Toronto to Dublin [Day 35, 36 & 37]

Day 35 - We had set out to see the sites of Toronto. Our flight was not departing until 9pm so we had plenty of time. We drove around and found some cool areas, but it was bloody cold outside and we were being wimps. We drove down town and checked out a few malls, saw the hockey hall of fame (but didn't go in)... just walked around really. But after freezing half to death we decided to call it a day and head to the airport. The flight was pretty good, I slept most of the way and Rochelle got a few hours in too.

Day 36 - We landed in London at 9am. We had to move our asses because our flight to Dublin departed at 11 from a different terminal. Heathrow is MASSIVE! We got there with plenty of time, and boarded. This was the most cramped plane we have ever been on. It was ridiculous! Aer Lingus or something? The flight was only an hour long, so we landed in Dublin just after 12. We picked up our hire car and headed out toward the city - very happy to be driving on the left hand side again. Our car is a Opel Corsa - 1200cc of raw power.


Having no map, and only an address, things were a little difficult. Not to mention, that Dublin is built like a frikken LABARYNTH! We finally got to our B&B with a little help from some locals. All my high hopes of getting out and making the most of the afternoon were no more - we both felt like complete shite! So we made a trip to the supermarket, tried unsuccessfully to find a laundromat, then hit the hay.

Day 37 - Alarm went off at 7:30am and we slept right through! Finally woke about 9am and had an awesome breakfast of sausage and eggs. We headed into the city to see the sights. First was the Dublin Castle (2 pics below), right in the center of the city. Then we saw City Hall, Christ Church Cathedral (2 pics), St Audeons Church, The River Liffey, The Four Courts, The Bank of Ireland and the Trinity College (2 pics). Photos below in order:


We also saw some other cool sights!

The first is obvious. The second was right out of a bad british tv show. The guy... just look at him - half his teeth are missing, the tracksuit, the hair! One of the girls had a baby and looked like she was pregnant. The other just looked plain tragic. All three were smoking and had the most hideous accents. So funny! And the last pic looks like its from Coronation Street. There are lots of houses exactly the same - so different to what we are used to seeing.

Next was the Guiness Brewery! To be honest we were a little disapointed by the fact that you dont actually go into the brewery and see it being made. But what they had done was really cool. We learnt all about how its made, the history, advertising over the years, and even got to pull our own pint!


After the tour we headed home. What an absolute mission. I think the town was built to try and confuse people. The road signs (if present at all) are up on random buildings, half covered in mold. Its like wheres wally trying to find what street you are about to turn into. The streets are so thin its hard to get a car down them. Every second street is a one-way. 90% of the streets are no-right-turn. It is near impossible to navigate! It took us an hour to get about 20kms. Not much fun!

Tonight we were going to go out for a real Irish pub meal and take lots of photos of cool pub stuff. Operative word there - were. The price was insane. They were relative to a nice restuarant back home... but they were in Euros! So your $25 steak is 25 euros... which costs us about $50. We decided to flag that and got some takeaway and some salad from the supermarket. We will try again in some of the smaller towns we visit. Dublin is really touristy!

Thats all for now. The next 7 days we plan to see as much of Ireland as possible. Exact itinerary is TBC...

Next Post - 'Rockin' Cashel - Ireland'