Green Scenes and Leprechauns

The cities of Ireland began to merge together after the first few stops, lots and lots of green hills of many shades, sheep, cattle, and horses. I did not succeed in finding the seven white horses, which according to myths would have foretold that I would be married within the year. Hah!

Dublin was my first stop with plenty to see, including a small leprechaun museum. Here visitors were told the stories of the leprechaun, the giants, and the elusive pot of gold, plus the never-ending search of stolen red socks. We even visited the giant’s room, complete with gigantic furniture.

Rather than hopping on the bus tour of Dublin, I decided to make my own tour by foot, following a similar path, what a walk that was around the city! I stopped by Dublin Castle featuring a statue of Lady Justice, which is quite controversial as her scale became unbalanced due to the elements, mainly the rain, she is not blindfolded meaning she is not impartial and her back is to the city, swaying towards the kingdom rather than the people. I wandered to Christchurch Cathedral and Dublina, the Viking Museum. I learned how to write my name in Viking there. I tried to visit the Bad Art Gallery but it was closed; viewed a few other monuments and buildings of interest along my way and stopped at the Wax Museum at the end of the day. Some of the wax statues were more realistic than others, my favorite being James Bond.

Once the tour started, we visited the Guinness Factory. The center of the building is shaped like a huge, oversized pint glass. The processes and exhibitions were neat to see, especially the marketing poster gallery, but my view on the drink remains the same, it isn’t to my liking. One evening, a group of us ventured to the pubs, listening to local music and at one point getting a bit turned around, so I asked for directions to the pub only to have the guy try to jump into my map like Bert and Mary Poppins. Before moving on to other cities, we visited Trinity College and the Book of Kells.

Irish National Stud was next on the itinerary featuring horses of all sorts, including cute miniature ponies, who looked like fuzzy footstools. The flowers were in full bloom, adding to the atmosphere of the farm. Invincible Spirit is the reining king of the stables, worth over 60 million.

A brief visit to Kilkenny followed, featuring a castle, park, and gardens.

Youghal was also another miniature stop, featuring in a portion of the filming for Moby Dick. The tides were out when we stopped, leaving the boats stranded on dry land. Posts will continue next with the city of Cork.