Ireland 2012 Friendship Force

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Day 12 – Jim C.

Dublin and the farewell party



After free time and roaming Dublin we had evening party with a lot of mixed emotions. We will miss each other and friendships we made. Mary Anne C-S took a terrible tumble on a stairway. Needless to say, she had our sympathy and the full attention of the hotel manager. Most of the group departed for home or side trips. Mary Anne and I stayed a few days exploring Dublin and Howth. Howth is a beautiful city just north of Dublin and reachable by tram or city bus. Howth and the Dingle Peninsula are my two favorite places in Ireland.



While I had read Ruthfords’ Ireland, Rick Steves’ Travel Guide, Trinity by Uris and Around Ireland with a Fridge, I was still unprepared for how small Ireland actually is. Dublin is only

1 ½ M, Northern Ireland 1 ½ M and the Republic of Ireland 3 ½ M. Wisconsin has a little more population and twice the land mass than all of Ireland. I was also unprepared for how truly nice and full of conversation the Irish people are. When you look lost, someone will come up to you and ask if they can help. Open your mouth and they tell you about their relatives who have immigrated to the US or Canada.



The National passion & pasttime of Ireland is conversation, whether written, spoken or sung. The treasure of Ireland is its’ people.

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