Day1, September 10, Wednesday

A drive to the airport by my best buddy Elliot got us there in plenty of time for the 3 pm flight.  Enough time for a Cuban sandwich for lunch at the Columbia Restaurant.  Departed Tampa and arrived at Atlanta for a 3 hour layover with our friends the Lopers. Lopers had an American Express account so we got to join them as their guests in the Centurion Club.  A fancy buffet and open bar at no cost to us made for a very filling 6 pm dinner.  We departed for Dublin on time and arrived a bit early the next morning.

Day 2, September 11, Thursday, Dublin, Ireland

After a smooth flight but no sleep, we arrived in Dublin at 8 am. Our driver Kevin took us to The Brooks Hotel and we checked in.  We walked to St. Stephen’s Green a nice park with an historic arch at its entrance.  The arch still bears the bullet holes from the Irish rebellion. While we were at the park it started to rain.  We quickly went back to the hotel to get fully prepared for the wet weather.  Then we were off to the St. Patrick’s Cathedral, a beautiful church that compares to Westminister Abbey in London.  Jonathan Swift (author of Gulliver’s Travels) was a dean of the Cathedral and is buried there.  Next we walked to the Guinness Storehouse.  A great self guided tour thoroughly covered the making of the Guinness Stout in a building covering 7 stories.  Included was a sample of the Guinness with instructions on the proper way to drink it for the maximum taste effect.  We ended the tour on the 7th floor with great views of Dublin and a complimentary pint. Alas, only two of our party of five partook with a pint.  At a younger age perhaps I would have drank/drunk the other 3 pints but we where getting ready for dinner time.  We walked to the Brazen Head pub which claims to be the oldest pub in Ireland.  I had the Irish beef stew which was good.  Rosemary had the fish and chips which was a bit disappointing - greasy and the chips were pretty bad.  On our walk back to the hotel, we walked around the Temple Bar area which was very crowded. A very good day to begin our trip, or was it 2 days?  Expect to sleep very well tonight.

Day 3, September 12, Friday, Dublin, Ireland

A nice breakfast buffet with both white and black pudding.  I tried each and they were good.  The black is made that color with blood so I assume the white is the same but without the blood.  They definitely tasted different.  Our first stop was to the Dublin Castle.  The castle contains lots of paintings of various titled persons, a Wedgewood room with pale blue walls and white sculptures of naked men, a state room where prime ministers were sworn in, and a throne room.  The outside has gone through many tear downs and rebuilds and is not what I expected from a castle dated many centuries.  Next was another self guided tour of the Book of Kells at Trinity College.  On the way there we visited the Molly Malone Statue, a bronze sculpture honoring a legendary figure from Dublin. The figure is wearing a low cut dress and her boobs are very shining from the many tourists who touch her breasts.  I was not one who did that!  The Book of Kells dates to at least the 9th century.  Prepared by monks the book contains many decorations and manuscripts of the four Gospels of the life of Jesus Christ.  A little time between tours was spent at the Secret Sculpture Garden near the college.  It was a small art gallery that really was a secret as we were right in front of it and did not realize it was there at first.  Lunch was spent at Gino’s Gelato (yes, gelato only for lunch) on the way to our next outing at the Irish Whiskey Museum.  This museum was fantastic with a wonderfully amusing guide, pronounced “Breen,” who taught us all about the history of Irish Whiskey.  The tour concluded with a sampling of 3 whiskeys in this order- Skellig (age 4), Powers (age 6) and The Irishman (age 9).  Surprisingly, I (and Rosemary too) liked the Skellig best. I also got to finish not just my samples but Rosemary’s too.  Unfortunately, my tea totaling friends the Lopers drank all of their samples except Loraine whose Skellig I was able to finish.  At the gift shop I bought Irish Whiskey Orange Marmalade that I eagerly await opening at home.  Dinner at Il Vicoletto, an Italian Restaurant was chicken supreme for me and sea bass for Rosemary.  Dinner was disappointing and very noisy but we followed it up with another trip to Gino’s Gelato.

Day 4, September 13, Saturday, Belfast, Northern Ireland

Up at 7 am (ugh!) for a 7:30 breakfast.  Our driver picked us up at 9 am and we departed Dublin.  We arrived in Belfast about 11:30 and visited the Belfast City Hall which had a nice self guided tour covering the history of Belfast and Ulster Province.  Next we visited the Titanic Museum which was everything you ever wanted to know about the shipping industry in Belfast and the Titanic.  It did a great job especially with the construction of the ship.  Included was a Disney-like ride through the simulated construction of the ship.  It was a multilevel museum and the top floor has a view of the actual site of the construction.  Next door we toured the Nomadic, a tender to the Titanic and the last surviving ship of the White Star Line, the manufacturer of the Titanic.  We checked into the Ten Square Hotel around 5 pm.  We walked to the Fibber McGee Pub with the idea of eating dinner.  The pub advertises live traditional Irish folk music but we found the place mobbed and the live music was deafening pop music.  We continued walking and ate at Fratelli, an Italian restaurant which actually had Italian food!  Both Rosemary and I had the chicken parm and a salad (we substituted the salad for the “chips” (that is, french fries which actually come with the chicken parm per the menu).  The food was very good and plentiful.  

Day 5, September 14, Sunday, Belfast, Northern Ireland

We began with a trip to St. George’s Market.  A Victorian covered market of foods, artisan crafts and antiques.  When we came upon Fado Bagels, I could not resist buying a Guinness bagel to munch on later.  We also accumulated samples of various sweets for later munching.  Next we drove to the Mount Stewart, a National Trust property.  This is a 19th century house and garden where a long line of Marquesses have lived.  Marquess follows only King/Queen, Prince/Princess and Duke/Duchess in the Royal hierarchy.  Several of the 22 bedrooms were open to view together with other parts of the house.  The gardens surrounding the house were beautiful even in the on and off again rain.  Once back in the car it was time for the Guinness bagel.  It was dark and very good and similar to pumpernickel which is my favorite bagel but with a slight Guinness stout flavor.  It left me regretting buying only one even though at 2.5 pounds it was a bit pricey ($3.40).  Next we drove to the Cave Hill Country Park for a hike to Napoleon’s Nose, a cliff with a view overlooking the city of Belfast.  The weather was not great as we had on and off again rain.  The hike was about an hour and a half but we did not make Napoleons’ Nose.  We ended up in the clouds and decided not to pursue the nose since the view of the city obstructed by fog.  Dinner at the hotel restaurant, Josper’s, was very good.  I had chicken madras curry and Rosemary had the supreme chicken.  A fine fun day despite the weather.