Blogs from County Dublin, Ireland, Europe - page 12

Returning to Dublin the Wicklow Mountains and Glendalough, we drove up the left bank of the Liffey, admiring the many bridges. Because of the delayed arrival of Caribbean Princess at Dublin that morning, the tour was about two hours behind schedule. The motorcoach let us off at Trinity College for some planned free time to explore. We made a dash for Trinity College Library to see the Book of Kells exhibit before it closed at 5:00 p.m. The Book of Kells is an elaborately illuminated manuscript book of the Gospels ca. 800, a must-see in Dublin. We made it in time to see it and its companions on display, as well as the Long Room, the original reading room of the library, now a museum. Afterwards, there was time to see the main campus area and ... read more

Arrivée à Dublin vers 11h, l’avion avait un peu de retard. Je suis perdu, je n’ai pas de gentille navette pour m’emmener vers un point A. C’est ma première expédition seul en dehors du territoire français. Les panneaux s’accumulent, je ne comprends rien de ce qu’affiche ma tablette. Car oui je suis un homme moderne. J’ai 27 ans et aucune carte dans mon sac. Je vais faire pourtant le tour de l’Irlande à pied, c’est mon objectif. M’étant fait offrir une tablette électronique pour mon noël, ayant travaillé mon tracé avant de partir et téléchargé toutes mes cartes, ce sera elle qui me guidera. Sans smartphone elle sera ma boussole des temps nouveaux : avec une pochette plastique spéciale pour la protéger des intempéries et une batterie solaire pour lui apporter l’énergie. La tablette me survivra ... read more

And we're off............. Karen got me to the airport in plenty of time Flight over was smooth and on time. I ended having 3 checked bags because of my helmets. Ireland and Scotland are helmet required countries so I have a half helmet for good weather and a full for bad weather. I flew Business class so the first two bags were free but American Airlines hit me for $200 for the 3rd bag-yikes !!! Had originally thought I'd go right from the airport to pick up my bike but decided to go directly to the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin to see if I could get into my room then change and go get my bike. The Shelbourne Renaissance is an absolute must stay if you visit Dublin - the hotel is rich in history and ... read more

After Amsterdam, I got on a short flight to Ireland. :) THE HOMELAND!!!! I believe every person should go and visit where they came from, or at least their home country. So I think every O'Brien should go and visit Ireland. This was on my "must do's" for study abroad. What better way to finish off study abroad than to go to the country that the O'Brien's came from? O'Brien's originate from Cork (my dad says...) , but honestly who even knows anymore with all the O'Brien's in the world. What we do know.. is that we are in fact Irish. Very Irish. They say, O'Brien is about as Irish as it gets. Besides, we've got the pale skin, and the freckles to prove it. Haha! I got there, got settled and went to a pub ... read more

Skipped a day… been enjoying the Guinness and triple distilled Irish whiskey a little too much. Bo kissed the Irish for good luck, but it's been the same set of lips he's kissed for the last 20 years. As we write this, we are enjoying our new favorite drink: Irish ice tea. Discovered it while visiting the Teelings distillery. We hope to buy some bottles in duty free to share with friends and family when we get home. Teelings is the only operational Irish whiskey distillery in Dublin. There used to be many many more, until the US prohibition combined with changes in whiskey technology obliterated the Irish whiskey industry in the early 20th century. We don't have the natural beauty of Iceland here to enjoy, so we mostly partook in the local customs: Guinness, Irish ... read more

Not much to report today. Spent the day in Reykjavik doing laundry, sending post cards and shopping for knick knacks. We were amused to find only one laundromat in Reykjavik (the biggest city in Iceland), and it only had 4 washers! I guess Icelanders think washing clothes is for wimpy tourists. Had a nice flight to Dublin and got in close to midnight. These kids are getting good at burning the midnight oil. We of course did the obligatiry Ireland task: enjoyed a lovely, well-poured, full body, frothy, creamy, dark and viscous Guinness. Ah....... In lieu of adventure blogs, we offer a few small tidbits and anecdotes about Iceland: - We never saw the night or the stars - Toilet paper is stronger - All tap water is drinkable but some has sulfur - Gas is ... read more