[Comet]

I loved Dublin! I only wish I had done a little more sightseeing and a little less drinking. However, I had a birthday there with friends and parents so it was bound to be large!
The guiness factory tour is interesting, and ther bar at the top has the best view of the city...which is prettty grey really! Also they are said to have the best Guiness in the world, and you get a free pint after doing the tour.

[georgia]

Thanks for the recent hints. It was nice to see this request from a while ago still generating some info. I do appreciate it.

We are gearing up for the trip, and it will be here before I know it. We do plan to get around the country a bit -- with a car...but we've driven throughout the British Isles in rather difficult circumstances, so it won't be anything new. But, I've got a new, waterproof coat, warm clothes, a long list of recommendations from lots of friends (and hotel reservations just near St. Stephens Green and Trinity College). What more could I ask for?

My biggest concern thus far? Whether I can bring my knitting needles. US airlines will allow them on flights (I know...I can think of any number of ways they could become a weapon), but flights out of Heathrow (and Europe in general, I think) won't allow them on board. We're flying SF-Heathrow-Dublin. Guess they'll have to go in my baggage, and I'll twiddle my thumbs on that long flight.

[Comet]

What about some bendy needles? Are they allowed? Then you would have to transfer your knitting across...which could be distastrous! I'm not good at long flights...I get very bored and fidgety.
Ask your friends to write you letters for you to read on the plane.
I'm sure you will love Ireland. My parents hired a car and they loved being free to explore the countryside. I only saw Dublin, and there is much more to the country. I'll just have to go back!

[Griffin]

Georgia,

If you're driving around Britain you may need an amphibious car in some places!! Also galoshes. We've been getting very wet weather recently. If you get the chance, do visit the Royal Pavilion in Brighton. It's well worth a look.
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Confusion comes fitted as standard.

[Chicago Bear]

The Book of Kells has been mentioned, and yes, it is in Trinity College, but it is one of the most magnificent works I've ever seen. It's about 900 years old, and the book is shown under glass in the center of a 3-foot square table, allowing you to look right down on the page that is open. There's also an exhibit (at least there was six months ago when I was there) of the various inks and pigments used to create the colors that appear. Fascinating. When you exit the room with the Book of Kells, you enter the Long Room, which is part of the Trinity College library. It's so Harry Potter that it takes your breath away. It is long (duh?), with a barrel-vaulted ceiling, ancient books in stacks on either side that look like they go off to the horizon. PLEASE DO NOT MISS THIS. (Then you can get drunk.)
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The goal is to fit it all in.

[georgia]

Ah, Chicago Bear! How nice to see your name again. And thanks for the Book of Kells input. It's already #1 on my Must See/Do list. Thanks to Donna for the recommendation, we've booked into a small hotel that's just by Trinity College and up the street a bit from St. Stephens Green. The location is ideal.

Finally, after all those years of reading Yeats and Joyce and Synge and Thomas, I get to breathe in some of the same air they breathed. I expect to come home full of Guinness and poetry. What could be better?

[Pavlova]

Hi Georgia, I've never been to Dublin but its on my list of to places to do. Friends who've been say its a fabulous place to go for just a weekend or even a week or two but its expensive. Also the weather is unpredictable so it'd be wise to pack an umbrella, a sweater and a raincoat and of course plenty of Euro money because that's the currency they use. Also make sure you have enough camera batteries etc those are expensive. Enjoy

[champ]

Hope Georgia will come back and tell us what she gets up to in Ireland!

Just had friends over from British Columbia - they started off in Shannon, stayed in Galway, Killarney, Cork, Kilkenny, and Dublin before reaching the North. They then spent time with us and made an overnight trip up to Malin Head in Donegal (most northerly point of Ireland), the Giants Causeway and drove down the Antrim Coast Road. The weather was glorious - one of the best week's of the summer which has been a washout.

We are now having much cooler weather this week, with showers and gales.
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Yesterday is history...
Tomorrow's a mystery...
Today is a gift...
That's why they call it the present ....

[champ]

On another thread, this is the reply posted by Georgia in answer to me enquring how her trip went -

"Champ...how lovely of you to notice my presence (also absence...). Thank you. I do suppose I was remiss upon our return from Ireland (ask Donna...haven't seen her, as I promised I would...since I got back...). I won't go into great detail here as it's the wrong forum, but let me just say that we LOVED Ireland, the Irish, the countryside, the food, the music. All of it. Could not have asked for a better holiday. Some day when I have much energy, I'll post a travel report in a more appropriate spot."

Thanks for letting us know you went to Ireland and returned alive to California to tell the tale!
_________________
Yesterday is history...
Tomorrow's a mystery...
Today is a gift...
That's why they call it the present ....