Our Stay at Bewleys Hotel Dublin Airport Swords- 5 minutes from Dublin Airport

Our Stay at Bewleys Hotel Dublin Airport

It was time for my brother to leave Ireland. He had to head off to UK for a few days visit and then return back to Dubai and resume work in his office. However, the weather was real bad and snow was falling pretty heavily in most areas that there was a doubt whether Dublin Airport would be closed due to bad weather. As we stay in the countryside, the beautiful town called Baltinglass, we had to start early in the morning if we had to report to the Airport and get on the morning flight to Heathrow Airport, London. And in this bad weather, it was a risk to travel on the morning of the flight day itself. So my bro wanted to go a day earlier to the Airport in order to be safe. Accordingly we booked into Bewleys Hotel, just 5 minutes from Dublin Airport and reached there in the evening.

Good Hotel Good Facilities

The stay was nice. There was good room service, good food in the hotel, and even free bus service to the Airport every 25 minutes. Inside the room, we have the usual color television, cable network, phone service, a press, a hair dryer, kettle with tea/coffee sachets, extra pillows, towels and a digital safe deposit locker. The view from the room was good as well. We were on the top most floor and there is this vast field with few horses surrounding one side of the Hotel. You can also see the Airport within a distance from our window. Outside, it became a familiar sight to see planes flying right above our heads.

Lobby, Cafe & ATM

Inside the Hotel, there is a large lobby with many sofas and seating capacity which can accomodate many guests at one time. You have an ATM machine (which wasn’t working that day, sad...), few snacks/drinks vending machines, coin change machines, a large food court separated from the lobby and a small snack bar inside the lobby. The only problem is that the Hotel is really far from the city and so there’s no access to any shops outside unless you get a taxi to take you to City Centre.

Free Bus Service to Dublin International Airport

Well, the next morning we got into the Airport Bus Coach and reached the Airport on time. The flight was delayed by over an hour due to bad weather but my bro gladly reached his destination. Who knows, what if we had decided to come from Baltinglass early in the morning and got stuck somewhere in the snow- thats what my bro was concerned about. However, he happily reached London and I happily returned back home in the 8:25 am J.J.Kavanagh Bus to Baltinglass. Overall, it was a good experience and there’s no doubt that I will surely be staying there again in future!

A few hours walk in Carlow Town

A few hours walk in Carlow Town

While my bro was with us for a few days, we made some plans but nothing worked out mainly because of the weather playing spoilsport- frost, snow, freezing temperatures and early sunsets. We did walk around Baltinglass Town and Baltinglass Community Park but wasn’t able to go any further though. The roads in Baltinglass Town were yet to be gritted with salt and mud. One day it was a bit sunny and we visited Carlow. Our first stop was Tesco Supermarket at Fairgreen Shopping Centre. We had a look around and bought batteries for my bro’s cam. Then we shopped at a few clothing shops. We went to a gift shop and got some gifts for his friends. There wasn’t much time to spend in Heatons. So after that we had a look at Halfords, Woodies and Byrnes. Took few snaps near Pizza Hut and KFC as well. We then visited Carlow Shopping Centre inside the town. There were statues of Santa Claus, Snow White, the Three Wise Men and some deers. We took snaps standing next to them. Finally we went back to KFC, bought some fast food and returned home.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010!... When our family visited us...FAMILY TIME!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010!... When our family visited us...FAMILY TIME!

Safe journey from Trivandrum to Abu Dhabi, Dublin by Etihad Airways

By God’s grace my mom n eldest brother reached Ireland safely and on time. They had a safe and comfortable journey in Etihad Airways, from Trivandrum to Abu Dhabi and from Abu Dhabi to Dublin. The last week of December was the start of severe snowfall and that was one concern we had regarding the journey, but everything was sound and calm. Well, it was great to have them over here. My second bro and family could’t make it because of leave restrictions. Our friends in Bray, GDM, drove us from the Airport to their house where we had relaxed and ate some good food which they prepared for us. And they then dropped us at Blessington where our car was parked so we could return back to Baltinglass.

New Year with Mom n Eldest Bro...

So we stepped into the New Year 2010. Praise God! We took snaps standing next to the Christmas Tree and for lunch we had Chicken Biriyani, the popular and special Indian Rice and Chicken dish prepared with spices. We could not go out much because of the heavy snowfall and frost. Also, it would get real dark and even colder by 5pm. I and my bro visited Carlow once and apart from that all we could do was just drive around the town. Yes, the timing was bad but atleast they were happy to be here as we could spend some time together and they also got an opportunity to see how beautiful Ireland looks like even though it was winter time. While my mom will be with us for 2 months, my bro only had a few days leave and is back in Dubai now. Don’t think his employer will give him leave for another 6 months now. Anyway, it was a nice time and we are looking forward to meet up with everyone together once again. A Happy New Year 2010!

Night drive from Carlow to Baltinglass just before it started snowing heavily!!

Night drive from Carlow to Baltinglass just before it started snowing heavily!!


Snow in the night time from Carlow to Baltinglass

We were returning back home from Carlow to Baltinglass in the night and few minutes before reaching Baltinglass Town, it began to snow lightly. At first we thought it was just sleat but within seconds it turned to snow and we were really excited. Though it was only the start, the tiny snowflakes were coming right at us and onto the windscreen. So we geared down and was cruising along slowly laughing happily at the falling snow. By the time we reached Baltinglass Bridge, it stopped and we stopped at Balto Town and parked in the free parking area behind Baltinglass Library and beside Fulvio’s Takeaway and Baltinglass Fire Station for a few minutes but quickly headed back for home as we realised that it was going to snow more heavily. Again, this is my first experience of snow and also the first time while driving in the night time. And the whole time we were listening to a song called 'I will rejoice' sung by one of our favourite Gospel singer Don Moen (who sang the wonderful song called 'God will make a way...where there seems to be no way'... :)... )

Here’s a short video clip I took at that time- Snow During Night Time Drive: