Ireland Trip Begins

We left Saskatoon on Thursday afternoon, and there were no problems with the flights being late or connections missed. Our biggest complaint was the Toronto to Ireland plane was an old, never updated, 747. There was only the one TV screen. This would have been a bigger problem if the entertainment supplied was worth watching - The Fast and The Furious, followed by Galaxy Quest didn't draw my attention. So I got to rest on the way to Ireland.

We arrived at Dublin airport at 8:10 am on Friday, got our baggage (after filing reports for lost luggage, the golf clubs did turn up after all). We made our way to the hotel, dropped our luggage (it was too early to check in) and went out for a full Irish breakfast (including Guinness). After a bit of wandering around (the photo is Dave with Myron and Wendy in St Stephen's Green) we returned to the hotel and checked in. A short nap and a shower refreshed us to go out and wander a bit more (finding more Guiness), then Myron and Wendy and us met Dale Linn and Wendy and we all went out for a seafood dinner. Yum! have to like these island nations and their seafood.

After a night's sleep (finally) we got up, breakfasted, and wandered a little more. We bought lunch at Marks & Spencers food hall and ate it in St Stephens Green, then met our bus tour. It started with Jameson's distillery tour and whiskey tasting, followed by a "musical pub crawl" - 2 musicians (one played the button accordian, the other played a guitar and sang) told us all about Irish music with the appropriate tunes. This took place in two different pubs. (The small photos illustrate this). The bus dropped us at our hotel after 6, we cleaned up and went to the welcome reception at Mansion House (the Lord Mayor of Dublin's digs) until 8:30, then out for a great Italian dinner (with a group of 10, starting with the 6 from last night, plus 2 Ontario couples). On to another pub, then Dave and I came home. The others continued on to one last pub.

Basically, so far we've had a good time eating and drinking!