Dublin, Cuid Dhá

Continuing on in Dublin, I have so much to share. What a wonderful city. What wonderful folks. Each time I go to Europe, I find a new favorite city. Dublin was it. Such a wonderful, bustling city.

With much quaintness mixed in.

City Center, the Spire of Dublin in the background.

Two policemen on horseback.

Of course we found a wonderful sweet shop, Queen of Tarts. We went to the smaller of the two locales.

Who could resist such a brilliant name?

It was so wonderfully charming, we went two days in a row. (It was actually closed the first day I dragged the kids through the rain to find it.)

Breakfast.

And the next day, lunch.

With a piece of Victorian Sponge Cake to share for dessert.

Then off across the street to see Dublin Castle.

A side entrance.

The upper yard.

The Chapel Royal.

The Record Tower, c. 1228, next to the Chapel Royal.

I couldn't get enough photos of this chapel door.

Then on to tour atop a double-decker. The River Liffey.

Molly Malone . Fishmonger by day, lady-of-the-evening by night.

More beautiful architecture.

And the Guinness brewery in the distance.

Áras an Uachtaráin, The president's house. Looks very similar to the White House, doesn't it?

My new "favorite" shop (of which there are many, mind you), Avoca.

I'm thinking Laura Ashley, Cath Kidston.

With lots of wonderful woollies! (I bought a small throw for the girls' room I'm working on.)

The cuz's favorite shop--young, chic clothing of course.

Later that night . . .

We were off to MJ O'Neill's for a traditional Irish carvery. I had spied the "MJ" and took lots of photos for my SIL Mary Jane. Who knew we would end up there for dinner?

Sort of like a cafeteria but so much more.

See? Oooooooooooof. Turkey and Limerick ham with mash.

Before we knew it, it was time to head off to Brussels. But not before having to purchase another satchel to hold my carry-ons. My old one I purchased in Paris several years ago (for the same reason) was beginning to tear, in the handles. Not good. So I replaced it with a FATFACE mailbag in duty free. Oh, that and a bottle of Jo Malone. Yummy.

So smart, having a second back entrance to a plane. Duh. Ya think we could do that in America to load quicker? Hmmm. Notta chance.

Erin go bragh!

Howth, Ireland

Howth (pronounced ho-th) is a small peninsula about nine miles NE of Dublin. We decided to take the DART (train) out when we heard you could buy fish and feed the seals. Who could pass that up?

And a fast and easy train ride? A no brainer. (The trains and buses are a wonderful way of getting around Dublin and the outskirts. The streets change names every block or so, so a good map is a necessity--even to the cabbies. We had to use a cab one afternoon since most of the bus routes were closed due to a rather large charity walk and even he had to whip out a map!).

We arrived to the wonderful smell and sounds of the sea.

And seals eagerly waiting to be fed. They looked quite fat and happy.

These two boys bought fish and were adorable. They counted "one, two tree" (accent) before tossing their fish together into the waters.

This little feller was my favorite. Love those sweet eyes.

The buildings walking out to the marina were wonderful.

A small boat leaving the harbor. You can see the weather is about to change.

I loved the colors of the fish nets.

And the Irish humor (?) on the stern of this boat. ("Kiss My Ass")

The walls in town were covered with beautiful miniature flowers and fern.

And moss, of course.

This is the old Howth Abbey ruins (c. 1042 and replaced 1235).

Low tide in the harbor.

As we walked along the jetty, the weather turned rather wet and cold. I loved it! So Irish!!!

A warm lunch in a local pub was welcomed.

An old discarded bench perfectly placed on the jetty to watch the "busy" town.

I loved all the seagulls, larger than what I'm used to on the Gulf.

Quaint, sweetly colored houses up a quiet street, as we walked back to the train depot. I wonder where Larry Mullen (U2's drummer) lives here?

And the quick train ride home to the city. Sigh.

Aw, Ireland now has stolen my heart. I knew it would.

Dublin, Ireland

I have never been to Ireland. Of course, I have always wanted to go but never had it put on any of our itineraries. (PS In fact, I should be saying that the hub hasn't had business in Ireland at any time the kid and I could jump aboard.) Hmmm, now that that's cleared up.

We left Nashville on Saturday, June 5 and arrived the next morning, 8:30 a.m. Dublin time. I was feeling pretty refreshed. In fact, this was the easiest jet lag I have had to overcome. Yay. We arrived at the Hampton Hotel and was quite pleased with the small hotel. We had to get two rooms next to each other, not a whole lot available for a family of four. Poor cuz passed out on the sofa here until our room was ready. This was her first time overseas. I can't tell you how excited we all were arriving in Dublin!

The hub had business; but the kid, cuz and I wasted no time taking a bus into the city center (a mere 5 minute bus ride). The pubs were so much fun to witness first hand. Of course, we fell in love with Dublin and its friendly people immediately. Cheers was our favorite expression. It was used each time we talked with someone.

The sweetest lady at the front desk of the hotel had suggested Gallagher's as a traditional Irish establishment which served very good local fare. Loving the name right off the bat, we met the hub there for dinner.

A pint to begin with, of course.

Even after studying some of the food translations, I could not remember what a boxty was.

And so, of course, that is just what I had to order. I got the special made of free-range chicken breast. YUM.

The hub got the Irish stew. Of course, YUM.

The kid's fave pub fare, fish and chips.

And the poor cuz was adjusting to Europe and ordered the old stand by for Americans, a cheeseburger. Oh my, but it does look delish!

And the dessert of the day, Banana and Butterscotch Pancake with Fresh Cream. It had me at fresh cream.

{{smile}}

Afterwards, we went walking around. Too much fun!

More pubs.

And by about midnight, we were spent, to say the least. The sky looked more like dusk.

It was nice to go to sleep and dream of chasing leprechauns.

Sláinte!
(Cheers!)

Apologies

(Vivienne Westwood Rug)

I am just getting back from Europe and I so apologize for not being able to blog while out of town. It was quite a two-week whirlwind--complete with sketchy wi-fi in most destinations. I will share details of each wonderful place in a little bit (as soon as I can get my photos transferred from notebook to my computer!).

I had thought that I had posted before I left. Only I hadn't. When I got home on Sunday, I looked at my blog and noticed that nothing has been posted since May 30! When I was at Riverside! Eeeeeek. Then I remembered how booger was giving me fits before I left. Yes! That's the reason why I hadn't blogged. It made me feel a little less guilty. But you? Did you think I feel off the face of the earth?

Long story short, I have been working since I returned on booger and have finally fixed the bug which would not enable me to upload photos to the posts. Oooooof. Why blog if you don't have photos to share? I couldn't. And so, nothing. Until now. It seems coming home from holiday is never easy. I've been putting out several fires since arriving home. Such is always the case, it seems. Hard to get away on holiday and even harder to return.

Without more rambling, I will now POST the entry I thought had already been posted pre-vacation. I hope you all are doing well, and I have so much to share!

Happy summer!