The City of Dublin

So I thought I'd switch it up tonight and do a little segment on the city of Dublin in general, and leave our travel stories for another night. 
First off, the people in Dublin are simply Canadians... With Irish accents.  They are polite, helpful, and simply so pleasant to speak to.  Everyone has been extremely courteous, who we've happened to run into.  Anytime we've looked remotely lost (and trust me, we have been), a Dubliner who notices will instantly ask if we need and help.  For example, today alone we took a bit of a detour on the way to Kilmainham Goal, got lost trying to find a pub where we were to take a music tour, and then lost our tour group before the second pub of the tour.  In these cases, we literally had people walk extremely out of their way to lead us to the correct locations... It was so helpful, and I hope those individuals know how much we appreciated it.
The city of Dublin is also extremely lively at all times.  Every time we're near city center, the hustle and bustle is apparent.  Towards the evening, the Temple Bar region is filled with a diverse population of individuals looking for pubs, bars, or just some free street entertainment.  The local music talent here is incredible, there are 10 year old boys who will lug out their instruments and perform in the streets, and believe me, they are usually incredibly good singers/musicians. 
I think one of the most fascinating aspects of Dublin (which we'll see much more of) is the mixture between the modern growth of the city and its beautiful old architecture.  I find myself staring at doorways and old buildings which have these distinct architectural patterns, yet then I look beside it, and of course there's a McDonald's beside it.  If there's one thing that represents changing times, it's a McDonald's lining every street in busy areas..
Anyways, until next time, and as the Irish say:
Cheers!
Holly

Arrived safe in Dublin - Ardmore hotel tonight

Layover Day in Toronto

So today was another exciting one, starting off with a bang upon arrival to Toronto airport with a trip to the lost and found office to try to get my passport retrieved which I forgot on the plane.  Managed to get one of the ground crew to board the plane and find it after passengers were already loaded up and ready to go.  So after that passed, we moved on...

We met up with Jess Viray (the asian that sang at all Oak Park events for those don't know the name, see photo) in the airport lobby to give us a day tour of Toronto.  Day was awesome, went for lunch in the busy area outside of Eaton's Center on Yonge St., followed by walking down to the harbor front for a beer at Amsterdam Brewery.  Thanks Jess!

Today's blogger: Kevin

The Delay

So after a wonderful send off lunch, we get to the airport, say our goodbyes, get through security, and board our plane. After about six rounds of "ladies and gentlemen, sorry to inform you of a delay..", and an hour and a half of waiting, we finally had the first leg of our journey canceled, from Winnipeg to Toronto.  So just to torture our Mothers with another goodbye, we are now scheduled to (hopefully) leave for Toronto tomorrow morning at 750 am, and we (hopefully) spend the day in Toronto, where we will (hopefully) board tomorrow night's flight to Dublin.  Fingers crossed!

The Plan

 This is a preliminary map showing the general area of the places we are planning to travel to.  The numbers indicate the order in which we are thinking of travelling to each place.  Only up to #5 has been booked so after that point, nothing is set in stone.

This itinerary shows the preliminary schedule we have come up with along with where we are staying if we have booked it already.  Anything that is not booked is subject to change.