Ireland, Day 9

Our final day in Ireland was an easy one, so this will be a short post as we didn't do a whole lot. 

View of Derry from the city wallss

Mother and I got mostly packed up the night before so it didn't take us too long to get ready. We had a final breakfast in Derry and then headed out on th bus back to Dublin. It was about a three hour trip, and we entertained ourselves by everyone telling the story of how they met their spouse. I did some reading too and a little bit of dozing.

Delicious soup and brown bread

We stopped at a nice farm shop for lunch and I had a delicious tuna melt and mother had the veggie soup. They had a nice gift shop, and I spotted some lotions that had labels from Kaffe Fassett prints! That was the first time I've been lonesome to sew and got me thinking about being back to my sewing machine and some fun projects I'm anxious to start working on.

We got to Dublin around 2 and checked into our hotel which is called the Pembroke Guesthouse and was in a quaint Edwardian era building. We dropped off our bags and then mother and I headed out for some final shopping. 

We walked about a half hour to Grafton Street, which had a fun bustling atmosphere with street musicians and lots of people. We didn't find any souvenirs we wanted though, so instead we went to the grocery store and stocked up on Cadbury chocolate and digestive biscuits to take home. Cadbury chocolate doesn't sound very exciting, but they have so many different varieties here, and it's like Guinness - it tastes better over here!

We had enough time for a little nap before heading out for our last dinner of the night at a pub called The Merry Ploughboy. We ate a delicious meal and were entertained by musicians and dancers. It was fabulous and a great way to end the trip. 

There was a group of seniors from France sitting next to us, and one of the ladies had a huge crush on Samuel Chestnutt. He made her night when he danced with her during the final song and then gave her a big hug. It was cute.

We didn't get to bed until late, what with being out carousing at the pub and then having to get organized and ready for flying home. For some reason I didn't sleep so well, so our 6:45 alarm was not a welcome sound.

We had a quick breakfast (homemade scones and jams, omlets, yogurt) and were in the bus at at the airport by 8:45. We had final pictures and hugs and goodbyes with Samuel Chestnutt and Niall.

Now we're just at the gate and boarding is about to start soon, so this will be my last post from Ireland.

I'm excited to get home and sleep in my own bed and get back to regular life. It was a wonderful trip! One of the ladies in our group gave me this nice note: