The Real Stewarts: Dublin and Edinburgh (Part I)

PART ONE - DUBLIN

As you may (or not) recall, Rory and I traveled to Dublin and Edinburgh in October with our great friends Stewart and Jen. This was the trip where my camera threw a tantrum and decided to graffiti half of my photos with starbursts. Real mature, I know. Fortunately, Stewart was kind enough to allow me to use his ah-mazing photos on my blog. Thanks Stewart!

This was our second visit to Ireland in the past year so we were able to explore more of the non-tourist sites. Visiting Ireland is like seeing an old friend. You are welcomed with open arms, handed a Guinness, and peppered with stories from the past. Odds are, if you sit down in a pub the person next to you will strike up a conversation or start singing a ballad and by the end of the night you will feel like old friends. So here is a picture montage to my new friend and my old friend, Ireland.

It simply does not get any better than this.

Temple District area of Dublin

St. Stephen's Green, Dublin, Ireland

Our favorite pub in Dublin

Jen, Me, and Stewart having lunch at O'Donoghue's Pub

After dinner drinks at O'Donoghues. Do you see a pattern here?

Trinity College. We almost pass for students. Almost.

Cheeseburgers make me VERY happy

On this visit we took a day trip to the east coast, along the Irish Sea/Atlantic Ocean. While the pictures depict a clear sunny day, it was windy and frigid. I was in four layers but the locals walked around in shorts and t-shirts. One beach even had two nude sun bathers. Not that I was looking. We took the Dart train from Dublin to Dun Laoghaire. We then hiked from Dun Laoghaire through Dalkey (home to Bono) to Killiney, where a dart train dropped us off in the town of Bray for a late lunch. The coast was absolutely brilliant (yes, I am using English slang because it is totally appropriate).