Breakfast starts with beans and a flat white!

After breakfast we walked around Dublin, did a little shopping while scoping out our meeting locations for the upcoming Edventure tours we've planned.

Wicklow Mountains and Glendalough tour

The first part of Paddywagon Tours took us past the Guinness Brewery and through the Wicklow mountains and to the Glendalough Monastery.

St. Kevin's- Glendalough Monastery. 

St. Kevin's was built in the 6th century and was subject to Viking raids. The bell tower door is over 12 feet off the ground so they could pull the ladder up during a raid however that did not stop the Vikings from burning them alive inside the tower. 

According to legend, and our tour driver, if you can hug the biggest Celtic cross and touch your hands and make a wish it will come true. No wish for Debbie. 

One of my ancestors perhaps? Luke Toole. 

The upper lake. From the parking lot you walk up a a gravel path first about half a km to the Monestary ruins then another 1.5 km to the upper lake. 

What better could you expect than a Mr. Whippy ice cream truck at the upper lake, we earned it. 

After walking back down from the upper lake we stopped in at the museum in the visitor center. We then hopped on the bus and headed back to Dublin. Great tour!

For supper we walked over the river to the Arlington Hotel bar, listened to some live music and had the lamb stew. Soooooooo good. 

Dublin has a very amazing vibe, the energy fills your soal and there are people from all over the world here. Saturday night is so lively, every street is packed. 

Day 2 is in the books, time to hit the sack, another busy day ahead tomorrow with an early start. Goodnight Debbie. 

Day 3 Northern Ireland 

Day 3 started at 5:30am, a 25 minute walk up the quiet streets of Dublin to Charlemont House to catch our tour bus for Northern Ireland.

First stop at the Go station for a pee break and a snack, the pastry with ham cheese and custard was a very tasty start to the morning. 

On the way we passed by the mountain with Finn McCool's face on top in stone. On the right side of the pic you can see his chin and forehead on the left. Today's Edventure is all about the legend of Fionn mac Cumhaill who fought the Scottish giant known as the Red Man who was 3 times larger than Finn. 

Someone needed a nap. 

Lough Neagh, Largest lake in Ireland, surrounded by volcanos. Legend is it was created by Finn McCool and filled over time with rain water. 

On the North shore of Northern Ireland there is another stone structure said to be Finn McCool, you can pic out his nose and foot. 

Day 3 will continued. 

Off in the distance is Bonny Scotland. 

Dunluce Castle. 

The main attraction of our tour was the Giants Causeway, we were given 2 hours to visit the area. We ran into some fellow travellers who happened to be staying at the Giants Causeway Hotel. Was great to see my big bro Jim, sister in law Charlene and nephew Jason!

Through the tunnel we went and headed down the hill, it's a good 20 minute hike down the steep winding road to the Giants Cause. Met a few interesting characters along the way. 

20 minutes down and a steep 30 minute grind back up. This is truly a magical place steeped in lore with   Scotland off in the distance.

Now the story goes Finn McCool grabbed a pile of earth and threw it into the ocean to go fight the Scottish Giant Red Man and crossed the causeway only to see he was not as big as the Scottish Giant so he retreated. When the Red Man came to fight Finn, his wife wrapped Finn up like a baby, the Red Gliant asked if Finn was home to which his wife replied he was out hunting.  Seeing how big the baby was the Red Gisnt figured Finn would be 3 times as large as him and retreated while removing the causeway behind him. 

Now according to Debbie who has an interest in Geology, this lore might not be quite accurate. Many many years ago before Fin McCool and the Ref Giant went to war this area was created by volcanos and lacy goingninto the ocean, hence the amazing hexagon formations. I will leave it to you to decide. 

Just Down the road from the causeway was our next stop to look out on a couple historic islands, namely Rathlin Island which was the first island in Ireland attacked by the Vikings and also the hideout for Robert the Bruce of Scotland. Oh and there was an ice cream truck there, figured with that big hike we deserved it. 

For the Game of Thrones fans you should recognize our next stop, the Dark hedges. As you can see by the large amount of people in the pics the filming at this location created a major tourist attraction. The pictures don't do justice to how awe inspiring the beechwood trees are. 

Belfast, birthplace of the Titanic! Our last stop on the tour was a 2 hour stop in Belfast, definitely not enough time. We grabbed a taxi and headed over to the Titanic Museum and crammed in as much as we could in an hour. The history and grandeur of the building is spectacular, all 4 corners of the building are the shape of a White Star Line ship. Debbie and I's first movie date was the Titanic!

Luckily we had enough time to hit Greggs before boarding the bus, the sausage roll and steak pie more than lived up to their reputation and I managed to grab the last yum yum. YUM!

A huge thank you and shout out to our tour driver Nisha and tour guide Noel. Great job!!

After getting dropped off by the bus we headed back to the Temple Bar area and stopped in at the Quay restaurant for a pint and supper. The place was packed, tables and patrons scattered throughout, the fish n chips with mushy peas and seafood chowder with mussels were amazing. 

Laying in bed, on the top bunk, I could hear someone yelling to the passersby "blackjack and lap  something" did he just say?? Had to take a look, yup that's what I heard. 

On that note I will say good night hope you enjoyed day 3 as much as us.