Day 2 - Dublin, Ireland

We explore Dublin with Tauck, and, on our own.

After a restful night of much needed sleep, we started today with breakfast at the Conrad Dublin, the Tauck hotel for this journey. Tauck has arranged for guests to enjoy a complimentary breakfast at the hotel, and it was delicious. By 8:30am, we are boarding the brand new Mercedes motor coach for a city tour.

*Guests board the Tauck motor coach for the morning tour of Dublin*

The motor coach is so new it even smells new! And, it is very comfortable. Dale, our Tauck Tour Director introduces us to Carol, our local guide for the day and soon we are on our way through town with Carol providing insightful commentary along the way.

Our first stop is St. Patrick's Cathedral, the national cathedral for the Church of Ireland. The amazing structure dates back to 1220 and no visit to Dublin would be complete without a stop here.

Carol gave us a thorough tour of the Cathedral, pointing some very interesting historical facts.

*Local guide, Carol, guides a tour of St. Patrick's*

We re-board the motor coach for a short ride to Trinity College Dublin for a tour of the Old Library Exhibition and the Book of Kells. Neither Rickee nor I had ever even heard of the Book of Kells, yet hundreds of people were lined up outside the exhibit to gain entrance. Fortunately, Tauck has procured VIP tickets for our group, so we go to the front of the line!

Photography is not allowed inside the museum, so you have to go in person to see the exhibit. The Book of Kells is an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New Testament together with various prefatory texts and tables. The fully developed style of the ornamentation of the Book of Kells places it either from the late 8th or early 9th century. The book (there are actually four of them) is quite small, but fortunately, the museum has enlarged photos of many pages showing the elaborate ornamentation.

A short walk upstairs takes guests to The Long Room in The Old Library. The Old Library serves Trinity College and the University of Dublin. It is the largest library in Ireland and, as a legal deposit or "copyright library", it has rights to receive material published in the Republic of Ireland free of charge; it is also the only Irish library to hold such rights for the United Kingdom (Wikapedia). The Library is the permanent home to the famous Book of Kells. The Long Room contains 14 busts of famous philosophers, and those who supported the College.

After our visit to Trinity College, we boarded the motor coach for the short drive back to our hotel. It is now lunch time and Tauck has given us the rest of the day to explore Dublin "on our own". The location of our hotel is perfect for short walks to many of Dublin's historic sights and points of interest. We spend the rest of the day enjoying Dublin, doing some souvenir shopping, and getting some walking exercise. We are convinced that Dublin is a city in which we would like to spend more time.

Tomorrow, we will board Le Soléal for the cruising portion of this British Isles adventure. Stay tuned!

Rickee Richardson 4/25/18 Rickee Richardson 4/25/18

Day 1 - Arrive in Dublin

Our British Isles adventure begins.

We arrived in Dublin, Ireland, after an all-night flight from DFW to London Heathrow (on British Airways), then a short flight from London to Dublin (on Aer Lingus). As we expected, it was cool and rainy when we arrived in Dublin. Our checked luggage was already on the carousel when we arrived at the baggage claim area. We exited the secure area of the airport and found TJ waiting for us with a Tauck sign, and an iPad with our names on it.

The ride to our hotel from the airport took about 30 minutes, but was quite comfortable in TJ's new E-class Mercedes. When we arrived at Conrad Dublin, check-in was quick and efficient. We were recognized as Tauck Guests and given a packet from our Tauck Tour Director along with our room keys. When you travel with Tauck, they take care of all of the details.

Inside our packet was a schedule informing us of a cocktail reception and dinner at 6:15. That only gave us a couple of hours for a much needed nap after having been up all night on our flight! By 6:15, we were back in the lobby of the hotel where 65 other Tauck guests had gathered for the short walk to our evening’s festivities.

Tauck has divided guests on this trip into three groups, with each group staying at a different hotel. This is a great technique to keep functions from feeling over-crowded. Soon, our Tour Director, Dale, was leading us on a short 15-minute walk past St. Stephen's Green, a beautiful park dating back to 1663.

Soon, we arrive at Cliff Townhouse where we find an open bar and some of the most delicious hors d'oeuvres I have ever tasted. There was a BBQ-glazed pork belly that was to die for. Guests mixed and mingled while enjoying their favorite cocktail, wine or pint of Guinness.

Our evening meal was held on the ground floor of Cliff Townhouse. The evening menu offered a choice of starter, main course and dessert. Complimentary red and white wines were poured during dinner.

Before dinner was served, we were entertained by Irish singers and dancers performing traditional songs and dances. A few Tauck guests even got into the act when they joined the dancers on the floor for a special Irish jig. During dinner, we sat next to a gentleman who had traveled all the way from Queenstown, New Zealand. His journey consisted of four different flights with more than 25 hours of flying time!

By the time dinner was over, jet lag was setting in and we were pretty tired. We decided to walk back to the hotel, even though we were not entirely sure how to get there. Tauck Directors offered to get taxis for any guests who did not want to walk back, but we decided to give it a try. We found our hotel after only a couple of wrong turns during the walk. Dublin feels like a "safe" city in which to walk, at least in this part of town. Once back in our room, we wasted no time climbing into the comfortable beds for some much needed sleep. Tomorrow, Tauck has a morning of exploring planned for us. More to come!