Travelog for: King Tut

Today I visited a very old quarter of Dublin called Temple Bar.
There were many tiny cobbled streets and lots of drinking dens called "pubs".



Here I am outside "The Auld Dubliner" 



We stopped off in another pub for some fish chowder. It was yummy!





There was lots of great old advertisments with that ancient drink "Guinness" featured on them.



I enjoyed my walk around Temple Bar and I hope to be back.

Hi Mum. Today was so wet and cold in Ireland that I long to feel some sunshine on my face. This morning it got so cold it actually started to snow. Well it was really sleety rain 
Here is me taken on my hosts balcony with the sleety rain falling. BBRRRR!!!!!!


My host decided to bring me into town.
We got on a doubledecker bus. They are really great especially for small T.V's like me. I could see the whole of Dublin City from the top of the bus. It was too bad to take pictures through the window but here is me on the top of the bus 



We were walking down a  well know street when we saw a fire brigade and firemen dampening down a building. My host told me it was a well known dry cleaners that had gone on fire the night before. It was called "New York" and looked like it had been a very pretty building! There were lots of people hanging around and taking pictures. I got in on the act too 







We then went for a look around Tower Records and had some tea and cake in a nice cafe nearby before going home.

Today we had to do some grocery shoppng and buy some Easter eggs so it  was back into town.
I'm really starting to find my feet in Dublin now and know the difference between "The Northside" and "The Soutside".
Dubliners are very particular about what part of the city they come from 

I hung out on the "Liffey Boardwalk" and relaxed in the sun 



Dublin is built on the River Liffey and it looks really well when the sun sets and the lights in the city come on. The tall building in the background is Liberty Hall and is the tallest building in Dublin, not quite the monument I was looking to find, but hopefully I'll find some soon 





This place is  a very popular drinking den in Temple Bar. I loved the bright colours of the pub and people seemed to be having a fun time inside.

Hi Mum. This morning I woke to the most beautiful sunrise over Dublin City! I watched it from the patio doors and it was just a beautiful sight 





Just look at that golden light!!!



Later in the day we travelled to The Phoenix Park which is the largest enclosed city park in the world.
Here's me with one of the green city tour buses behind 



It was Hanami Day in Dublin where many people were out taking photographs of the spring flowers in the park. I saw lots of pretty flowers including these! 





Here I am in the back garden of Farmleigh House. This is where visitor's to the Irish State are put up by the Irish Goverment. I didn't see any Royals or visiting heads of State though 



We found a nice spot to sit down and have a picnic and have a read of "The Irish Times". Seamus the Leprechaun was hanging out in a woodland glade somewhere and joined us for a share of the food!



Me & Seamus!




Enjoying some food & drink 

Today I managed to get to a free  outdoor performance of "Handel's Messiah in Temple Bar,Dublin.
Mum did you know that Mr. Handel performed  his "Messiah" for the first time on Fishamble St, Dublin on  April 13th, 1742 
I'm really surprised to learn that!

Here are some pictures of the concert!





Mum I've written a postcard for you, and my host is going to send it next week.Tomorrow is my hosts birthday and we are going off to visit a port town near Dublin City. I'm getting really excited because she told me that the famous writer james Joyce lived nearby, and we are going to walk to his house 

Today was my hosts birthday, so she didn't have to go to work 
We drove  a few miles along the coast from Dublin City until we arrived  at Dún Laoghaire pronounced (Done Leery).
I was very excited as the day was sunny and the sea looked so blue!

Here's me on the Main street in Dún Laoghaire.



We took  a  walk down to the seafront  and I spotted this great  old piece of Victoran Architecture!





Dún Laoghaire is  a very busy working port and many car ferries cross The Irish Sea from Wales to Ireland.
Here is a map of the port and harbour of Dún Laoghaire.



Here is a photo of me with the Pier in the packground. I walked all the way out to the lighthouse at the end.


The brickwork on the pier is very interesting. It reminds me of the bricks we use in Egypt.


Nice Boats behind me 


My Host pointed out this  plaque in the wall which commerates a famous Irish writer called Samuel Beckett. He won the Nobel Prize for  Literature in 1969.He was born on April 13 the day before my hosts birthday!!! Apparently some of his walks on this pier inspired his writing!

“...great granite rocks the foam flying up in the light
of the lighthouse and the wind gauge spinning like a propeller,
clear to me at last...."



WE found this interesting sundial which has  a map of all the things you can see from the pier at a 360 degree view.

Here is the town crest!



....and here is the James Joyce Tower which you can see in Sandycove a 20 minute walk along the seafront.



Here's me with the real James Joyce Tower in the background:


The nice view of Sandycove which you can see from Dún Laoghaire.



