A Royal Rendezvous

 The morning began with us always missing the bus to the airport. There were a lot of more-than-slightly-annoying tourists (pffft...Americans) waiting for their own bus and ours sort of went unnoticed. As we got to the bus the driver was also annoyed that they had not sent us out sooner because she had a schedule to keep, so mom and I feared that it would be a rather silent unpleasant ride to the airport.  Were we wrong! The bus driver, the only female in a group of about 28 drivers, cracked jokes and gave us little tidbits of information all the way to the airport. She pointed out landmarks like the American embassy and parts of Dublin that were involved in the Easter Rebellion. She also gave us factoids and jokes about people like Oscar Wilde. She also made jokes about people she worked with, complained about them moving her seat along with drivers on the road, and told us that she was a big fan of American NASCAR racing. It made the ride to the airport not only entertaining...

On Friday, we woke up IN A CASTLE (part of me still can't get over the fact that we stayed in a castle). Fitzpatrick Castle is on top of a hill where you can see the village below and, in some views, the water ahead. It is outside of Dublin, so we had to take the train into town. The walk to the train station was pretty and quaint. After being reminded for the hundredth time that week to "mind the gap," we headed into the city. When we reached "Dublin proper," we had a plan in motion. We found a walking tour online from the people at Free Tours by Foot that outlined a lot of the sights that Dublin had to offer. The beautiful River Liffey runs through the center of Dublin with bridges like the Ha'penny bridge and the Samuel Beckett bridge. Next to the river is a Viking memorial to commemorate the settlements that were made along that area. Going along with the walking tour, we went up the oldest street in Dublin, Fishamble Street, that was once home to open-a...

Thursday’s journey was somewhat the foundation of our trip.  I read a blog before the pandemic where a man traveled from Ireland to England by ferry and train.  It looked amazing!  Since viewing that blog, I knew I wanted that adventure added to our trip. So, Thursday morning we left London by train, traveled to Holyhead and then crossed the Irish Sea to Dublin.  You will see our journey on the map included.  The scenery changes were amazing from the bustling city of London to the farming communities and coastal areas of Wales back to the bustle of a city.   To be honest, I was most nervous about this part of the trip.  I had never traveled by train (excluding the time I rode the train from Walnut Ridge to Imboden when I was in Head Start, pre-kindergarten days) and definitely not boat.  I didn’t want to miss a connection or miss the boat leaving port.  I was a bit nervous, but I found out an important travel tip on this leg of the journey: i...