Overview Of Our Ireland Itinerary:

05 February, 2007: Monday

I was in the Nottingham/Hucknall area of England for 3 weeks and then finished by driving my rental car to the lot and taking a shuttle to the Heathrow Hilton. I practiced meeting KT by taking the train to Terminal 1 and tracing the steps that I would need to negotiate going to the gate leaving for Dublin the next day. I called KT and relayed as best I could what would happen to/for her while she was transferring to the second leg of her flight. I got some of it right.

At any rate, KT was off from SEATAC and I got some sleep. I kept thinking how KT had called up the airlines at one point, since they were threatening to go on strike at the time, and she had told the helper on the other end how she was glad she was traveling with the best airline carrier, and not some "fly-by-night" outfit. And with perfect timing, how she then said, "Oh, wait a minute, THIS FLIGHT IS AT NIGHT!". Very funny!

06 February, 2007: Tuesday

I had time for breakfast, and a final packing, then off to repeat the practiced steps of yesterday. I knew the way and checked myself through and waited at the gate. Finally, there she was. We boarded together and had ajoining seats. After customs and bag-reclaiming, we were on the airport entrance in late afternoon. We took the first bus into Central Station, not far from Bachelor's Walk in Dublin, which cost 5 Euro each ($15 both) and found our booked B&B on Lower Gardiner Street (The Townhouse), about 3 blocks from Central Station.

We had arrived! It was very nice, and as it turns out, we would pass it many times in the coming week. Several times on busses, and other times walking to or from Central Station. (We left on the city local bus that goes to the airport on our last day for about $4! A combined savings of about $11.)

07 February, 2007: Wednesday

We had stashed our excess luggage in a locker at the train station a few blocks away, and packed the remainder early this morning for the ride on the train to Belfast.

In Belfast, we had some time to explore either the city itself, or go out a couple stops on the train to the Ulster Folk Museum, which was fascinating. We arrived a bit late in the afternoon, and we were limited to about an hour an a half to walk around an area which had restored buildings from 100-200 years ago. It was like an Old West ghost town of the Irish life and times in the 18th and 19th centuries.

One more train to the Waterfront Hall, which didn't start until 8:00 and we were actually hours early, so we were able to wander the waterfront area and in to downtown Belfast. A lot of history in the buildings, churches and docks we passed that night.

Van Morrison was great. We had to sit in separate areas, unable to trade with anyone for contiguous seats, although the seat next to mine was empty for the entire concert. It was a little too far for me to see much, but the music was good and by 9:30, we were retracing our steps back to the hostel.

On the way back to the hostel that night, we couldn't seem to operate the door of the train in time to catch the station we needed, to get off, so we went to next station and crossed over and after a short wait, corrected the error and slept in bunks with the toilet and shower a few steps down the hall.

08 February, 2007: Thursday

Very early the next morning, off we were again for the train back to Dublin. This was one of several times that one or the other of us were able to translate some locally accented phrase. Words that were in the dictionary, spelled the same way, were English words, but barely recognizable in American ears. Mostly the accents were melodious and the local turns of phrases, not heard a lot in the heart of Snohomish, made listening a pleasure.

Since the train for the Dingle Penisula, with it's prehistoric sites left from Heuston Station, we took the streamlined city trams (DART) across town and waited for the expected 2-3 hours of watching the countryside go by, until we got to Tra-Li. There we boarded a bus for Dingle, where we arrived late afternoon.

Tom and Veronica, owner's of the Old Mill House a B&B we had booked in Dingle, were very nice. They arrived after we did, from Shannon Airport, their last leg from Los Angeles. So we were all more or less in this jet-lagged time zone together. Definitely, do business with these people. They have a stone cottage away from the downtown area, available by the week. A really fun local family.

We were able to stash our luggage and went out searching for local Irish music in the pubs. Dingle is a pretty small place. I think you could walk all the way around 90% of the town in a leisurely stroll inside of an hour. But each sidestreet leads to another quaint feature and the night was mild. We ate at a pub on the waterfront. A great clam chowder and salad, and fish and chips as I recall.

09 February, 2007: Friday

Tom drove us around the sights of the Dingle Peninsula from about 2:00-4:00 our second day in Dingle. We saw the Ogham Stone, for example. Before that, we walked off Steve Ricks sights and KT bought a couple Irish sweaters and a ring.

That night, we looked for live music again, but we bought some Chinese take-out, and ate it watching some local Irish television. I think we tried to go out again and yet we never really found the Traditional Irish music or "Deedle-ee-die", as the local music was locally described.

10 February, 2007: Saturday

Morning was overcast, yet not raining as in the minor storm brought in last night. We again walked down to the piers and had time to go out to the end. At last the bus arrived to travel back to Tra-Li, retracing our previous path, thence back to Hueston Station in Dublin.

The train tracks were somehow unusable from some point south of Dublin, so we got off and were bussed into town with a rowdy bunch of schoolboys, but aside from my headache, the ride ended with us walking down Bachelor's Walk near Ha'Penny Bridge.