Look at this amazing old cannon which I stumbled across!



Before we continued on our walk to SandyCove we stopped off at this famous old shop called "Teddy's". It's very popular with locals who like to buy icecream and candy floss.



Look Mum! I've found my dream home 



And this is the view!



Soon I spotted a sign for Sandycove.



Sandycove's most famous resident was the Irish writer James Joyce.
I passed this small park where a tree and plaque were put in his honour.





I wonder did James Joyce swim here?



Getting closer to the James Joyce Tower!



Finally we made it to the tower but sadly it was closed. I was so looking forward to seeing some of Joyce's old stuff 





look at this funny sign, I spotted! 



It's to warn people about the dangerous rocks at this  very famous old bathing spot for Dubliners, called "The Forty Foot!"



Here's some pictures of the Forty Foot. Apparently some steely old Dubliners  swim here every morning, hail,rain or snow! No thanks!

I ended  up travelling to the West of Ireland this weekend. Sadly it rained for the whole time, so photo opportunites were few as I had to dodge those drops of rain......and boy was it cold too! 

Here's some of the pretty scenery I could see from the car,pity about the weather!



The rain got heavier as we arrived into this little seaside town called "Kinvara"
From the window you can see a hotel which has the largest thatched roof in Ireland!



I do hope this rain clears off 



We stopped of at the pretty harbour in the town.....and guess what!!! The rain stopped! 

Here's the pretty harbour.


Behind me you can see an old grain store which has recently been restored and is now a craft store and coffee shop. We had a peep inside 



Another funny Irish sign!



If you look closely in the background across the water you will see a castle. It's a fantastic castle called DunGuaire. It belonged to King Guaire. Sadly he is not around anymore so another missed royalty moment 



We drove a bit closer to the castle. I like this view with all the pretty Spring flowers behind me!



My host brought me up to the front gate but it was closed and nobody was home. What a great place for a King to live! I'd like to live here....during the Summer months that is. I think Wintertime would be just too cold 



The view from the castle across to the town.



Somemore nice castle photos.





I went and explored this old ruined stone cottage in a  nearby field.



View from the cottage towards the castle.





Great stonework!



Look at this stone wall!



Wow all that rain has turned this field rather green 



They like their bicycles around here.



I love these pretty coloured shops!



more to follow........

Hi Mum. Today I went to have a look at  the national Museum at Collin's Barrack's. Before it became a museum it was a big army barracks and the building is very impressive.
Sadly it was closed so I just had a look around and took some photos!
This is me at the entrance to the Museum.



I was looking forward to seeing the Asian art Exhibition but as it was closed I had my photo taken beside this giant banner instead.



This is the main courtyard where many soldiers would have been put through their paces 





This is a plaque that was erected the year the barracks were founded in 1752.



I really liked these arches 



Finally we discovered that even though the museum was closed, the cafe was open  Hurray we  went in for tea and cakes. Yummy! The Black forest Gateaux was just divine!!!

Today we took a daytrip to the town of Trim in County Meath. Meath is known as the "Royal County" as the high Kings of Ancient Ireland had their seats at Tara in the county.



Trim is famous for it's castle, one of the finest in Ireland.



This castle was used in the filming of the movie "Braveheart" in which Mel Gibson starred.



Look at this great  canon! Braveheart could have done with one of these 



My host bought a ticket to go and see the inside of the castle. Although it's very old it was rather impressive. This is me taken on the bottom floor.



I was drawn to this ancient hieroglyphics.



"A room fit for  a King" ....not sure about that one!



I climbed to the top of the castle and this is the view from the top. It was really pretty!



After my visit to the interior of the castle i got to walk around the grounds. there were some great drawings of what the castle looked like many years ago.
This is a drawing of one of the many gates into the castle.





This is the what the gate looks like now!



I think this is where the Kings stored all their wine 



Here's another old part of the castle grounds. Not quite sure what this was supposd to be!



After the visit to the castle I went for  a wak along the River Boyne.
It's famous in Irish folklore and thats where the salmon of knowledge was found.



As it was a sunny day there were many people out walking to the old church you can see in the background.



Here's me in the old cathedral ruins





A nice High Cross that I spotted outside!





Look at this pretty gateway!



At the end of my walk I came across this nice country pub.





I loved this pretty stone bridge near the pub.



Then we walked back to the town to get some eats before driving back to Dublin. It was a very interesting day 

I was very excited today as my hosts drove to Glendalough in Co Wicklow for a long weekend!
It is one of Ireland's most important Ancient Monastic sites. We boked into a really pretty little cottage which overlooked a cute little river.



This is the view of the valley from outside the cottage.



The little river in front of the cottage looked very pretty in the beautiful sunshine 



The first thing we decided to do was walk to the Monastic City from the cottage. I was very excited to see this beautiful round tower.



