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I've decided to divide our journey into several posts, each covering a section of our Irish travel. We're doing a lot and there is lots to chat about. Our Irish adventure began in Dublin. For the next month we will see pretty much all of the the coastline and spend a good amount of time inland as well. Departing from Milan, it was a short hop to Dublin arriving just after noon. We secured our car rental, make a grocery and supply stop, and were checked into our Airbnb a few hours later. Our apartment is in the southern area of the city center, in the Donnybrook neighborhood, and only fifteen minutes by bus to the hub of activity. Once again we scored with a modern apartment, fully equipped, and only a five minute walk to the bus stop.
We booked a walking tour for our first day and opted to drive into the city center and park for the day. While it was convenient, the parking fee was $30...yikes...and in hindsight, we could have easily ridden the bus and walked to the starting point. However, Carol is nearing 81 and the walking tour was going to be three hours, so we're glad we decided what we did. Our guide Ciaran (Kieran) was the most animated so far and gave us a grand historical tour of the city center. In three hours time he effectively covered Irish history from the Celtics and Vikings all the way to the Prime Minister's visit to Washington last week.
Dublin Castle
Christchurch Cathedral
Busy Temple Bar - Restaurants and Clubs...and it was cold.
Lot of street posters celebrating women in Irish history. Refreshing.
Sweet Molly Malone. Rubbing her breasts is supposed to bring good luck.
We popped into a traditional downtown pub for a grand Irish lunch of lamb shank with all the trimmings.
Properly stuffed, we rolled ourselves to the archaeological museum where we were able to see some pretty amazing finds...many which Ciaran had covered during the tour. That rounded out our day and we drove back to the apartment ready to take on two more days of touring the capitol.
Some things that caught my eye. A wooden cooking pot. ???
A stone wheel.
"Twisted Ribbon" gold necklace.
Great building continuously operating as a museum for 200 years.
And the best was a display of mumified bodies from the bogs...each thought to be at least 800 years old.
For our second day the weather forecast called for rain off and on, so we opted to join a Hop On Hop Off bus tour. We purchased a two day pass, along with a city cultural pass. Each cost $90. However we figured since we intended to do most of the activities included, it was worth the expense. In the end, we probably would have saved a bit by purchasing just the bus tour as time because a premium waiting for the next bus, etc. We let Carol call the shots our first day and she opted to ride the bus over both routes before getting off to visit any of the sites. By the end of the day we had covered the whole central area, got off only at the memorial cemetery, and made it back into the center in time to grab dinner and then go to the theater. Carol treated us to a local production and it was a grand evening. The performance was well done and the subject matter was timely.
For our last day in Dublin we returned the city center and toured both Christchurch and St. Patrick's Cathedral. Then we enjoyed a nice tour at both the Tilling Distillery and Guinness Brewery. We ended our day at the National Museum of Decorate Arts and History.
A death mask at the church.
Mummified cat and rat in the cathedral.
St. Patrick's Church.
Teelings Distillery. Great tasting whiskey and a nice guide.
Ridiculousness at the Guinness Storeroom. They took a seven story production warehouse and converted into a tourist trap. The beer was good.
The Museum of Decorative Arts. The former 1840 officer's barracks. A great collecitn.
Grand 1200's monastary, round tower, and cemetery.
We booked a walking tour for our first day and opted to drive into the city center and park for the day. While it was convenient, the parking fee was $30...yikes...and in hindsight, we could have easily ridden the bus and walked to the starting point. However, Carol is nearing 81 and the walking tour was going to be three hours, so we're glad we decided what we did. Our guide Ciaran (Kieran) was the most animated so far and gave us a grand historical tour of the city center. In three hours time he effectively covered Irish history from the Celtics and Vikings all the way to the Prime Minister's visit to Washington last week.
Dublin Castle
We popped into a traditional downtown pub for a grand Irish lunch of lamb shank with all the trimmings.
Properly stuffed, we rolled ourselves to the archaeological museum where we were able to see some pretty amazing finds...many which Ciaran had covered during the tour. That rounded out our day and we drove back to the apartment ready to take on two more days of touring the capitol.
Some things that caught my eye. A wooden cooking pot. ???
For our second day the weather forecast called for rain off and on, so we opted to join a Hop On Hop Off bus tour. We purchased a two day pass, along with a city cultural pass. Each cost $90. However we figured since we intended to do most of the activities included, it was worth the expense. In the end, we probably would have saved a bit by purchasing just the bus tour as time because a premium waiting for the next bus, etc. We let Carol call the shots our first day and she opted to ride the bus over both routes before getting off to visit any of the sites. By the end of the day we had covered the whole central area, got off only at the memorial cemetery, and made it back into the center in time to grab dinner and then go to the theater. Carol treated us to a local production and it was a grand evening. The performance was well done and the subject matter was timely.
For our last day in Dublin we returned the city center and toured both Christchurch and St. Patrick's Cathedral. Then we enjoyed a nice tour at both the Tilling Distillery and Guinness Brewery. We ended our day at the National Museum of Decorate Arts and History.
A death mask at the church.
We departed Dublin early and drove south and to the coast. For the next six hours we wandered through the mountain villages of Wicklow National Park where we stopped for a couple of hours to visit the lake and monastery. It was a nice four mile hike.
Afterward we headed further south along the coast and then back inland to Kilkenny where we planned to stay for three nights.
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