The locals pronounce the word HAY-PENNY, while a few like ourselves were overheard to call it HA'P-PENNY. In any case, it's named because when it was new, (100+ years?) it cost a whole 1/2 penny to cross it, tolls being a premium in those days. For example, around 1900+, a 1/2 penny could probably buy a beer and yesterday's newspaper, and maybe something to eat, too, like a boiled turnip. There are lots of newer bridges that handle pedestrians with wide sidewalks, adjacent to bus and auto traffic, each a few blocks away to either side.

Just the other side Liffey, across the Ha'Penny Bridge, is Temple Bar. That's not one pub called Temple Bar. It's a district with a Hard Rock Cafe at one end and the historic district to the other end 5 or so blocks up. A lot of side alleys and pubs and hostels and shops of all kinds. Theaters, restaurants, take-aways, and ambiance you can cut with a knife.

Unfortunately, this was one of the few nights which we had been flexible about making reservations. We didn't. It turned out that there was to be a huge Ireland vs France Rugby match. We think France won. Since that was the reason the streets were so full, there was only one hostel, let alone any hotel or B&B, which had ANY reservations available, so the fairies were with us when two places at The Abbey Court Hostel were ours for the night.

KT was assigned a room with 3 other already-sleeping women. Since she wasn't really tired anyway, she decided to stay up, with a lot of the luggage, while I went to sleep and get over a headache in an upper bunk with reputedly seven other men. I say reputedly since when I arrived at perhaps 23:00, the light was on and music was playing on a radio, but there was no one in the room. I put my bags and my body in the assigned bunk, and slept.

11 February, 2007: Sunday

In the morning, the bunks were full, but there was enough light for me to gather my things and make my way down to discover KT in the bigger meeting room, off the small kitchen. I took watch of the bags while she went out looking around and came back with information that we were confirmed into a flat maintained by the hostel, but located around the corner and down a half block.

Waiting for the flat to be available, we sat and talked with young people from all over, Vienna and Portugal and Scotland and beyond. This was all quite entertaining, after the headache went away.

We really liked the flat. It had a living room with TV, view of the inner courtyard of a huge blocks-long, building-to-building complex. It had a balcony where I could try to see some stars each morning. (Every morning, I am normally up to see the stars. It's a big hobby.)

We walked a long ways that afternoon. We wandered a crowded Temple Bar. We finally found some "Deedle-ee-die" music, live, in the pubs and in the street. How the other half parties!

12 February, 2007: Monday

Getting up fairly early, we took busses (close to the Custom House) to NewGrange, a megalithic burial chamber, which aligned to the Winter Soltace sunrise. That was quite something. We'd recommend going there, and there were other tours for other old Pagan sites, which we didn't have the time for. After returning in early afternoon in Dublin, we walked off without the camera, and it was near closing time for most tourist sights, but we said, oh, well and started walking.

We saw the Dublin City Hall, with it's excellent exhibit in the basement and Dublin Castle, from the outside, it now becoming twilight. We'd gotten there too late for the actual tour, but walked all around it, before coming upon the Christ Church Cathedral just up from the Liffey River. A short walk away was Dublinia, old stone buildings, showing some of the Viking influence in modern Irish heritage.

Again, we were not in time to go in, but peeked in and peered around and wandered off in search of St. Patrick's Cathedral. From there to the original Dublin Wall put up by the Vikings 800 - 1100's AD?

We walked by the Abbey Theatre the first couple times and found the fascade unimpressive. It must really be something inside.

I love all the stonework, and the stone fences and all the brickwork around the UK. I'm thinking of trying my hand in it as a medium around the yard at home. We finally found our way back to Temple Bar and looked for something to eat. We wandered home over Ha'Penny Bridge and stopped in at a Take-Away Indian/Greek/American place which we took back to the flat and enjoyed.

13 February, 2007: Tuesday

This morning we would have liked to go back and take some pictures we'd missed the day before, but headed off to Trinity College where we hoped to view The Book Of Kells, which is housed in a special exhibit, at the college. It turns out that during the lows of the Dark Ages, Ireland enjoyed relative enlightenment, retaining books, literature, thoughts and skills to pass along to us.

The most amazing sight greets the visitor just after viewing the actual Book of Kells, which I was quite unprepared for. It was the Old Library. It's like a football field long and straight out of the movies. Indiana Jones would feel totally at home here. It had I don't know how many side wings, each stuffed to the rafters with books of every size and color. You can see a picture of it at: Trinity College Long Room. After that we went to the The National Botanic Gardens, by taxi.

14 February, 2007: Wednesday, Valentine's Day

After buying tickets on the express bus to Dublin Airport, KT turned them in and we walked 2 blocks to right in front of The Townhouse B&B, and caught a local bus into the flight home. We got to sit together on the first leg to Heathrow, but then I had Business Class and KT was in coach, so we visited a couple times on the long flight home.

Getting bags, through customs, etc. was interminable, as usual, but soon we were in rush hour in a Shuttle Express. Ah, home in the rain. I've been up for something over 24 hours and tired but not sleepy. I unpack. We separate all the literature we brought back, calendars, post cards, pictures, and will enjoy making a scrapbook of the experience.