Around the World in 110 Days!

Today, Torsten, Alex and I bested the high hills (my sherpa skillz came in handy of course ) of Bray and Dalkey, both south of Dublin. I definitely got my exercise for the day. Below are pics.

First, here is the view up to the hill in Bray. You can see a prominent cross (or not so prominent from this far away) at the top.

And once we got to the top, here is a 360 degree video:

This of a pic of me and the cross. Notice it is extremely windy.

We moved onto Dalkey and climbed that hill. Along the way, we saw some climbers, click for full image to really see them.

And here is a view towards Dublin from the top of the hill. I think the distant double smoke stacks are Dublin.

Here is a 360 at the top of the hill in Dalkey as well:

Unfortunately, we saw no leprechauns. Of course, it is well know that leprechauns are untrustworthy, so better for us.

That night, we went pubbing where we were asked to kiss a birthday girl on the cheek. And we got hugged by a random girl in the street. It was a good night. I just have to say that Irish people are very nice.

So, day 2 was another event filled day. I had met two guys from Germany staying in my same dorm room at the Abraham Hostel. From left to right in the pic below, they are Alex and Torsten, both in their last year of doctor’s school.

We jumped on a City Tour bus which went around to all the tourist destinations.

We stopped at a couple of locations including the famous Guiness beer plant:

and we had a tour of the jail where the last Irish revolutionaries where executed and ultimately led to Ireland’s freedom. The pic below is the main skylit area:

That night, we went pubbing, not clubbing. (I blatantly stole this from Alex. )

Hey all,

So my first day, I was jetlagged, but still had fun.

After stopping by my hostel, I went off to check out the Book of Kells at the Trinity College. This is a high illuminated (lots of pictures) book from 800 AD that is the four gospels of Christ and is still intact. Briefly interesting. Part of the tour also included a very old library. We are talking antique books about 15 inch tall leather bound books that all 7 or so raised horizontal ridges running along the back of the spine. They looked like there were a couple of hundred years old spanned acrossed 40 tall bookshelves or so. I had the impression the books were rotting on the shelves. Unfortunately, pictures were not allowed.

Then, I took a quick walk around town. Here is a pic and video (low res) of downtown looking at a very tall spire that was built in 2003.

The best part of the day of course was salsa dancing that I did that evening! There was a lesson and then open dancing. The were a lot of good dancers. I also got a chance to dance with the girl who was one of the instructors of the lesson. She was an amazing follow. She was also quite nice and gave me several places to dance salsa and info on a World Culture Festival. If anyone is ever in Dublin, they should check this place out, Strictly Salsa. Click on salsa clubs. For events going on other days of the week go here. Sorry, no pics. Too dark.

Hey everyone!

Just wanted to write a quick note that I made it to Dublin today. Hopefully, I will be able to post some pics later this week. Also, nice to see the comments posted so far. Thanks guys!

The blog is ready to go. And I am almost ready to go. I have almost all my stuff packed. I just need to drop off my car and some of my computers off with my family tomorrow. I leave for Dublin Wednesday at 7:00 pm.

General info, y’all can find my itinerary and contact info on two links off to the right.