Well, the first day of driving on the wrong side of the road is finished. The 1st hour or so was a little nerve-racking. Getting to the car rental place and such. But I did ok. I'm sure it will be better as we go along. Then I'll have to learn to drive on the right again when I get back to Canada.

Today we went to Glendalough, a monastic settlement founded in the 6th century by St Kevin. We took the tour which explained a lot about the remains. Then went for a long hike along the pathway to the lower lake. (The upper lake is more than an hours walk. We didn't have time) Beautiful scenery along the valley.

This little church is constructed entirely of stones, including the roof.

This is one of about 100 round towers found in Ireland, and one of the best preserved. It houses a bell that called the valley residents to prayers 5 times a day.



From here we asked how to get to Kilkenny. We were told we could either take the motorway all the way back to Dublin. Or take a cross country route that is shorter but narrower winding roads. We opted for the cross country route.  We were treated to wonderful scenery as we drove through the valley. The roads were only about 2 cars and 6" wide in places. A little harrowing. But we arrived safely in Kilkenny.
After checking in we went for a walk to Kilkenny castle.

The castle was closed for the day but we walked around the grounds and gardens. Then to Kyteler's Pub for dinner. We were entertained by these fellows as we ate.

The day started off sunny and warm, but it rained off and on all day long. People keep telling us that last week was sweltering all week. Just like Canada this year.

Well, off to bed so we can continue the journey tomorrow.

Today we went on a bus tour to Bru na Boinne. This is an ancient burial site. It is older than the Pyramids in Egypt. Even older than my Mom.
Here is the Wikipedia link if you are interested:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bru_na_Boinne

This huge mound houses a long passage way and only 3 little burial chambers. We were not allowed to take photos inside the chambers. This is one of the most important complex of Megalithic sites in Europe. (Look at me spouting off like a scholar)
Little red dog was there but it was much too windy for him. 

 When we returned to Dublin we went searching for a place to eat supper and happened upon these fellows.

I think the drummer knows the flute player from my Facebook posting.
Later we passed by this statue of sweet Molly Malone, who sold cockles and mussels "alive, alive oh!"

OK. To bed now. An early start tomorrow as we head for Kilkenny.

So, to bring you up to date on what we have been doing in Ireland.....
We checked into our hotel and we getting ready to go out to see the sights of Dublin when we heard this awful racket out side our window. We are on the 3rd floor. So we looked out and this is what we saw.

A Guinness truck was parked up the street. The lads were rolling about 10 barrels of Guinness at a time down the hill to the pub in the basement of our hotel. The first one was upright to control the others. They had to roll them about 150 feet.

We went for lunch at "The Queen of Tarts". We were seated at a table beside a display of Quebec maple syrup. Imagine - coming to Ireland to sample good old Canadian maple syrup.

That night we went on a musical pub crawl. We met at Gogerty's Pub for a bite to eat before the crawl and were seated next to this frightening fellow. Almost put me off my pint!! NOT!!

The pub crawl was quite interesting. It was led by two musicians - a woman and a man. Brenda played a concertina (small squeeze box) an a couple of different types of tin whistles. Des played guitar and bodhrán (small Irish hand held drum, I'm sure you've seen one). They talked about Irish musical history and the various instruments.
We visited 3 pubs and Brenda & Des played a few tunes at each while we sampled the local fare. We were informed that a true Irish pub does not serve food. Their purpose it to serve alcohol and provide a place for music. The food is for the tourists, who expect it. This is the second pub we visited. It is beside the Liffey River near the Ha'penny Bridge. Apparently, even thought there are several bridges across the river, this bridge had a toll of half penny when it originally opened.

My little red doggie has embarked on a new adventure. This time to Ireland. Since he is so young I have had to accompany him. We landed in Dublin on June 12, 2013. We are staying near Trinity College, the oldest university in Ireland. So we decided to go for a tour. The book of Kells is housed in the old library. It is a manuscript of the 4 gospels of the New Testament.
Here is the little red dog visiting the book of Kells:

Little Red Dog visits Chicago

Just trying to get caught up a little.
In July we took our little red dog to Chicago. What a wonderful city!! There is a lot to do and see. One of the reasons that we went was to see the mighty Toronto Blue Jays beat the Chicago White Sox. Little Red Dog really enjoyed the game as well.

We took a couple of tours ate lots of food, and enjoyed the sights and sounds of Chicago. One afternoon we rented bicycles and rode part of the 29 mile path along the lake shore to see historical Wrigley Field, the second oldest stadium in major league baseball behind Boston's Fenway Park Unfortunately, the Cubs were out of town so we were not able to enjoy a game in the Friendly Confines.

While we were in Chicago, there was a huge "Taste of Chicago" festival. They closed down a major street through a downtown park and had a ton of local food vendors selling their wares. There was also lots of entertainment. Jennifer Hudson put on a free concert on the main stage. The seats were $25.00, but the lawn seating beyond the fence was free.

See her? The little dot in the middle of the stage.

We asked many people where to go to listen to some blues music. Nearly everyone suggested Sweet Home Blue Chicago. As it turns out, this little bar was right around the corner from our hotel. So we visited twice and had a great experience both times. LRD seemed to have fun as well.

On the way home we stopped in Lansing Michigan, home of the Toronto Blue Jays "A" ball team - the Lansing Lugnuts. It was cool watching a game in a smaller minor league stadium. There was a constant buzz going on. And some sort of contest or promotion between every half inning. Since it was a Friday night, the evening ended with fireworks. Unfortunately, LRD was under the weather so could not attend with us. But we saw this wonderful character selling hotdogs in the stands.

50th Wedding Anniversary

Recently, we celebrated my wife's Aunt Jo & Uncle Ed's 50th wedding anniversary. We had an open house party in Maryhill Ontario for family and friends. We told them that the party was for my sister-in-law's 60th birthday. So they were really surprised.
Because they were the king and queen for the day,  made them crowns to wear.

And, of course I had to make some balloons for the kids as well.

Another Wedding

On August 31, my niece, Alexis, married a nice young man named Jeff in a beautiful ceremony in Ottawa, Ontario.
Jeff is a huge Toronto Blue Jays fan and his favorite player is Jose Bautista. Alexis is a teacher. So I made them a couple of balloon Lootles. My talented daughter, Sarah, did the art work on the balloons.
I think that the bride and groom were pleased.