Ireland Getaway 2014- Post 12- Our Final Days...

Our final days in Ireland were spent exclusively in Dublin. We had turned in our rental car with a huge sigh of relief- Dublin is not a city to drive in if it can be helped and I know after 2 weeks of being the sole driver my husband was ready to turn in the keys. As much as we love road trips (and we LOVE road trips) I think we were both eager to just walk out the front door of our hotel and have everything easily accessible.

The Budget car rental office is located quite a ways from Dublin city center but lucky for us there was a bus stop right in front of it. The bus route didn't take us exactly where we wanted to go but it got us close enough and allowed us to wander the city on foot, taking in things you just miss if you're zooming by in a car.

We wandered by the River Liffey to the Old Jameson Distillery in the Northside of Dublin in Smithfield. This area was completely rejuvenated in the late 90's- the 120 year old cobblestones were lifted, cleaned and re-layed by hand. We chose not to take a tour of the distillery, trying to watch our budget at this point but we did walk around the foyer and of course the gift shop. A few goodies made their way into our luggage from that gift shop, we just couldn't leave empty handed!

After the Old Jameson Distillery we stayed on the alcohol trail and walked to the Guinness Storehouse. This is quite a walk and it started to drizzle. Even though we didn't have a definite route marked out my husband, once again proving that he's as good as a GPS most days, found our way to the storehouse. We came at it from a direction that didn't have many signs so I'm guessing he found it by smell. By now the drizzle turned into a sprinkle and the umbrella came out. Once again we chose to forgo the tour- I have done it before and my husband wasn't interested enough to pay the ticket price so we wandered back towards Christchurch Cathedral after lingering outside and taking in the large storehouse. I'm glad we took the time to walk all the way to the Storehouse, with the drizzle it was so atmospheric to walk along the shiny, wet cobblestones. With no one else around you could easily be transported to it's 1902 heyday. 

Once again we didn't consult a map so we meandered and took our time finding our way back go our hotel.  It was such a lovely way to end our time in Ireland. Personally I'm so horrible with my sense of direction ( as I've mentioned many times previously) I would never have done that on my own but being with my husband I could just relax, take it all in and trust that we'd get where we needed to be with maybe an adventure or two along the way. 

Ireland will always be a place I will want to return to.  It is firmly lodged in my heart and any chance I get to return, I will. I have agreed that our next overseas trip will be somewhere other than Ireland but I do know that there is a lot of life left to live and hopefully many, many more opportunies to travel and that someday I will be on the shores of Eire again. With that thought I said a bittersweet goodbye to my old friend and we flew back upwards and onwards, where unbeknownst to me I was set to embark on the next journey in my life.