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Hi, and happy St. Patrick's Day to everybody. This is Z Michelson and in honor of St. Patrick's Day, I am doing a rebroadcast of an interview that I did with Diana of Celtic Tours, where she talks about visiting Ireland on St. Patrick's Day. They do have many, many tours available, and like I said, this is a rebroadcast, so dates, times, and pricing may be a little bit different. But you'll get the idea of visiting the wonderful aisle of Ireland during St. Patrick's Day. Please enjoy and thank you again for listening. Hi, and welcome to the new and improved. XE, Michelson travel podcast. I will be speaking. With more guests and more travelers and we'll bring you great. Insights, and I hope to inspire your sense of curiosity. As you may or may not know my concierge of podcast travel has. Has retired. Or so he thinks. Jay Lawrence has. Decided to actively travel more. So he will be one of my many guests as. As we explore this great world we live in along with redisk. Discovering America. And of course, this is Zee Michaelson and I am here with Diana from Celtic Tours Vacations. Diana, how are you today? I'm doing fabulous. How are you? I'm doing great. And you know, this is going to be airing in a few weeks. And I can't believe that Halloween is over and I missed going to Ireland during Halloween. But we got St. Patrick's Day coming up. We do. We do. Absolutely. So what does Celtic Tours do for us for St. Patrick's Day? We have an amazing celebration for St. Patrick's Day and it's done the Irish way. Done the Irish way? The Irish way. Oh, what's the Irish way? So the itinerary, it definitely brings you to Dublin, which, yeah, of course, where they have the big parade, the St. Patrick's Day parade. It also takes you to Waterford, Killarney. So, we go to Waterford, where the Crystal, of course, is there. Yep. And Killarney. Yep. And, I'm sure there's more stops along the way. Now, we're on a tour bus. Correct. Correct. Okay. Yeah. So what size tours are they? So, um, for this particular tour, we like to keep most of our tours small for Ireland. So for this particular tour, the maximum size is going to be 32 people. Oh, that's nice. So, um, so your first day you're arriving in Ireland and you're in Dublin and of course you have, um, transfers. To and from the airport to your hotel, but we're also going to stop at the famous Man O War pub Which is very very famous in Dublin. Why is it famous? It has a genuine traditional Irish experience It has a rule setting, iconic thatch building. So it's a very, very popular pub in Ireland. It really makes you feel like you're in Ireland. Yep, you got it. Absolutely, absolutely. So then after that, of course, you're going to stay in the city center, which is really, really nice. because you are going to have some free time and you could go and travel and do your own thing and walk all over Dublin. Okay, so let me, let me get a handle on this. Let me see. I arrive in Dublin and that day do we meet our tour guide or do we just rest in our hotel? Yep, you're actually going to be able to explore at your leisure the city center on the first day. Correct. And then you're going to have, um, dinner on your own that evening in Dublin. Okay. So then the very next day, which is St. Patrick's Day. And of course, every day on this tour, you're going to have a good, wholesome Irish breakfast. You know, I like to call it cholesterol heaven because you have potatoes and you have sausages, you know, the old, you know, the, the good Irish cholesterol. You got it. You got it. And, then. A St. Patrick's Day, you're going to go ahead and go to the parade where you're going to see the St. Patrick's Day Festival. So do we get seats there or a standing room, do we actually get over there? You're actually going to walk from, from there. You're going to have your tour guide who's going to actually bring you over there. The day is pretty much free after the parade, so you can go to the museums, you can go to the Epic Museum, you can go to the galleries. Now I got a question. Now when you do this and you do have the tour guide and the free time. Is there somebody there to say, oh, you need to see this or, you know, if you have questions? Yep, our tour guides are, amazing over in Ireland. They live there. They're very familiar. They work directly for us. They don't work for a third party company. Oh, nice. So our tour guides are absolutely amazing. They're also our best drivers, our motorco driver. So you only have one person that you're actually answering to. You don't have to worry about going and hunting down everybody. So that's really, really good. Okay, so that's day, day one and a half. One and two. One and two. Pretty much one and two. Yep. Okay, so now you've been partied out, you've St. Paddy Day parade, you've done all of that, and now what is the next day like? Are you back on the bus? Yeah, well, you're going to go ahead and stay the night in Dublin that evening, and then you're going to go ahead and go to Waterford. Um, you'll depart Dublin and make your way south to Waterford with a brief stop in Kilkenny. so you can do some retail therapy, I like to call it, in Kilkenny. And then you're going to go ahead and arrive in the Viking city and we'll check into your hotel and you'll