Fri 13th April

We set off to Luton Airport to fly to Dublin to spend the weekend with Susie & Jeremy. Flight was OK, then Susie and Jeremy collected us and drove us back to their apartment in Ballsbridge, via the city centre to show us some of the sights, the Stiffy on the Liffey included! We couldn’t find the Floozy in the Jacuzzi though.

Back at the apartment Jeremy showed us our bedroom, then we settled down in the lounge for some nachos, wine & a chat, catching up on what we’d all been doing since we last met.

It was a great evening of talking & laughing into the small hours.

Sat 14th April

When we got up Jeremy cooked us poached eggs on toast with smoked salmon & mushrooms, very yummy.

Susie & Jeremy were off to view three houses as they are hoping to move soon.

Andrew & I decided that we’d find a tour bus and do some exploring. It’s a beautiful morning, the sun is shining and it feels like summer has arrived early. We walked into Dublin centre & found the tour bus by Trinity College. We enjoy these bus tours, it’s a great way to see new cities and work out which bits you want to spend time exploring. The driver was a great joker & we drove up Grafton Street, passed the National Gallery, the National History Museum, Temple Bar the area of restaurants, clubs & pubs, Dublin Castle & the Christ Church Cathedral.

We disembarked at St. Patrick’s Cathedral for a look around it. It is a gorgeous building, the stained glass is lovely. Jonathan Swift of Gulliver’s Travels fame is buried here, he was the Dean of the Cathedral from 1713 to 1745.

We walked around admiring this lovely Cathedral, then went out to wait for the next bus.

Just after we’d boarded the bus the driver pointed out a Malteser man walking down the road with two girls, the driver stopped the bus and the girls boarded and handed packs of Maltesers to all the passengers, cool!

We saw the Stiffy on the Liffey & the Tart with a Heart or Cart depending on how you view Molly Malone. The Floozy is apparently in a crate in storage while they decide what to do with her.

We got off at the Guinness storehouse for a saunter round, the queues were unbelievable to take the trip around the brewery, so this time we settled for buying some Guinness fudge and walking back into the centre of town instead, found the famous Burdocks fish & chip shop {it has a list of famous singers/actors etc. who have visited up on the wall.}

We crossed the road & sat in the gardens of the Christ Church Cathedral to eat in the sunshine. Walking on we found a pretty little square with a market and wandered around it.

Jeremy phoned so we arranged to meet up at the Trinity College bar for a drink in the gardens. It’s a beautiful building with lovely gardens, the Book of Kells is on exhibit in it’s library.

We relaxed in the gardens with a beer and chatted about our day.

We went to the Fallon & Byrne wine bar/shop later on. This is a brilliant place where you can go and look through their wine warehouse and choose wines to drink there with a snack or just buy the wines of your choice. There are comfy armchairs & papers to read, so you can relax as long as you like. Upstairs is an excellent deli & fresh fish shop, I was most impressed with this place. We found a bottle of Henschke and ordered a cheese & bread platter to share. Later we bought more wine to take back to the apartment, we strolled back to the apartment via Merrion Square Park and stopped to see the statue of Oscar Wilde.

Having dropped off the shopping we went off out for dinner at Mocha Monday Bistro not far from Susie & Jeremy’s apartment. We had an excellent meal with a lovely bottle of wine there, then returned to Susie & Jeremy’s apartment where Susie opened a bottle of Veuve Clicquot to celebrate our recent marriage. We spent the rest of the evening as yesterday, chatting, laughing & drinking.

Sun 15th April

After breakfast, kindly made by Jeremy & Susie again, we went out to Howthe along the coast. We walked along the front looking at the fishing boats, then went down to the market. We bought clam chowder for lunch {this stall is a fabulous old converted tram}and ate it with fresh soda bread from the next stall along. This is an excellent market with fresh fish, meat, fruit & veg, cheeses, home made cakes & pastries, fudge and wonderful clothes. I’d love a market like this in Milton Keynes.

All too soon it was time to set off to the airport to catch the flight home. We’ve had a truly brilliant weekend here, thoroughly enjoyed everything and hope that Susie and Jeremy will come to visit us soon.