[NAGDU] Our trip to Ireland

carcione at access.net carcione at access.net
Thu Nov 14 15:21:57 UTC 2024 

Igloo and I will be together 3 years come January, and already the big guy has been to Ireland twice. 
My tour was through TradTours, which organizes small tours in Ireland for singers and musicians. 
Tracy


-----Original Message-----
From: NAGDU <nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Alison Miller via NAGDU
Sent: Thursday, November 14, 2024 10:14 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Alison Miller <alison.miller at msn.com>; carcione at access.net
Subject: Re: [NAGDU] Our trip to Ireland

Tracy, 

How long have you and Igloo been working together? What travel service set your trip up?  I would like to take another trip abroad. It sounds wonderful. Thank you for all the good information.  I know Seeing Eye staff are proud of Igloo’s skill and training. 

Alison

> On Nov 14, 2024, at 9:46 AM, Tracy Carcione via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Some people were interested in my trip to Ireland with my dog Igloo, 
> and my husband, so here's my story. Just FYI, Igloo is a yellow 
> lab/golden, 23 inches tall and almost white.
> 
> 
> 
> I'm glad people here recommended having hard copies of the airlines forms.
> Even though we flew on Aer Lingus, an Irish airline, they wanted the 
> DOT forms.  I uploaded them to the airlines website, but they wanted 
> to see the hard copies when we got to Newark Airport, and spent a long 
> time showing them to supervisors and making copies.  I insisted on 
> getting them back, which was good, since they also wanted to see the 
> forms when we were in Dublin airport to fly home.  At least that time 
> they didn't want to take more copies.  Really, it was as if the people 
> in Newark had never seen a guide dog before.
> 
> I also had the CDC form, which US Customs in Dublin needed to see.
> 
> 
> 
> The flight from Newark to Dublin was around 6 hours, + the hours 
> beforehand getting through security and all, so when we arrived we 
> wanted to get Igloo a place to pee as soon as possible.  But we nearly 
> caused an international incident.  I thought, instead of waiting 
> around who knew how long for someone to show up to assist, we could 
> just follow the crowd down to baggage, run outside for Igloo to pee, 
> then come back in for our appointment with the Ministry of Ag to look 
> at Igloo's papers.  I didn't know that, in Ireland, baggage is 
> included in the secure zone.  An Aer Lingus person caught up with us 
> partway through our scamper, but really wasn't too helpful.  We came 
> almost outside, then we stopped in a foyer by a security desk, and the 
> guard there said we couldn't go outside because Igloo wasn't approved, and we couldn't go back inside because we'd left the secure area.
> We were just supposed to stay in the foyer.  He said Igloo could pee 
> on the floor.  I knew Igloo wouldn't do that.  Then the guy yelled at 
> us that we should have had pee mats with us.  We didn't, and I don't 
> think Igloo would have gone for that anyway.  My husband has trouble 
> not raising his voice when he gets upset, and we were both anxious, 
> but I was worried he'd get arrested trying to straighten the mess out.  
> Finally a supervisor came, and he was very helpful and calm.  He took 
> us outside, where Igloo didn't waste any time using a bit of grass the 
> super found.  Then we had to go back through security, with lots of 
> paperwork for the super, and then back to where we could meet with the 
> Ag person.  Happily, the Ag person came in early to meet us, so that 
> was quick and we got away to our hotel.  Anyway, we won't do that again, and take a warning by me.
> 
> 
> 
> After that everything was great.  We brought Igloo's Mutt Mat with us, 
> so he lay on it in our tour bus and in various castles and cottages.  
> Ireland doesn't get below freezing often, and buildings do not have 
> the heating or cooling we're used to, so many of the floors in places 
> we visited were quite chilly.
> 
> Igloo walked up and down spiral staircases in castles, some of them 
> quite uneven, so that enemies would have a hard time running up them.
> 
> We went into the passage tomb at New Grange, which was an amazing 
> experience.  There were many places I had to duck under stone beams, 
> and one very narrow place I had to turn sideways.  Igloo was cautious 
> but not anxious.  When we got to the inside room, deep under the hill, 
> our guide turned off her light so she could show people how the light 
> comes in at Winter Solstice.  That made some people anxious, but not 
> Igloo.  The guide let me touch the 5,000-year-old stone carving on the 
> big marker stone, which was incredible.
> 
> On our way back to the bus, we passed a guide dog puppy in training, 
> wearing his puppy vest.  We didn't stop to chat, but Igloo looked.  
> Maybe he was saying "This could be you someday, kid."
> 
> 
> 
> It was a bit hard on Igloo, switching hotels every couple days.  We'd 
> just get used to one, then move on to the next.  I think he was 
> getting a bit stressed by the end, but he still did a great job.  He 
> could always find the restaurant or the pub, and always find our room, once we found the lift.
> None of the hotel rooms had braille room numbers, so I hung a mask on 
> the door handle when we went out until we got good with the room location.
> 
> Our tour was for musicians, so we had a session every night.  Igloo 
> was very good about lying quietly while I played my whistle with the 
> fiddles, guitars, and flute.  I didn't know if he'd mind the music, but he was great.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> We took a Samhain-Halloween walk through a field with a guide and 
> actors impersonating Halloween creatures.  Some of them were magpies 
> and would rush at us making bird screeches.  Igloo bounced at one who 
> came pretty close.  I think he thought this was a fun game and was 
> ready to play, but they got a hint and didn't come so close after that.
> 
> 
> 
> Everywhere we went, people were impressed by Igloo's intelligence and 
> calm, sweet nature.  He was a shining example of what a Seeing Eye dog 
> should be, and I was very proud of him.  It was a lot of hassle to 
> bring him with me, but I'm glad I did.
> 
> Tracy
> 
> 
> 
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