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Published: June 12th 2017
Day 3
Jenna and Alan picked us up late morning and took us to Kildare Village which is an outlet shopping centre about an hour and a half south east of Dublin. They had lots of good designer shops with heaps of bargains, we were there for about 3 1/
2 hours and barely did half of it. At one stage we nearly drowned as the rain came down in buckets but cleared up and disappeared like it had never happened 20 minutes later! Purchased a new suitcase to replace the one which the wheel melted on during one of our warmer train days and which we abandoned in Strasbourg.
Back to the hotel for a quick shower and change before driving to Johnnie Foxes 'the highest pub in Ireland' where we caught up with Andrea and Garry who had arrived in Ireland that day and Marguerite and Tony (Alan's parents) for a meal and hooley show. What a fun night, lots of good food, drinks, laughs, sing a longs and dance (watching not doing!) would highly recommend to anyone looking for a fun night out in Dublin.
Home after midnight.....too old for all these late nights!
Johnnie Foxes
Good company, even the crazy one!Day 4
Andrea and Garry decided to join us for a day in Belfast, so they drove to our hotel before Alan and Jenna came and picked us up for the long drive to Belfast. Jenna and Alan had organised a black cab tour which took us around the city telling us about the political history of Dublin and the way in which it is still affecting the lives of the people today. I think for most of us living far away from Ireland it's a situation that has been resolved and has no bearing on today. This is in no way the reality for the people of Belfast, there is still a huge wall which runs through the city that has gates that are closed at 7pm and don't open again until 7am separating the republicans and the unionists. You can go around the wall but further away from the hotspot areas near the middle of the city. We saw the political murals that are painted on walls and houses everywhere showing the point of view of the people on whatever side of the wall you are, memorial gardens to the victims most of whom were innocent
civilians and told us of how it was in the past and how it is now from the point of view of someone who has lived through the worst of it and the current situation.
At our first stop a group of young boys were playing with a ball. One cheeky young boy walked up to us and where are you from .....he asked all of us in turn....New Zealand, I know New Zealand my grandfather lives there.... What Island do you live in....he lives in the South Island....he lives in Auckland....hmmm not South Island then....he's a multi millionaire I'm going to live there when I'm older....he froze Alan out though as soon as he knew he was from the republic of Ireland. This kid was exactly how you see kids pictured on TV in gritty Irish and English programmes that depict areas of poverty and conflict, full of bravado and cheek.
The tour took about an hour and a half and he charged us 10 pound per person, very reasonable for the high quality of the tour, was a bit grim but very interesting.
A quick late lunch at a very ornate pub restaurant before another
Johnnie Foxes
Audience participation big drive this time to the giants causeway, arrived right on 6pm so the information centre was closing just as we arrived. The causeway is about a 15 / 20 minute hike from the carpark - very easy walk. It's a pretty awesome petrified forest, we climbed all over the rocks, taking lots of photos and just wandering about for about an hour before doing the slightly more difficult hike back up the hill to the carpark.
A stop at a local bar for a quick drink before driving back to Belfast.
We stopped back in Belfast for dinner, late as usual, the first couple of places Alan rang had stopped serving but we walked into a small restaurant who happily served us. Great meal with real nice staff, very very noisy! Was after 11pm by the time we left did a quick drive round the port area where the Titanic was built - consequently was after 1am by the time we got back to our hotel.......really starting to notice these very late nights!
Day 5
Nice sleep in, a well needed catch up. Had intended to go to some gardens but the weather
Belfast
The wall was pretty rubbish, windy and cold so decided against it. Went into Dublin city instead and found a little market before having a light lunch. Next stop was the Teeling whiskey factory for a tour and tasting, tour was ok.....tasting was great. They make very nice whiskey particularly the single malt! A walk around Temple bar with all its millions of tourists, then a wander round the outside of Dublin castle and the hidden garden before back to the hotel for a half hour nap.
We then had an enjoyable evening with Jenna and Alan and Alan's parents at a restaurant in one of the little villages in the area, we had a fun night with great company, sad that it's our last night in Ireland we have really enjoyed our few days here.
Day 6
Spent a few hours repacking the suitcases before being picked up by Alan and Jenna. A couple of hours at Epic the museum dedicated to the Irish emigration story Was a good way to fill in a couple of hours, was very well done, lots of interaction type displays.
A tearful farewell at the airport before we were
Belfast
Memorial on our way on our little plane (usual Blenheim to Wellington size) in a gale force wind (also usual) on our way to Edinburgh and the next phase of our holiday.
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