Dingle...as fun as it sounds...

Upon arriving in Dingle we were up for a pint and some lunch and stopped in at a great little seaside pub. On the bay, a pint of Guiness, seafood chowder and the Vicar at the bar....oh Ireland...After lunch we parked in the village and went out in search of a b&b and came across a man and a donkey cart. At first we thought he was a tourist gimmick so I went to have a chat and take a picture or two, but uopn further investigation, learned that he was just a guy living on the road with his donkey, Connagh. Thats what he does...wanders around from town to town, doing odd jobs in exchange for food and pasture..so there you go..."not all who wander are lost" as J.R Tolkien says. We found a beautiful b&b (Quayside B&B) overlooking the harbor and frankly it was one of the nicest places we had stayed yet...the owner was a nice young lad from Dublin (I even picked up the accent!) and his wife who was born and raised there. Decided to have a looke around and found a great repubulican pub just within stumbling distance of  the Quayside which was totally empty but for the da, myself the barkeep and one other regular.The walls were covered in everything IRA. We had a pint, watched the nuns stroll past (REALLY!) and then asked the barkeep about music at night...he said to come back around nine and there would be some good trad music. After some smoked makerel fish and chips we headed back to the pub (O'Flagherty's) and the place was packed! Luckily there were a few seats near the action and the music was great...one fella played about 4 instruments while a woman played a wooden flute. After the set, the instrument guy walked around and collected empty glasses! Turned out he was the owner as well as the entertainment. When the intermission started, we decided to walk about town to see what else we could find . We learned that the meek hardware store during the day becomes the local local at night complete with blinds closed and nails and hammers put aside for pints and shots of whiskey. Ended up in the Dingle pub for some young lads playing trad and a good night had by all.    

On the loose in Dublin town...

I have to say that my dad is one hell of a trooper! After nearly getting killed riding a bike and almost falling off a 300 foot cliff, I must say I was a bit concerned on how the rest of the trip was going to go. Needless to say by the end of our tour, I will tell you this: I never met anyone who had never been overseas who fit in like a comfy pair of jeans and who let everything that came his way gently flow over him. Anyway after tripping around on the Aran Islands, we were aboard the train from Galway back to Dublin. Train travel in Ireland is so civilized! Relaxing, comfortable seats, friendly folk all around and of course a bar on board for your afternoon Guiness. After a few days of rest we headed into the city centre of Dublin like kids in awe and amazement at this great town. We decided to be gorby tourists and did the hop on hop off bus thing which is actually a pretty good way to get about and lets face it, who's going to see you that you know anyway! The tour bus trundled about and gave us a good little history of the place and our first hop off was the Kilmainham Gaol. An intense Victorian jail which housed many men, women and children, mostly poor and their only crime mostly being Irish Catholic and fighting for independence from the British rule. So after some hardcore stories of the uprisings, we decided the next hop off would be the Guiness factory. Imagine 500 acres in the middle of the city belonging to a brewery! Ahh the Irish know their historical monuments and how to preserve them alright...The highlight is the 360 degree pub at the top with grand views of the city and of course a big free pint of FRESH Guiness. Did I mention that the Guiness does taste better in Ireland? After a lovely meal in the cafe there we started out for a good walk and wander around the Liffey river, Ha Penny Bridge and eventually into the Temple Bar district where we found a great pub and our first taste of traditional Irish music. By that time our fresh Guiness had worn off and it was time to replenish our iron levels as they were quite low by now...and you know whats good for that? You guessed it...the G word...I think around 10 pm we decided to stagger off to find the bus...got a bit lost and got friendly with a local who pointed us in the right direction (while telling his life story...) and arrived safe in Balleycullen. My daughter and her lad were a bit concerned but relieved when we showed up giggling and singing Dublins praise..."dirty old town...dirty old town.." To be continued...