A long shower, and a hot meal cooking on the stove...

At Dublin castle.
Part of the Guiness Factory compound


Love from Dublin!!

Home again, home again, jiggety jig. I miss being on holiday already. I miss Europe and the magic of country Ireland, the splendor and excitement of London, and the just feel good - good time of Dublin. But, at the moment, I'm just so damned glad to be home!

After something like 36 hours of travel...we left Dublin by bus at 5:30p on Sunday. Arrived at Shannon airport around 10:30pm...camped out on benches until 5am...then hopped a plane back to Dublin!!! ACK! To catch another plane, 3 hours later to Chicago...then 3 hours after that...finally, back to Denver. B. and I swung for a cab. It was expensive, and worth it. We've been home for two hours now - we're mostly unpacked - have had hot showers, have the SECOND load of laundry going, dinner's cooking on the stove, and there's a fresh bottle of wine opened (after all, holidays not REALLY over until 10am tomorrow!) :)

Dublin was wonderful. On Saturday it rained. All day. But I had a terrific "traditional Irish meal" at The Celt, just around the corner from our hostel. Beef and Guiness stew with chips, followed by a Bailey's Bread Pudding. We attempted to catch Oscar Wilde's The Ideal Husband at the Abbey (also just around the corner from our hostel) but it was sold out (not such good luck with the theatre going this trip). As it turned out - we were pretty comatose from the meal anyway so we called it an early night. Which was fine, that being the last good sleep we'd get for the next two days.

Then, on Sunday - we did the double decker bus sight seeing tour of Dublin. I know they sound cheesy, and I've always been pretty disdainful of that sort of touristy thing. I've changed my tune now though. Especially if you've just got a day or two - it's such an amazing way to get to see all of the city and to hear just enough bits of the history to make you want to learn more. We did hop off at Kilmainhain Gaol (I'm sure I'm butchering the spelling, I'll look it up later) - a Victorian prison that was in use until 1924. The tour was fascinating, and I started to learn a lot more about the Irish political situation. Did you know that the Irish flag has the most beautiful meaning. The green stands for the Republicans, the Orange for the Royalists, and the white in between signifies peace between the two. I love it!

At any rate - the tours were great - and since we did the one in London we got cheap tickets for the one in Dublin, AND your ticket is good for 24 hours so you can also use the bus as your public transport a little bit. On both trips our tour guides were great, very informative - with great senses of humour and anecdotal knowledge. In Dublin he even sang Molly Malone for us. :)

Also - in Dublin - also, ridiculously cheesy in appearance but an altogether pleasing hostel experience was Paddy's Palace. It's right downtown on the North (I think) side of the River Liffey next to the bus station...very centrally located, cheap, with good amenities, and super friendly people. They absolutely saved us, particularly Daniel. Thanks Daniel! Ailish suggested that we bring hershey's chocolate and give it out, since they can't get it there. We did that and it was much appreciated and met with smiles.

In the next couple of days (weeks?) as B. processes pictures, I'll be posting some of his more artistic shots and probably reflecting more on the highlights...the things that are still percolating. But for the time being, we're home - I'm going to go fold some laundry...and talk to you all soon! Love and Miss you!! Thanks again for reading!