When Abe scheduled a meeting with a client in Dublin a couple of weeks ago we looked into taking everyone and making it a weekend trip. Thanks to Ryanair we were able to fly very cheaply the day AFTER dad. Mom was a little nervous but other than a half-hour delay the short flight went very well and we arrived at the Dublin airport to meet dad with no problems.
Dublin has a nice feel to it. We liked it except for the crazy streets. Thank goodness for GPS to get us around.
Dublin has a nice feel to it. We liked it except for the crazy streets. Thank goodness for GPS to get us around.
We spent all day Friday and Saturday covering as much
of the eastern part of Ireland as we could.
We visited Malahide Castle where we had a delicious breakfast in the cafe
inside the castle and took a guided tour.
This castle was owned and lived in by The Talbot family up until the 1970's.
of the eastern part of Ireland as we could.
We visited Malahide Castle where we had a delicious breakfast in the cafe
inside the castle and took a guided tour.
This castle was owned and lived in by The Talbot family up until the 1970's.
After visiting the castle we drove on along the coast to the port-town of Howth where we took about a 2 mile hike along the cliffs and around the end of the peninsula.These thorny bushes with the yellow flowers grow wild all over here are called gorse. They smell just like coconut and remind me of Summer.
Saturday we drove further up the coast and found a great park for the kids to play at.
When we had driven for a couple of hours we came across a golf course Abe about wept over, it was so breathtaking. We got out to take pictures and found a walkway that led down to a little private beach that we played at for a while and where Sadie found a starfish that we enjoyed handing around and then eventually sent back into the ocean. I've decided Sadie may be a marine biologist when she grows up, she loves the oceans and the animals in it. 
The kids begged and begged to bring some of the rocks from the beach back with them to England. After enough begging we eventually caved in and let them take some only to have all the kids bags searched through security at the airport and the rocks confiscated. McKay was so crushed he cried all the way down to the gate. Later today we discovered a few they had overlooked so all is well.
When we arrived back in Dublin we decided to visit the National Botanical Gardens. They were beautiful.
5 comments:
Wow, good for you for taking advantage of this great time!!!! You're braver than me Gretchen...to take all the kids on the plane alone :)! It looks beautiful!
So great that you were able to go and take advantage of the weekend to see the beautiful Emerald Isle while it is so close!
The rock episode made me smile... we had a similar incident with Kaden, a walking stick and a Park Ranger while hiking Timp cave... poor Kade could hardly see the beautiful view through the tears of mourning.
It's official:
I'm jealous. Before I was just plain happy for you, but Ireland? That is someplace I've always wanted to go. You all look great!
Gretchen you and Abe look so good! that one picture of Abe by himself reminds me so much of grandpa Knell. Love and miss you!
That is so awesome that you guys ALL got to go to Ireland, what an amazing experience for your kids! I am so so jealous. The pictures are incredible and you look as beautiful as ever. I'm glad a few rocks made it home. I still have a pretty big rock that I took from the great wall of china... :)
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