OT: travel to Western Ireland

Oh font of all wisdom I beseech thee: does anyone have recommendations of what to see/do near Portmagee in May? I'll be traveling with my semi-disabled mom; she can walk with a cane, but we'll have use of a wheel chair, as well as a car. And I'm a nervous Nelly about right-handed driving. Oh pleeeeeeze tell me there's some LNS's between Shannon & Portmagee!!!! Thanks!

Mary M

Reply to
m&m
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Can't tell you a thing about Ireland, but as long as you remember that the passenger is always on the kerb side of the road, and the driver towards the centerline, driving is a cinch. ( Roundabouts may be a bit hair-raising! Just gp eith the flow and the arrows!).

Gillian

Reply to
Gill Murray

If you can be a bit patient, Tia Mary has been over there, IIRC, but she's off on another trip to Europe (?) at the moment.

Joan

Reply to
Joan E.

I'll have to check my map, etc. of Ireland. We were in the west but I'm not sure if we were anywhere near Portmagee. It's been six years now and three more European trips so I need to refresh my poor old gray cells!! CiaoMeow >^;;^<

PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^< (RCTQ Queen of Kitties) Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their whiskers! Visit my Photo albums at

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Reply to
Tia Mary

Holy Cats! It's been that long already??? Why do I remember that stuff (you being in Ireland) and not the stuff I'm *supposed* to remember? LOL

Joan

P.S. Speaking of cats, did you see all the kitty patterns on Hoffman's?

Reply to
Joan E.

I'd say judging from this site you go fishing (grin) Seriously though I googled and there are lots of references to Portmagee. Right handed driving is easy, we do it all the time here in Australia (another grin) Ireland is not renowned for having an abundance of craft/needlework/yarn shops, I have been there a few times. Hope someone can help you.

Edna

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Reply to
Edna

I found this site, mainly yarn however it does mention needlework and here's a map showing the area.

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Reply to
Edna

PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^< (RCTQ Queen of Kitties) Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their whiskers! Visit my Photo albums at

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Reply to
Tia Mary

I'll have to go check out Hoffman's to see what's new :-). As for travel to Ireland, you can bet I'll insist on going for a FULL two weeks (10 days was NOT enough) for our next trip! And I forgot to tease Edna about that whole "driving on the OTHER side of the road" thing! T'aint easy when you're not used to it -- LOLOL! DH said the hardest thing -- other than driving on the other side of the road -- is that the pedals of the car are backwards to what we are used to. OH -- did I mention that the hope of getting a car with an automatic tranny are smaller than slim & none! You WILL have a standard tranny so be prepared. Then there's the whole issue of the roundabouts. Now, roundabouts are great when you are used to them. Having to negotiate them for the first time while driving on the other side of the road with brake, clutch and gas pedal all kacalovich -- well, it's a challenge to say the least :-))! CiaoMeow >^;;^<

PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^< (RCTQ Queen of Kitties) Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their whiskers! Visit my Photo albums at

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Reply to
Tia Mary

That's the best news I've gotten all week! It's easy to catch Southwest and visit you in LizardLand! (and vice versa)

Reply to
Karen C - California

Yeah, well, don't hold your breath. DH doesn't retire for another 2 1/5 yrs and we won't put the house on the market until about this time in

2010. Lots can happen in 3 years! Like maybe we win a bazillion dollars in the lottery, make a month long trip back to Ireland and actually SEE the area under discussion -- LOLOL! CiaoMeow >^;;^<

PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^< (RCTQ Queen of Kitties) Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their whiskers! Visit my Photo albums at

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Reply to
Tia Mary

Thanks again for your help- I'm sending those web links to Mum.

Mary M

Reply to
m&m

Are you sure the pedals are reversed? In the UK our right-hand drive cars have the accelerator pedal on the right, the brake pedal in the centre and the clutch pedal on the left; for automatics the accelerator pedal is on the right and the (wide) brake pedal is on the left.

Reply to
Bruce Fletcher

There are 3 pedals on a right hand drive car. The one on the right is the accelerator. The Middle one is the break The left one is the clutch for gear change.

Dh and I did a trip all way around Ireland in a camper van a few years ago. I did not find many needlework shops at all not even magazines. I did buy some very nice and expensive Irish Linen table cloths and napkins though. Also some Waterford crystal.

Shall I be your chauffeur. LOL Shirley

Reply to
Shirley Shone

Oh- Yay! The pedals are the same!!! That's a huge relief! I honestly seem to be getting more dyslexic the older I get- and I never was to begin with. (you should see how long it takes me to type anything- I transpose every 3rd letter!) The thought of trying to remember which pedal is the brake in the event of an emergency was making me sweat! OOH- I could get linen! Thanks for the idea!

MM

Reply to
m&m

m&m wrote:

I'll have to tell DH that his rememberer is more kacalovich than the car pedals :-)! He was **positive** that they were backwards but I guess it was HIM that was backwards -- LOL! It could be that it seems backwards to what we are used to because with a standard tranny, you have to shift with your LEFT hand if the "stuff" is on the floor, which is the type we had. That is opposite to what we are used to so, add that to having to drive on the other side of the road PLUS negotiating the roundabouts (which were nonexistent this side of the pond at the time) and it's not surprising he thought the pedals were backwards! As for the roundabouts, if you are outside of town they are usually only one wide lane in width so they really are much easier to use than having to turn right or left at an intersection. It's on the larger roads or in towns that they get a bit challenging because they are several lanes wide. You enter in the left lane and, unless you are turning at the next exit street (in a roundabout in Ireland all exits from a roundabout are left turns), you have to get over to the right and then get back to the left to turn at whichever street you want. But remember that if you are turning at the second or third street, there are often people entering the roundabout who are also trying to negotiate the lane changes. If you are familiar with roundabouts or are driving on the side of the road you are used to, then they are no problem. Trying to deal with the different lane orientation plus rapid lane changes (most roundabouts in Ireland that we negotiated were not really very big) AND quickly looking at the road signs that are in both English and Gaelic -- well, don't feel bad if you end up driving around a roundabout 2 or even 3 times before you actually manage to turn on the road you want! DH and I did it many, many times in our 10 days in Erie. He'd ask me where to turn and I would have to tell him to keep driving round and round and round until I sorted out the different road signs -- LOLOL! I'm sure the locals had NO TROUBLE spotting us for the tourists we were. As for souvenirs -- DO make sure to stop at the small shops and mills located along the roads. They sell lovely hand made sweaters and other garments. I came home with three hand made wool sweaters, a wool hat & glove set and a stunning hand woven airy wool throw. One of the sweaters is a lovely mottled dark green of 100% Merino Wool that I paid about $60.00 US! You have to look but really great souvenirs are to be had! CiaoMeow >^;;^<

PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^< (RCTQ Queen of Kitties) Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their whiskers! Visit my Photo albums at

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Reply to
Tia Mary

HYH? I'm pretty surprised that the pedals were different. IME, the pedals were the same - accelerator on the right, clutch on the left, and brake in the middle - though all were on the right side of the car. Just the weird thing is shifting with your left hand rather than the right. Personally, I like it as I felt that having the dominant hand on the wheel was a good thing.

Reply to
ellice

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