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We have a very comfortable room in Bloom’s Hotel in Temple Bar area of downtown Dublin. We were both very excitedly looking forward to the sights and sounds of Ireland. Our room is right above the street and a pub, so the sounds carried on far into the night. One sound that I had eagerly looked forward to was the Irish accent. It is surprisingly rare in this part of the city as there are loads of tourists, and foreigners – a very cosmopolitan atmosphere more to be expected, perhaps, in London, or in New York City.

The sights (sites) are magnificent. Talk about history, and literature!

Yesterday, the Padghams found their way to Blooms sans a piece of baggage and sans sleep. However their excitement to be in Ireland matched ours, and give us all the energy to wander the streets some more and to enjoy our first “Irish pub” dinner. The luggage showed up much later.

Today, we stoked up on Starbucks and wandered again in warm sunshine until we decided to visit Trinity College to see the Book of Kells. A guide, “Steven” took us on a short tour of the campus, and then we queued for the old library. There were more old books there than in the second hand book store in Penticton…oh, plus the ancient manuscript of the four gospels – the Book of Kells. The library was a beautiful old place…”no pictures, no talking, etc.”

We wandered through St. Stevens Park, and then called an afternoon break. Our afternoon closed in a pub with some refreshments, and then we wandered off to find a post office and restaurant. Pub meals once again were terrific and then we strolled through the cobbled streets of Temple Bar for one last time. Tomorrow we will pick up our car rentals and become terrified occupants of the LEFT LANES as we try to find our way out of Dublin towards the tiny town of Doolin on the southwest coast – south of Galway. (There is no particular strategy in this other than a ‘counterclockwise’ direction will put our passengers, Alice and Sandy, on the inside as we crawl the coastal cliffs.) Why Doolin? Why not! A quick pin in Google Maps told us how to get there.

We’ll let you know how it goes!

Love and best wishes to all!
The Quilter and The Quill, The Bob, and Alice