Scott, Janet, and I drove to Wales and the port where we hopped on the ferry to Dublin. The ride was pretty short, maybe two hours but, let me tell you, those waters are very choppy! When I stood up to walk anywhere I staggered all over the place. But we made it safe and sound and immediately set out to find our hotel and get settled.
The hotel, Harrington Hall, was really nice and pretty with spacious rooms. A wonderful place to stay, especially since it was a little chilly and they provided us with hot tea! Woo! After resting a bit we decided to get out and start seeing the city.
These were taken in St. Stephen's Green, the famous park that was right near our hotel. The statue in the middle is James Joyce the famous author.
The rest of the pictures are from our bus road around the city. I wish I could tell you the names of more of the buildings, but honestly, I have no idea. I just thought they were pretty when I snapped their pictures.
A little street for shopping (heaven!), a demonstration/protest, and a pretty little pond
Cool masks and a church
We found the Guinness Distillery!
Scott next to the huge door, a sign describing the ingredients of beer (in this case, hops) and how they are used, and a huge vat
the development of Guinness, Scott taking his "free" pint, and the view from the rooftop terrace at t he brewery
It offered some fantastic views as it was situated almost in the middle of Dublin
Battlements and a castle nestled in the park
scenes from the top deck:
one of the most sought after places to stay in all of Dublin (left)
the main promenade in Dublin, O'Connell Street
Christ Church Cathedral, where Mozart played
we attended a beautiful service, where I may have felt out of place due to the Anglican background
The Jameson Distillery, where my phone decided to jump into the toilet and die
Trinity College of Dublin, home of the Book of the Kells (the oldest manuscripts of the gospels)
And here begins the pictures from Galway, where I traveled alone by train without a cell phone. Talk about dangerous. But somehow I survived. Galway is beautiful and located on the west coast of Ireland and one of the big cities that remains true to its Old Irish (Gaelic) heritage. Unfortunately, I learned that traveling alone is not conducive to taking a lot of pictures. Sorry about that =)
An old church I saw on my wanderings throughout the city
The Spanish arch (right)
The river Corrib that surrounds the Galway Cathedral
The Galway Cathedral
My side trip to the Aran Islands, a beautiful place with beautiful homes
an old abandoned church's ruins
notice the trademark stone fences that mark territory, no mortar is used which is unbelievable considering how long these fences have lasted; a nice horse I befriended
beautiful
The cows relaxing, the famous sweater shop and home of the Aran Sweater (aka fisherman sweater) that is famous because the wool was unscoured and therefore somehow water resistant
And that was my trip to Ireland. I apologize again for not having as many pictures and not knowing some of the names. I'll try to update soon with the rest of my trip, namely everything from England!
