Dublin- a cute capital with a small town feel

Dublin, the capital of the Republic of Ireland, is cute.  Not cute like every other town we visited, because it is their largest city and capital.  But it has a down-home feel that is very walkable.  Except at night when every person in the city, and probably 1/2 the country, go to drink in the pubs in the Temple Bar area!  Crowded is not the word I would use, because it doesn't do justice to the hordes:-).

There are tons of things to see in Dublin- I recommend a ghost tour- of course:-).  I went on the Gravedigger tour- it was fantastic!  Rich and Diana chose to stay and listen to music- which is everywhere!  We loved the music!  Every pub has music almost every night.  It was all good!  We expecially loved the traditional Irish music, and a couple times were able to see Irish dancing.

The city is bisected by the river Leffe, so there are lots of bridges.  Ireland also had the potatoe famine, and until you are in Ireland, you do not realise the devastation it caused.  There are memorials to this horrible event all over the country- and they are stark reminders of that devastation.

The people themselves are very friendly!   Even when I was driving, I only got honked at twice- both times in a roundabout:-).

Their buildings are vividly decorated, adding tons of color and character

The Ha'Penny bridge- totally cute!

Toasting Ireland with wine:-)  (Spanish Crianza)

The potato famine memorial is starkly realistic.  Set along the river in a well planted grove of trees, are statues of starving people.  The starving people would roam the cities, begging for food and a few coins to survive.

This particular statue is of a father carrying his child- probably the most stark statue of all

Molly Malone- a historical character with her own statue!  Forluck, you must touch her breasts.  as you can tell, everyone does it:-)

THE Temple bar in the Temple Bar area.  Filled with pubs, music, and people- every night!

Sheep are everywhere!  And little cute stuffed sheep toys are ubiquitous!

The bridges are all beautiful- at night they are lit up and reflect on the river

Tributes to Irish writers are everywhere.  Here is a tribute to Oscar Wilde

The Guiness factory has a fantastic tour!  You walkthrough the plan, see historical brewing machinery, learn to pour Guiness, and get to drink it!

Our certificates to pouring Guiness, with the glass of beer we poured!

Bridges are lit up and reflect on the river, really adding to the beauty.

Dublin castle- once the seat of English power, it is now an Irish government building

Christ Church

Library for the Book of Kells.  No photos were allowed of the Book of Kells, 

St. Patricks Cathedral

 The food in Ireland was hearty!  Fish and Chips, Irish stew, bangers and mash- it was all delicious!

I loved the Gravedigger tour!  It was manned by a ghoul and a grave robber- each telling scary, yet funny ghost stories!

And buskers!  Who doesn't love buskers!

Epilogue: On Wednesday, Sept 21, driving to see a movie, I kept wanting to shift with my left hand, and kept veering the car to the left:-).  Funny how we adapt so quickly.  Now to re-adapt to driving on the "wrong" side of the road:-)

Ireland! A most beautiful country!

Ireland!  A trip to Ireland was never really on our radar, even though everyone who has been told us how beautiful it was.  Not until our beloved Diana said "I want to go to Ireland" did we even think of it as a destination.  With a little research, we found an incredible fare- so we booked it!  Then we researched hotels- a cheap country it is not! But we were commited so research we did, and found some incredible hotels that we loved.

The only scary part of planning this trip was getting to all the places we wanted to visit. Not known for an extensive rail system, and our aversion to buses, we were told our best option was to rent a car.  Their (affordable) cars are stick shift- which is not a problem because both Rich and I drive a stick at home.  But they drive on the other side of the road- so stress set in!  After a couple days though, we were zipping through those tiny roads like a local, often commenting that the slow drivers were beginners:-).

Me at the helm of our Jetta!  Learning to drive on the left, with steering wheel and gears on the right was scary yet fun!

The second big worry was the beer.  We are not beer drinkers, and the one time I had Guiness I thought I would croke.  But after arriving, getting settled in our room, we walked across the street and ordered a Guiness- 1/2 pint, to just say we did.  to our awe- it was delicious!!!  So we were set:-)

We took our 14 days and traveled around the entire country, using various towns as a base: Blarney- on the east coast, Kenmare- on the southern coast, and Galway on the west coast.  and of course Dublin!  I will write a post for each of the areas as they each deserve their own post.

As to Ireland itself- everything we were told was true- it is incredibly beautiful!  Every shade of green you can imagine- of course that comes from rain:-).  But we were lucky, it rained a total of 3 days, and often at night.  The rain did not hinder us at all, in in fact, our first trip to Kenmare it kept us in doors in a pub, listening to music and getting to know the locals!

I hope my blog posts do the country the justice it deserves.  After this trip, we will go back.  Don't know when, but it is now on our radar, and well worth the time for each of you to visit!

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Buenos Aires- it evokes images of giant steaks, tango, friendly but emotional people, a European city with a Latin flair!  These are all true!  But also true- BA is a giant city with unbelievable traffic, everything is far away, and public transport gets you stuck in traffic. But also true- BA is a city of districts, each with very distinct characteristics.  This is what makes BA such an increcible destination.

A city of contrasts, we hated it, we loved it, we were indifferent to it, and now, we can't wait to go back!