The beauty of the Irish coast....and some whisky....

Whenever my travels are a week or less at a time I feel like I get behind on my blogs.  Sorry about that....I am now playing catch up.  So here we go with part 2 of Dublin.  Like I mentioned before I have a cousin in Dublin.  She actually lives outside the city along the coastline in Sutton which is very near Howth.  We took the Dart out to her town so she could show us around.  As we pulled up to the station we were meeting her at it was like a breath of fresh air...literally.  You could see the sea.  We were just a few steps from the water.  I was in heaven.  Francesca is an avid walker so she wanted to take us out on a walk around the coast and we were happy

Howth Hike view was breathtaking.

to do that.  As we began our walk  we were struck by the beauty of the colors of the sea and the sunshine.  Just couldn't believe our luck with the weather and also the beautiful views we got around each corner.  We walked all along the coast line getting a view of the lighthouse and then also of the eye of ireland which is a big rock that juts out into the sea.  Once we made it down into the town by the harbor we settled ourselves at a pub with outside seating and enjoyed a pint and some great conversation.  It was so great learning about our new family member and all the things that she has done over the years.  She has led such an interesting life and I loved hearing all the tid-bits that make her who she is.  Once the pints were drained we set off back to where we started but our tour guide had a different route which was a bit more inland.  Once the hiking had finished we headed back to her flat for a cup of tea and dinner.  The evening was perfect with great conversation, relaxing atmosphere and some reading in the back

The Cobblestone....little gem in Dublin

 garden.  My favorite things all in one night.  We had an after dinner drink then took the Dart back to our area of Dublin.  Now let me tell you about my favorite part of Dublin.  It is a tiny little corner pub that has been there forever called The Cobblestone.  I looked up the best live music places in Dublin and this place came up.  I looked at the address and it looked like it was near our hotel so I walked over to the window in our room and just downstairs and across the road I spotted it.  The first night there we knew we had discovered a true gem.  There were all locals there and they were more then happy to tell us all about the place and chat with us.  It was the spirit of Ireland that I had been looking for and just hadn't truly experienced yet.  The bartenders were pouring non-stop Guinness and we were so happy to be saddled up at the bar in this fantastic little place.  As if the quaint eclectic feel wasn't enough you were also surrounded by the sounds of genuine irish music.  This was nothing like what I had experienced the other night at Buskers which was fun but it was more like a show with a stage and a performance.  What was happening here was beyond beautiful.  The entire front booth, which honestly took over at least 1/8th of the bar space

17 musicians pack in a booth playing their hearts out.

since the place was so small, was reserved for musicians only.  The first night in we were to far back to really see what was going on but the second night I worked my way up and was just blown away by what was happening.  It was men and women from early 20's to late 70's using all different instruments  playing beautiful music.  They also swap in and out very casually...you just play as long as you want or join whenever you get there.  I chatted with a squeeze box player after he finished his time and he was telling me how he works as Guinness during the day and he had just got off work, headed over here just to play with a piper that he

Extra tasting experience...of course I volunteered.

enjoys playing with.  Even though he was exhausted from work it was his way of relaxing by doing this.  It was so cool to just chat with him and get the dirt on everyone in the music community....plus his irish accent was quite cute.  We went in a bit early on our last night so my parents could get up to the front and really experience it and we got a huge treat.  There was about 17 musicians packed into the musicians booth and the music was beautiful.  Such a great experience.      Our final days we spent doing a couple of things that I was interested...one of them being a whiskey tasting at Jameson.  The tour was so interesting...learning

Love the design of this...kinda want one!

   about how it's made.  I had done a bit of research and knew that there was an extra tasting that you could volunteer for so from the first moment the tour started my ears were open for the call....when it came my hand flew up and the lady placed the the coveted tube in my hand that was my ticket to tasting.  Success!  We were guided through the process of how the lovely whisky was made which is always interesting.  Once the tour ended we got to move on the tasting bit.  So honestly this was the most interesting bit for me.  We were testing single distilled American Jack Daniels  , double distilled scottish Johnny Walker black label, and triple distilled Jameson.  They had us go through all sorts of different ways to taste and compare.  I was completely shocked by the difference.  I don't think I will ever be able to drink Jack again...it is rubbish.  I am a fan of the smokey flavor so the scotch worked for me but man the Jameson is phenomenal.  So smooth...I could drink it all night which I suppose could be a bit scary.  I must say too, the distillery was designed so well.  I loved the way it was laid out and the design aspect was gorgeous.  The photo of the chandelier is just one example.  Challenge my creative friends...make

My parents...Can't ask for a better example of true love! 

one!  The other thing I love about all these  distilleries is all the copper.  If I could buy one of the these I would put them in my house...well I suppose I would have to get a house first but you know what I mean.
We did one other bus tour around the town which showed me some of the other history which I loved.  There is so much musical history too in Dublin...of course U2 is one of the big ones.  There were a few stories that were fun to hear.  My favorite was the one about The Clarence Hotel.  So the story goes...U2, before they were anything, were busking outside the hotel and the manager came out and asked them to leave because the music was rubbish and they looked a bit rough and it was making the guests uncomfortable.  Bono told the manager as he was walking away " One day I will own this hotel and be your boss"  He did stay true to his word and U2 now owns the hotel.  Unfortunately, the manager had just left when they bought so he never got to be his boss but he still stayed true to his word.  Love it!!!
I can't even say how quick Dublin went.  As we packed up our suitcase we couldn't believe it was over.  It flew by and I didn't feel like I did Ireland

Dublin was about family!

  properly.  Don't take that the wrong way...what I mean is I don't feel like I did the normal touristy stuff I just spent time with the people who mattered and in the cool places that I loved.  I am looking forward to going back and doing other parts of Ireland.
Our travel day out of Ireland was great...due to some really annoying 18 year olds screaming at 2 am and 4 am during the night the hotel bought us a taxi ride to the airport which was quite a luxury in my world and almost a necessity in my dad's world since the hike in Howth left his foot a bit swollen and gave him a bit of a limp....hope this get's better for him otherwise he might be in for a challenging next few weeks.  The airport was uneventful and we made it to Edinburgh with out issue.  I am so excited to be in Scotland...bring on the tartan!