Ireland

So, I’ve been in Ireland for almost two weeks now and it’s not until now that I have time to write about it. I have been here for work, basically, my company sold a machine to a company here, and when the customer asked for a modification on that machine, they sent me and two other guys. I have spent most of my time either at the customers facility working, or at the hotel resting (it ha been many long days of hard work), but I did get a bit of time to explore the emerald island so i have one or two things worth writing about.

Me and the other guys landed on Sunday around lunch, after checking in to the hotel, the others were tired and wanted to rest but I headed out to see the city. We are in a small suburb of Dublin called Dun Laoghaire (for some reason that is pronounced Dun Leary), just by the coast. So, I caught a bus down to the ton center and walked down to the harbor and out along the pier. It was a gorgeous end of summers day, sun shining brightly above and a cool breeze in my face,and I had a really enjoyable stroll. Naturally I also sapped a bunch of pictures, so with no further ado, picture time:

I saw this, so i got off the buss

More or less the only picture of me

Nice view

People like ants walking in a line

Unmotivated stairs by the sea

Some kids enjoying their ice cream

Coming back from the pier, I sauntered along the waterfront just enjoying the nice weather. By the time I started feeling it would be good to head back, I had walked so far i was in the next little suburb (apparently the suburbs here are pretty small). With tied feet i got on a bus back to the hotel and from there on out it was work pretty much all week. Naturally I snapped a few pictures along the way

Dilapidated area along the waterfront

Some flowrs

I like the chimneys

A random castle, there are a lot of them in Ireland

On the weekend my parents and brother came to Dublin to meet up with me. We had a nice dinner Friday evening, then Saturday morning we rented a car and drove west to the Cliffs of Moher. We got a hotel in a small village called Lahinch, not far from the ciiffs, then drove out there. The cliffs are really something, the green hills of Ireland dropping off dramatically straight into the Atlantic. It really fills you with awe to stand on the edge and loook out over this marvelous sight. I can understand why they were put in one of the Harry Potter movies.

The first view of the cliffs

You kind of get stuck looking at the view

Mother looking stoicly out over the cliffs

Tedde and a small castle

Small castle in the distance

Tedde looking out over the cliffs

Al four of us, been a long time since we had a photo like this

Full of awe and wonder at the shapes nature makes, we headed back to Lahinch, had some dinner in the sunset then spent the evening in a small pub listening to a folk band and watching people dance.

Tedde in the sunset

Mom taking a photo of her sons

Tedde sitting at the wrong angle

On Sunday we drove north along the coast up to a village called Doolin, we stopped by to look around a bit in the harbor, and to ou surprise saw a dolphin swimming around, apparantly it lived there. Pretty nie village, but pretty small, and not all that much to see.

Doolin harbor and Tedde

Surprising dolphin

Tedde on the rocks by the water

A random ruined castle, lots of them about the country side

We drove on from Doolin, through the area know as the Burren, a strange rocky moon landscape that spreads out over this part of the county, very austere but also very beautiful in it’s barrenness.

We found a small cliff protruding out of the ground

Mom posing on the rock

The rock itself

Just as I was pressing the shutter, Tedde jumped into shot, turned out really well

Rocky landscape

We kept driving on the small winding roads through the Burren, when we finally got to a bigger town, we got on the motorway and headed back towards Dublin. We got back just in time for the last entry into the Guinness factory museum. I forgot to bring my camera but there was not really that much to see inside. The best part was the Guinness academy where we were taught how to pour a perfect pint. That was it for a very nice weekend, after that it has been nothing but work, but now we are finally done for this trip, me and my colleagues are just waiting for the next flight back. Since I had a bit of time this afternoon, I went into Dublin city for a bit of a look around. As it started raining I didn’t see much but still better than staying at the hotel all day.