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| Saint Patrick's Cathedral |
We have been blessed with good weather on our trip, but we did not expect what we found today!
Ireland is not known for good weather. In fact, it is probably the opposite, their weather is generally not great. Rainy, wet, cold, windy, fog, you name it.
But not today (or yesterday for that matter). This was the best day of the year according to comments from the locals about the weather. Sunny, warm, clear, bright - terrific!
Did some more serious sightseeing, in a short amount of time.
Readers of this blog are probably aware that we tend to not let grass grow under our feet. We hit it hard every day, and pack as much travel and activity as we can into every day. Sometimes it's a bit much, but we press on.
Yesterday and today were in the category of jam packed wall to wall, keep going, travel till you puke.
We arrived on Sunday night from Lisbon Portugal, and immediately hit the ground with a walking tour of the old town. We thought it might be a little bit quiet because Sunday was Easter, but not in Dublin, this place was hopping. We didn't stay out late because we were tired. In fact, we almost never stay out late, because we want to try to get some rest to be ready to go again the next day!
So much to see and do in Dublin
On Monday - which the Irish call Easter Monday - it's a holiday here, celebrating their hard fought independence from Great Britain. So most of the shops were closed and people hit the streets for ceremonies, song, speeches, and generally filling the outdoors with people, kids, dogs, music, food, festive costumes, you name it.
We made the effort to hit the best spots, and enjoyed the sunshine and warm weather. Springtime has come to Dublin - Irish Spring!
We went to see the Book of Kells, which is an ancient illustrated text of the Bible. Well preserved and priceless, to the point where you can't photograph it.
But we were able to take a picture of the Library where it is housed at Trinity College in Dublin. What a great place, with a really cool vibe.
We really enjoyed our visit to Saint Patrick's Cathedral. It was well preserved and was initiated by the patron saint of Ireland. It was really interesting and functions not only as a church but also a museum - fascinating.
There were historical relics from Ireland's extensive past in the church.
Later on, we found a rooftop restaurant, with a view of the sunset through (rose colored?) glasses.
And then to finish off, we found a pub to celebrate alongside the Irish with local musicians playing and singing. This came as a recommendation from our dear friends, Jeff and Debbie Donahue. In fact, that was the name of this place - Donahue's!
And so that brings us to today
We were up and at 'em early for a long driving trip out to the west of Ireland. Glorious day! We covered a lot of ground, and saw a good portion of the country.
We made our way to the Cliffs of Moher, Ireland's famous landmark on the Atlantic Coast. Quite Spectacular I must say!
The cliffs plunge into the sea
It was fun to hike around these cliffs and I don't mind admiting that I got kind of dizzy looking down. I stayed away from the edge.
We then made our way to several other places almost too numerous to mention, but there are some pictures.
There was an old - ancient really - Abbey that was built in 1150, that is now in ruins, but very interesting.
And in that Abbey was an ancient wall created by the early Christian believers there. Almost a thousand years old ...
They love President Obama here in Ireland. Our driver kept talking about it, and we thought he was joking, but on the way to the coast, he wanted us to see this stop called the Barack Obama Plaza.
Our President is part Irish on his white mother's side, and he had blood lines to this village where this road stop is located.
Well, the hits just keep on coming. We fly to London early in the morning
We will be staying with Fiona's sister and visiting family and friends, and of course doing some more sightseeing.
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