Tag Archives: Howth

May 25 2014
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Traveling

Ireland: The End

 

Sorry to have left everyone hanging. I had intended on writing the last blog post in the airport, but there was an incident with a lost passport and a long, very stressful, wait in the preadmittance/customs area and then a mad dash to a plane that had been held just for us. So…no last day post.

But not to worry! I have woken up at the ridiculous hour of 3a, and can now conclude our adventures.

The day before we headed out, we headed back to Howth and the King Sitric. Since the family had travel problems on the way out, we wanted to be closer. And besides that, Kyle and I had loved it there.

Unfortunately, it looked like this:

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Which, really, doesn’t look all that different. But it was! So cold. And rainy. 

After a lovely lunch at Cafe East, Kyle took Mom, Larry and Grandma into Dublin on the train so they could see a bit of the city. I don’t think it was their favorite part of the trip, but they were good sports like always. Unfortunately, I stayed behind to get some things done, so I don’t have any pictures of those adventures.

 

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Kyle with his Guinness (and new Irish wool sweater!) at Cafe East. 

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Cafe East. Isn’t it darling?

When they came back we had a lovely dinner at the Abbey Tavern, because apparently we really like our vacations to come around full circle.

And then we came home. Which was eventful, but turned out well. All safe and sound, ready to enjoy the Memorial Day weekend.

 

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May 16 2014
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Personal Life, Traveling

Ireland Trip: Day 1

Adventures away!

I haven’t mentioned it around the interwebs a lot, but Kyle and I are in Ireland for the next week. We were supposed to meet my Mom, Grandma and uncle in Philly yesterday and all catch the same flight over, but their flight out of Detroit was delayed and they landed just as the doors were closing for our Dublin flight. Hoping that they would make it, Kyle and I were aboard and so we had an extra day to ourselves.

Since the first stop on our originally scheduled adventures was over 3 hours away and we needed to pick up the rest of the fam the next morning, we followed Rick Steve’s advice for staying in Dublin and headed outside the city walls to the small fishing village of Howth, about 30 minutes away.

None of his recommended places to stay we’re available, but we still managed to find a quaint B and B with the best view.

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This is what I got to wake up to!

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King Sitric’s. Restaurant, bar, cafe and lodging.

Yesterday we decided to head into Dublin as we originally planned. We took the train in, which was nice and easy, then walked over to see the Book of Kells. Being late afternoon, it was pretty busy and the people there seemed exceptionally pushy, but it was still pretty cool. Extra cool because there was an exhibit on Brian Boru featuring the art of the same people who made the movie Secret of the Kells.

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In the longroom at the old library at Trinity College. It smelled so nice, like old books and knowledge.

Then last night we (sort of accidentally) went to a rather nice dinner and a show at the Abbey Tavern back in Howth. We thought we were just going to a local pub for fish and chips and some music, but it was a whole prefix menu with traditional Irish songs sung and even some Irish dancing. It was a bit strange to be thrust into the middle of, but it was nice experience all told. And the food was amazing.

Today we woke up early to enjoy the east coast sunrise. We’ll eat breakfast then head to the airport to pick up the rest of the bunch, then to Derry and Northern Ireland. Hip, hooray!

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