More Irish Memories

While my Ireland scrapbook is off the shelf I think I will share a few of the pages with you. After touring London, Edinburgh, the Lake District and a bit of Wales, we boarded the ferry to Ireland from the Welsh island of Anglesey.

I wrote in my journal that I didn't explore the ferry much because of the zig-zag swaying motion of the boat on the Irish Sea. As I remember it we arrived in Dublin after about 3 hours, were bundled into a coach and delivered at our Dublin hotel sometime in the early evening. (It stayed daylight until almost 10 at night.)

Everyone equiped themselves with a map of the city. Look closely and you will see Trinity College somewhere near the center. Our hotel was located across the street from this magnificent church.

On Wednesday June 10th I wrote in my journal "We are in Dublin tonight. The hotel is across the street from Christchurch. It's 11:00 pm and the church bells are tolling the hour....In all of the hotels we have stayed in the windows open for air. Here in Dublin, which has a temperature near the frost point tonight, our windwos are closed but might as well be open for all the air still coming through them." The wind whistling through the windows just added to the romance of the trip for me....and caused me to bundle up under the blankets as well!

After breakfast the next morning we were off on our guided city tour. These tours are great because they give you a fine overview of the city as well as help you get a general sort of map in your head. Having a good sense of direction is key to feeling comfortable when setting out on foot with only a map for guidance later.

First stop was St Patrick's Cathedral. (remember this is my first trip abroad, my picture taking improved as well as making sure to grab any interesting brochures for reading back in the room later) The picture of the door hardware is from the huge wooden doors leading into the cathedral.
Next we drove through the city centre. We will have the chance to explore it on foot in the in the afternoon. If you've seen the indie movie 'Once' you will have seen Grafton Street as well.

Here are some more pictures of Dublin streets.


We also drove through beautiful Phoenix Park. The Papal cross was erected for the visit of Pope John Paul in 1979. One million people attended an open air mass he gave here.

This last picture is of our wonderful guide with some of my fellow travelers crowded close not to miss anything she had to say about our last location with her....Trinity College.

Which brings me to the point of yesterday's postcard Friday post.

More trip memories tomorrow?