Kelly's alarm woke us at 7 am and coffee was poured shortly after. Showers, packing and then awaited our chauffeured ride to the Birmingham airport (BXH).
Dan was early so we loaded up the car and headed off via the M6 to the airport at 09:14.. yes early!!
The M6 has the only Toll portion of highway in England and it also has variable speed control. The big LED speed signs change as required to flow traffic through. There is never any stopping so no real delays. Dan also mentioned that a speed camera is right behind these signs so best not to exceed the limit.
We arrived at the airport at 10:00 and dropped the car at the Train depot parking lot. A short ride on a small passenger train took us to the main terminal. By 10:15 the bags were checked and we headed upstairs to Frankie & Benny's for
breakfast. Someone is starting vacation early with a mimosa!!
Through security and at the gate with minimal fuss. The Ryan Air B737-800 pushed a bit late @ 12:18 and we parked in Dublin at 13:37. Through Customs and we easily grabbed a cab down to Parnell street and our AirBnB.
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| Away we go to Ireland |
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| English countryside |
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| Love technology... this is us (blue dot) on final to DUB |
Unfortunately it is located 3 stories up and no lift! We packed our stuff up and checked out the place. Small but tidy and clean and will do for our short time in Dublin. It took us a few minutes to sort out the electrical as everything is switched off. Using the blow dryer as a tester we had it sorted out:-)
After texting with Kris, we headed off towards the Temple Bar district which is only a 9 minute walk from our place. Quick stop at Starucks for some via's. We met up at the Auld Dublin Pub and enjoyed catching up and celebrating London's 1st Birthday!
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| Look a pedestrian shopping area! |
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| Great looking little pubs dot the corners. |
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| River Liffey |
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| Pedestrian bridge |
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| Pub lunch with the crew |
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| London is the birthday girl! |
After a bite of late lunch (smoked salmon to die for) we walked around the area and got a feel of the atmosphere. Did I mention that the Guinness is very good! The gals went and did some shopping so the guys popped into the Norseman Pub to enjoy the live music that was going on. This place was established in 1696!
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| Temple Bar |
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| I liked the number |
Tesco stop for some supplies then we went back to the loft apartment that the crew were staying. Very nice corner spot with lots of room.
After a small birthday celebration for London we headed off to find some live music for the balance of the evening. They had watched a band the previous night and wanted to find them again.. if possible. We walked past several bars and listened to tier offerings when Kelly said lets try the Merchants Arch wwich is right by the pedestrian bridge. Low and behold it was the guitar player from the previous night along with a fiddler. This was the spot to be so we found some chairs and spent the evening enjoying these musicians talents. Turns out his name is Zach and he is only 20. Amazing artist I will say!
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| Evening's entertainment |
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| End of the night! |
We shut the place down and headed back home to bed. A great first night in Ireland!
