Trip to London

Sept 17-18. Our first two days in London. Lots of walking, sightseeing, yummy food, and struggling to remember to look right, then left, when crossing. 

Sept 19, Day 3. The time change was unusually hard for some reason. We were waking up late, having lunch for breakfast and staying up till 1 or 2am. It was kinda cool, actually. Certainly not a lifestyle I could sustain back home, but perfect on vacation. Tate Modern, sightseeing, drinks at the Mondrian Hotel. We thought an evening walk around Buckingham Palace would be spectacular, but it was eerie how dark it was. While the palace was minimally light up (with loads of construction cones and gates), the surrounding gardens and The Mall were perfectly black- no lights at all. It was weird. 

Sept 20-21, Day 4 and 5. We went on a Banksy hunt, walked and wandered, found tons more fabulous street art, and grabbed a bite at The Ace Hotel. Then it was time to go home. Cheerio!

Trip to Dublin

Dublin

On Friday, we took at day trip to Howth (Hoe-th), a charming seaside fishing town, east of Central Dublin. Excellent seafood, so many colorful front doors, and lots and lots of ultramarine blue! 

The next day we went to Bray, a beachy seaside village, at the opposite end of the line from Howth. It was rainy and I wore the wrong shoes. My meshy trainers became a soggy disaster pretty quickly, but I still managed to get a few nice pics before we headed back in to Dublin. On Sunday we traveled by ferry from Dublin to Holyhead, Wales. Then got on a train to Euston London. What a lovely way to get around! 

Dublin Food:

We ate at two noteworthy restaurants in Dublin, both were tapas places- go figure! 

Viva in Portobello neighborhood. Wonderful owners and staff, excellent food! We got to enjoy live Flamenco guitar music, which they have on Thursdays & Saturdays. It was magical. 

Salamanca, near the Temple Bar area. Very busy, kinda loud, but excellent food. We got a table in the back near the fireplace where it marginally quieter and extra romantic.