Belfast & Dublin

One of the impetuses for my family’s vacation to Ireland was Rock Werther, the concert festival in Belgium. This will bet detailed a bit in a later post, but Stephen and I had to get to Dublin to catch a flight. On the way, we stopped at Belfast.

And again, as with my last time in Belfast, family was met, but no pictures were taken. I look back on this in disbelief. And regret.

We pull into my uncle Sean’s about noon, and I’m completely surprised with myself for being able to figure out which direction to go, let alone finding his specific house. The area is a maze, and I was going off my memory which is spotty at best (as well as being there only once before).

After getting lunch Laura heads back to Ballycastle and Stephen and I take in some of the sights.

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After spending the night at my uncle Sean’s we headed down to Dublin. Since we were to only have one day in Dublin, and wanting to make the most of it, we caught the train down instead of the bus. It was a little bit more expensive, but also much quicker. And then there was this wonderful sign in the washroom.

In Dublin we took the bus tour which does a loop around many of the main sights and attractions. When I was in Dublin 3 years ago my dad and I did the same thing, only we never got to finish it.

bel and dub 04There’s the Post Office (a major site in Irish history) Trinity College and the Book Of Kells, St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin Castle, and so many more spots of interest, such as this (rather poor picture of) Molly Malone statue.

We took the Guinness tour. Here we are having our pints at the top of the storehouse at the end of the tour.

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That evening we checked out some of the pubs in the Temple Bar area. It was loud and lively.

bel and dub 07A late night, and up at 5:30 for a flight. Which we missed. So we spent the day in the airport, catching up on emails, sorting pictures to post on facebook and in my case writing up a couple of blog posts. And the worst airport breakfast to be had was at the Stone Plate or something. It was so bad the lack of toast simply was a minor inconvenience by comparison.