I learned from my last Education Abroad adventure to Paris the importance of pre-planning an adventure or two...and getting out of the city, too! This trip has reaffirmed for me that while I enjoy visiting big cities-- not sure I'd want to live there all the time. It's too busy and hectic -- I like a bit slower of a pace (and Dublin is DEFINITELY slower than Paris already!).
Since I knew we had a free weekend, I planned a bus trip with Wild Rover tours to see Kilkenny, the Wicklow Mountains, and Glendalough. Aside from getting a bit motion sick on the way home (these curvy mountain roads had even my old WV hills beat), it was a fabulous Saturday.
Our first stop was Kilkenny (https://www.discoverireland.ie/kilkenny-city), a town about an hour and a half outside of Dublin. Kilkenny has just under 30,000 people and I think we were able to see most of it in the time we had to walk around. Our Wild Rover guide gave us a short tour around town and then turned us loose for a couple of hours of exploring. While I chose not to do any formal tours of the castle or other landmarks this time, I enjoyed strolling through the history, looking at the art market, and grabbing lunch at a local deli. Ireland has had so many little "hole in the wall" places that have the best sandwiches, sweets, and this time -- quiche!
Hurling is a big deal here -- our guide says it's played like a cross between lacrosse and hockey. What was especially interesting to me is that all the players in the GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) who play hurling or football (soccer) also have "day jobs," even though they play at an elite level. The hurling playoffs are going on right now and everywhere we go we see fans in jerseys -- cheering on your favorite team is a BIG deal here.
I also really enjoyed walking through the National Design & Craft Gallery (https://www.discoverireland.ie/kilkenny/the-national-design-craft-gallery) -- the tea set at the bottom is one of the sculptures I saw in the current sculpture exhibit there.
From there, we jumped on the bus for about 2 hours over the river and through the woods -- or the Wicklow Mountains -- as it were! They were beautiful -- we stopped for a photo opp before we got into Glendalough.
Glendalough was a monastic site -- and a pilgrimage of sorts for many in days of old (https://www.ireland.com/en-us/things-to-do/attractions/glendalough/). Parts of the old monastery still stand -- and it was easy to imagine the bell ringing for church to begin. Ironically, in my stop at a museum today I saw an exhibit with some artifacts from Glendalough (I'll include those with Sunday's update). The monastery sits at the bottom of the hill and we had time to explore on a trail through Wicklow Mountains National Park. It was absolutely beautiful and reminded me of the John Muir saying, "The mountains are calling and I must go."
Our last stop for the day was at Cullen's Sheep Farm (https://cullensheepfarm.com/) and what a stop it was! We got to watch a sheepdog demonstration, learn about the generations of sheep farming that happened on the land, and hold some baby lambs, too! Spot, the sheepdog of the day, was a border collie. Our dog, Knox, is a border collie/blue heeler mix and we talk about him getting the "zoomies" where he runs like crazy -- watching Spot chase those sheep, I understand why!
The only thing on the schedule for today (Sunday) was an Irish Wolfhound Walking Tour. My co-leader, Christy, was taking her family on it and kindly let me tag along. The dogs were incredibly well-behaved and the guide was entertaining -- and it did my heart good since the dog is the only one at home I can't talk to on the phone (or at least he won't talk back).
I had no plans for the rest of the day -- figured I might wander around Grafton Street (one of the main shopping areas). Then I remembered I don't really like to shop -- and didn't have anything I needed or wanted, so I came up with a Plan B.
I decided to go in search of the "best hamburger in Dublin" and to try "Cookieboy," which according to my students is a TikTok sensation and a must try.
I like a good hamburger from time to time at home, but I quickly learned that Irish beef is just BETTER than what I'm used to. So fresh, so tasty, just delicious. Handsome Burgers (https://handsomeburger.com/) came up in my search and they did not disappoint! I'm not a huge fan of the bacon they have here, so I didn't eat all of that, but the burger and fries were a great lunch.
I didn't have the cookie until a few hours later -- but, since I'm talking about food, we'll include it here. Cookieboy is a bakery that describes itself as serving Korean cookies in Dublin (https://cookieboy.ie/). There was a line out the door, so that's always the good sign. I asked the person at the counter which one his favorite was and he pointed out a dark chocolate pecan. It was gooey and warm and all the right touches for a cookie.
The rest of my afternoon was spent museum hopping. I hit the National Library (https://www.nli.ie/), National Gallery -- Art (https://www.nationalgallery.ie/), and the National Museum -- Archeology (https://www.museum.ie/en-ie/museums/archaeology). It's not a trip if I don't hit a museum -- so four this weekend made me a happy girl! (And, they were all FREE!)
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