Your first glimpse of this wonderful island comes after you begin your decent through the large white cotton ball like clouds that frequently cover a large majority of Ireland. As you come through the clouds you begin to see the green landscape carved up by the outline of farmland, a few of the larger highways and cities, sparsely dotting the countryside. After landing going through customs, getting your passport stamped and getting your luggage I suggest that you go rent a car and get a map. If you are from the U.S. and have never driven in a foreign country you will not want to miss this experience it takes a little getting used to sitting on the right side of the car and driving on the left side of the road but it does not take long at all. All of the roads that I have encountered over there are clearly marked and easy to follow on a map, that you can pick up at the car rental facility. If you have chosen Dublin for your destination, once you have wound through the airport terminals a made it to a main road your destination should not be very hard to find, but if you do get lost the people in Dublin are wonderful people I personally have not run into anyone in Ireland that is not willing to help you get to where you need to go. If you do not rent a car the transit system in Dublin is very good the busses are clean and comfortable. This is also a must do, if you have never ridden a double Decker bus now is your chance and come on your in a European country you have to ride one of the iconic double Decker busses. The taxi system is also a very good means of getting around in Ireland. Just make sure that they turn the meter on as I have been told by every cab driver that I have ever run into over there almost every time that I have been.

     Once you reach your destination and I highly recommend that if this is a once in a lifetime trip to go ahead and spend the extra money and rent one of the four or five star hotels, or a nicer home, it is totally worth the extra bit of money you will only be there once make the absolute best of your time there. If you stay in Dublin there are many hotels around the city, many of which are common US hotels there is even a hotel owned by Bono. Every time that I have been there I always stay in Maynooth I love that little town it is just far enough away from the city of Dublin that it is not inconvenient and if you do not want to go into the city the small town of Maynooth is great as with most Irish town’s they have a wonderful little pub, there are also shops, food a beautiful old college and a castle built by the Fitzgerald’s the original owners of my favorite place to stay the Carton House the remodeled 17^th century home of the Fitzgerald’s. The Carton house is twenty minutes from Dublin, the 1,100-acre private parkland estate is an all-encompassing playground featuring two Championship Golf Courses, a Pool, Spa, Training Pitches, Tennis Courts and horseback riding. There are three restaurants inside the hotel including the Kitchen bar a great little place that is set in the 17^th century style kitchen in the main house with its huge wood fired stove and over sized cooking implements, pots and cauldrons.  Here you can order anything from a simple but delicious lunch to a late dinner. The Linden Tree Restaurant is beautiful inside there are large sky lights and floor to ceiling windows that seem to frame the trees outside. The dining experience is wonderful with white linen covered tables full place setting and exquisite food the wait staff does not leave you waiting for anything and go out of their way to make you happy. The third restaurant/bar at the hotel is the Clubhouse this place is a good place to go and get good food and drinks after hitting the links and talk over the day with friends. Rooms at this lovely old estate range from simple but luxurious to the upscale restored rooms in the original home.

      Now that you have your accommodations settled there are many things to do in Dublin. The Temple bar section of Dublin city centre is a good place to start with its shops, restaurants, live music (traditional or other), pubs, people and events. The Temple bar is one of the most popular tourist’s pubs in Dublin and the starting place of the Dublin bar crawl the pub crawl starts at 7pm sharp for your information the tickets we printed off from our booking did not have a time on them and we missed the first crawl by about 30 min and had to go back the next night. The temple bar features live music food and drinks it is a multi leveled bar with a restaurant on the top floor. If you’re looking for something more historic the Brazen head is the oldest bar in Dublin and possibly Europe it was established in 1198 the bar is a wonderful little place to go and have a pint something to eat and listen to live music. The inside of the bar is covered with paper currency signed by people from all over the world. Last time I went my wife and I actually sat beside of a one dollar bill that was signed by a group of girls from Elon College and seated beside a family from Raleigh both of which are right down the road from where we live in NC. I thought it was funny to fly just shy of four thousand miles and run into someone from home, we have been there several times and run into people from the states but never from our home town. Shopping in Dublin is just like shopping in the states there are business lining the streets of Dublin were you can buy most anything from souvenirs to Rolex. The Dublin Zoo is not a far drive or ride from city centre, it’s not the largest zoo but there are still a lot of interesting exhibits inside the zoo seals, primates, etc. things that most zoos have.  My first trip there I found that the Dublin pass was a good thing to have. The pass will allow you to ride the proper bus to all of the popular tourist attractions from the oldest prison in Dublin to the Guinness store house. The Guinness brewery tour is a great little self paced tour that takes you through the old brewery showing you everything involved in beer making from the gigantic fermentation tanks that go up 3 stories to the art of cask making and the indoor train that was used to transport materials around the brewery there is also an indoor man made waterfall and if you’re really into it you can become an honorary brew master and get a badge mailed with your name as honorary