enjoy dinner that evening. In a Viking city? Waterford's considered the Viking city. That's where the Vikings actually are. Oh, that's where the Vikings are. So you're going to see a lot from the Vikings in Waterford. Now, is the tour bringing you into where the crystal is made and all of that, or? Yep, absolutely. So, we're not gonna go into the water for, a crystal shop. Right. Um, but you're gonna have that free time if you'd like to go ahead and go and explore. And it is a free tour so you can just walk in. That's very nice because a lot of people when they go on these tours, They don't always like to be brought in to all of these, I want to say, tourist traps. Correct. Correct. And they don't want to always be shopping for something. So this gives them the option of whether they want to go in or not, and then there's other things to do in the city. Waterford. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So now, do they spend the whole day there? They do. They do, and then they'll stay the night, overnight in Waterford. Okay. And actually, you'll have dinner that evening in the hotel, not on your own. So you'll have dinner as a group in the evening at your hotel there. Okay, and that would be day three. And that is day three, correct. How long is this? This is actually a six night, seven day. Oh, that's not bad. No, it's perfect. It's absolutely perfect. Okay, so this was day three. Now where are we going after day three? Well, then the next morning you get up and you'll go ahead and head to Blarney. You know, the famous Blarney Castle. Ah, the castle. Yep. With the opportunity, it's optional, to go ahead and visit, um, the castle. And kiss, and kiss the stone. And kiss the Blarney Stone. Yep, that's again, it is optional. So that is, that is optional. Yep. Because a lot of people don't realize in order to kiss the Blarney Stone you're kind of hanging upside down and un kissing the stone. upside down and backwards. Yeah, and there's a lot of walking, you know, to get up to the Blarney Stone. It's all the way up at the top. All the way up. But they say if you kiss the Blarney Stone, you have the gift of gab after that. I've done it, so I don't know if that tells you anything. So you can also go to, the, Blarney Woolen Mills, which is actually, wear a lot of the wool, you know, from the local sheep. Oh, wow. Yeah, so you can buy, clothing, retail, it's a retail store, and they make it all right there. That's nice. So they get it right from the sheep, right to the presses. Wow. So you can do that. Now, do you spend the whole day in Blarney? Actually, no. So after you, after Blarney, then you're going to go ahead and go to Killarney and for the afternoon. And then you're going to check, um, out the town right before dinner at your hotel and where you're going to stay the night in Killarney. Okay. So is there another dinner with the group? There is. Wow. Yeah. So how many, how many dinners are included on this tour? So we actually have dinner almost every single night as a group with the exception of, the day one day. Right. Yeah. And day two because of St. Patrick's day. Okay. Yeah. So, so basically, uh, we have four, three, one, four dinners, three, three dinners, three dinners. Yeah. So you have three dinners and you said breakfast. Breakfast daily. Yeah. Except for the day of arrival. The day you arrive. Mm hmm. Yep. So that's kind of nice too. I know. And then the motorcoaches, are they air conditioned? Oh, absolutely. Wi Absolutely. Absolutely. Our motorcoaches are, beautiful motorcoaches. clean, modern. Again, we have a very, very good reputation for all of our Escort tours. And everywhere they're going, you On the tour, there is a tour guide. Yes. So if there's a place that they're going, like Baloney Castle, people will be talking about why and how. Correct. That's really nice. Yeah, and they give, um, history along the way. As they're driving, they'll show different things along the way. They have a microphone. So over on your left, over on your right. Yeah. Some of our drivers, they're so much fun. Some of our drivers will put on some Irish music and sing along and have everybody sing along. Well, my, my family history is from Ireland. So they like to party. Yeah, yeah. Who doesn't? Who doesn't? So now what, where are we going after Killarney? You'll go ahead and stay the night in Killarney that evening. Right. Um, and then you're going to go ahead and depart from there the next day and you'll do the beautiful drive of the Ring of Kerry. Well, the Ring of Kerry. Yes. So you'll travel from Killarney and then it'll take you through the Ring of Kerry. You get to, Go to the famous traditional Puck Fair. It's very, very popular. Okay, explain the Puck Fair because a lot of people are going, What is a Puck Fair? So, they have a fair. They have a fair. It's an Irish festival fair called the Puck Fair. And it's a, it's a tradition in that particular area. So, it's more about the old traditions of Ireland. I mean, because when I hear the word puck, I think of, yeah, like a hockey puck, yeah, no, I actually think of Shakespeare, yeah, oh, okay, yeah, Midsummer Night's Dream, oh yeah, yeah, puck, right, exactly, yeah, there's that little imp in there, exactly, exactly, that's, it's kind of the old, old historical, Irish ways, the way they, the