wonder why I hate flying so much? The last time I got in a plane was 10 years ago in 2009 when we went to Alaska (that was not a good flight either). I said to my wife after this trip to Scotland/Ireland that I don’t ever want to fly again. She hates that I said that, but it is just too bloody stressful for me. I already have a stroke risk, I do not need this in my life. I very much enjoyed Scotland and Ireland, but the flying I just hate. It is not worth the stress to me. I think I will just stay in the western USA and Canada. It would have been a million times better if not for the stupidness of British Airways and U.S. Customs. Maybe in ten years I will try again. Stick around and you will find out.