Hello everyone, sorry for the delay in updating our blog. We have been very busy and too cheap to get wifi while in the London hostel.
Dublin is a very cool city and always has lots going on. Our first day was trying to get over jet lag so we just explored downtown Dublin. The following day, we first checked out the Kilmainham Gaol which gave a history of the rebellion and civil war that took place in Ireland along with talking about all of the politicians and showing us where they were executed. We then spent the night on a pub crawl with 2 local professional musicians that played traditional Irish music for us and explained everything there is to know about Irish music - very interesting. We concluded the evening by hitting up Temple Bar (the party area) to watch some local talent perform.
The next morning we headed to the Guinness Storehouse to learn all about the brewing of Guinness Beer. Holly related to the process from her background in microbiology and myself from by background in drinking beer. The tour included also a taste testing, a pouring lesson and a free pint in the Guinness gravity bar. The gentleman I am, I offered to drink Holly's gluten-filled pint as well which was filling enough to serve as brunch for the day. After Guinness, we took a train out to a little town along the coast called Killiney. We went into the local pub on what happened to be huge carnival for the little town which gave us a real inside look at the Irish culture outside of a tourist area. We stood out like sore thumbs but it was a really cool experience.
Dublin - Guinness gravity bar
London was a quick 2 night stay but we got a chance to see all the major tourist attractions that we wanted to, including the London Bridge, the Tower Bridge, the Royal Palace and the changing of the guard. The hostel we stayed at was the only downside of the London visit as it was not very pretty. Our stay at the B&B in Edinburgh made up for it though.
London Bridge
Edinburgh was by far the most gorgeous city with the Edinburgh Castle and all of the amazing architecture. We spent our time walking around the city center, touring the castle, shopping on the Royal Mile and we took a day trip out to New Brenwick on the coast to see the Scottish countryside. We walked the beach, ate lunch there and took a visit to the candy shop for some fudge.
Our B&B host was awesome! He was a supper friendly guy with a lot of energy and traveling experiences. He gave us access to the whole "flat" except his own room so it was like staying in a 5-star hotel. We also used his kitchen to make mostly our own meals to cut down our costs.
Off to Amsterdam...
Kev
Edinburgh Castle
London Eye
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