Back from Ireland

I'm sure there is an easier way to post these pictures, but I am not able to download the program I need for the compatible photo platform, so you'll just have to bear with me on this long scroll down.

On our way. It's the 3 PM train from NJ Transit line from Trenton to Newark.

Luggage takes a full seat. That's my giant suitcase, stuffed with skirts I never wore.

On the plane to Dublin.

Still on our way.

Seamus was there to greet us at 7 AM. Here is the second bedroom where we slept.

Front door of Carrie and Padhraig's digs. A child actor lives below them. He's grown now and still an actor, but very disgruntled. We didn't ge tto meet him.

Padhraig against stick fence.

Exterior of the church where Seamus will be baptized.

Rubbish in the waterway. It was mostly cans of beer.

No bicycles allowed to cross at this time.

Map of the park.

No Scottie dogs allowed on premises.

Here we are at Trinity College. Dan and I have been up for about\ 30 hour straight and are delirious.

Trinity.

Tree at Trinity.

Breakfast with baby at a cute little breakfast shop.

I do not recall what I ate.

Dan said his eyes were burning.

This must be at dinner the first night. We went to a place that served gluten free pizza. The appetizer was amazing.

This was the beginning of my dessert debaucle. I ate dessert--usually cake of some kind--literally every day and sometimes, twice a day. This dessert was delicious. Please note pool of warm vanilla pudding on right-hand side.

We slept that night like babes.

I've missed some time here...Not sure if this is Manchester yet.

But I know that this is. We loved this tea shop. Jaime, the man at the front desk of the hotel, recommended it to us and we were proud to have found it using just the touristy map. You go there and just buy this delicious tea and cake. We visited twice.

Manchester graffiti.

Close up.

Our room at the Velvet was amazing. I confess that we let the Lonely Planet guide plan our trip for us. This was the top choice recommendation for places to stay in Manchester. We loved it.

These are the windows above the bed with curtains that you opened and closed by pullies.

Monkey lamp. We also had an electric tea pot and a tin of biscuits/cookies.

Wardrobe which was like a giant standing trunk.

Amazing shower that took up the whole room. It came with a little yellow duck, but I didn't take the duck b/c I was worried we would be charged 50 pounds for it.

I am modeling the robes that came with the rooms. There were also little white matching slippers.

Dinner the first night was at a restaurant from the guide. I have the name written down somewhere. Dan said it was the best dinner he had. He bought a dessert that was blueberry soup with sorbet and a giant toasted marshmallow on top.

Interior of restaurant. I like the wallpaper.

Place where you can get a beard trimmed or a hot towel head shave.

The Manchester Art Gallery was just blocks away from our hotel.

This is me inside the MAG, in need of a hair dye, for sure.

We also went to an outdoor Christmas festival where they were serving mulled wine. Dan had paella and I ordered a chorizo. This is the place where I almost bought a white cardigan covered with black kittens, but it was too small. Instead, I got two bird necklaces, one for me and one for Lisa Marie.

Inside the tent at the festival.

Street performers. We gave them 50 doubloons.

 

Took the Piccadilly Station train back to the airport.

Dan's eyes no longer burning.

Met up with Padhraig at Trinity. He gave us tickets to the Book of Kells. Dan loved it and I pretended to be reading the signs. This is Padhraig's office at Trinity.

Here, he pretends to work.

And pretends to smile.

He wanted us to capture what he mostly does in the office.

Next, we took a bus to the Irish Railway and headed to Kilkenny.

The countryside sped by.

We were lucky--they were holding an international film festival in Kilkenny that weekend.

Pizza shop in the middle of Kilkenny.

Odd to see a working garage in the middle of an ancient stone building.

The castle? Not sure.

This is the exterior of Kilkenny Castle. We took a tour right away. We learned that most people in the olden days slept sitting up because they thought that lying down caused you to breath bad air and kill you. This was because so many people died of consumption.

Exterior.

And again.

Garden.

Mossy girl.

Inside our hotel room. We again took the Lonely Planet's advice and stayed at the Butler House, which used to be part of the castle. It couldn't top the Velvet, but few rooms could.

Very nice view.

An afternoon walk.

That mossy girl again.

We went into a lot of second hand shops. I liked that there was a whole section devoted just to angels.

These stone walls were all over the place.

Me looking ominous in an alley way.

A man singing his version of Britney Spear's song, "Hit Me Baby, One More Time."

Dan liked the faint writing above this window.

We took a self-guided tour of the Rothe House and learned that someone's job used to be to clean out the gutters from the toilets. He was called a "dungen fermer."

Outside.

The orchard.

With medicinal herbs and plants.

A view of something.

And again.

Orchard bench.

We rest. I am wearing a hat I bought at the Oxrfam store for 3 Euros.

And a scarf that my friend Julie made many moons ago.

They keep geese there too as a way to show how the family used to live with livestock running around.

These geese were intent on slurping up the mucky water around.

See?

Very cute when they try to get back into their home.

Tried to get a close up of these giant crows, but they kept escaping me.

Cat at St. Canice's Cathedral. We later learned that her name is Maggie.

She was flirtatious.

Kept coming over and then running away.

I deleted about 20 more similar pictures.

Houses next to the church.

And of course, very old graveyard.

We didn't do any old stone rubbings of the headstones.

Then this cat showed up and followed me around. We later learned her name too--I've forgotten it now. Something like Spark.

She and I fell instantly in love.

I do wish I could reach into this picture and fix my hair.

Many dead.

Another view. Note tower on the right side. 

Oh, and this was a little dog who lived in the houses behind the church. I made him nervous.

Moss.

We climbed the 100 foot tower. I discovered that I didn't like doing that very much.

Just one of the hundreds of narrow steps we climbed up at our own peril.

For this view of the city.

Note precarious stairs down.

I stayed at the top for maybe three minutes before getting out of there.

Ancient door leading out of the tower.

See how high?

Inside the church.

They still hold services there on Sundays.

Windows.

This is the floor.

Tombs all over the place.

Some were members of the Butler family.

Evidence of the Butler family's prominence.

Statue.

Leaving tower. I have no idea why I took so many pictures of this place.

Exterior of the Rothe House we toured.

Castle again.

And again.

Once more.

Back on Saturday to the Kilkenny Irish Rail Station.

Funeral.

Back in Dublin.

I like the image of the little girl in upper right hand corner.

Dan liked the graphic design here.

Close-up.

We had afternoon tea at a local shop. I ordered a ham and pickle sandwich as well. This was the only time I didn't have cake with my meal.

The tea I ordered was called "Put the Cat Out." Please note bongos.

This is where we sat. The Elvis Costello picture on the left later fell on Dan's shin, injuring him.

Took this picture for a friend back home (rather than spending 7.56 on a joke present).

For the final dinner in Dublin, we insisted on fish and chips. While we were there, one of the women working behind the counter fainted from the heat of the ovens and hit her head.

Thanks to Carrie and Padhraig for being the hostess and host with the mostest. 

I do have several more photos to post from my Instagram account. Will do so tomorrow, but wanted to get these up fast so I could send them to Carrie and Padhraig.