4 posts tagged “ireland”

So what did we see?  What did we do?  We had a grand time.

Ireland is indeed a beautiful country.  Much of it still unspoiled by modern times.  Which is good and bad for them, and I worry that with the upswing in their economy will lead to the damage of what makes this country so unique.

We landed in Dublin last week and didn't stop till we arrived home yesterday.

If the jet lag doesn't get you the weather changes will.  In Ireland it's pretty much the same year round.  Cloudy with good chance of showers every day.  When the sun comes out it's absolutely gorgeous.  You get a mix of weather everyday, so it's best to be prepared.

Here the weather is typical summer, it's ninety degrees today. Not at all balmy and pleasant.  Very humid and uncomfortable.

Our travel agent had suggested going a day early, and we're very glad we did.  We got a bit of rest and did some exploring on our own till we met up with the tour group the next day.  On the right is Temple Bar, very famous Dublin landmark.  The neighborhood is referred to as Temple Bar.
The area was purchased by a gentleman for his farm and home in the late 1600's and his last name was Temple.   This area is just south of the Liffey River and the land is slightly elevated, which would have referred to as a barr of land.  After several hundred years they dropped the extra r, and in the 1700's a pub was built here.  Interesting part of town, very narrow streets, sort of touristy.  Like New York which reclaimed Times Square, Dublin reclaimed this area which had fallen into an area of seedy reputation until the last 30 years.


Couldn't do everything we'd hoped to do.  This is Dublin Castle.  Still used for formal state events.  Not a castle as what you might think of.  The battlement on the left is from the 1200's or so.  That part houses a police museum now.  The tours were pretty much booked up for several hours when we got there, so we took some photos and moved on.


Caught a cab right outside the castle gates and headed over to the Guiness brewery.  A tourism visit must see, but not so exciting if you don't care for Guiness.  They have an impressive view of Dublin at the top of the building, and you get a complimentary pint.

Got back to the hotel to meet up with the tour, had a drive around the town to see some of the high points and back to the hotel for a meet and greet with the rest of the group.

I was pleasantly surprised to find out I did enjoy traveling with a group of people.  By and large they were all very nice and interesting.
As Tim mentioned in the previous blog we had our tour mascot, Walker, and his very nice mother Maura.  (and yes, I did remember how to spell it, unlike Tim)

All this was a new experience for us.  Being out of the USA, taking a bus tour, going to foreign lands.  It all turned out great.

Very disappointing this morning to have to make my own toast and coffee.  Where are my Wheatabix? My choice of croissant, danish and brown bread?  That part of holiday is always pleasant.  I didn't miss cooking for the whole week.

On to unpacking the bags.  We were soooooo pooped when we got home last night we just dropped everything.  Back to reality today.  More blogs and tons more photos later.