London

The train from Edinburgh to London is a long 4.5 hour ride. Had we been thinking we would have brought a lunch with us...oops. Needless to say we were starving by the time we go to our hotel. Nothing a good full peri peri chicken at Nandos couldn't cure.

London is my happy place. I love it here and I know it sounds weird but it feels like I am where I should be when I am here. If it were not for the crappy hotel (as Heather put it "3 stars my ass") it would feel like home away home. I know Heather won't agree, but I am a city person at heart. Probably a side effect of being raised in the least populated county of the least populated state.

Anyhow we tried unsuccessfully to find anyone from CSC at their hotel, but it was raining so we did not try too hard, but did have a drink in the lobby of the Royal National before leaving to go eat. I then took Heather on a quick tour to Piccadilly Circus, down through St. James's Park, over to Trafalgar Square and then down to Parliament and Big Ben. 

We only made one real stop, that was at Trafalgar Square where they had a small exhibition for the UEFA Champions League Final. I picked up a shirt and we took some picks. Overall it was a busy evening. 

FREEDOM!

WE ARE IN SCOTLAND!
Long flight from Dublin on a small plane. Had to dodge storms. We have already had it rain, sleet, and be sunny hot and we have been here an hour.

Dublin Airport

Shamrocks everywheree

Final Full Day

Today is our last full day, with just tomorrow left. We got up early to take the tram to the west side of Dublin. We tried to go to the Dublin Museum of Modern Art but it is closed for renovations. I then made Heather go with me to the Wellington Monument. It was much bigger than I thought and pretty cool, if somewhat forgotten. Which is too bad as he was by far one of the greatest Irishman ever. We then walked on to the Irish National Museum of Art and History where we were toured a broad range of collections and Irish war history as well as a limited Asian Art collection, which was impressive and unique.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing and having a picnic at one of the most beautiful parks in the city (or anywhere), visiting a Cuban goods ago where Heather had a Cuban bean imported espresso and I sniffed hand rolled cigars. Can't do that in the ol' USA! Oh and we went and walked around Trinity College where I added another school rugby shirt to my collection from the English schools I have visited before and saw a mobile model of the Death Star.

Dinner was tapas and then walking to eat crepes in Temple Bar Square while listening to Irish music. Everything but bars and food closes at 7:00pm in Dublin so after that we just walked O'Connell St. And then went to pack for Edinburgh, which is where. Will be tomorrow. 

Death Star at Trinity College

Wellington Monument

Us at Trinity College

Heather at base of Wellington Monument.

History Museum

Trinity College

A Little Town Called Lusk

We went to Lusk today. It, like Lusk in Wyoming, it is a tiny spec on the map. It wasn't really worth visiting but the cafe was good, people friendly, and there was a 15th century monastry which looked half church and half fort. Unfortunately the walk from the train to Lusk was much farther than we thought and instead turned into a nice country hike.

Boring Dublin Nights

The city just shuts down after 8:00pm which is very disappointing. Unless a person wants to spend all evening at the pub, all shops shut down between 8:00 and 9:00. Oh well. Tomorrow we will take a train to Lusk and have a small country-town experience, never have those in the States. 

Dublin Pics

Dublin, a set on Flickr.