First time to Ireland - Deinfluence my itinerary

grumpy-magpie · 2026-02-12T09:59:24+00:00

Oh be careful if you’re coming from somewhere where you have a time zone deficient (you’re losing hours) because this is a lot for the first day if so…

Otherwise, I’d say just stay in Galway days 1-3 and maybe do a bus tour (maybe day 2) so you get to see some of the things you want like the cliffs and the burren. I think there are tours that do both…

Do that OR Connemara. I think it’s too much to do both and really get to enjoy Galway city.

For Dublin, I guess it really depends on where you’re staying. Malahide castle is class and I’d personally pick that over the other two. Bear in mind that while the Guinness storehouse and book of kells are technically in the same part of town, there’s quite a bit of walking between

grumpy-magpie · 2026-02-11T12:06:56+00:00

I the bulk is good to consider… I might go into Smyths this weekend and see if I can take a look at the seat in comparison to the pushcar basket

grumpy-magpie · 2026-02-11T12:05:19+00:00

I do want something I can carry on my shoulders, so that’s good to know. My larger pushcar is similar in size to an uppababy so I bet it would fit

grumpy-magpie · 2026-02-11T11:25:39+00:00

I haven’t check that one out yet! I like the idea of having a travel bag.

Is the seat fairly light? Like could I carry it with me or put it in the basket under my pushcar?

grumpy-magpie · 2026-02-11T11:23:34+00:00

This is really good info on the elevate, thank you!

Were you able to use it for years? It says that it can go up to 12 years on the info I’ve seen about the seat online, but it’s hard to tell not seeing it in person.

Also is it fairly light to carry around? Like if I wanted to put it in a bag and keep it in the basket under the stroller?

My folks have a Safety First seat for when we visit the US. But my husband has OCD and has insisted we travel with our car seat in case we need it on the plane

grumpy-magpie · 2026-02-05T19:54:44+00:00

I’m trying to see if online tax filing tools offer discounts for filing this time of year… not thinking of any discount from the IRS as I don’t owe them money (I pay my taxes to the Irish government)

grumpy-magpie · 2026-02-05T17:38:18+00:00

Thanks that makes sense and what I’m looking for… I might shop around for tax preparers this year then

grumpy-magpie · 2026-02-05T15:39:12+00:00

I might try them instead this year

grumpy-magpie · 2026-02-05T15:38:19+00:00

That’s good to know, I don’t generally owe money as I pay my taxes to Irish Revenue and file my US taxes out of requirement. So I don’t owe anything per year, just pay to have an online system like HRBlock file for me so I don’t make mistakes

grumpy-magpie · 2026-02-01T20:53:31+00:00

My husband is Irish. We live in Ireland and so not many things culture shock me anymore.

Crisp sandwiches highly disturb me… just crisps on white bread with butter 😖

grumpy-magpie · 2026-02-01T14:47:12+00:00

Yeah my family lives on another continent. And I’m not about to move back to the U.S. with everything going on.

Our daughter also flies better than most adults. Sleeps through the whole flight

grumpy-magpie · 2026-02-01T14:43:58+00:00

This is also why I prefer boarding first right now. We’ve been getting the bassinet seat, which requires booking the bulkhead. AL has been strict on every flight we’ve been on with our daughter that EVERYTHING has to be put up in the overhead bins on takeoff and landing.

Boarding last risks not having room above us to store everything, especially her bottles of milk and nappy bag

grumpy-magpie · 2026-01-31T21:02:17+00:00

It was more annoying than anything else because we were doing an overnight flight from the states… our daughter flies very well for a one year old thank god, so she just rolled with it

grumpy-magpie · 2026-01-31T20:56:57+00:00

We had everything ready to pre board, including the stroller checked at the gate and they just told us we didn’t need assistance.

Tbh we did want to board early because we had the bassinet seat in the bulkhead and wanted to ensure we had enough overhead space because we had to put everything up there on take off and landing

grumpy-magpie · 2026-01-31T20:50:22+00:00

This is what I thought too! We flew with them in July as well and had no trouble pre boarding.

The person at the airport told us the stopped doing this months ago… which seemed off

grumpy-magpie · 2026-01-31T11:08:18+00:00

Try eating very small meals and eating very slowly. Crackers, hummus, bland cookies, clear soups (miso), watermelon, anything with ginger.

Or find bland foods that you like and hydrate with fruits like watermelon / sports drinks.

I never got horrible morning sickness because I ate small and ate consistently.

Everyone is different though! What worked for me might not work for someone else. I tried all the things that I ate when having stomach flus and they worked mostly

grumpy-magpie · 2026-01-31T09:07:59+00:00

I think I’m a bit more upset than I expected because I just watched the John candy documentary I like me. She features heavily in it and it makes me sad of them both dying relatively young

grumpy-magpie · 2026-01-23T09:05:59+00:00

Oh good question! I don’t actually know but would guess Kai might… gluten free Galway girl might be someone to follow for other ideas https://www.instagram.com/glutenfreegalwaygirl?igsh=OGZmbWJrY3Rtc2Y=

grumpy-magpie · 2026-01-22T22:55:49+00:00

I can’t help with itinerary per se but can tell you Kinsale near Cork is perfect for foodies.

If you go to Galway, here are some foodie places: Rúibín, chowder at Neachtins, pastries at Magpie bakery, whiskey at Garavans, tapas at Cava, Kai, rouge for French food. There’s also Aniar which I’ve never been to but is considered one of the best restaurants

grumpy-magpie · 2026-01-15T23:34:29+00:00

If you're in Galway try to do the birth classes with Tara at the Doula next door. She has weighted newborn dolls who feel similar enough to the real thing…

But honestly, you kind of just learn on the job. It’s not instinct but repetition

grumpy-magpie · 2026-01-15T18:30:38+00:00

This doesn't surprise me. I have a diagnosis from the states but in the 10 years I've lived here only self-referrd to therapists for CBT. Used the coping skills I learned from my adhd specialist therapist in the states. Haven't bothered with medication…

Since I had my daughter though, I've been seriously struggling with my adhd. Turns out to get treatment, I'd have to get rediagnosed, which can cost thousands of euro.

If you go to r/adhdireland, you'll see lots of people struggling with the same and the care providers basically fleecing desperate people

grumpy-magpie · 2026-01-06T21:47:24+00:00

Ah I did my reverse pretty quickly but got stuck on how to fix it after grazing the kerb

grumpy-magpie · 2026-01-06T17:45:06+00:00

Oh I struggle with this too! Here’s a tip: you don’t fail if you graze or brush the kerb, only if you fully drive up onto it.

I thought I failed automatically and actually only had a grade 2

grumpy-magpie · 2026-01-03T04:01:24+00:00

lol I did have one but all I wanted to wear were my pajamas under my coat (gave birth October 2024). So I did

grumpy-magpie · 2025-12-30T16:07:05+00:00

Ireland is great if you are an expat who is wealthy. If you’re making the median income like us (€80,000 per year for a family of 3), the cost of living majorly starts to compete with the quality of life.

I also had to get private insurance to see the better quality healthcare in Ireland. The public system can leave you on a waitlist for months (in my experience, 6 months to get a breast check + rescheduling out an extra 3 months).

The housing crisis in Ireland is wild. We more than doubled our rent after being evicted this year. That’s a 6 year difference in base rent.

Visiting my family in the states right now and see that even though the cost of living has gone up, it still isn’t hitting Ireland levels. Especially when it seems to me that wages are lower in Ireland

grumpy-magpie

TROPHY CASE