Brew master all you have to do is answer a few questions about the beer making process at a kiosk at the end of the tour. Make sure to get your paper weight with black ring so that you can go to the sky bar and get your free pint you will have to give up the rubber ring for it but you get to keep the weight with a drop of Guinness inside it. The storehouse is full of most any Guinness souvenir you could want. There is also an excellent restaurant inside the brewery. Dublin castle is worth a look as well, the castle is beautiful and located in city centre. The last time we visited the castle there were beautiful sand sculptures created by local artist in the courtyard. The Dublin tour is also a good way to spend part of a day in the city the tour takes you over the city with a narrated ride on one of the double decker busses going by things like the zoo the millennium spike both sides of the river Liffey and other historical sites. About an hour outside of Dublin there is an old church named Saint Kevin’s that is located behind a cemetery with a lot of the old high crosses the park also has a few lakes and a stream. The grounds are absolutely beautiful. And on the way back to Dublin you can stop at a cemetery that is the final resting place of one of Irelands presidents there are signs for this, it is up a dirt road with homes on the right. There is also a beautiful lighthouse that you can on your approach to Dublin it is about an hour away from Dublin as well and if you have the time give it a visit.

     County cork, Cohb and Blarney castle. There is a tour originating from Dublin that goes to county Cork by train. You will board the train in Dublin station and take a four hour ride to the county Cork were you will disembark in Cohb and board a bus for the remainder of the trip to county Cork. The guides are very nice and knowledgeable the tour takes you by many historical and commercial sites including Waterford crystal manufacturer the last port of call for the Titanic and the white star lines Ireland office where the last passengers of the titanic were boarded before their fateful voyage. There is also a memorial that was given to Ireland in memory of the passengers of the Lusitania that were lost due to a German U-Boat attack.  Cohb is also the main port of the mass exodus from Ireland due to the potato famine. Blarney Castle is the main attraction on this tour. There are many things to see and do here besides the obvious; badgers cave a group of tunnels that were used for the entire garrison of the castle to escape while under attack leaving only two trusties behind hint: take a flashlight. The gardens are absolutely beautiful in season they are worth a look. The wishing steps are another gift imparting structure on the castle grounds it is said that if you walk the steps from top to bottom and back again backwards with your eyes closed thinking about nothing but your wish and not stopping you wish will be granted within a year by the blarney witch as a way of paying for her firewood. The lake on the grounds is said to be the final resting place of a large gold plate thrown in by one of the previous owners. There are of course the dungeons of the castle, again take a flashlight and the castle itself where if you have a little courage and even more trust in an old man helping hold you up from certain death if you slide off Blarney castle will impart another gift onto you for kissing the blarney stone, the gift of eloquence were you will never again be lost for words. The stone itself is atop the battlements and you will have to lay on your back bend over backwards out over the edge of the castle with a little help from the old man I mentioned earlier and only two iron bars about five feet below you if he fails but if you can do this you will have the opportunity to purchase a picture of this event for proof of your courage and as before you will never be lost for words again. Even if you do not kiss the stone I recommend going to the top and walking around the battlements the view is breathtaking however the steps to the top are very steep and narrow with small rooms off to either side that are labeled whit the previous owner’s title. Also on the grounds is the witch’s stone that with a little imagination you can see the profile of a witches face with the long crooked nose. The witch’s kitchen is also on the ground which is thought to be the first Irish cave dwelling. Plus many other things to see, just take your time.

    There are truly forty plus shades of green in Ireland this is a truly beautiful and majestic land and if you ever get the opportunity to go do not hesitate, the people and culture are wonderful the food is excellent although I have never gotten use to the bangers which are like a pudding textured sausage they have a good taste just never could get use to the texture buy you may love them. There are many more things to do in Ireland I haven’t even gotten to the north and other parts of Ireland but anywhere you decide to go in Ireland you will find great people history, culture and good times