I am finishing this blog from home, since we were busy and internet access was slow at the Air BnB.

Sept 16th: Peg and I are not city people, we appreciate them but prefer more open, less populated areas. That said we enjoyed a day visiting Dublin proper, using the same bus tour we used in Scotland, Big Bus tours – Hop on Hop off. The drivers accents varied greatly so some were harder to understand than others. We followed the advice of our taxi driver and visited the Little Museum, a unique museum that talks about the history of Dublin in a theatrical way. Our guide there Saul was entertaining and we learned allot about Dublin. We saw Trinity College and multiple different churches, there are alot of churches.

Same church different angles.

The woodwork (furniture) was remarkable, dovetailed joints and claw foot legs …, just amazing. There were other rooms that talked about other Irish/Dublin highlights, like U2 and the Irish support of the ending of apartheid. At this point in the trip I was getting tired of picture taking so today was a day of slim pickings for photos. When I get Pegs pics I’ll put them in the gallery.

Sept 17th: Today we braved Dublin’s mass transit and went north to Howth, a small fishing village outside of Dublin. We got there without any issues, but the return trip was not so successful. We made it but took one wrong train and had to backtrack some. Someone was always there to set us in the right direction. Howth, pronounced there as How T, is truly my kind of place. Large fishing vessels, sailboats and friendly people. There is a cliff walk with some amazing views over the sea and across the bay into Dublin. Peg and I walked the area from the marina to the cliff walk enjoying all of the architecture and neighborhoods along the way. Once on the cliff walk near the lighthouse the wind was ferocious (maybe 25 MPH or better), hold on to anything not tied down (hat, scarf…). We stopped at a local pub for lunch, and could not have timed it better. While eating a storm passed by but we were dry and fed well. I had a Guiness, seafood chowder and fish and chips – all soo good. Peg went lighter with vegetable soup, Quesadilla and a Harp beer. I like Guinness but it definitely wasn’t the Guinness from the states, I liked this one even more. A bus ride back to the marina, shopping and then the trip back the the BnB. Tomorrow is an early day to make our 9AM flight.

This little area was so beautiful, and we met so many different people, from many different places. It was one highlight of this trip.

Sept 18th: The last day of our trip started very early 4:30am Dublin time (11:30 pm Richmond time). We gave ourselves 2+ hrs prior to boarding time to assure getting through security and customs. Yes, US customs is in Dublin’s airport, so once through that you are in the USA, technically.

Well we found out that 2 hrs early was a bit too early; we got through security and had to wait about 30 mins for customs (US Preauthorization) to open. Then wait another 30-45 mins to start boarding. Which was okay, as we could get breakfast and drinks prior to our flight. Our flight to Philly, Pa was 7hrs and 25 mins. We left Dublin at 9:30 am and got to Philly at 11:45 am, and we reached Richmond at 2:45pm. Uneventful but exhausting, we pushed ourselves to 7:30 before sleeping so we could get back on Richmond time. We had a wonderful trip and have so many memories.

Please take care, get out and see places, people and enjoy. I enjoyed sharing this vacation with everyone. Until next time, God Bless.