Amsterdam 2

We spent our last day in Europe much like our first...lots of walking, some good food, interesting sights....and a little beer. Amsterdam is a great city for wandering through the streets and over the bridges. We got into a new area for us yesterday, the Jordaan. A few years back It was a slum but now it is the hip area....70 square meters going for 300,000 €. We had a tea and coffee in an eet cafe with lots of character and a friendly proprietor. We had a good time at the Heineken Experience and then ended our day at the Bern Cafe with fondue...a great little restaurant. Unfortunately, Dianne and Heidi, it will be closed the last week in July and all August.

Take care.

K & M

Location:De Ruyterkade,Amsterdam,The Netherlands

Amsterdam

A quiet night in Amsterdam after a deluge of rain....so it wasn't just Ireland. We did a stroll through some of the 9 Streets area...an area we didn't know about last time we were here. It has lots of interesting shops and restaurants. As we walked the evening improved, except that it was quite cold. Hopefully today is a bit better as we make our way to the Hermitage Museum and then on to the Heineken tour....we haven't quite reached our quota of beer.

K & M


How can you tell you're in Amsterdam?

Location:De Ruyterkade,Amsterdam,The Netherlands

Dublin......Ireland

We've had a great time in Ireland. Lots of beautiful scenery, great food and drink, good music and wonderful people. Sit down beside someone on a bus or train, in a restaurant or pub, in a theatre or a church and in no time at all you'll have a new friend. A friend who will apologize whole-heartedly after initially mistaking you for an American, one who will give you a recommendation to stay in a particular B & B in Fredricksburg, Texas, and someone who shares their life situation with you as if you had known them for years. We've received free bus rides, free boat tours and lots of free directions when we were huddled over our city map to protect it from the rain, trying to find our way through the narrow streets of Galway, Belfast and Dublin. For us, one of the main attractions of Ireland has been the people. They've been brilliant.

Everyone needs to visit Ireland.....just remember your rain gear.

Take care.
K & M

Congrats to Lorna on the birth of her first grand daughter, Brielle.

Location:Swords Rd,,Ireland

Dublin

On to Amsterdam. Of course the sun is shining here in Ireland...glad to see us go, I guess.
Shots of Kilmainham Gaol and other stops of interest in Dublin.

Location:Beresford Ln,Dublin,Ireland

Howth and the Icon Walk

We had another very sunny day so we took the DART, a commuter train that runs through Dublin and outlying communities, to Howth. We had a bit of an incident with the train and had to transfer to a bus but we did get to Howth, which is a small fishing town just north of Dublin. We did a six km cliff hike before heading back to town for supper and then back on the DART to Dublin.

We walked back over to the Icon Factoy, which is located in the Temple Bar area. One of the artists, Kevin Bohan, that make the factory work had lent me a book on Samuel Beckett and I wanted to return it and set up a time for a tour of the Icon Walk. The Walk is the brainchild of an American named Barney, who wants to give credit to and make more people aware of those individuals and groups that have made a difference for Ireland in the areas of literature, music, sports, movies and TV. They have taken some very inner city alleys and are transforming them with murals of Irish icons. So, Kevin gave us a great tour of the murals with all sorts of insights, stories and information. We met three of the artists, Kevin, Aga and Regine(who gave us a very hard time about not being able to find the St. Stephen's Green Shopping Mall). All of them are doing the work as volunteers and all of them are very dedicated to and enthused about this project. Here are the websites:
www.iconfactorydublin.ie
www.facebook.com/TheIcoNFactory

Tomorrow we're doing the first day of our hop-on-hop-off bus tour of Dublin....the rain is supposed to return with a vengeance which could mean a longer stop at the Guinness Storehouse!

Take care.

K & M

Location:Howth/Dublin

Newgrange and Knowth

On Tuesday we took a shuttle bus to Bru na Boinne, the area where Newgrange and Knowth are located. These are 2 of the more well known ancient tomb sites found in Ireland. The day was beautiful and the sites and information were interesting. We got to go into the passageway at Newgrange. It was very narrow and when about half of our group got into the main area we heard, "I'm stuck here! I can't get through...sorry". Quite panicked. I think it was more claustrophobia than size, though he was a pretty big guy,but it added a little more excitement to the whole tour. Everyone behind this fellow had to back out so he could get outside. Nothing quite as exciting at Knowth, although we did have one of the guys on the tour crawl underground through an escape tunnel used to get away from the Vikings.

We got back to Dublin and did a stroll through Merrion Square looking at Georgian doors and then through St. Stephen's Green, a park in downtown Dublin.

Later we had dinner at a tapas bar and got talking to these two younger women. One of them had a 10 month son named Mason, so of course we got to talk about our Mason and she gave us a suggestion for a toy that her son loves...a new quest.

Later in a pub (what a surprise!) Mary mentioned to a woman leaving that she had forgotten her purse....she was very appreciative and invited us to meet them at a different pub where her sister's son was performing. So, reluctantly we dragged ourselves to another pub to sit with her and her sister and listen to her nephew. She also bought us each a drink to show her appreciation for her purse.

We continue to be spoiled by the Irish hospitality.

K & m

Location:Ireland!!!

Dublin 2

Short blog. It's late and I can't do this in my room. Yesterday we did Trinity College and Dublin Castle. Today we went out to Newgrange and Knowth (pics tomorrow). We're really enjoying our time in Dublin. It's a beautiful city with lots to do. Tomorrow we're planning to get out to Howth after a tour of the Icon Walk....I'll explain tomorrow.

Take care.

K & M

Location:Lower Gardiner St,Dublin,Ireland