Dublin
From October 24-31, 2015 we traveled to Ireland. We spent the 24th-28th in Dublin. Customs was great as there was no line and we got right up there. Our bags were out quick and we hit the green happy button fifty times on the “How was your experience today?” stand. Our taxi driver that took us from the airport to the hotel had a heavy accent and was telling us that the town might be busy because it was a holiday weekend. I asked what holiday it was and he replied, “Who fockin cares it’s a day off”. Welcome to Ireland. He also bolstered about how great Subway is because you can get a breakfast sandwich with anything you want on it for only four Euros. We still joke about that. That evening we took the Dublin Ghost Bus tour which was neat as they told creepy stories like body snatching while we drove around Dublin. We went to a park that used to be a cemetery and now people go and have picnics where graves used to be.
Dublin Zoo
The first whole day we walked to Dublin Zoo which was very nice and probably one of the best zoo’s we’ve been to (we go to zoo’s everywhere we can). The zoo is the first of two zoos in Ireland and the lion that roars in the MGM logo was born here. From the zoo we walked to the Guinness Factory. The line to get inside was very long and took a while. It’s one of the main attractions in Dublin. The tourist area of the Guinness Storehouse is several floors high and the inside looking up through all the floors is the shape of a Guinness glass. It was neat to tour the place and we learned a lot about Guinness but we were ready to leave after being there a few hours. In the evening we went on the Dublin Storytelling Bus which is when I discovered I had a blister on my foot – the very first real day of our trip. Over 25,000 steps that day. The Storytelling Bus was very interesting learning about leprechauns, fairies, banshees, mermen, etc. Irish like the stories and have a lot. It was especially funny when our Irish guide imitated the voice of an American red neck. They served alcohol on the bus.
Blarney Castle
Day 3 was a Monday and we took a day trip south to Cork and Blarney Castle. It was raining that day and some guy on the tour bus didn’t get out at Cork because he didn’t want to get his loafers wet. In Cork we didn’t have much time so we ate at McDonalds and went to the casino which was in the back of a party store. It was probably the size of my bedroom having only slot machines. We didn’t win any money of course. Next, we went to Blarney Castle which is one of my favorite places of all our trips. The castle was surrounded by a number of hiking trails, small ponds, flower gardens, a poison garden, and rocks and has a small river flowing through it. We had hot chocolate there. Walking up the castle was a spiral staircase that went forever and you could feel it in your legs. Everybody was breathing hard when they got to the top. Kissing the Blarney Stone was scary. There is a guy who holds your hand while you lean back and there are bars there to prevent you from falling to the ground if you do fall. I thought I was going to fall just because I’m so short and had to get a lot closer to be able to lean backwards and reach the stone. The poison garden there was interesting. They had different drugs like opium growing and plants that if you ate were poisonous.
Carrick-A-Rede
Day 4 we took a tour which involved a train ride to Belfast, Northern Ireland and then a bus to Carrick-a-rede rope bridge andGiant’s Causeway. On the bus we passed the valley where they were filming Game of Thrones. You could see all the trailers and cranes set up. Our first destination was Carrick-a-rede. It was a long walk along the cliffs to get to the bridge and was well worth it. The bridge connects the mainland with Carrick-a-rede Island which the island is really not much of an island you would typically think of as it is a small volcanic plug. The bridge was first built in the 1700’s and is 100ft above sea level and 65ft long which makes looking down pretty fun. I got yelled at for taking pictures on the bridge because you need to have two hands on the railing since the bridge moves quite a bit – not everyone is brave enough to cross. Only so many people are allowed on it at one time. Once we crossed you can walk around and get views of the shoreline and various shaded sea. On a clear day you can see Scotland but we were not able to. Some guy grabbed my coat and started pulling me to get out of the way because some lady wanted to take a photo then he realized I wasn’t his kid. He did say sorry and then took our photo and later offered us some gummy worms. After the bridge we went to the Bushmills Whiskey Distillery which is one of, if not, the oldest in the world. They started distilling in the 1200’s and got their license in the 1600’s. Here we ate lunch and sampled their whiskey. You can buy it all over but there is one that they only sell at their store. We did not care for it much. Next was Giants
Giants Causeway
Causeway which was also a long walk to get there. There was a shuttle you could take if you didn’t want to walk though. The Giants Causeway was very neat. Everywhere you see polygonal shaped basalt rocks. You can walk on them and climb them but they can be slippery. We were impressed because there was a kid in crutches walking around. There are only three of these phenomenon’s in the world – Northern Ireland, directly across the sea in Scotland which is the story of the Giant Finn McCool (hence Giants Causeway) and a small one in California.
That concluded our time in Dublin and east side of the country. We really enjoyed this part of the trip and I think we definitely got the best out of our time available.
