dublin

Well, we're back from Dublin and rather than do a huge blog entry that no bugger apart from me and Jayne will appreciate, I thought it better to show our holiday through a series of images that will hopefully convey the sense of adventure and fun we had.

Hopefully.........

Our ship, the "Norbank".

The all-you-can-eat breakfast. And did we!!!!!

Jayne - "Are we in Dublin yet?

Me - "No, we're just leaving Liverpool."

"Howya Dublin? What's d'bleedin' craic?"

Our room at the guesthouse. The same room I stayed in the last time I was here.

We went for a wander across the very-steep and cliff-ridden Howth Head on the first night to be confronted by these sorts of signs.

Jayne makes our butties for our first day out. We thought it was a good idea to save us a fortune on meals and food. You know what they say about the best-laid plans.......

Me outside Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin. The best €6 admission we paid.

A list of the rebels from the 1916 Rising who were executed by the British. We came away from Kilmainham feeling quite guilty about being British I think? What my country's done in Ireland during the past is nothing short of despicable.

The main hall in Kilmainham Gaol.

Probably Dublin's best know image - the Halfpenny Bridge seen from O'Connell Bridge.

Molly Malone. Huge tits. And I've always wondered did always look this clean and buxom in real life, and did she have all her own teeth?

Neither me nor Jayne were paying €1 to have our pictures taken with a side-show turn, when we could photograph him/her/it from the relative safety of many yards away.

Now, a little piece needs to be written about this. We booked on the Dublin Bus South Coast Tour which basically went down to Dun Laoghaire (where this pic was taken), through the millionaires mansions of Dalkey and Killiney, to the splender of Powerscourt Gardens in deepest County Wicklow. Our driver, Michael Mary Kelly, was the best laugh we had during our entire time in Dublin. We knew the drivers on these bus tours have all their banter planned out beforehand, but that was irrelevant. He was a genuinely entertaining and interesting bloke who had both me and Jayne in hysterics during our day out. Maybe it's a Dublin/Liverpool thing, but we were the only people on that bus who seemed to have a good time. And we sat downstairs.

Me and Jayne on the bus - a self portrait.

Powerscourt House.

Powerscourt Gardens - €8 a visit!

On Sunday night, we went for a walk along the entire length of the Poolbeg breakwater in Dublin harbour.

On Monday, we went for a train ride down to Greystones, where I took this little pic of Jayne.

Coming back towards Dublin on the train (DART - Dublin Area Rapid Transit), here's a view of Dublin Bay south of Bray.

The leaving of Dublin on Tuesday morning. See you again soon......

I've got some videos that are going up on YouTube very soon, but we took hundreds of photographs in Dublin, and it's a shame I can only post up so many. But we very much enjoyed our first holiday away. For me personally, it was good to come to Dublin, for the first time in many years, as a tourist, and not as someone's emotional punchbag.

It's still very expensive over there. We took €500, yet still spent more. Going to an Irish pub is one way to test the validity of an American Express Card that's for sure. Yet public transport was fairly inexpensive, and still the best way to get around.

Our digs cost us €260 for the four nights, and we'd go back certainly. Parking wasn't a problem either, as long as I parked Anya on one side of the road, and not the metered-other! Petrol cost a lot more than in the UK, which is like a role-reversal from previous years.

Tourists are a pain in the arse. I personally didn't think me and Jayne were? But for the Irish economy they're a necessary evil. I thought the attitude of some tourists (American or German probably) who we encountered was abysmal - no "please" or "thank you", or even a basic acknowledgment. Begging is rampant on Dublin's streets too, though if one looks at the clobber some of them are wearing, you wonder whether it's a part-time job because being a merchant banker isn't enough fun?

But all in all, we had a good time. Ireland 2010. Recommended :)