Blogs from County Dublin, Ireland, Europe - page 6

August 11, 2019 Dublin, Day 2 Cead Mile FailteAugust 11, 2019 Dublin, Day 2 Cead Mile Failte This translates to: one hundred thousand welcomes. Another way to interpret this phrase: You are welcome, a thousand times, wherever you come from whosoever you be! Today is the day we have been awaiting. This is the reckoning. The homecoming. The Sphinx shall answer the riddle….or not. NO. Today – we visit Guinness!! St. James’ Gate. The Storehouse. The Mother Ship. We got off the ship and hired a cab – because it was just easier. We’re ALL about convenience, whenever possible. We could have taken the shuttle into town, but then who knows how long it would have taken to hire a cab, etc. And there are a LOT of etc.! Owen, our cabbie, is wonderful, hysterical, and ... read more

August 9, 2019 The alarm was set for 7am, so we can get a jump on Glasgow. We have plans to take Tea at the Charles R Mackintosh designed Tearoom The Willow. Best laid plans of mice and men ofttimes go astray! Once again, we were both certain we experienced an Earthquake – but we realize at sea this is most unlikely. SO…probably rough seas. THEN….the closet door was rattling opening and closing of its own volition. Yet another “omen” for the morning. THEN…I threw the curtains open. Our veranda, the windows and basically everything are covered in a mixture of rainwater and seawater. That must have been SOME storm! Both finished with our shower so we can get our day going and spend as much time in Glasgow as possible, WHEN…to our dismay…our cruise director, ... read more

“Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden”- Oscar Wilde We had the morning in Belfast, as we were taking the train back to Dublin in the afternoon. We woke up quite early (no crazy 8:30 sleep in like yesterday?). We made coffee in the room, and had some orange juice from the “grab and go” bagged breakfast the Bullitt delivers to your room if you want (we thought we might as well get it, and have it on the train later). We headed down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. Susan had the vegetarian Irish, and I had poached eggs with smoked salmon on buckwheat pancakes, with avocado. Another very good breakfast. We both had Irish breakfast tea rather than coffee. I’m quite liking the strong Irish breakfast tea. ... read more

”May your joys be as deep as the oceans, your troubles as light as its foam. And may you find sweet peace of mind, wherever you may roam.” - Irish proverb We started the day with a good breakfast at our B&B in Annascaul. Susan had the mini Irish and I had the vegetarian Irish (fried eggs, beans, and toast). We also had coffee, juice and yogurt. I was very happy because the rain had stopped, and there were even breaks of blue sky. We left Annascaul about 8:30 and began our drive in the beautiful Dingle peninsula. The scenery was really lovely, with green fields alongside the Atlantic Ocean, mostly with small herds of cows. We first stopped at the Torc waterfall, because it gets quite busy in the afternoon and Alex didn’t know if ... read more

“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