Oops yet again we’re behind with our blog. No surprise the amount of stuff mum gets up to. Anyway here is the photo blog of the second half of our stay in Dublin.
Now it had to happen mum had that much stuff booked that something would go astray! This day she had booked & was looking forward to an e-bike tour around Howth at 2pm intending to catch the DART there at about 12. Unfortunately she got a call at 11am asking if she was on her way to which she replied not yet. It was then she discovered her bike tour was 11m to 2pm not starting at 2pm!! So she’d missed it but very kindly the company offered her a free boat trip instead which turned out to be rather different!! So mum headed out of her DART trip & had a wander round the gorgeous village of Howth before her boat trip with Ireland Eye Ferries. Now her fortuitous surprise was when she turned up the captain said they had a Canadian film crew onboard filming for a TV travel series. Now although mum didn’t recognise the presenter he is very well known in Canada. So mum spent the trip in the company of Guillame Lambert! & will possibly be starring in the show with snippets of her in the background. It was fabulous fun & mum got to see seals again
Next on the agenda mum went all cultural with a tour of Trinity College plus a visit to the Old Library & the Book of Kells. Then the evening was a theatre trip to see the stage version of Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Luckily at Bord Gais theatre so just across the basin.
The next day she was grounded slightly as she had a few hours work to do but she still managed a meal out at the Mongolian BBQ restaurant & a bridges tour run by IWAI followed by rinks in the Cobblestone pub.
Following that it was a trip to Kilmainham Gaol. Tickets have to be booked well in advance for this & mum had booked hers before she even arrived in Dublin. It’s a fascinating & somewhat sombre tour hearing about some of the inmates & in particular events from the Easter Rising.
On her way home mum had a wander through The Irish National War Memorial Gardens. Then in complete contrast she went to see the hilarious Menopause The Musical 2 in the evening.
Next mum had booked something that is normally not really her thing at all but she’d heard that many people raving about it that he succumbed & she was glad she did. So off she trotted to the Van Gogh Experience which was probably the hardest attraction to find tucked up the side of Lidl supermarket. Now although art isn’t mum’s thing this was an immersive experience which was absolutely incredible & mum even got to experience her first Virtual Reality headset.
It was then a quick dash back as tonight was the start of the pinnacle event of the whole Dublin Rally; the very exciting Liffey cruise. This only happens if the tides work in our favour & its a unique experience to cruise through the centre of Dublin up the River Liffey. On the Friday evening we literally just dropped down the sea lock onto the River Liffey & moored right below the Three Arena so we were in position to set off the following morning. We had an all girl power crew well apart from me & Daquiri obviously!!
It was then an early night so we were alert for the following morning. Our crew member the fabulous Holly arrived & we untied & were off. The taller boats had to go through first as the tide was incoming ie rising so they needed maximum clearance under the bridges. We were 4th so that once through the bridges we’d take the lead so we could moor up first so we could get off the boat. We passed under many of the iconic Dublin bridges including Ha’Penny Bridge. Holly was at the tiller leaving mum free to take a million photos. Once we were at Heuston station Golden Boyz executed an overtake manoeuvre & became leader of the pack! That also meant we were closely following the safety boat testing the depth. We grounded a couple of times & had to wait for a bit more tide to refloat us.
Eventually after an exciting cruise we arrived at Islandsbridge where we all moored up against each other for a few hours. Here we had to wait for the tide to finish rising & start dropping for our return journey. We could get off onto the island for a little walkies. Once safe to do so we reversed our journey & returned back up the sea lock to our mooring at Charlotte Quay. What a bucket list experience to take part in. Big thanks to IWAI Dublin & especially our safety boat crews for making it happen.
After all that excitement we had a chilled out day the net day but mum caught the marvellous Sing a Song of Docklands performance in the evening.
We were now into our final week in Dublin of the four time had certainly flown. The highlight of this week was The Escape Boat which we’d been pretty much moored next to. It was a very clever concept where you had to save the boat from sinking.
Mum also managed to squeeze in a day out on the DART taking the coastal route south of Dublin hopping off at a few seaside stops including an interesting visit to the Maritime Museum at Dun Laoghaire.
Soon the day dawned when we had to sadly depart Dublin as we reversed our journey down the sea lock & back up the Royal canal to Castleknock. We dropped down the sea lock the night before & did the reverse journey back in one long day with the help of all the Waterways Ireland staff again operating all the locks for us.
What a super & amazing month we’ve had. Finally getting to take part in the 37th IWAI Dublin Rally in our 4th summer over here after a couple of cancelled years due to covid. An experience we’ll remember forever.
Golden Boyz Narrowboat Blog 