Ireland

Well, I took a stroll on the old long walk
Of a day ay-I-ay-I-ay. . .

IRELAND.

Where do I even begin? It’s my fourth day back in London and I’m still replaying everything in my mind. There were three things that stood out the most…but before I go there, I want to paint you the full picture…

We took an early flight out Saturday morning to Dublin. After realising that our hotel was actually quite some distance from the airport and the city, we were grateful to hear that there was a complimentary bus heading towards the city in exactly 10 minutes from our arrival time at the hotel. Unfortunately, it left early and we were faced with yet another 45 minutes of public transportation. This wouldn’t be so bad except we really wanted to see all that we could in those two days…and time was ticking..

It’s funny though, as a side note, we really had the sweetest bus drivers one could ever ask for. I’m almost 100% sure two of these drivers had a crush on my travel buddy, Jillian… One gave her his name and number and made us promise to phone him if ever were in a bind. The other actually drove us 2 blocks out of the bus route late one night to ensure our safe walk home. The Irish are really too sweet, but I’m still sticking to my Jill-theory.

That brings us to about noon. We kept asking around to find the booking-tour information centers… as soon as we got there we were so kindly welcomed by two gals (lass’ ? lassies?)  This really does bring me to the first thing I noticed about the Irish.. They are both friendly and down-to-earth. Before we booked our ticket to tour Glendalough, the guides wanted to make sure that we would get downtown on time the next morning. They looked up the transit information- and when we found out that there weren’t any busses that left for downtown that early… they reduced both of our prices of the ticket. I just really felt like they wanted to help us. You don’t get that everywhere, it was so nice.

After the plan for Sunday was set, the rest of Saturday was just fabulous. We went to Trinity College, a beautiful site indeed. We saw a few other tourist attractions and then made our way to the Guinness Factory. It was an interactive tour that explored the origins and composition of Guinness beer. The building itself was constructed to look like a bottle…and at the top of the building, where all the foam is supposed to be, they had this bubble shaped skylight that overlooked the city….ahh! gorgeous! And guess what? I had my very first pint! Just tryin to make you proud Dad ;)  My cold must have had some effect on my taste buds…because I actually didn’t mind it. I know… crazy things happen in Ireland!

We continued to mosy our way to Temple Bar… Live Irish Music…need I say more?

Oh my goodness!! A three man band--an accordion, fiddle, and drums- and my life will never be the same. After a few songs we were just beginning to turn around to check out a statue in the room at the back…when a certain song began to play…

 

The next morning we jumped on our tour bus and had a nice relaxing 2 hour journey into the mountains. We stopped in a few different places, including the Wicklow gardens (where some scenes from PS. I love you and Braveheart were shot), as well as Kilkenny, Ireland’s medieval town. http://www.irelandforvisitors.com/articles/kilkenny_med_city.htm

So there it is! My pot of gold. Of course I could end this blog with a bang…I have yet another very embarrassing story to top it all off… but I just keep thinking, if I share all of these stories- what will I be left to share with you? 

Much Love.

XO

Chelsea