We were not able to have quite the restful New Years' Eve that we had anticipated due to the revelry at Captain America's near our hotel. Sleep finally came around 3 AM when the merriment subsided. Unfortunately, our wake up call (we finally discovered how to get ourselves up without an alarm) came only a few hours later at 7 AM and we quickly got ready to catch the 8 AM tram into City Centre.
We walked down a quiet O'Connell street and stopped at a Spar convenience store for an early morning snack, including a 2 liter bottle of Sprite Free (which is shaped better for portability than American 2 liter bottles but still looks fairly ridiculous when we take a sip in public), a granola bar, and some chocolate. We then headed toward the Tourist Office where we would meet our tour bus on the street. Our tour guide, John, guided us up into the coach bus where we took a seat behind a cute couple from the Netherlands. To our right were a pair of girls from Korea and a pair of German women.
The tour set off around 9:00 AM by driving south through Dublin. Though we had walked the city a considerable amount in the previous two days, it was quite nice to view it from the warmth and height of a coach bus and listen to John discuss various monuments in his Irish accent. He was a humorous and pleasant narrator who would burst into random Irish songs, as well as tell historical antidotes. We stopped a few more times to pick up passengers and at one point two loud Italian couples came on and sat behind us. From then on, we had to perk up our ears to hear above the Italian ruckus behind us. At one point, Chad asked if all Italians were this rude.
We drove out of Dublin through the Glencree Valley before stopping at the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation around 10:30 AM for a cappuccino and a rest. The Centre was founded in 1974 in response to violence in Irish society so that people would have a place to facilitate dialogue and utilize resources for bringing about peace. Prior to the Centre being established, the area was the home of Operation Shamrock, a temporary refugee centre for German and Polish war orphans. Next to where the Centre is housed is a German Military Cemetary which contains 134 bodies of Germans who died from navigational errors, running out of fuel, or who washed up on one of Ireland's coasts during World War II.
After our cappuccino, we reboarded the bus and set off on the winding and narrow back roads. We passed through the Sally Gap and stopped high in the Wicklow Mountains for some picturesque views of the mountain rivers and wild bogs. It was rather foggy, as usual in Ireland, but luckily the fog cleared enough for us to see quite far in the distance. Several films have been set in the Wicklow Mountains, most recently P.S. I Love You, so we stopped for a photo opportunity on the bridge where they shot a significant scene. We also stopped to look down on the Luggala Estate, also known as the Guinness Estate because it was given to one of Arthur Guinness' daughters as a wedding gift. We were informed that the beautiful lake, Lough Tay, on the large estate had white sand flown in from France to create a "head of foam" at the top because they wanted it to look like a pint of Guinness. The lake actually did look as dark and deep as a freshly poured pint of Guinness, all cloudy and such.
We then drove to Glendalough where we walked through some monastic ruins and a lovely old cemetary. At one point John was demonstrating the accoustics of a very old Church that was still intact and two other Irish gentleman were passing by. They all began to sing a rousing Irish song into the Church and it must have carried for miles because it sounded much more like 30 adorable Irish men in tweed caps than just three.
After the ruins, we walked a brisk twnety minute stroll through the Wicklow Mountains National Park. Despite it being a chilly 35 degrees, everywhere we looked we saw Irish families exploring with their little children or hiking along in intense sporting gear. It was nice to see that the Irish take advantage of their lovely national parks which are free to visit throughout the year.
When everyone was back to the bus (we almost lost a few), we headed off to Avoca, where the television series Ballykissangel was filmed. Although Chad and I have never seen this show, we were nonetheless excited to be visiting a famed Irish town. Avoca was just as quaint as the television most likely portrays it, with just one main street for the whole town. We passed the famous Post Office which still looks exactly as it was depicted in the show and then parked our motorbus. Our whole bus of 45 were to eat at the same little lunch place so Chad and I scurried off the bus as quickly as we could to get a good table and order fast.
After perusing the menu, Chad decided to try out a ham sandwich while I chose to order a toasted brie and cranberry sandwich. Our food came quickly since we ordered so promptly (yay us!). Unfortunately, my brie and cranberry sandwich was not what I was expecting since it was quite bitter tasting brie (boo me and my pickiness). However Chad enjoyed his ham sandwich which came with pickle relish and cheese, as well as slaw. Since I was not full from my sandwich, we ordered a bowl of Bailey's Irish Cream ice cream to fill us up. But when it arrived, it tasted not at all like Bailey's Irish Cream. Upon further scruitiny of our taste buds and the menu, we concluded that the waitress must have been confused and brough us Irish Stout ice cream instead of Irish Cream ice cream. This did not tickle either of our fancies, but since I can not say no to a bowl of ice cream and Chad is not fond of beer, I finished it off on my own. It left a terribly unpleasant taste in my mouth, I must say, but I survived.
