Back in the USA…

We have been back in our home state of Michigan for nearly 3 days now and I’m still battling adjusting to the time difference.  I feel so exhausted by 6:00 or 7:00pm then wake up ready to start the day at 3:00 or 4:00am!  It’s slowly getting better though, this morning I was able to make it to 5:00am….perhaps if I take a short nap in the middle of the day I’ll be able to stay awake a little later in the evening. We are still not back to our daily routine either; it is a holiday weekend here in the states, Labor Day, so we are up at our lake house…perhaps that also plays a role on our adjusting to the time change.

It is funny the things you miss after being away from home for an extended period.  When we were on the plane I remember getting excited for the silliest of things. Besides the obvious people & pets that are dear to us, these are the top 4 things I was anticipating:

1. Brewed coffee!  Maybe it’s an American thing but I could never find a place that had regular brewed coffee.  When we would ask if they had just regular coffee we get a reply, “Oh yes!” and they would hand us an “Americano” which is espresso & hot water.  Now I love my espresso in my Starbucks Café Mocha; but sometimes I just want a brewed cup of joe; especially in the mornings! The closest we got to brewed coffee is at our B&B where we had a French press brought to our table.  That was very good coffee and I wouldn’t mind investing in a French press in the future.
2. Electric toothbrush! I love my electric toothbrush!  It gets my teeth so clean and smooth, like I just came for the dental hygienist.  Two weeks of manual brushing just doesn’t cut it.  No matter how long you brush using a manual toothbrush, it cannot compare with the clean you get from an electric toothbrush. The battery operated ones are little better than the manual brushes but the bulk of packing & carrying them just wasn’t an option for me.
3. Flat sheets! Or maybe it should say fitted sheets!  Everywhere we stayed the flat sheet was folded over the mattress or mattress pad and the only other type of bedding to be found was the comforter.  Here in the states we have a fitted sheet with elastic corners that fit snuggly over the mattress & mattress pad, then a flat sheet, then a blanket (in cold weather) and a bedspread or comforter for the top layer. In all of the places we stayed, except for one, there wasn’t air conditioning (probably don’t usually need it in such a temperate climate) but we would be too hot with the comforter and too cold without it–hence a flat sheet to cover up with is ideal. I just found it funny how different the two cultures can be some times.
4. Cooking!  I found the food in Ireland to be overall very good. We did have our moments of surprises though, we found it funny that a “Full Irish Breakfast” included baked beans!  For us baked beans are served at barbeques along side burgers and hot dogs!  I wondered if the Irish who visit the USA wonder why we serve breakfast food like baked beans with our lunches! LOL  Even the familiar isn’t always familiar. In Belfast we wanted a really quick fast food meal so we picked KFC; but to our surprise the menu was nothing like the one in the states….no mashed potatoes at a KFC? After a while I longed for my favorite recipes and missed cooking for myself.

As I have been thinking about our trip and the enjoyment of blogging I’ve decided to write a few more posts.  Early on in this blogging endeavor I wrote about getting ready (the products I bought, the places I booked to stay at and the tours we took) my next few posts will be reviews and my opinions on those areas as well as what I’ve learned from this traveling experience and what I might do differently.

Think I’ll take a nap now…………