I thought it best to blog these two destinations together as we only spent one day in each and they are relatively short.
Back in Dublin on the 21st, Lisa and I convinced Aussie Lisa to rearrange her flights and spend an extra day touring Dublin with us. After a trek to find our Hostel, it turns out we were upgraded from an eight person dorm to a four person private room which included a loft! However, the loft did not make up for the lack of hot water in the shower. I braved it out by taking an ice water shower while the girls found it more 
reasonable to shower in the sink. Water was hot but I’d imagine it wasn’t easy getting under the tap. After a very exhausting 3 days around southern Ireland we decided to take the night off by relaxing in our loft. The next day was an action packed speed tour of the sights and sounds of Dublin. We walked the downtown districts, saw Dublin Castle from the outside and viewed St Patrick’s Cathedral, who, by the way, was not actually a saint, nor was his name actually Patrick. And to top it all off, he never drank! The highlight of the day was by far the Guinness St. James Street Brewery. We took the tour, sampled pints, taste tested the beer prior to it being kegged and even learned the art of pouring the perfect pint of black gold. As it turns out neither of the Lisa’s are big beer drinkers either so I was the nominated finisher! The tour ends at the Guinness bar on top of the brewery were they sell two things; Guinness and Guinness Cold. By the end of the few hours we were there I was feeling fantastic! After nearly knocking a bucket of Guinness golf balls over in the gift shop, we felt it was time to move on.
And move on we did, next stop Cardiff, Wales! After arriving late on the 22nd, because we thought we were going to be smart and take the train instead of the bus from the airport, only to have the train be delayed by 40 minutes, we were treated with the most spectacular hotel I have ever stayed in. Being as it was so close to Christmas and there were not many people staying in the hotel, we were upgraded again but this time it had more than a loft. We were put up in the bridal suite which came with an attached living room, office, a bed that could have fit about 8 people, and a bathroom fitted with towel heaters and heated floors. Not to mention we had a fantastic view of the Castle and its grounds from each one of our 5 windows. Being as we
were guests of the hotel we had access to the bar 24 hours a day so after a little night cap we called it a day. The following day we took in Cardiff Castle, which was a spectacular display of history, and traveled just out of town to spend the afternoon with my wonderful Great Aunt Heather. She is more than 60 years older than I am and has as much energy as a puppy. She ran around the house fixing us lunch, telling stories, and laughing with us. She even had Christmas presents waiting for us. Having only the afternoon was not enough time and I hope to get back and see her again before I have to head back across the pond.
reasonable to shower in the sink. Water was hot but I’d imagine it wasn’t easy getting under the tap. After a very exhausting 3 days around southern Ireland we decided to take the night off by relaxing in our loft. The next day was an action packed speed tour of the sights and sounds of Dublin. We walked the downtown districts, saw Dublin Castle from the outside and viewed St Patrick’s Cathedral, who, by the way, was not actually a saint, nor was his name actually Patrick. And to top it all off, he never drank! The highlight of the day was by far the Guinness St. James Street Brewery. We took the tour, sampled pints, taste tested the beer prior to it being kegged and even learned the art of pouring the perfect pint of black gold. As it turns out neither of the Lisa’s are big beer drinkers either so I was the nominated finisher! The tour ends at the Guinness bar on top of the brewery were they sell two things; Guinness and Guinness Cold. By the end of the few hours we were there I was feeling fantastic! After nearly knocking a bucket of Guinness golf balls over in the gift shop, we felt it was time to move on.And move on we did, next stop Cardiff, Wales! After arriving late on the 22nd, because we thought we were going to be smart and take the train instead of the bus from the airport, only to have the train be delayed by 40 minutes, we were treated with the most spectacular hotel I have ever stayed in. Being as it was so close to Christmas and there were not many people staying in the hotel, we were upgraded again but this time it had more than a loft. We were put up in the bridal suite which came with an attached living room, office, a bed that could have fit about 8 people, and a bathroom fitted with towel heaters and heated floors. Not to mention we had a fantastic view of the Castle and its grounds from each one of our 5 windows. Being as we
were guests of the hotel we had access to the bar 24 hours a day so after a little night cap we called it a day. The following day we took in Cardiff Castle, which was a spectacular display of history, and traveled just out of town to spend the afternoon with my wonderful Great Aunt Heather. She is more than 60 years older than I am and has as much energy as a puppy. She ran around the house fixing us lunch, telling stories, and laughing with us. She even had Christmas presents waiting for us. Having only the afternoon was not enough time and I hope to get back and see her again before I have to head back across the pond. 
No comments:
Post a Comment