Dublin with Max, mum and Engelbert

Dublin the second :-)
Easter 2011 I had already been to Dublin together with Marco where we had spent some really great days [click here for the post].
However, from October 2013 to April 2014 my brother went to live in Dublin to give his English a boost. During his time he got a few visits from his girlfriend, but beginning of march it was time for my mum, Engelbert and me to come over for a visit as well.
While Max was living with his host family, the three of us were booked at the very very lovely bed and breakfast of Anne & John. My mum and Engelbert had booked this place for a previous stay in Dublin when they had accompanied my brother on his journey to Ireland in autumn. They had found it on AirBnB - a booking that turned out to be like a treasure. My mum and Engelbert became friends immediately with the hosts. Anne and John are so loving and charming! And I had the pleasure to meet them as well during our visit in March. Their bed and breakfast is at the same time their own house they live in. They have simply turned their (now grown up) children's rooms into guest rooms.
Their home and B&B is located in Howth, a village and outer suburb of Dublin, occupying the greater part of the peninsula of Howth Head at the northern Dublin Bay. Originally just a small fishing village, Howth with its surrounding once-rural district is now a busy suburb of Dublin, with a mix of dense residential development and wild hillside. It is the place of residence for quite a few known/famous Irish people.


Thursday 06/03:
My mum and Engelbert arrived already in the morning hours and had some time to spend with Anne during the day before my brother picked me up at the airport in the evening.

Friday 07/03:
We started the day with yummy yummy breakfast. Anne serves whatever your heart (and stomach) desires - including typical porridge - and decorates it all with love :-)

A little look around the place we stayed. 

"My" room...

...and the view from my window in the morning.

  The room my mum and Engelbert stayed in.

 The entrance hall.

The dining and living room.

Anne's kitchen.

Anne's & John's house.

Before heading to Dublin city, Anne gave us a ride to the local train station, including a little sightseeing detour to the nice viewpoint on Howth hill.

 

Later in the morning we took the DART train to Tara station in Dublin downtown.

 

Trinity College, the prestigious university founded in 1592.

Unfortunately the library of the college was unexpectedly closed - due to a visit of... Angela Merkel!
So we just passed some time in the sun waiting for my brother to join us after his English classes.
Together we had some lunch in the campus canteen.

Afterwards we went to visit the 18th century Dublin Castle, nowadays a major Irish government complex.

 

 

Not far from the Castle I remembered from my trip with Marco a great place for coffee and cake: "Queen of Tarts" with an amazing choice of deliciously looking cakes and pastries making it difficult to chose from.

In Grafton street, a little side street of "Queen of Tarts" we did some jewellery shopping in a handicraft shop.

In the early evening we headed back by train to Howth where we had dinner at "Connolly's". On the menu for me: a delicious fish pie and a ginger ale :-)

 

Saturday 08/03:
The initial plan for that day was a long walk around the coast of the peninsula of Howth. But unfortunately it was a bit too stormy. It wouldn't have been a pleasure at all to hike close to the cliffs for a couple of hours.

Alternatively my brother Max suggested to visit Newgrange, one of the most important prehistoric megalithic sites in Europe, situated in the county of Meath (some 50 km North of Dublin). The monument was built about 3200 BC, during the Neolithic period, which makes it older than Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids. Newgrange is a large circular mound with a stone passageway and chambers inside. There is no agreement about what the site was used for, but it has been speculated that it had religious significance – it is aligned with the rising sun and its light floods the chamber on the winter solstice. Newgrange is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is today a popular tourist place.

 

We actually went into the mound and took the passageway to the inner chamber. But we weren't allowed to take pictures inside.

 

Back in town in the afternoon, Anne joined us for a visit of the Jameson whiskey distillery.

The entrance ticket included one drink: either a glass of whiskey or an nonalcoholic cocktail whose mixture I unfortunately can't remember anymore. But it was delicious. It was with ginger ale, lime and then something like tonic water or bitter lemon or soda something...

For a few volunteers it was possible to participate in a whiskey tasting. I had done that already in 2011 when I was in Dublin and had already visited the distillery. But this time Max and Engelbert could benefit from a few sips.

In case you have some spare 50.000€ and feel thirsty, you might opt for this precious bottle.

The alcohol needed to be followed by some food for which Max took as to Murrays Bar on O'Connell Street.

Sunday 09/03:

Today's weather outlook was much better for a walk on Howth peninsula. From the various walking trails we chose the yellow option, a light 6/7 km walk.

We started in the village of Howth...

 

...with a drink at the old Abbey Tavern listening to some guitar player.

Then we started the wonderful walk along the cliffs of Howth.

 

 

 

View on Baily lighthouse in the background.

Back in the village.

This was a very very nice walk which I really enjoyed!

Now it was time to head home and pack before coming back to Howth village for dinner, back again at Abbey Tavern.

Sunday 10/03:

All our flights were only in the afternoon/evening, so we still had some time to drive to Dublin city before leaving Ireland. I really wanted to visit that old library of the Trinity College which was unfortunately closed on Friday.

Ireland's oldest harp.

Afterwards we still had some time for a little bit of shopping in Henry and Talbot street. There, in a Dunnes' store, I accidentially found the kind of dessert cups I had always been looking for - and back home I realised they actually have exactly the same design pattern on it as the set of wine/champagne/water glasses that I already possess :-) What a perfect match!

In the late afternoon I had my flight back to Oslo, departing from Dublin with a great view over the place where Anne and John live, Howth and its lighthouse.

Because we had all been already to Dublin before, we longer needed to work off the list of sights and tourist attractions. This gave us the possibility to take everything a bit more relaxed, to focus on alternative things to do and see and to enjoy spending also a bit of time with Anne and John. They are really a lovely couple and they make you feel home away from home. During your stay they take really good care of their guests, being available at any time with information, recommendations or even a lift to the local train station or airport. It's a lot of those small details that make a stay at their place such a nice experience. I can only recommend their B&B to everyone visiting Dublin one day!