things they used to use, so the, the renaissance times, Very cool. So they'll, they'll be enjoying the Puck Fair in the Ring of Kerry. Correct, correct. After they get to. So now, when they do the Puck Fair, that's included in the tour? Yes, yes, it's all included. Okay. So how long do they stay there? I'm sure that's an all day event. Well, it's, it, they, we just actually stop there so they can kind of see it. It's more of like a two hour little stop, but it's on a whole day event. So just kind of a puddle about. Well, that's kind of cool. That's kind of cool. So what happens next? Well, then you go ahead and drive along the coastline and, um, you'll go through the, um, peninsula through Glenbeg, um, Waterville. So those are the actual scenic areas of the Ring of Kerry. So it's very scenic. Very, very scenic. You can see the mountains, the valleys, the lakes. So where do we stop? So there are a few little stops and there's no particular stop because it really does depend on the driver, right? Because the ring of Carrie is a very scenic and a very large, yeah, it's very big. So there are a few stops you might stop along the way for a little bathroom break, you know, pictures, things like that. Right. Because if somebody wants to get out and take pictures 'cause it's very pretty. Yeah, absolutely. Okay. So this is more of the scenic part of the trip, correct? Correct. Okay, so I'm sure they're going to be lighting somewhere for the night. Yes. They're going back to Killarney. Yeah, go back to Killarney and then the very next day, which is day six. They'll go ahead and depart Killarney and, they return to the East Coast. So they're heading back to Dublin. That's correct, heading back to the Dublin area. And, they'll go ahead and visit, stop along the way. They'll visit the Newbridge Silverware Visitor's Centre. Newbridge Silverware. Uh huh, yep, that's actually a, a silver company. Okay. And so they'll stop there, of course, for some amazing shopping. Yeah, they have all kinds of different products and exclusive collections. Now, they're in Dublin. Are they going to Guinness? This is actually along the way. So, then, uh, if they want to go to the Guinness storehouse, it's something that they would be able to do, again, on their free time. Because they're going to have so much free time in Dublin. In Dublin. Right, because they're there for two days and then their last day is in Dublin. So, it's not, the Guinness is not included. Not included. But they can do it. Correct. Correct. Now, I've, I've been to Ireland, I've been to Dublin, but I did not go to Guinness. I've seen it. I said, Oh, there's Guinness and never, we never went. You have to go. You have to go to the history, the history of the Guinness storehouse. Even if you're not a beer drinker, just the history and going in there to see, um, how the beer actually was created and where it came from. And just, they go into the entire history of it. And then at the end of the tour, they actually show you how to pour a real Guinness. How to pour to get the head. They show you and they'll let you actually pour your own Guinness. You know, my sister and brother in law went. as well. And we weren't together at the time, we went separately. But they never said that they got to pour their own. I'm gonna have to ask them now. Yeah, yeah, they actually, they'll actually, if you, if you'd like, not everybody wants to, but if you'd like, you can go ahead and pour your own. And then at the very top of the Guinness Storehouse, they have an amazing bar that overlooks the entire city of Dublin. So it's, it's round, so you can actually, walk around and see the entire thing. Now, we had talked prior about, Guinness beers. And as you know, I'm not a big Guinness lover because the beer is very bitter, but a lot of people like it. But you told me there was a little trick to this. There is! Because I'm the same way. I'm the same way as you. And I am not a big Guinness fan until I went to Ireland and they introduced me to what's called a Black Black. A Black Black. Black Black. It is a black currant. Right. In the Guinness. And so they go ahead and put a little blackcurrant prior to pouring the Guinness. Right. And then, you know, continue through the process. And oh my goodness, it gives the Guinness such a sweet taste. So it's like, yeah. So it takes that bitter taste out. It takes the bitter, absolutely. And it gives it more of a sweet taste. No, I'm, you know, we have local pubs around here, so I'm going to have to see if they'll know what I say when I say, I want a black and black. If they don't, I'll have to tell them. They, they should know. If they're a true Irish bar, they will know what a black and black is, without a doubt. So now this is their last day in, in Ireland. Is there something special that the tour does on their last day? Well, they're going to go ahead and continue on to their hotel, which is in the coastal downtown of Ireland. and it's called Balregana, it's in a little coastal town. Right. And it's in the northern part of, of County Dublin. So it's not in the, city center. This time it's in the northern part of Dublin. Right. so they'll go ahead and, uh, enjoy their night there. there and they also get, of course, a dinner as a group that evening. So it's a final farewell dinner. And you said