March 7: Landed in Dublin...cold, windy, drizzly (meaning no sun!). :) Not only was our flight from BDL canceled and we were moved to two other flights, our flight had to circle Dublin before landing due to another plane (carrying labs rats) taking nose on our runway. No animals were hurt in this incident... It would have been nice if it was a great escape. ;)

Took a bus to the Temple Bar area and a short walk to our hotel, The Eliza Lodge. We stayed in room 400. It was nice. We headed out to walk around Temple Bar area while waiting for our room. We went to Temple Bar (the bar) and it was perfectly empty which gave us nice shots of the place. Loved the bar areas and the open garden seating area.

We walked from Eliza Lodge to Foley's Pub for a pre dinner drink. Foley's Bar is up the road from Davenport Hotel and one of their sister hotel and we stayed at both during our first two visits. Foley's was the first place we ever visited on our first trip in 2008 so we always go back. The service is great, drinks are drinks and the food is nice. Affordable and clean! It's ran/owned by Chinese immigrants. After Foley's we continued our wet, cold walk to The Pig's Ear (on Nassau Street), which we both loved! Reservations are pretty much required. We requested a window seat and got it! I had a salad with goat cheese with beets and their Organic Spelt Pearl Risotto with Sweet Corn & Truffles,Crisp Fennel Salad & Toasted Pine Nuts. Both were delicious!!! I can't remember the exact cost but it wasn't as expensive as I would expect of a "higher" end city restaurant. Mixed reviews on Tripadvisor, but I will give it high ratings. We sat at 7:30 for their regular menu. I believe more complaints in Tripadvisor came from the early bird folks who are "rushed" out to make room for the 7:30 seating (but that's just IMO).

March 8: Spent our second night in Dublin at Eliza Lodge. They offer a B&B at The Italian Corner, which is just on their floor level. You order of the menu and it was ordered exactly how you want, hot, fresh and good. No complaints. We took a taxi to Connolly Station for a 9:20 Train Tour to Avoca area. Unfortunately the tour was canceled due to low numbers. We had received two calls in our room and thought they were "hang ups" and it turns out it was the Train folks trying to reach us to tell us of the cancelations... So, instead, in the rain (it didn't end :) ) We took a walk through the city. We ended at Arnotts Shopping on Henry Street. An awesome shopping experience. Plus this was the first time (during our 3 visits to Dublin) which we visited the "other" side of the Liffey. We purchased some candles and hand lotion that are made in Galway. This same company is presending First Lady Michele Obama with a candle from their line. They also make perfumes.

After Arnotts we went to have lunch at Boxty House in Temple Bar. I had dumplings in a blue cheese sauce with mushrooms and scallions. Mom had one of their boxty pancakes. Both were tasty. I would like to go back and try one of their signature Boxty potatoe pancake meals.

March 9: We spent our third night at Burlington Hotel as this was the beginning of our four night tour with CIE.

to be continued...

 

I tweeted the story about the rats on the plane at Dublin Airport. Sorry it impacted your trip. I'm sure the weather did too. Not the best this year. Looking forward to more. (The food sounds delish! You are making me hungry.) 

Sunday, March 10: We drove from Burlington Hotel in Dublin to Killarney. We spent the next two nights at Killarney Towers Hotel and Leisure Hotel. 

* On our way we went to a sheep farm and were entertained with tea and scones as well as a sheepdog demonstration. The regular farmer (Brendan Ferris) on the ROK was out of town due to a death in the family. The replacement farm had never been used by CIE. The family was nice and the tea and scones were fine. The sheepdog demonstration was fun to watch. We got to meet a one day old sheep. Very cute! It was in or near Dualla. After the demonstration we drove on to pass Rock of Cashel and stopped for a photo op. I'm very happy I'd been there before (and stayed at the wonderful Joy's Rockside House). It was my understanding that it's closed due to renovations.

* Next we drove on to Blarney (I think this was the order).  I "kissed" the Blarney Stone. I eskimo kissed it. I just couldn't muster up the courage to place my lips on the stone. I think I already have the gift of gab so I don't think I missed out on anything! I did get the photos they take and think they're a great memory of my "kiss". The walk up to the Stone is horrendous. It was rainy and windy and sort of a challenge. I can't believe my grandparents did it when they were in their 70s. Unless I'm just a whimp??? :) We ate at Blarney Woolen Mills restaurant and I didn't like it. Too busy, and the food wasn't anything special.

* Hotel was clean and nice. I liked it. Food at hotel was okay. The dinners were buffet style and I prefer a sit down dinner. A lot of the options were high fat and unhealthy. I'm not a super health nut but I do like options. Breakfasts were nice. Good buffet choices. 

Monday, March 11: Spent the night at Killarney Towers Hotel and Leisure Hotel

* Today we did the Ring of Kerry. It was as beautiful as I remember the first time. It was nice to not be driving it and was crazy to watch how narrow the roads really are! We did the Skellig Experience. We didn't boat out but saw a movie about it. It was amazing to learn about. For the life of me I cannot remember where we stopped for lunch...

Tuesday, March 12: Spent the night at Bunratty Hotel, I really liked this hotel. Clean, centrally located and great customer service. We went to Bunratty Castle and Folk Park for Dinner. The Dinner was entertaining and fun. I would recommend this dinner. I went to Durty Nelly's with folks on the tour. I'm so glad I went there as I missed it in 2008. In 2008 we also missed the Castle Dinner because we were at the end of our trip and simply exhausted.

CIE tour ended March 13 (Mom's Birthday) and we headed to Galway for three nights. To be continued...

wow sounds like a great trip. Did you have the time to walk Muckross Park while you were in Killarney? Did you walk around Killarney Town Centre. Our shop Quills Woollen Market is in the centre of town.