MONDAY

Enjoyed breakfast in our hotel restaurant this morning for a discounted rate of 12 euros ($12.60) instead of the normal 15 euros ($15.75) because we prebooked a few days out in response to an e-mail. Nice assortment of hot and cold food. I enjoyed muesli with strawberry yogurt and passed on the fried eggs.

Leisurely morning and we didn’t head out until about 10:30am. Bought tram passes for the day at 6.80 euros ($7.15) to go to/from our hotel which is a good distance from O’Connell Street. Our first stop was in a single story mall at George’s Dock. In my last visit here almost the entire place was vacant and most shops had departed. Things look a lot better this time with some of the space converted to offices, a nice wine store, and the Parade of Pigs, a local fundraiser where different companies sponsor a pig that is eventually sold off to raise funds for charity. We saw a lot of pigs. There were still some shop vacancies but probably only 10% now.



The "Taking the Plunge" pig:



The "Happy as a Pig in Clover" pig:











There had to be well over 100 pigs. This reminded me of our visit to Hong Kong last year where they had painted elephants instead of pigs.



Walked over to Connolly Station and went up to Dun Laoghaire for an hour (6 euros RT- $6.30). It’s a 30 min train ride up. We walked along the waterfront but did not go out to the lighthouse at the end of the pier this time. Popped into a couple shops to look around.





This time we had a sighting of a real Irish wolfhound (apparently the prior one I posted was a mixed wolfhound):



There were a lot of vacant shops in a small mall, as well as streetside shops, so pretty clear the economic recovery has not hit Dun Laoghaire yet.



Ad at the train station:



Back into Dublin and we went shopping along Henry Street and Mary Street, both off O’Connell Street which has the GPO (General Post Office) on it. First stop was for lunch at Anne’s Cafe which has relocated here from the opposite side of O’Connell Street and has been in business for 40 years. Jim and Zennie split some lasagna and chips as well as carrot cake. Tom went straight to chocolate cake (couldn't help myself).





Jim and Zennie picked up some items for the parade in a gift shop (a tweed cap for Jim and scarf and cap for Zennie). Tom picked up a scarf from a street vendor later in the day over by Trinity College.









Back to the hotel arriving about 4:30pm. Back out at 6:30pm for dinner.

Took the tram to the Jervis stop and walked across the River Liffey to Parliament Street where we checked out some restaurants. Ended up at Topolis where Tom had a four cheese pizza, Jim had a four item pizza, and Zennie had pasta.



Walked down Dame Street towards Trinity College which was lit up in green.



Across the River Liffey to the Dublin Spire which has special lighting added to it just Friday for St. Patrick’s Day. It’s right in front of the GPO which was also bathed in green light.









Tram back to the hotel arriving about 10:15pm.

Looking forward to the parade at noon tomorrow and will be out early to find a place to view it. Hoping to avoid rain as there is a 15% chance in the morning and 38% chance in the afternoon. We’ll have our umbrellas along.

And, finally, a photo of our hotel in the Dockland’s area:



And the lobby pigs that Zennie lent some apparel to:



Photos for this section start here:
http://tom911.smugmug.com/Travel-Ire...owth/i-qKLDZXg

The parade here in Dublin is just over 12 hours away. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!