Chad will recount the rest of our day 3 in his next post since I am beginning to get a little sleepy (we still seem to be on Ireland time - six hours ahead of central time), which means we go to bed around 9 PM our time or 3 AM Irish time and wake up around 6 AM our time and 12 PM Irish time. It is quite a conundrum.
We walked down a quiet O'Connell street and stopped at a Spar convenience store for an early morning snack, including a 2 liter bottle of Sprite Free (which is shaped better for portability than American 2 liter bottles but still looks fairly ridiculous when we take a sip in public), a granola bar, and some chocolate. We then headed toward the Tourist Office where we would meet our tour bus on the street. Our tour guide, John, guided us up into the coach bus where we took a seat behind a cute couple from the Netherlands. To our right were a pair of girls from Korea and a pair of German women.
The tour set off around 9:00 AM by driving south through Dublin. Though we had walked the city a considerable amount in the previous two days, it was quite nice to view it from the warmth and height of a coach bus and listen to John discuss various monuments in his Irish accent. He was a humorous and pleasant narrator who would burst into random Irish songs, as well as tell historical antidotes. We stopped a few more times to pick up passengers and at one point two loud Italian couples came on and sat behind us. From then on, we had to perk up our ears to hear above the Italian ruckus behind us. At one point, Chad asked if all Italians were this rude.
We drove out of Dublin through the Glencree Valley before stopping at the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation around 10:30 AM for a cappuccino and a rest. The Centre was founded in 1974 in response to violence in Irish society so that people would have a place to facilitate dialogue and utilize resources for bringing about peace. Prior to the Centre being established, the area was the home of Operation Shamrock, a temporary refugee centre for German and Polish war orphans. Next to where the Centre is housed is a German Military Cemetary which contains 134 bodies of Germans who died from navigational errors, running out of fuel, or who washed up on one of Ireland's coasts during World War II.
After our cappuccino, we reboarded the bus and set off on the winding and narrow back roads. We passed through the Sally Gap and stopped high in the Wicklow Mountains for some picturesque views of the mountain rivers and wild bogs. It was rather foggy, as usual in Ireland, but luckily the fog cleared enough for us to see quite far in the distance. Several films have been set in the Wicklow Mountains, most recently P.S. I Love You, so we stopped for a photo opportunity on the bridge where they shot a significant scene. We also stopped to look down on the Luggala Estate, also known as the Guinness Estate because it was given to one of Arthur Guinness' daughters as a wedding gift. We were informed that the beautiful lake, Lough Tay, on the large estate had white sand flown in from France to create a "head of foam" at the top because they wanted it to look like a pint of Guinness. The lake actually did look as dark and deep as a freshly poured pint of Guinness, all cloudy and such.
We then drove to Glendalough where we walked through some monastic ruins and a lovely old cemetary. At one point John was demonstrating the accoustics of a very old Church that was still intact and two other Irish gentleman were passing by. They all began to sing a rousing Irish song into the Church and it must have carried for miles because it sounded much more like 30 adorable Irish men in tweed caps than just three.
After the ruins, we walked a brisk twnety minute stroll through the Wicklow Mountains National Park. Despite it being a chilly 35 degrees, everywhere we looked we saw Irish families exploring with their little children or hiking along in intense sporting gear. It was nice to see that the Irish take advantage of their lovely national parks which are free to visit throughout the year.
When everyone was back to the bus (we almost lost a few), we headed off to Avoca, where the television series Ballykissangel was filmed. Although Chad and I have never seen this show, we were nonetheless excited to be visiting a famed Irish town. Avoca was just as quaint as the television most likely portrays it, with just one main street for the whole town. We passed the famous Post Office which still looks exactly as it was depicted in the show and then parked our motorbus. Our whole bus of 45 were to eat at the same little lunch place so Chad and I scurried off the bus as quickly as we could to get a good table and order fast.
After perusing the menu, Chad decided to try out a ham sandwich while I chose to order a toasted brie and cranberry sandwich. Our food came quickly since we ordered so promptly (yay us!). Unfortunately, my brie and cranberry sandwich was not what I was expecting since it was quite bitter tasting brie (boo me and my pickiness). However Chad enjoyed his ham sandwich which came with pickle relish and cheese, as well as slaw. Since I was not full from my sandwich, we ordered a bowl of Bailey's Irish Cream ice cream to fill us up. But when it arrived, it tasted not at all like Bailey's Irish Cream. Upon further scruitiny of our taste buds and the menu, we concluded that the waitress must have been confused and brough us Irish Stout ice cream instead of Irish Cream ice cream. This did not tickle either of our fancies, but since I can not say no to a bowl of ice cream and Chad is not fond of beer, I finished it off on my own. It left a terribly unpleasant taste in my mouth, I must say, but I survived.
Chad will recount the rest of our day 3 in his next post since I am beginning to get a little sleepy (we still seem to be on Ireland time - six hours ahead of central time), which means we go to bed around 9 PM our time or 3 AM Irish time and wake up around 6 AM our time and 12 PM Irish time. It is quite a conundrum.