Blogs from Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin, Ireland, Europe
July 6th 2011
So it has been a few weeks since our last blog... but just take that as an indiction of how much we are enjoying the travels :) After leaving Liverpool we headed north to Scotland, in an anticlockwise loop of the country. From Gretna Green - where we did not partake of the traditional activities of the city :) - through to Edinburgh and St Andrews. We then drove up the coast road to a little town called Huntly in the north east for a restful three nights. Of course, it was not an accident we had decided to stay for a little longer up there, being in the middle of both the castle trail and the whiskey trail it had the best of both worlds. We were also able to visit the home town and ... read more
November 1st 2010
Dear Friends and Family Sian, Barry and I having been threatening to travel to Vietnam for years now and we are finally about to embark on this trip in December. We are travelling to Singapore first to drop off our mum (Eve) in Singapore where my brother Paul and his wife Dawn live. The blog will help my mum track our travels and not worry too much! Right now I am in Dublin in Ireland a whole month and 5 days before we leave. Our flights are booked, the connections to Hanoi and return from Hoi Chi Min City are booked. We have the semblance of a plan.......... read more
Day 5 Galway to Dun Laogharie
Published: October 10th 2010Europe » Ireland » County Dublin » Dún LaoghaireOctober 10th 2010
We're getting behind on our blog so need to catch up this morning. Mostly we're writing this so we can remember what we've done on this trip so bear with us if the details are a little boring. Friday morning, October 8: We were a little lazy this morning. It was overcast and spitting rain. We slept in, ate a late breakfast and then just hung out in our room--repacking after two nights in the same B&B. We finally took off around 11:00 in a light rain. Ed did a great job of navigating us out of Galway and we were on our way to Athenry. This is a medieval city that has retained a lot of it's ruins and charm. We were quite disappointed when we arrived to learn that the castle is only open ... read more
July 21st 2009
Cassandra and Theresa got here on Saturday to visit me for a few days before they made their way all the way back to the good 'ol US of A. Both groups were nervous about how well the transition of their arrival would go- being that we hadn't actually made contact with each other in weeks, so we were both just hoping the other would be there when their flight arrived in Dublin. I made a sign using borrowed airport paper and sharpie (and made the sign at a car rental desk which I successfully stained when the sharpie bled through the paper... the Dublin Airport Hertz counter now has "2 Pretty Am..." till I realized what was happening. whoops). Regardless, they arrived reasonably on time, and it was apparent they were glad I was in ... read more
October 30th 2008
I had been walking along the coast in Dun Laoghaire for a couple of hours and was freezing. The temperature was in the upper 30’s and the wind was whipping around at a constant 20 mph. I was beginning to understand how such an environment could give a weathered look to buildings and humans. On top of that, my hobo-looking attire was inadequate for these types of conditions. I had only packed for an Indian climate, not a late October Irish one. My long sleeve t-shirt, 10 euro sweater (which I wore out of the store when I bought it), light fleece and rain jacket/wind breaker weren’t quite up to the challenge. I would’ve thought I had been softened over time by living in more moderate climates but nearly everyone I passed on the streets was ... read more
Safe and sound in Ireland thanks to Rick Steves!
Published: July 11th 2008Europe » Ireland » County Dublin » Dún Laoghaire
July 11th 2008
Hello all, greetings from the cloudy and rainy island of Ireland. Chelsea and I are having fun in Dun Laoghaire (pronounced dun leery) and Dublin. We are staying in a cute B&B, painted mostly the color salmon pink, with creaky old beds and the most confusing shower I have ever use. I broke the controls the first time I tried to use it, the look on the owners face was of annoyed bemusement when I told him. Thanks to the Meier kids for their prayers for a good flight, we were given an upgrade to World Traveler Plus for free! That gave us better seats in a more private section of the plane. (think somewhere between coach and business class). It was my first flight on a 747, and it was nice! Unfortunately our plane luck ... read more
May 6th 2008
After spending 2 weeks in Cardiff with family, and waiting for my credit card to arrive in the post i finally booked a couple of flights to get out and about again. First stop Bristol for one night, not for any particular reason, just that my flight to Dublin left from there, so i thought i may as well stop for the night and have a bit of a nose around! Not much to report, I'm sure there's more to see, I just didn't! I had a wandre around the harbour area which is quite nice, and then up to the University and the Museum. The hill up to the uni is kinda cool, really steep with old buildings as shops and cafes lining the street. One of my favourite things is a bit geeky, but ... read more
April 1st 2008
First blog - Ireland Well, this is the third time I've tried to start this blog and each time I've been interrupted. Anyway, I'lll try to finish it this time. I'm here! in Ireland! It's beautiful! (of course) But it does rain. A LOT. Even when you look outside and its sunny, there's probably a 50/50 chance that its raining. And when its sunny and you are walking along, the weather will defy the laws of weather and it'll rain even though the nearest clouds are close to the horizon. It is also pretty cold and windy, though I'm used to that because Boone is cold and windy. They have a weather joke here - Nine months out of the year it's cold, wet and windy, and don't get me started on winter. The town I'm ... read more
July 21st 2007
So it has quickly become the last day or our weekend trip to Ireland. So here we are on our way to a destination close to Dublin by train. Dun Laoghaire is a coastal vacation destination for the Irish. we had good laughs over our attempts to pronounce the name which if translated in to english letters should sound like, Done Lairry. haha When we got there it was of course pouring, but we have all learned to be nearly immuned to the rainy weather. I was sooo incredibly impressed by Irelands coastline. It is as it is pictured beautiful rocky coastline with all the green and dreary sky!! We walked along the coast for a very long time, BEAUTIFUL. We walked to the area where the James Joyce museum was. I guess it is in ... read more
