It means “a hundred thousand welcomes” in Gaelic. And what a welcoming it has been! We’re a few days into the trip and Ireland is proving to be quite a gorgeous place. After picking up our car at the airport we drove into Dublin and checked in. The next two days were filled with exploration- St. Stephen’s Green, walking along Grafton Street, Christ Church Cathedral, and taking a tour of Trinity College to see the Book of Kells. I also had the opportunity to try blood pudding! It kind of tasted like spiced minced meat…
A trip to Dublin would not be complete without a visit to the Guiness Storehouse, where I learned to pour the perfect pint of Guiness and proudly finished an entire pint of Guiness in one sitting. (For those who know me, that’s an incredible feat!) To say that I felt barfy afterward is a bit of an understatement.
Then it was off to Belfast, stopping at Newgrange Neolithic burial site and Mellifont Abbey (both incredible sites) before crossing the border into Northern Ireland.
Today we took a black cab tour with “Paddy Campbell’s Belfast Famous Black Cab Tours” and it was amazing. I never knew anything about the civil unrest in Northern Ireland, so to hear all about the history of the IRA (Irish Republic Army) and the UDA (Ulster Defence Association) was pretty crazy. We ventured into West Belfast where the Peace Wall still exists and alarmed gates continue to close at night to prevent trouble between the Protestants and the Catholics around the wall. Peter, our tour guide, was absolutely great and provided an unbiased history of what has happened, despite being born on the Catholic side of the city. Then it was off to check out the Ulster Museum and Queen’s University, where there was an exhibit on the LHC particle collider. Cool! Later in the evening, we visiting Kelly’s Cellars, the oldest pub in Belfast, for drinks and some live Irish music. Listening to the fiddling and flute sounds throughout the pub was a wonderful experience, and I’m sure it won’t be our last in Ireland.
Alas, there’s always much more to do and see in the big cities, but tomorrow we venture to the coast and head into the countryside. And since I love the outdoors, I’m very much looking forward to it!
HIKES & HAMSTRINGS 