Last Day Dublin & Off to Belfast

Slept in after our late night!!  Finally got around to taking our laundry to the cleaners about 11:00 AM.  FYI, Jim, on the other hand, got up and ran, then met Bill for brekkie, and then went souvenier shopping with Janette all before Noon!!!  In any case we all met at the Porter House for lunch.

Afterwards we went to Trinity College and had a very enjoyable tour with a homily but hysterical young man who was working on his doctorate (6-1/2 years!!).  Kelsey...I've found another guy for you..  You would have loved his droll sense of humor--actually, he reminded me of your brother!!

Brian couldn't get anyone to join him for the Jamieson tour so off he went by himself (about 3 PM)--he showed up at the hotel room door around 6 PM feeling absolutely NO pain.  He got picked (from the audience) to be a super taster; hence, he got multiple shots while the rest of the poor saps in the audience got to watch and, supposedly, to learn!!  Bri just knew he GOT TO DRINK!!  He was definitely weaving a "wee" bit by the time he returned 'home.'  Haha   His only complaint:  there was no one in the audience to take his picture or to photograph his moment of fame.  Boohoo!!!

At the end of our evening, we said bye bye to Joan and Bill, who were returning home the next morning.  The rest of us were off to Belfast in the morning.

Belfast---had an uneventful train journey (2 hrs.) and got to Belfast for a very rainy day.  Checked in to our hotel, had lunch, and took off on our historical and political private tour of Dublin with our cab drive Walter.  Incredibly enlightening.  Tons of photos of the political and historical murals, way to much insight into the trials and tribulations of northern Ireland, and some very candid comments from Walter.

Had a heck of a time finding a restaurant that night (Sunday); wondered around in the rain begging for food and eventually ended up in a shopping mall in a restaurant that claimed to be Brazilian (?) food.  Oh well....Brazilian food in Belfast, N. Ireland?  Yeah...enough said!!  :-)

Next day we had our all-day tour of the Antrim coast.  WOW...absolutely spectacular.  And I might add, Tom our tour guide (a transplanted Scot), was truly exceptional.  We were in a small bus and Tom took us to all sorts of places we would normally not be able to go.  The weather was miserable, but the sights were beyond words.  We saw the Giant's Causeway and the bridge at Carrick (something or other).  Jeez they were great.  The winds were too ferocious to allow us to cross the bridge, but they did allow us to walk down to it.  Nature at its wildest and I loved every minute of it.  I would have been scared spitless to cross the bridge, but they didn't permit it, so I was off the hook!!

Got back to Belfast early evening and went to a pub that John's friend had recommended.  It was super.  The next day we were to head out to Scotland so we cut the beers to a minimum and headed to bed!!