Day 1: Travels to Dublin, Ireland

Ireland Tour 2019

I’m now beginning my blog on Day 2 of our tour. As the tour leader of a group of 30, I’ve been a bit more concerned about the overall well-being of the people traveling rather than self-serving my journalistic ideals and intentions.

We began our travel beginning at 8:30a departure from my house, whereby Brian Healey, Tina Lewis, Courtney Semmel (fellow teachers) and I traveled to Philadelphia International. From there we met several families and solo student travelers - 22 in all - and all of us flew to Toronto for a long layover through Air Canada. I won’t say much about our travels in this regard minus Toronto’s Airport is amazing and 5+ hours passed pretty quickly.

When we landed on July 2nd, we met Michael, our tour leader. He’s a tall, thin, health-conscious man who is a true joy to be around. He lives in Dublin and has a wife of the same name as one the people on our trip! He also has 3 kids, one of whom lives in Vancouver and is probably moving back home. The Irish are much more reserved than we Americans are (and 99% of the world is more reserved than I am), but he’s been great so far. 

Michael took us to the bus were we met Sean, our bus driver. He’s from Killarney, Carey County, a full 3 hours south of Dublin. He’s fun and animated, and he’ll be with us until we cross the Irish Sea to Scotland.

DAY 1 - Intro to Dublin

After catching our breath in the beautiful Irish air (a tepid 65-70 degrees with overcast skies), we passed through the city, overlooking the River Liffe and then touring the distinct architecture. Michael pointed out that Dublin is one of the few European capitals that has never been involved in a a war, so there’s a brilliant mix of architecture - ancient Elizabethan are coupled with more recent Georgian and Victorian buildings, only to be offset by 21st century buildings such as the Commerce Center, which looks like a glass bottle tilted at a 30 degree angle.

For lunch, Michael and 4 students (Kyra, Kyle, Eliza, Yu Lin) and I went to a place called Killkenny, of course at the recommendation of Sean. I had this amazing goat cheese tarte, while the kids and Michael had a warm lunch. It was fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. And super-filling!

Afterward, we met and did a walking tour of Dublin. Michael took us to the Dublin Castle, which is still only partially intact with one tower. We walked passed the Irish Hall of Fame, toured the Temple Bar district, and just simply enjoyed the Cobblestone Streets of Moore, Thomas, Beckett, and others. I ended my day sharing some afternoon tea with Courtney and a few kids (Kyle, Kyra, Eliza, and Allie), as we sat in comfortable chairs and chatted with our barista, who was from Brazil of all places.

Our evening ended with some Shepherd’s pie and cheese cake. After our huge lunch, the portion size for me was just right. However, for some of our guests who ate a smaller plate or soup for lunch, they were a bit hungry afterward. The cheese cake was definitely different - one thing Americans need to get used to is the idea that food doesn’t need to be completely immersed in sugar. I tend to like that more about other countries than our own, but it takes some getting used to, even for folks like me.

We finally made our way back to the hotel, which is in the middle of nowhere north of Dublin. Fine by me, by the way! But I got a much needed shower, and then Brian (we’re roomies, like most times we travel) and I headed downstairs for a pint or whiskey and watched the American women soccer team beat the English, much to the chagrin of the 2 tables to our right (who were rooting for their home team). It was fun to see the Irish bartenders rooting against what they called “our one time common overlords.” 

Afterward, a much needed amazing sleep despite the idea that the height of our latitude meaning that the sun stayed erect until 10:15p and didn’t reappear until 4:30a, blaring me in the face. Great sleep, though!