Our day on the train

We gathered for breakfast at our hotel. It’s been the same items on the buffet every time we eat. But it’s good and satisfying. After breakfast we went on yet another Dublin stroll in search of the DART train to Killiney. We got there in time and waited for our train. We got on and got off at the next stop. Apparently we got a local commuter train. (Mind the gap.)  We jumped back on the next south bound train. This 30-40 minute trip allowed us to look at the beautiful gardens in people’s backyards, the Port of Dublin, and other sites around the eastern coast. This train eventually took us to the quaint little village of Killiney. We got off the train and took pictures of the beach. Then we took off for a slow paced uphill then downhill trek. We kept saying, “What we go down we have to climb up.” We did a u-turn after we turned a corner and realized it was another mile or more without knowing what that would take us to. We were looking for shopping and lunch places. There were some quaint houses there. One had the name of Narnia. This is also the same village Bono lives in. We walked back to the beach and JD and I walked/ran down the stairs and steps to get to a rock beach with very little sand. The water was cold but not freezing. (Luckily JD did not take his Uncle Greg’s bet to “jump in naked.”) JD spent a lot of time throwing rocks in the water. We climbed back up to the picture taking party of Greg, Lyndell, and Jeff.

We all got back on the train and got off again in the small but historical village called Darkey. We ate lunch and did some small shopping. (More bakery items.) Jeff, JD, and I went to where a small castle was still standing. We had the best time there. There was an actress there performing and storytelling of what it was like way back in the 1500’s. “Lord Jonathan” as he was called by the mistress, had an absolute blast. Truth be told so did Jeff and I. Yet another wonderful memory to add to “the trip of a lifetime.”

We all got back on the north bound train headed for Dublin. (I found Kinder eggs in the train station.) Greg took JD to the movie Battle Los Angles while Jeff, Lyndell, and I napped. (Thanks again Greg.) We woke up and walked to the Pizza restaurant were we met Greg and JD after the movie. They were not there even after two hours of movie time so Jeff went to find out what time the movie ended. He was told “half ten.” (Um, what?) It now 7:30 pm, what’s half ten? (7:40 pm.)

The festive evening plans for all of us were to go back to our rooms to “pack light.” All baggage going to Scotland has to be less than 20 kilograms. Packing and planning seemed a tad bit stressful. The level was slightly elevated, but truly not bad at all.