Vacationing in Ireland - The Good, the Bad, and the Constant Rain

     Mike says it was my idea to go to Ireland.  I say he didn't need much convincing.  It was great fun in the planning stages and less so in the execution.  So come along with us on our cold, rainy holiday.

We're off.

     We left Philly in the afternoon and arrived in Dublin the next day at the crack of dawn.  We decided to stay in center city in an apartment instead of a hotel.  Our landlord accepted Paypal and credit cards, but he made it known that he preferred cash.  This, combined with the view from our living room window, made me question what we had gotten into.

An ugly view, located right next to an elevated commuter rail line, a few blocks from a night club that blasted dance music till 3:00 a.m. - win, win, win! 

        
     Mike said it would be fine since our landlord had a decent reputation on VRBO since 2012.  The apartment was directly across the street from the fire station and emergency squad and the police department.
     "Who would try monkey business a few feet from the police station?" he asked.
     Mike was right.  The landlord was a nice guy.  We got a discount for paying cash, and our host waived the security deposit.  The apartment was clean and bug free.  The view was par for the course in the city and didn't indicate that the situation was unsafe.  As far as the noise goes - we wanted to stay in center city, a few blocks from Trinity College during the week of partying before classes begin.  We had to own that one.
     We pushed hard the first day figuring we would go to bed early and wake up adjusted to the time difference.  We walked for hours inspecting the neighborhood.

Mike at Ha'penny Bridge
This is a pedestrian bridge over the River Liffey built in 1816.

I suppose every town has duck boats.  They make you wear Viking hats with horns on this tour.

Streets are mobbed until 10:00 or 11:00 at night.

This is a beautiful mall at St. Stephen's Green.  There is a supermarket in the basement.  

View of a Church Just Off Grafton Street 
Grafton Street is a pedestrian street with shops, restaurants, and live entertainment.  The weather looks pleasant, doesn't it?  It wasn't long after this that the temperatures dropped and the skies opened up for the next six days.  They say the Irish left Ireland because of the potato famine and oppressive English rule.  I say the crappy weather drove them out. 

   

     We decided to have fish and chips for dinner on our first night.

I know you can identify the fish and the fries.  The green stuff is mushy peas.  They were tasty.

Sláinte!

   

     Was it the pint of Harp?  Was it the fried food or the exhaustion?  The next two days were spent alternately sleeping and visiting the bathroom.  The craic (Irish for fun or good times) improved, but the weather didn't.
     Mike didn't like the food, and I didn't like the weather.  The one thing we couldn't complain about was the people.  From the cabbie who didn't want to accept any money for driving us to a doctor's office to the little, old lady who asked if she could point us in the right direction because we had a lost look, they were just so nice.