Some pics of my trip to Ireland...

[vi edit]

Spent about 10 days in Ireland, most of which were in Dublin at the '03 World Special Olympics events. My wifes younger sister was competing in them and we went to cheer her one and get in some site seeing.

Pics include:

- Opening ceremonies of Special Olympics
- Random pictures of sites around Dublin
- Coastline of Irish Sea from the train
- Coastline of the Atlantic around Galway Bay
- Cliffs of Moher
- Random Countryside shots
- Dublin Zoo
- The Buren
- Bunratty Castle

big panorama of cliffs of moher
gallery of other pics

Pics were taken with a Canon G3, greatly reduced for web viewing

 

[T3C]

wow cool,

 

[Haircut]

Cool pics, Ireland has always been one of my favourite places.

 

[T3C]

those pics are good

 

[newbiepcuser]

Those are nice pics.

 

[amdskip]

Very cool, looks like you had an incredible time

 

[notfred]

Can you walk out to the cliffs at the end of the pic? How far is that, a couple miles?

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: notfred
Can you walk out to the cliffs at the end of the pic? How far is that, a couple miles?

To walk from the edge where the pics were taken out to the far edge where the little tower looking thing way at the end is, it was probably a mile to a mile and a half.

 

[JetsFanatic]

KEWL


thanks for sharing them with us

 

[vi edit]

In this pic, you can see the people laying out on the edge of the flat rocks. Our tour guide told us that they have an average of 2 people pulled out of the water from either accidentally falling or committing suicide off the edge there. Last week he actually watched a girl fall to her death from that ledge.

 

[pyonir]

Well it looks like you had a great time, man. Makes me want to go back looking at your pictures though.

The day i went to the Cliffs it was cloudy and started raining. Looks like you had better weather for that part. Did you go to the flat ledge and look down? I sure as hell didn't

 

[rudder]

big panorama of cliffs of moher

Pics were taken with a Canon G3, greatly reduced for web viewing

I guess it is definetly best not to wonder off the trail to far.

 

[vi edit]

Did you go to the flat ledge and look down? I sure as hell didn't

The wife wouldn't allow it

 

[Karsten]

Thanks for sharing!

Digital has made it now... the G3 is an awesome cam and you couldn't ask for more resolution wise. The pics look perfect and no edgies ruin the fun!

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: Karsten
Thanks for sharing!

Digital has made it now... the G3 is an awesome cam and you couldn't ask for more resolution wise. The pics look perfect and no edgies ruin the fun!

If you think they look okay now, you should have seen them pre-compression :Q

We're having a 12"x36" panorama of the Cliffs made to hang on the wall.

 

[Salvador]

Kind of on topic.. I had a bowl of Lucky Charms the other day.

Nice pix.

Sal

 

[pyonir]

vi - If you ever have an inkling to sell a print of the Cliffs of Moher, I'd be interested.

 

[Descartes]

Great pictures. How much did the trip cost you, if you don't mind my asking?

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: Descartes
Great pictures. How much did the trip cost you, if you don't mind my asking?

Plane tickets - $600 a piece from O'Hare-> London, London->Dublin (United Airlines)

10 nights at "3 Star" Hotel (Skylon on Drumcondra) - $1000 USD

7 day Dublin Bus & Train pass $26 euro a piece - ESSENTIAL!

All day rail tour from Dublin to Galway - $80 euro a person. This was a Train and Bus tour that went to the Cliffs, Bunratty Castle, around Galway Bay, and then Back to Dublin from Galway. You could also do Similar tours leaving from Dublin and going to - Belfast/Giants Causeway, Cork/Blarney, Ring of Kerry, and Waterford. If you just wanted a train ticket from Dublin to one of the cities, it was around 25 euros for a round trip ticket. You'd then have to have a taxi or local tour group take you to specific places.

Food & Drinks - UHG! Average meal for my wife and I w/ one pint of beer per person was well over 35 euro (or $40). And this was just at a basic pub, nothing fancy. Food over there is VERY expensive, especially in Dublin. A pint was usually around 3.50-4.00 euro (about $4-$5).

Tickets were quite reasonable. We could have stayed at a bed and breakfast for cheaper, but most were booked because of the Special Olympics and the 500,000 people coming into town to watch them.

We could have rented a car and cut down on tour costs, but you couldn't pay me to drive in Dublin. If I had to do it over again, I'd only spend a day (If that!) in Dublin. The REAL Ireland experience is around the coast. Next time I go over there, I'll fly into Shannon Airport, and rent a car and drive around the coast staying at B&B along the way.

 

[pyonir]

Originally posted by: vi_edit
I'd only spend a day (If that!) in Dublin. The REAL Ireland experience is around the coast. Next time I go over there, I'll fly into Shannon Airport, and rent a car and drive around the coast staying at B&B along the way.

I'll probably still fly into Dublin because I didn't get the chance to tour the Guinness factory. But I would only stay there a few days. I completely agree about the real Ireland experience being out in the country, on the western coast. But i would like to visit Northern Ireland when i go back.