Since it had been over 10 years since our last visit to the Emerald Isle, we thought it might be a good idea to ease into our touring pace. We arrived in Galway, Ireland on Thursday, June 25 to warm temps and sunny skies. We enjoyed watching the locals getting their first taste of summer and sun in the public square. By the end of the day, their pasty-white legs and freckled noses had assumed a shade of red that rivaled their hair. We enjoyed the small town, slow-paced village feel of Galway before moving on to the more big-city pace of Dublin on Friday.
On the Ha' Penny Bridge Over the River Liffey
In Dublin, our B&B is near St. Stephen's Green which is within easy
walking distance of most of the sights. We took a tour of Trinity
College which is organized and led by the students. Our guide, a witty
young lady majoring in Arts and History, was a delight. The tour
continued with a viewing of The Book of Kells written in the late
eighth century by Irish monks. The tour ended in the Old Library which
contains 200,000 of the library's oldest books.
We spent the rest of the day strolling down O'Connell St., Dublin's
grandest promenade, and touring the Temple Bar area, one of the city's
trendy neighborhoods.
The next day we toured the Guinness Storehouse. We thought that since
we had partaken of so much of "Ireland's National Beverage", we should
check out the source of this wonderful elixir; we were not
disappointed -- especially since the tour included a free pint!
We experienced a chapter in Ireland's history when we toured the old
jail which held and executed some of the patriots who fought for Irish
independence from Britain.
At a tour of the Jameson (Irish whiskey) Distillery, we both were
chosen to participate in a special tasting panel at the end of the
tour. Eight tour members were asked to taste samples of Scotch, Irish
and American whiskies and vote for their favorite. Everyone preferred
the Irish whiskey except for Mike, who, being a native of Tennessee
and following his heart, favored the Jack Daniel's. However, to avoid
an international incident, he chose the Jameson Irish whiskey. We both
got diplomas for our efforts.
Graduation Day
Since it had been over 10 years since our last visit to the Emerald Isle, we thought it might be a good idea to ease into our touring pace. We arrived in Galway, Ireland on Thursday, June 25 to warm temps and sunny skies. We enjoyed watching the locals getting their first taste of summer and sun in the public square. By the end of the day, their pasty-white legs and freckled noses had assumed a shade of red that rivaled their hair. We enjoyed the small town, slow-paced village feel of Galway before moving on to the more big-city pace of Dublin on Friday.
this looks like so much fun - we're jealous. Barb's a bigger fan of Bushmill's over Jameson - and we both love that Guiness. Enjoyed the video.
ReplyDelete