there's only 32 in the group. Correct. Now, because it's only 32 in the group and it is, it is St. Patty's Day, um, how many of these tours do you have? We only have one. Only one? Only one tour. So if somebody wants to do this right away, they're going to have to get on board right before it's too late. I'm going to imagine that would sell out very quickly. Yes, it will. It will sell out. So they have to contact their local travel advisor and say, Hey, get me on this. Correct. And it does start March 16th and of course for the 6th night. They're staying at, some of our first class superior hotels, um, all over the place. And we are offering a special right now. Ooh, what's the special? If they, if they hurry up and book, Right, if they can get in there fast enough. Yeah, if they can get in there fast enough, they need to make sure that they ask their travel agent for, the 100 per person off. Ooh, 100 per person off. And so that brings your tour, land tour only, to 1, 899. For the six nights, with everything, per person. That really isn't bad. And that's what that meal, that's the meals, those are the tours that are included. Absolutely. The hotels are all included. And your fun bus driver. Yes, and our fun tour guide. Exactly, bus driver. You got it, you got it. Now, you've been back and forth to Ireland a few times. I have. And have you been, you've been to Blarney Castle, you just said that today. Where else have you been that you would recommend people to really say, okay, I want to go here? So, one of my favorite places is, um, is actually Dingle Peninsula. It's not included in this particular tour, but we have several other tours that do include Dingle Peninsula. And why? And it is a small, well, the peninsula itself is absolutely beautiful scenic. It is on the west coast of Ireland and the scenery is just gorgeous. You might even be able to catch some, Sunset. Yeah. I have to think East Coast, West Coast. Because in Ireland, you can go to one side of the island and see the sun rise on the other side of the island. Sunset. It's kind of like in Florida, right? Right. So, uh, and the island is so small, you know, you can get from one side of the island to the other in about three hours, three and a half hours. So it's really, really easy to do. Yeah. You can zip back and forth. Exactly. Exactly. But they, they're going to want to see all the different things. Of course. And they want to experience it. You know, everybody has, they're under the impression, you know, if you go to Ireland, all they have for meals is meat and potatoes. But it's so much more than that. So much more. And Dingle has the best fish and chips because it is such a small little fisherman's town. Oh, they take the fish right off the boat. Absolutely. Precious fish and chips you will ever have. That sounds yummy. Absolutely. Yeah. It's so, so good. Some of the things I do when I go travel, I usually talk to the locals and say, where do you eat? And they'll pinpoint you right to the good places. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. So now, I am talking with Diana from Celtic Tours Vacations. Anybody who wants to do the St. Paddy's Day needs to contact their travel advisor right away. Correct. So they can get in here because they only have one tour and only 32 people. Correct. Now, Can you include airfare in this? Do they have options for that? Absolutely. Um, we can include the airfare if the client like us, go ahead and book it as a full package. If they want to do, um, if they want to add nights. You know, pre or post to the tour. Oh, so we can do a pre or post. We can add additional nights for them. So if they want to come in a little bit earlier, and stay in Dublin, or you know, stay a little bit later, and do some other things, they can absolutely do that as well. We can go ahead and book those things for them. Okay. You know, St. Paddy's Day, everybody's, everybody's Irish on St. Paddy's Day. So they need to go to Ireland to really be Irish. Everybody's got a little Irish in them at some point, yeah, absolutely, absolutely. So, now we know that this is happening very quickly, but Celtic Tours does Ireland in its entirety. So there are other tours available, so if you can't go on St. Paddy's Day, there's definitely other times that you can go. Is it year round? Yes. Okay. Yes, absolutely. We have tours that are all year round that would fit your vacation time from anywhere from five nights to nine nights. Wow. Our escorted tours. If they're interested also and not in this, Don't want to do a tour with other people. We can do a self drive if they're interested or we can do what we call our independent journey where we can Go ahead and piecemeal it together for them So if they want to come into Dublin and then they need a transfer to their hotel And then they want to go ahead and take the rail from Dublin to someplace else And you can work with your travel advisors to create this package for them Like if I wanted to go and research my family history, I can say well I want to be here and I want to be here And we can work that out. I like that. And I'll tell you one of the most, popular things right now are multi generation. Yeah. That means really, really popular. So, you know, grandma and grandpa want to take the entire family. So they take their kids plus