The Emerald Isle

So we have left sunny France and landed in Ireland. I am in Dublin, and have been for a week. Things got off to a rocky start but have since been just amazing. Dublin is an interesting place, full of contradictions and surprises. It is an odd mix of traditional and modern, both cosmopolitan and small town; tourists flock to the Temple Bar and Trinity, overflowing on O'Connell Street and the banks of the Liffey; locals grin and bear us with a warm smile and patient voice.

Little gems of parks seem to appear out of nowhere, and it is sometimes hard to tell if the "trad" pub you are passing has been here forever or is an overnight tourist concoction. It is a young town, filled with eager 20-somethings and world weary 30-somethings. It is easy to feel old here, but only for a moment as it is easy to feel young here as well; there is a timeless quality to the place.

Two day tours down, one an excellent Celtic Heritage tour run by the affable and knowledgeable Paul from Over the Top Tours. His day trip north of Dublin to the Sacred Valley of the Celts was perhaps one of the best tours I have ever taken. This man has the gift of gab, a natural story teller who loves what he does. It was fun, funny, and I learned more about the Celts and Celtic Christianity in one day than I ever thought possible. I have now been inside an iron age tomb, walked on the Hill of Kings and touched a breathtakingly beautiful stone Celtic Cross sitting in the middle of a field. The other was today, a tour of Wick low and Glendalough. Steve was lovely, and tried hard. Part of it was his audience (a mixed bag of young adventurers more interested in exchanging emails than history, and a family group from the Midwest. Oh, and me) part of it was just that Paul is a tough act to follow.

I am staying a couple of extra days, as there are some things I still want to do. Then possibly on to Cork. I have the misfortune of arriving at a time when a number of music festivals are on, so that my trip to Galway may have to wait to another time. There is literally no room at the inns (or the guest houses or the hotels I can actually afford). Then I will take a fast ferry across the Irish Sea to Wales and work my way towards London.