Greetings from Dublin! Great city, crazy busy and lots to see! We arrived on Friday afternoon and we have been exploring ever since. Once again, the weather was on our side, sunny and quite warm. Cloudy with some rain for the next few days though. That's OK. This will be our first rain since the start of our vacation some 14 days ago. Who says it always rain in Scotland and Ireland! We've been fortunate so a few fleeting showers will not put a damper on the rest of our time in Ireland.
Although Dublin is a large city, it is quite easy to explore by foot. Yesterday morning, we walked to St. Stephen's Green, a beautiful city park. From there, we got on the Hop On Hop Off bus. We sat on the top deck and had wonderful views of the city. The bus tour was incredibly informative and our tour guide was totally hilarious, cracking jokes every minute or so.
Following the bus tour, we walked some more and crossed the Ha'Penny Bridge, a pedestrian bridge built in 1816 over the River Liffey.
We eventually made our way to the infamous Temple Bar where Russell had his first Guinness. The place was packed with tourists and locals and live music was playing. Irish people always seem so happy and full of life. We could learn a thing or two from them I think.
We then walked to the Brazen Head, the oldest Pub in Ireland, built in 1198. Lunch was good, Irish, and the atmosphere was very nice. Just like I don't drink Whiskey, I don't drink beer (except Banks beer in Barbados) so I had a delicious Irish Cider, very refreshing and light.
After a late lunch, we slowly made our way back to our hotel. We got lost but eventually found our way, a few hours later!
There is so much that we want to see in just a few days. In an hour or so, we will be going to the Guinness Storehouse for a tour of the distillery. The building is seven story high, the tour takes about two hours, with a tasting in the end. It should be very interesting.
Tomorrow, we have our first of two guided tours outside the city. We will be leaving at 8 am and make our way to the Cliffs of Moher and Galway, on the West Coast. It will be a full day. Wedndesday, we will be going to Glendalough and Kilkenny, another full day. In between those days, we plan to visit areas in and around Dublin. Our list is long, not sure if we can do it all. We go home Friday.
Today is a particularly exciting day in Ireland....the Rugby World Cup 2019 game between Ireland and Scotland is going on as I write, in Yokohama. So far, Ireland is winning. Hmmm....not sure who we should cheer for.
I leave you with a few pics from Cork and Dublin. More when we get home. For good measure, I also include a photo of Cooper and Spicy taken by Darlah. We sure miss those little munchkins.
Have a great week. I will do another update before we head home.
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| Ha'Penny Bridge. |
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| The Dublin Spire...120 meters. |
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| The Temple Bar...! |
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| Live music in the Temple Bar...wonderful. |
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| ...and the songs like Guinness kept flowing. |
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| The oldest pub...the Brazen Head. |
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| Deep in Killarney National Park near Torc waterfall. |
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| In Killarney national Park above the lakes. |
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| The small dock in Kenmare...lovely and tranquil. |
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| Contemplating jumping in....nope, don't think so! |
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