Day 4- River Liffey Cruise, Bodies Dublin, and a seaside walk

It was another late start today, and I will take the blame this time. Dark curtains blocking the light totally make me sleep longer. We made it into downtown in time to take the first cruise of the day along the River Liffey. This time the tide was low enough to be able to board just off O'Connell Street, so we got to see a bit more. The cruise takes you past the Customs House, and several other buildings the guide didn't really talk about. You also go under a few bridges, they're all only 2-5ft above the boat, and almost out into a harbor that would take you into open water on the way to England. They have a replica of a ship used to take people to North America during the famine years, and tons of sailboats, tied up along the edges of the river.

After the cruise, we walked up O'Connell Street, on our way to the 'Bodies' exhibit. We had lunch at Eddie Rocket's, a '50s style American restaurant that had more Van Morrison and The Bangles on the jukebox than it did Elvis and The Everly Brothers. The food was pretty good though. We made it to the 'Bodies' exhibit just in time to not have to wait another hour to join a group, so we went right in and started looking around. They had several different areas, each devoted to a different system of the body. Their methods for preserving the bodies, and the details they can preserve, are amazing. They had bodies with just the circulatory system preserved, bodies with just the nervous system preserved, and they even had one cut into slices to demonstrate how MRIs let you view the inside of the body. We spent a little over an hour looking at everything, then walked back down to Eason's and did a bit of shopping. Yes, I bought the entire 'Twilight' saga, again.

We took a walk down to the shore after we got back to our hotel for the evening. It's only about 1/4 mile or so. It started raining, so we cut that trip short, but got a few pictures over the water. Tomorrow we are going back to County Wicklow, and this time we are with a different tour group so we have a couple different stops. We get to stop at Sandycove Beach, and Sally Gap for pictures, then back to Avoca where I get to try not to spend more money, and Glendalough to see the upper lake this time!

Day 3- Around downtown Dublin, Malahide Castle, and Dublin Bay

We got another late start today, but it worked out for the better because the cemetery by the hotel is locked up until 10AM. We spent about half an hour wandering around the cemetery taking pictures and looking at all the old headstones. The vines growing everywhere are cool.

Today we had planned on going on the river cruise before our castle tour, but the tide was too how for the boat to take off on time. We scrapped that plan until tomorrow. Instead, we wandered around downtown Dublin, and along the River Liffey. We crossed the Ha'penny Bridge, and walked through the Temple Bar area. We didn't stop in for a drink, it was too early in the day for that.
After lunch, we found Eason's store, and Tower Records, and spent about an hour in there. I'm debating going back and buying the 'Twilight' saga in paperback, since the last 2 are still only in hardback in the States. Plus they're having a sale on books. After Eason's, we met up with our tour group, and headed to Malahide Castle. It was really beautiful, both inside and out. Plus the weather was sunny, so our pictures look good. The only bad part of the visit there is that you aren't supposed to take pictures on the tour of the castle.

After Malahide Castle, we got back on the bus for a drive around Dublin Bay. Some of my pictures are weird because they were taken on the bus while it was moving, but at least I got to see it all. We had a quick stop for pictures, and the sun was out, so we got decent pictures. After that, it was back to the City Centre to catch our bus back to the hotel. Ireland is playing Bulgaria tonight in a World Cup Qualifier, so downtown is sure to be insane!

Day 2- County Wicklow: Glendalough and Avoca

We had to be up early today to catch our bus tour to Wicklow, so I set both alarms we have available. Thanks to the people next door, I was up well before they went off. Someone should probably mention WD40 the hotel. Anyway, we got on the bus, headed south through some suburbs of Dublin, and into County Wicklow. The scenery was amazing, but I still took a nap. I'm blaming the neighbors. We stopped for our first photo op at Wicklow Gap.
From there, we continued on the really narrow winding road into Glendalough. It means 'Valley of the 2 Lakes." It's pronounced Glendalock, and it took me the whole day to get that one right. The whole pronouncing things different than the way they are spelled is kinda confusing, but I guess whatever works for them. Glendalough was founded by St. Kevin as a monastic city, and some of the ruins are still visable. There is also a cemetery, with graves dating back to the 7th or 8th century, I believe. You can also walk up to the two lakes that help give the city its name, but with the rain and "snow", we decided just to walk to the lower lake, and wander the cemetery for the 2hrs. we were there.


After Glendalough, we went to Avoca, home to the oldest handweaving business in Ireland. It's been in operation since 1723. We wandered the weaving shed for a few minutes, then decided it was time to eat. The food was pretty good, some of the flavors were a bit different than we were used to, but not bad. We also shopped in the store where they sell some of the stuff they make there, and found a few things to bring back.

Tomorrow we are taking a river cruise, touring Malahide Castle, and stopping in Howth for the view of Dublin Bay. I'm praying for nice weather!

Day 1- Dublin bus tour and Jameson Distillery aka: We didn't do much today

Today we got a late start, but with jet lag, we were expecting that. After getting into the City Centre, we got bounced between 2 bus offices before one finally realized that they were the ones we needed to see. We took a hop on/off tour of Dublin, the driver had a great sense of humor. The tour goes all around the city with 20 stops at or near all the major attractions.
At the distillery, Annie got to be one of the whiskey tasters in our group, and therefore drank more than me for once! I also learned that Jameson is really good with ginger ale. I also took a lot of pictures that will take some work in Lightroom because apparenly they are afraid of light at the distillery.
We saw a bunch of churches/cathedrals on our tour today, but didn't get to explore any. We're thinking we'll do that on Sunday when we have another free day. Tomorrow we are going to County Wicklow and seeing the sights there. On the news a few minutes ago they were predicting snow for that area tomorrow. We were really hoping we had left all that at home!
For the rest of tonight, I think we're just going to explore our hotel and the really old cemetery that's around the corner. Hope everyone is staying warm!

We made it!

We got into Dublin about 2:30PM, made it to the hotel without any problems. After changing, and figuring out how to use the power in the room, (who knew you had to leave a room key in the wall box?) we hopped back on the bus to the city centre and had dinner at Burger King. After the weird plane food, we decided on something vaguely familiar for supper. It was that or play chicken crossing several lanes of insane drivers to try to get to McDs.
We found a great gift shop and got most of our shopping out of the way before deciding that we were too tired to walk around anymore. We are so lucky that there are 2 bus stops right off the hotel grounds!
We got back to the hotel, took some pictures of the sunset, and decided to call it a night. Hopefully we can figure out the internet soon because I miss my Facebook!

Weather sucks

Not even a blizzard could keep us from getting to Rapid yesterday. Annie's dad drove us down through some pretty crappy weather, and Terra let us stay with her. It was fun catching up with her, and we totally need to do it again sometime.

As of now, we are at the airport in Rapid with a 4PM departure time. We are going through Amsterdam instead of Newark, and will arrive in Dublin about 6hrs behind schedule. Oh well, at least Mother Nature chilled out so we can leave today.