Dublin, a very big city

Friday, 4 April 2008
We have a couple of days in & out of Dublin, our legs and backs hurt from so much walking even though we have taken the bus several times out of town.
Yesterday we walked nearly all day to sites within Dublin though we didn't even touch St. Stephen's Park, Trinity College or Grafton St. OR any museums!
Today we got up early to find a bus out to the seaside which we were able to do only after we discovered that you nearly have to jump in front of the bus to have it stop to pick you up, even standing at a bus stop clearly marked for that number. Now that we are in on that little secret we are masters of the bus system and armed with one more day on our card!
We toured the inside of a castle today and walked around the grounds in Malahide, north of Dublin proper. We spent time drooling over the sailboats as well. It was a delightful place, very large, extremely expensive real estate.
This afternoon after fish & chips for lunch we went out again on the bus to Howth where we rode to the summit of the hill, looked out over the sea in all directions and came right back.
We are heading home for the evening unless a 'second wind' takes us out to listen to Irish music, but I'm not booking money on that- though I did come to the conclusion today (after believing that the Irish were very well-read and big writers) that the bookmakers places I had seen on every other corners are actually for placing bets! Who would guess?
Our B & B is outstanding, breakfast was the full-on Irish variety with a super strong cup of java, selection of cereals with rich Irish milk and then eggs, beans, sausage, ham, toast with marmalade, and TOMATOES!! For those who are concerned about my lack of diet awareness here, so am I, but it is impossible to be careful here with few veggie choices and so much available fat!! Plus the food is so expensive, I simply must eat what's offered...
Gasoline is over $8.00 a gallon here as well. Simple homes are over US$1,000,000 and those are townhomes. I hope the wages are as high!! Dublin is doing great!