Northern Ireland and Back to Dublin

In N.I. we went to Derry, which was really emotional for me. As you may know, Derry is the city where the 1972 attacks happened on 'Bloody Sunday'.

We then went to the Giant's causeway, a natural formation of igneus rock into hexagonal shapes. It was very beautiful, but Mrs. Parker was hit by a bus, and that ruined it a bit. She seems to not be too badly injured, but she will hopefully see a doctor now that she is back in the U.S.

The drive to Dublin was also my blog. Well not really; Maggie edited it and wrote extra, but I helped so I'm copying it.

The last day of our epic journey began epically early, with breakfast at 7:00 AM and departure for Dublin at 8:00. We spent about 6 hours on the bus, stopping once for a "quickie pickie" at New Grange, a pagan worship site dedicated to the winter solstice. What's interesting is that it is perfectly aligned with Sonehenge and other pagan temples throughout Europe.

We finally arrived in Dublin around 2:00 PM and completed our souvenir shopping on Grafton Street. We visited the General Post Office, or GPO, on O'Connell Street. The GPO is the scene for the Easter 1916 Uprising , and the bullet holes are still visible on the pillars of the building's facade.

Our original plans were to take the train to a little town just north of Dublin Called Howth (Haut). However, due to an incident on the tracks, the trains weren't working, so we took the city bus! It was loads of fun because it was a Double Decker bus! It was so awesome! Howth is a sea town and we walked along the marina. Seals hung around the docks looking for fish, and they were so cute and funny. The views from the piers were spectacular. Even though it was windy and the day started rainy, the weather turned around for us by the end of the day. While waiting for the bus, we sang Karaoke with the guy across the street. We belted out great hits from Springstein and Springfield.

After we checked into the hotel, we had a quick meeting and held our own 4th of July "party". Thanks to Bridgett B's parents for supplying treats and decorations!

It was a great 12 days in Ireland, and as I said my goodbyes to the boys from Philly (and Will my kindred spirit from Manchester--Go trveler B!), I prepared for what lay ahead of me; Munich.