Blogs from Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland, Europe - page 6

“However long the day, the evening will come.”- Irish Proverb Hello from Dublin! It has been a VERY long day, starting with heading to the Vancouver airport about 9ish yesterday morning. We enjoyed a nice breakfast at the airport, along with mimosas (our favourite way to start holidays, if we are flying in the morning). Our flight to Toronto would have been quite pleasant had it not been for the two small children sitting behind us, who either emitted ear spitting screams, or fairly continually kicked the back of our seats. Sigh. Luckily the flight wasn’t too long, at just over 4 hours. It was quite a new airplane, I think, with the windows that dim instead of the shades that pull down. The entertainment system was good and both of us watched a couple of ... read more

What a lovely day! We woke up gradually, knowing that it was Sunday in ireland and nothing much would happen before 11am. We went to brekkie in La Terraza and found that there were actually thousands of bike riders in the streets outside for the annual Great Dublin Bike Ride. We then retired to the observation lounge and read whilst our suite was being made up. Just after 12 we left the ship and boarded the shuttle for the 10 minute drive to the city centre and explored the streets around Trinity College. We found an Irish Pub (in Ireland!) and went in for lunch. We had Irish stew washed down with a pint of Temple lager, followed by an Irish coffee. We then continued shopping (well, I shopped, Tom carried) until we were ready to ... read more

I met the gang at breakfast this morning - all except David & Nick who were up early and on their way to Wicklow before I got up! After breakfast Brid & Alex were going to drive me to the train station to get a train to Dublin however, I didn't figure into the plan that Pope Francis was arriving in Dublin that morning. All the trains seemed to be booked out online but we figured we would head to Limerick Junction and try our luck. With 5 minutes before the train was departing at 11:20, I was able to buy a seat (at an inflated price of course!) but then it was a quick goodbye to Brid & Alex and I was on my way. The train was comfortable, quick and had good wifi! What ... read more

I arrive in Dublin from an early morning flight from Lisbon. Although tired and weary from the journey, I was eager to set out and see what Dublin had to offer. I got to my hostel, which was decent for a three bed room, and I unpack to start my journey. I knew I was only here for one day, for I was going up to Belfast, but I had plans to come back here to finish off my vacation. My main objective was to just walk around the streets, and to see what jumped out at me. I make my way to O’Connell Street. This street is Dublin's main, as well as widest (but not longest) street, and as near to being the very center of Dublin as you can be. O’Connell Street and the ... read more

We’d had completely filled our day before and still had a partial day to fill after overnighting in Dublin. While every minute seemed well planned out for that first day, it could just be that we lucked out when our bus driver had come up with a Plan B to get us back to the ship; albeit, one-half hour late. The “Big Horse Show” had started yesterday and it had taken one couple two-and-one-half hours to take the Shuttle from downtown Dublin (by Merrion Square) back to the ship at the pier. At least our evening plans hadn’t gone up in smoke in a traffic jam. We took our good time about getting up, grabbed a bite to eat in the Lido, and I made sure to get a banana. I’m guessing that those Icelandic bananas ... read more