Well, this was it. Our last full day in Ireland.
Gerald picked us up on the coach and took us north of Dublin to Malahide Castle.
We strolled through the museum on the ground floor at our own pace as they waited for the tour group to fill. Then it was up the most friendly set of spiral stairs in a turret I encountered on the entire trip.
This was a beautifully restored castle. We were not allowed to take pictures inside as the artwork is on loan from their National Gallery. However, Alan the Intrepid, managed to take a few pictures and shared them with us.
This particular castle had a Abbey on its grounds. It is in ruins now but makes for a great photo spot.
There was a cemetery beside the Abbey and I noticed something I've never seen before but would see again at St. Patrick's Cathedral. Over the grave they make a flower box and fill it with colorful little flowers. I found this a very pleasant idea.
There are lots of acres of grounds through which you could walk, the stable area has been turned into a visitor's center with a cafe to eat and a shop to purchase souvenirs.
Back to Dublin our coach sped. We would have lunch at Kilkenny's where we had lunch our first day. Then we had about a hour to shop before time to go to St. Patrick's Cathedral.
Mary was clearly excited about St. Patrick's Cathedral. She had us all pause outside where the spring is believed to be that St. Patrick performed his first baptisms. There is just this little flower bed there now. One could totally walk past and not even know it was there.
Alan had us pause here for one more tour group photo.
Then Mary acted as tour guide through the entire cathedral. She had not done that before and this only served to prove her love for this particular place. Here are a few pictures of the interior.
Outside I found a beautiful Celtic cross and more graves with flower beds on top.
Our final destination would be dinner at the Merry Ploughboy Pub.
This is a family friendly pub. They seat everyone at long tables and you dine on traditional Irish fare. About the time for dessert, the Merry Ploughboy's come out and entertain you with traditional Irish music. There are four guys and they are wonderful. They are well known throughout Ireland. They are great at getting the audience participating with them. When they take their break, the Irish dancers come out and fill that little stage with great dancing. Then the Merry Ploughboy's come back out and finish your evening with more music. It was so much fun Claude purchased one of their CD's for us. What a fun way to finish our week in Ireland.
Tuesday morning we all road the coach to the Dublin Airport. We were all on the same Aer Lingus flight back to the United States. Once at Chicago we would begin to split up. One couple flew back to New York City, most flew to Salt Lake City and Claude and I flew back to Lexington.
Ireland is a wonderful place. The people were all very friendly. The food was good and plentiful. Even with cold weather the Emerald Isle did not disappoint in beauty and personality. Claude and I are very happy we chose this as our destination for our big trip this year.
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