FINAL ~ Dublin Airport 051105

Farewell at the airport to our Big Girl, who has to remain a Dublin resident till March '06. The rest of us are catching RyanAir to Liverpool, via Manchester.

Scenes on O'Connell Street 051105

Cool and breezy dusk-time.

“Dublin is today the haunt of supermodels and film stars, of directors and pop stars. Dublin is the little European capital of the moment.”

Condé Nast Traveller

Oooo ... The Corrs!

She finds her leprechaun at last!

Nice kebabs, mind you, despite the name.

In Dublin, follow Mr Guinness and you will be enlightened.

The Spike 051105

Formally, The Dublin Spire, a 120-metre tall stainless steel spike, constructed early 2003 to mark the millennium celebrations. Constructed on the same site where Nelson's Pillar once proudly stood (to be blown up by the IRA in 1966).

Some people think The Spike concentrates natural energy and once in a while zaps the unlucky ones, possibly pub patrons! :-)

The base of The Spike, in the middle of O'Connell Street. Great hang-out spot, ain't it?

Luas LRT 051105

This is Luas, Dublin's state-of-the-art Light Rail Transit system. Cost a bomb to build, so I'm told.

O'Connell Street 051105

Dublin city centre, and the famous O'Connell Street starts here.

River Liffey 051105

This gentle river slices right through Dublin. Here is the city centre.

UCD 051105

The rather smallish downtown campus of University College Dublin (UCD), adjacent to St Stephen's Green. The medical school is here, well at least for the moment, before moving to the permanent campus in Belfield, 4km to the south. Ireland's largest university, UCD started life in the mid-19th century.

The National Concert Hall is just next door to UCD.

Fellow tired travelers - 4 of our 6 kids: (L to R) #4, #5, #6, #1.

A lone maple leaf on the pavement.

And left to mind our Shah Alam home are our #2 and #3, and a male castrated cat. Meow!

St Stephen's Green 051105

Back in downtown Dublin, and we head for St Stephen's Green for a breather ... and more ducks to feed! A Georgian garden, it was built by the Guinness family in the 19th century for the city folks.

Yup, ducks everywhere. These are mallards - male sports the prominent green head. So in mallard society, the males do the attracting.

Duck-feeding is serious work, no kiddin'!

Enough with the ducks. Now a rest at the Georgian fountain.

Glendalough 051105

Once through the bogs, we arrive at the very scenic Glendalough area, site of movie sets for Braveheart (1995), Excalibur (1981) and King Arthur (2004), among others.

Today, our final day in Ireland, we travel County Wicklow, regarded as the Garden of Ireland. It has been a worthwhile venture.