Trip to Ireland - part 1

My collegue Val was booked to speak at a conference in Ireland on Public Law, and asked if I felt like going along.  A week in Ireland, thought I?  Hanging out for fun with no obligations?  Going to a conference where i could learn things without having to give a paper?!  Seemed too good to pass up.  So here I am on day two in Dublin, wiped out, but with enough energy to post some photos.  Maybe more storytelling later?

1.   The flight:

We were on the Dreamliner.  Last time I was on a plane like this, i took it down to Yellowknife! ack!   I avoided doing that this time.  

It was gorgeous skies above the clouds.   I was hoping for a super clear sky over the rockies, but this was the best we got!

I did love this brief moment of a break in the clouds, where tiny mountain top lakes were picked out in glorious spots of emerald green or blue.

There was so much cloud cover, that it was only minutes away from landing that we could see below us.  I was struck that flying into Dublin is like flying into Vancouver or Victoria.... you are approaching from the water.  

 Here is (slow moving) one minute of video right as we approached the Emerale Isle.

2.  The Hotel

Val and I both booked into a hotel close to the University where the conference will be.   It is a bit out of the way, but is quite something.  A former hospice for elderly christian brothers?!  Well... it has gorgeous structure, and gorgeous grounds.   A distinct adventure!

The back entrance... lovely forested grounds

hanging out by the fountain and rose gardens

Here is the view of the Ballroom Lounge where I am hanging out while typing this post.

3. First Day in the City

Being the adventurers we are, we figured out public transport into the city, so we could stay AWAKE the full day (we arrived at 10am), as a way of dealing with jet lag.  The selfie is to make sure i captured our bus stop, with the bus numbers on it, so i could ensure we found our way back (using my knowledge of hansel and gretel to drop some metaphorical white pebbles behind us)

We found our way to a Hop-on-hop-off, so we could get an overview of the city (and figure out how to get converter plugs for the UK, so we could charge our various north american electronics).  Before hopping on, we spent a bit of time by the lovely pond in St. Stephen's Green, where we spend some time communing with the seagulls.

Here is a bit of video footage I took by the pool.

The bus itself was fun (if a bit terrifying given how narrow many of the streets are in Dublin.   I was all eyes,  and a bit in despair, since my phone was nearly out of power.   this is one of the only pictures i took while on the bus (and yes, i did manage to catch my finger in the middle of the shot. ... I can't even recall which church this one is?!

Even though neither Val nor I are beer-lovers, we did have to stop at the Guiness Brewery to take the tour.   A good time was had by all!

The entry to the distillery

The view from the pub on top of the building.

When all was said and done.... we worked our way back to the hotel (the pebble trail worked!)  We had managed to successfully stay awake for most of the day.  I will admit that both of us were nodding off at various points on the final leg of the hop-on-hop-off.   So irritating to find oneself occupying the role of 'little old lady on the bus' that i had mocked in my youth!  :-)

More to follow.