I just loved this church which is known as St. Kevin's Church It's all made of stone!







We decided to take a walk to the village through the forest. It was  a very pretty walk with lots of nice trees.





Near the village I saw this really old stone bridge  from 1700 so I had my photo taken beside it 





I like this old house taken which you can see behind me!



We soon reached the village and stoped for tea and scones in the village green. Yummy!



We then walked home and stopped off to see St Saviour's Church.
there was some really nice  carvings inside.

Day 2 in Glendalough
Another beautiful day in Glendalough. I found this book on the history of Glenddalough to be  very useful!





Today we walked and explored around the  the two lakes. the secenery was very pretty!





Looking back to the Monastic city I could see the round tower through the trees and it looked really great in the Summer sunshine.





We walked into this hidden valley where we saw the remains of an old mining village.





My hosts asked me if I wanted to climb the mountain behind the village and i said "Sure thing". So we climbed.....and climbed......and climbed for over an hour to get to the top but the view was worth it. I saw lots of  wild goats and deer on the mountainside.





Reaching The Top!!!!! Nice views!!!!!

My last day in glendalough! What a  beautiful sunny day it was. I hated leaving.
I went for another walk along the "Glendassan River". The birds were singing and the gorse was in bloom. A liitle slice of heaven 





I came across this waterfall but it's hard to see in the pictures.



My host held on to me here ............just in case I fell 



I discovered yet another ruined church in the monastic city. this is called St Mary's and there was lots of pretty bluebells growing nearby. I had to cross some fields to get to it which was pretty good fun!









I like this nice view of The Round Tower 



This was my last official photo taken in Glendalough though I have also included some more pics taken there the night before.



This is what the Round Tower looks like when you are close up. Nice stonework.







I guess I have now completed one of my missions and that is to see some ancient monuments although I am sure there are some more wonderful monuments to see on my travels 

We left Glendalough to travel back to dublin.
We stopped off at a pretty little town called Rathdrum.

Rathdrum is famous for being the birthplace of George Stewart Parnell.
He is was one of Ireland's most famous Political leaders and  a love affair ruined his career 
He is known as "The Uncrowned King of Ireland". Ah shooks he ain't  a real king though!



County Wicklow is famous for it's herds of wild deer and I stumbled across this one in the park. He didn't seem to be that wild to me 



There are lots of old-fashioned stores in the town. I just had to have my picture taken in front of this one!



My host brought me into see this famous pub called "The Cartoon Inn".
All the walls are decorated in cartoons by  a famous cartoon artist.
If you look closely at this photo you will see the cartoons on the wall.



Well the last photo of this great short trip to County Wicklow and it's of some traditional town houses in Rathdrum. I had to take my picture quickly as a thundery rain shower was heading my way. Just look at that sky!!!!

Hi Mum
As this was my last weekend in Ireland and the weather was so good. My host took me on  a drive to a town in north County Dublin called Skerries. It has a great beach and is famous for it's windmills.

WE took  a tour of the windmills. Unfortunatly my host left her camera in the car so we didn't get any pics of me inside 

Here's me with an old car and a windmill behind me!



We then went for a walk along the beach.



There are great views of the islands and a lighthouse .



I did a spot of sunbathing in the hot sunshine. You can see a great martello Tower behind me in this picture 



The sand seems to go on for miles!!!!



This is the nice little harbour of Skerries.



I spotted this nice seabird. He wouldn't move 



ROCKPOOLS!!!!!!!!! 





Found these peri-winkles and gathered a few.





I decided to do some relaxing on the water. How lovely 





Apparently you can see "the Mountains of Mourne" from this spot. It inspired the writer Percy French to write the words of the famous Irish song "the Mountains of Mourne". I couldn't see any mountains!





What  a nice daytrip to end my visit to Ireland.



My host has just told me that I will be travelling on to Italy this week.
I am so excited and I've been busy looking through some books that belong to my host. She has visited Sicily but not mainland Italy.

Today was my last day in Ireland and was also the day a new TV arrived.
Her name is  Éireannach [Air- ah- knock] It means Irish person in Irish!



She's not Irish though . She is from Russia but loves Ireland. She has waited a long time to fufill her dream of getting to Ireland.
She is traveling to Mallorca with my host on Saturday. Mallorca is  a beautiful Spanish Island.

We all posed for photos and toasted her arrival and my departure with some Guinness. I'm going to miss this black stuff. Hopefully I will get to revisit someday as I so wanted to visit the Guinness Brewery!



Me and Éireannach 



Soon it was time for me to  get in my specially prepared travelling bag. I'm so excited.............I'm off to Italia!!!!!!!!! 





CIAO!