Ireland Blog 1

Ireland Blog 1

A Day in Dublin—A Night At the Ritz Carlton

Dan and I are in Ireland because we got a package too good to resist: business class air, 7 days in a Ritz Carlton Suite, and a great car with GPS-- all for the cost of less than 2 business class tickets on Air Lingus, whose business class was about ¼ full on our flight over. Great flight—very comfy seats.

The other woman in Dan’s life is his beloved GPS. She can boss him around and he loves her more and more. If I tell him to go right, I get a lecture for “being in control.”

The RC is very ritzy. We have a 4 room suite: a bedroom with an extremely comfortable bed, the usual flat screen TV, and nightstand controls which open curtains, shut lights, etc.

The bathroom is humongous with a spacious tub, 2 sinks, a fabulous separate shower, and, of course, a loo—in its own room. On the mirror is a small flat screen TV!

In addition, there is a large sitting room with sofa, chair, desk, another TV, wet bar. Best of all there is a dressing room about 8 x 8 with wall- to- wall closets, dressers, shelves, and a safe. The indoor pool is spectacular with Swaroski crystal lights in the bottom.

We are in a magnificent area that must give Ireland the nickname of “Emerald Isle”-- near the Wicklow Mountains in the southeast. The RC is in the middle of a large wooded area, separated by gently sloping green lawns. One of the most beautiful gardens in Ireland, Powerscourt, is a 5 -minute walk away. Previously a private estate, both the building and its gardens are now open to the public. We took a one hour stroll around the eclectic gardens which included a formal Italian garden with statues and fountains, a Japanese garden, an area with plants and trees from North American, a multi-colored rose garden fully in bloom, a walled garden, and the largest pet cemetery in Europe with graves of cows and horses as well as dogs!

Last night we drove through parts of the area to the sea, getting lost even with a GPS, but what a wonderful way to get lost! We were on 2 lane roads—more like 1 ½ lanes—with arbors of trees whose branches were barely touching like the fingers of God and Adam in the Sistine Chapel. Rolling green hills were dotted with sheep--- some of them had escaped and were on the road. We had dinner in the town of Bray in a restaurant looking out on a cliff-side walk with white sailboats in the background. Because of the beautiful evening, many locals were out on the walk, and there were even bathers in the sea. This appears to be a very upscale area, and I even heard that Bono (U-2) has one of his many homes nearby.

I don’t want to bore you, so Dublin will be a separate installment.