Hello from Dublin. We've been here for three days now and have been exploring this very cosmopolitan city. Yesterday we did a walking tour with a history graduate from Trinity College which was a great way to see the sights and gain some knowledge of Irish history. And very entertaining as well - highly recommend if you are coming to Dublin.
We started in Trinity College where it was raining....really?! It's been wet the last few days - they tell me this isn't normal!
We meandered around the streets and saw Old Parliament House, Temple Bar area, Dublin Castle, Town Hall and lots in between - all smattered with Irish history and interesting tidbits along the way. As it was Saturday morning there were small markets in various spots - James bought a kebab with horse meat at one of them....yep that's right, horse meat. Tasty too!
And did you know they like potatoes here in Ireland? Seventeen different varieties in every shop - true!
The previous day we went to see the Book of Kells - amazing. And this place - Wow! It's called The Long Room. Shelves and shelves of precious old books and manuscripts. Classical music playing, lovely smell, I could have stayed there all day and just looked. It's a working library, although you do have to make an appointment to use it - who wouldn't?!
Our guide yesterday told us that George Lucas modelled the Jedi library in Star Wars on the Long Room - look it up, it's true.
Yesterday afternoon the weather turned very cold and nasty so we walked back through St. Stephen's Green to out hotel. These lovely swans were being fed by a little asian girl and her family. There were both parents and eight young swans almost fully grown - they're called Mute Swans (they weren't...mute that is). Plus lots of other water birds with them.
Our time in Ireland has almost come to an end - it's our last day today. This really is a gorgeous country with very friendly and welcoming people. We had the most lovely talk with our taxi driver coming to the hotel - who couldn't understand why we would leave our lovely weather to come here!
Tomorrow we begin our journey home via an overnight stop in Paris and a few nights in Hong Kong. Thanks for keeping up with us here and on Facebook and Instagram. It's lovely to hear from you all - technology really does make the world a smaller place.
Love to all - see you soon. xx
