And the Winner Is...

Congratulations to Samuel, winner of a beautiful woven Irish blanket from Muckross Handweavers in Killarney.  Here's a picture:

Samuel, please send me an email with your contact information so that I can send your blanket to you.

Thanks to everyone who left a comment while I was in Ireland.  I wish I had a gift for each of you, but I promise to run more contests in the future.   Keep checking the blog for more trip updates!

Day 7 - All the Bits and Pieces

Today was our last day in Ireland before heading home tomorrow.  That meant that we had a lot of items on our to do list for today!

We started out this morning by meeting with the Shelbourne one more time.  We still needed to take a look at the various sleeping room types.  When we toured the hotel on Friday the hotel was fully booked, so there were no rooms available to see. 

I think you'll be very happy with the accomodations at the Shelbourne.  All of the rooms are very nicely appointed, yet comfortable.  The service and food that we've experienced since we've been here have been outstanding.

After we finished with the hotel rooms inspection, we headed out to see a few venues for our final night farewell dinner.  I'm not going to share photographs of those, though.  Something needs to remain a surprise for your trip next year!

Next, we headed to the Guinness Storehouse for a tour of the history of Ireland's most famous brewery.  It is an amazing facility and is Dublin's most visited tourist attraction.  Here are a few images to whet your appetite.

At the top of the Guinness Storehouse, you'll find the Gravity Bar, which offers great views over the city of Dublin.

After we left Guinness, we stopped by for a photo op at St. Patrick's Cathedral.  As you can see the weather was just beautiful today.

From St. Patrick's we headed out of Dublin to see Malahide Castle.  We had lunch in nearby Howth before making our way to Malahide, a 12th century castle with an excellent collection of period furniture and oil portraits.  Malahide belonged to the Talbot family from 1185 to 1976, when it was sold to the Dublin County Council.  I think you will agree that the castle and grounds are spectacular.

From Malahide, we headed back to Dublin and made a short stop on Grafton Street, Dublin's main shopping street.  Shoppers will definitely enjoy this area of town.

Before heading back to the hotel, we stopped to snap a few photos of the colorful front doors of Dublin.  What photo log of Dublin would be complete without that!

Well, that's about it for our site inspection of Killarney and Dublin.  We fly back home tomorrow.  I hope you have enjoyed seeing a bit of what we have planned for you next year.  I can guarantee it will be a trip to be remembered.  Hope to see you there!

Day 6 - Dublin activities

Today we headed out to see an overview of many of the daytime activies and tours that we will be offering Super Achievers in Dublin.  Our first destination was Powerscourt House and Gardens, located in County Wicklow.  On the way there we were treated to magnificent views.

Powerscourt is a gorgeous period home dating from the mid-18th century.  It overlooks a wonderful terraced garden and an ornamental lake.  The scenery is breathtaking.

From Powerscourt, we headed for Druids Glen Golf Club to take a look at one of Dublin's golf options.

I think the golfers will be pleased with this option! 

After Druid's Glen, our next stop was the Ballyknocken Cookery School.  Ballyknocken is owned and run by Catherine Fulvio and is located on her family's farm.  The atmosphere is just incredible and the food is even better.  Take a look for yourself:

Catherine is a rather famous chef, both in Ireland and the U.S.  Check out her website at http://www.ballyknocken.com/ to learn more.  Make sure to scroll to the bottom of the page to view her recent appearance on NBC's Today Show.  This will definitely be a day to remember for Super Achievers who choose this option.

On our way back to Dublin, we spotted O'Neill's Pub and I had to stop to take a photo for my most loyal blog followers.  Pat and Pam, these are for you!

Well, we covered a lot of ground today and saw many great activity options.  For dinner this evening, we had the pleasure of dining in the home of Patrick and Mary Delaney.  Patrick is the Director of Ovation, the destination management company that we are working with here in Ireland.  We had a fantastic meal and many good laughs. 

Tomorrow is our last day in Dublin before heading home on Tuesday.  We'll be concentrating on Dublin city, so make sure you check back to see what's in store for you next year.

Day 5 - Belfast

Today we head for Belfast, the capital and largest city in Northern Ireland.  I have to tell you that I have been looking forward to this experience.  I have never been to Belfast before, and admit that my knowledge of the city and the conflicts that it has endured is not that great.

Thanks to a newly built highway, the drive to Belfast takes only about 2 hours.  We arrived at 11 and met up with Ken, who would be showing us around for the day. 

Our first activity was a Black Taxi Tour which is given, as you would suspect, in a London Black Taxi.  This tour focuses on the political strife that has occured in Belfast over the last 50 years or so and proved to be very informative.  It gave me a much better perspective on the recent history of the city. 

One thing I learned on the tour is that In Belfast, graffiti is very common, but not necessarily the way we are used to seeing it.  Some of the graffiti is very elaborate and paints a picture of current events, as well as the past troubles.  Here's a sampling of what we saw:

After our Black Taxi Tour, we did a more general city tour.  Did you know that the Titanic was built in Belfast?  Here's a look at the drydock where it was finished:

 

When faced with criticism about the sinking of the Titanic, the locals like to say, "It was fine when it left Belfast!"

Stormont Parliament Building

Presbyterian Church

The Crown, a historic pub in the center of Belfast

While in Belfast, we also had a delicious lunch at Deanes at Queens, a casual bistro by famous Irish chef Michael Deane.  Here are a few photos of his modern approach to traditional Irish favorites, Fish and Chips and Calves Liver and Onions.

Before heading back to London, we decided to check out the local shopping at the Victoria Square Shopping Centre, an indoor/outdoor shopping mall in the city center.    Very nice shops in a beautiful setting.

Check back tomorrow for more on the tours and activities we'll be offering to Super Achievers next June.