Dublin!
We had a pretty easy flight from
LHR to DUB, and after a day of work, it was time to go off
into the city for dinner. Dad had the opportunity to
walk around during the day while I worked, so he was already
familiar with the lay of the land. We headed down to Temple
Bar for dinner.
We had dinner in one of the many pubs in the area, in this case, The Auld Dubliner. Food was good, so was the drink.
The locals came up with the James Joyce Pub Award, given to those most "authentic".
A view of the river Liffey, which runs through the city.
Irish Breakfast was offered at the hotel, and was pretty filling, and came with black pudding.
There was limited time for me to see the sights, but I did get to walk through the city for a bit, being careful to miss being hit by the tram. Just watch the lights!
Went over to Trinity College,
Where in their library is the Book of Kells, one of Ireland's national treasures. An illuminated manuscript that was created around AD800, it's a must-see on the Dublin tour. Don't miss the upper floor of the library, the Long Room, which is beautiful, and which has what may be the oldest Gaelic harp in Ireland, which is featured on their arms and currency.
From there it was a short walk to Dublin Castle, the oldest parts of which date back to around 1230.
The Chapel Royal is quite lovely. It was used in the recent television program The Tudors.
From there we took a taxi over to the Jeanie Johnston, a replica of the kind of ship which would have sailed during the time when many Irish were coming to America, and which shows what the conditions were like. Since the space isn't packed as full, so that visitors can walk comfortably, what you see is probably quite a bit better than the actual conditions. Worth the visit.
From there we headed west, to get lunch. We spotted several of these trucks along the way. We can only dream how nice it would be to drive one home.
Lunch was broccoli soup and another local beverage.
After 3 days, the sun finally came out just long enough for Dad to use his sunglasses. Just long enough.
We asked the locals whether the Guinness or Jameson tours were more worthwhile, and all said that while they were both very good, they thought the Old Jameson distillery tour was more unique. They don't make the whisky here anymore, and the facility is assembled to give the impression of what it was like, but there are some actual artifacts from their history.
At the end you get to choose something to taste.
That's the end of our Dublin tour, as we were off in the morning for our flight to LHR then our connection to JFK. Here's the waiting area at in the new terminal at Dublin Airport. I wasn't confident a less than 2 hour connection was going to work at LHR, since we had to get our luggage, new boarding passes and go back through security. We ended up with about 20 minutes to spare. It all worked out fine.
We had a great trip. Hope to get back there soon! And get to the Guinness factory.
We had dinner in one of the many pubs in the area, in this case, The Auld Dubliner. Food was good, so was the drink.
The locals came up with the James Joyce Pub Award, given to those most "authentic".
A view of the river Liffey, which runs through the city.
Irish Breakfast was offered at the hotel, and was pretty filling, and came with black pudding.
There was limited time for me to see the sights, but I did get to walk through the city for a bit, being careful to miss being hit by the tram. Just watch the lights!
Went over to Trinity College,
Where in their library is the Book of Kells, one of Ireland's national treasures. An illuminated manuscript that was created around AD800, it's a must-see on the Dublin tour. Don't miss the upper floor of the library, the Long Room, which is beautiful, and which has what may be the oldest Gaelic harp in Ireland, which is featured on their arms and currency.
From there it was a short walk to Dublin Castle, the oldest parts of which date back to around 1230.
The Chapel Royal is quite lovely. It was used in the recent television program The Tudors.
From there we took a taxi over to the Jeanie Johnston, a replica of the kind of ship which would have sailed during the time when many Irish were coming to America, and which shows what the conditions were like. Since the space isn't packed as full, so that visitors can walk comfortably, what you see is probably quite a bit better than the actual conditions. Worth the visit.
From there we headed west, to get lunch. We spotted several of these trucks along the way. We can only dream how nice it would be to drive one home.
Lunch was broccoli soup and another local beverage.
After 3 days, the sun finally came out just long enough for Dad to use his sunglasses. Just long enough.
We asked the locals whether the Guinness or Jameson tours were more worthwhile, and all said that while they were both very good, they thought the Old Jameson distillery tour was more unique. They don't make the whisky here anymore, and the facility is assembled to give the impression of what it was like, but there are some actual artifacts from their history.
At the end you get to choose something to taste.
That's the end of our Dublin tour, as we were off in the morning for our flight to LHR then our connection to JFK. Here's the waiting area at in the new terminal at Dublin Airport. I wasn't confident a less than 2 hour connection was going to work at LHR, since we had to get our luggage, new boarding passes and go back through security. We ended up with about 20 minutes to spare. It all worked out fine.
We had a great trip. Hope to get back there soon! And get to the Guinness factory.