their kids, you know, so. Right. Private chauffeur drives are honestly, uh, the way to go with a multi general, a generation. Private chauffeur drives. I know a few people that would probably love that. How many people fit into these vehicles? Is it like a big expedition? It is not. It's typically, it's small. You'll have, um, your own driver will put the tour together for you. Your travel agent will put the tour together. We put the tour together for you and then it's like 12 people maximum. Oh, okay. It's like a Mercedes Sprinter. Oh, okay. Yeah. So that's, that's a very comfortable vehicle. Absolutely. And it kind of gives that personal touch when you have, you know, a private tour. Tour and a chauffeur that's going and the chauffeur I'm assuming is tour guide. Absolutely You got it So they'll know all the little tricks and places to go to that sounds great Well, and I can tell you our drivers are Second to none. I mean, they're absolutely amazing. Now, if somebody wants to do a private tour, like a private chauffeur, driver, everything, do they have to book that, like, years in advance, or? Oh, no. Not at all. What I do recommend is, for any of our tours, I would recommend, at least 90 days out. Oh, that's not bad at all. No, it's not. I, you know, I wouldn't recommend calling us and saying, oh, I want to leave next week, because that's, that's very difficult to do. Right. So, you know, about 90 days out, we can typically go ahead and book our tours. Now, because you do multi generational, is there an age limit? That, you know, no, no child under five or we have absolutely no age limit whatsoever no age No, and we actually have a lot of things for families to do We can take him to a sheep herder or sheep shearing, you know, where the kids would absolutely absolutely love that, right? They could do it So you can actually be involved in that, in that process and, see the, the sheep and the baby sheep, so you can actually cate it to the family. Yeah, exactly. So it's nice. Exactly. We have all kinds of different family things that we can do for them. That's very good. Yeah, I think, you know, I, I know a lot of people like to see the dogs. Yeah. How the dogs work the sheep and how, you know. Yep. It is amazing. It is. It is. It is. Just with a whistle or a command. I know. How they, you know, go from one place to another. Now, do you ever have where you can actually stay in a castle? Oh, yes. All of our tours actually have a two night castle stay. All the tours? All of our tours, with the exception of the St. Paddy's Day. All of our tours have a two night castle stay. that's all of our escorted tours. So, depending on where you go, um, you could stay in Kilronan Castle, which is amazing and beautiful. It's kind of in the northwest coast. Yeah, I mean, we just have so many different places that they can go and castle stay. So you can go Glendale Castle as well. Yeah, that's nice too. Now, we're going back to St. Patty's Day. St. Patty's Day, of course, is in March. And what's the weather like? So, it is an island. I always recommend everybody to take a look a week before you go, because you just don't know. Right. But typically in March time frame, it's probably around the summer. 60s during the day, and then it drops down to about the 40s in the evening. So dress in layers. Yeah, absolutely. Always dress in layers. Right, so you don't need to bundle up with big muckalucks or anything like that for dressing layers. That makes sense. So make sure you have a light jacket and a sweater. Yep. So that worked really well. I was actually there in March one year and, I did bring a little heavier jacket because I'm a Florida girl, so I get, you know, cold. I understand. I was, I was over there in July and I was going to Northern Ireland and I had a coat and gloves. I was freezing and I think it was like 50 degrees. Exactly. Exactly. So, you know, it, it does depend, but I definitely recommend bringing layers. These trips, you do not have to get dressed up and fancy, you know, but it's, they're very, very casual. We want you to have a great time. The people on Ireland don't, don't care if you're all fancy, you know. Right. They're very laid back. Exactly. Exactly. They're very laid back. Well, Diana, I do appreciate you talking with me today. And I know you're going to be back to talk more about Celtic tours and all the different places they go other than Ireland. And that's going to be exciting. So thank you for joining me today. I appreciate it. No, thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it. I would like to thank my. Guests today for sharing their travel experiences. If any. All of these adventures excite, you feel free to contact me. z@zmichelsontravel.com. You can. Check out my website, Z Michelson travel.com. Or you can call your local travel advisor and just say, you heard. And Z Michelson travels podcast. Remember travel. Really opens up the world to you with food. Culture exploration. And excitement. And we find out we truly are all the same. Travel safe and shoot for the stars. And if you only. Only get to the moon. At least you made the trip. This is Z Michelson. Listen, remember all my podcasts can be heard on any of your preferred. Podcast providers. And don't forget. XE is. I spelled Z E thanks for tuning in and have a great day