Fourth stop...somewhere near the Gobbins

After breakfasting at our airbnb apartment on fruit’n’flakes with fruit salad, we headed off to catch the hop on-hop off bus, only to find that the first bus wasn’t until 10am, so we walked the 1.9km into town, stopping along the way to book seats at the Celtic Nights show at the Arlington Hotel. Now all we have to do is stay awake until 8pm!

In town, we checked out the Christmas markets, and bought a shamrock charm for my collection. We saw some Jack Wolfskin beanies but I’m sure they’re fakes! We discovered Gino’s Gelati- the best gelato I’ve ever tasted! We were also tempted by the fresh waffle; but the gelato was what I’m raving about. However there was no where to sit down to enjoy it, so we wandered through an arcade and found a little coffee shop with outdoor tables and ordered coffee to wash down the waffle.

We called in to the tourist information to ask about the Gobbins, but they had never heard of it! Sometimes I think I’ve missed my calling. Next stop, Trinity College and the Book of Kells. I remember being blown away by it when I first saw it in 2006, but I was a little nonplussed this time around. It turns out that there are four books; one for each of the books of the gospel, and they change the pages that are open for viewing, so that explained it.

Then upstairs to the Long Room: it really was very long and lined with old books to the ceiling on both sides with ladders accessing the higher shelves.  The room was filled with capped and gowned young people and we wondered if this is how they came to Uni every day.  When we asked one young couple, we were told it was Graduation Day. No wonder there were so many caps and gowns!

Back on the bus to the Guinness Storehouse, where we managed to get to the Gravity Bar on the 7^th floor to partake of a little of the Guinness. I can’t say I really like it but I drank it anyway!  The parts I love most about this place are the advertising campaigns.  “ My goodness, my Guinness” with the associated circus animals is my favourite; although the new “Tick, tock” one was interesting too.

I barely managed to stay awake on our long trip back to our apartment via Kilmainham Gaol, Phoenix Park, and Dublin Zoo. I rang Bunk Campers and confirmed we were picking up our motorhome tomorrow morning at 10am, and was told we could come as early as 8.30am which sounded good to us. We lay down for a bit of a rest before getting dressed for the Irish song and dance dinner, but fell asleep immediately. Luckily we set an alarm ”just in case” we fell asleep!

We were planning on catching the bus to the show but it stops running at 5pm in winter, so decided to walk. It was a little further than anticipated, but we needed to burn off some calories. I chose tomato and basil soup, and pork loin on mash from the set menu, while Ross chose ham hock and beef and Guinness. We both had the Arlington Assiette of Desserts and Pina Coladas. I lashed out and finished the meal with a Baileys Coffee to encourage me to walk back to our apartment, which we did. Our total walk today was just short of 10 km probably not enough to burn off that delicious gelato!

Too tired to pack, we crashed and woke up very early. After packing everything, we headed to the Cinnamon Café, which had the earliest opening time. On the way, we met a taxi driver waiting outside our apartments and asked could he return to pick us up at 8am.  No problem! That was a load off our minds. We didn’t know the taxi phone number nor did we know where there might be a taxi rank; besides we had too much gear to carry far. That organised, we continued over the square to the café. I chose the breakfast bar while Ross ordered a breakfast bagel, and of course, coffee. We were still half an hour early, but hurried back to our apartment as it had started to rain more heavily. Thomas was waiting for us when we came down a little late.  He was a very nice taxi driver. He even got out of his cab in the pouring rain to post a few postcards for us on the way to Bunk Campers!

After almost an hour and a half of explanations, we were excited to be on our way to the Gobbins, which was where I decided was to be our first stop. It only opened in August this year after a multi-million pound upgrade. Check it out on www.thegobbinscliffpath.com

We called in at Dundalk for coffee and a Little Christmas ( Panini with turkey, cranberry sauce and brie) at the Park Café. Across the road was Dunne’s Supermarket where we stocked up on food, alcohol (for me) and basic necessities. I even found the bargain basement and bought such delicacies as caramel pannacotta and strawberry trifle. So far, so good! We even got a 20 euro voucher! Lady Luck was smiling down on us on our first real adventure together.

It was pelting rain and we couldn’t see anything the whole way. Ross could barely see the road in front of us, let alone an errant lamppost very close to the side of the road. Oops! There goes our side mirror! We were getting close to the Gobbins but took a turn a few metres too soon, and wound up in a housing estate. There was plenty of parking though, and as it was getting dark, we decided this was as good a spot as any to spend the night.

This is where things started to go horribly wrong. Firstly, the fridge refused to switch from battery to gas, which stressed me out. To de-stress, Ross offered to make me a cup of coffee, but alas! There was not a single match to be found. Ross had packed every possible item one might need on a trip, many of which I poo pooed, which have turned out to be invaluable, but no matches nor anything that could substitute for a match. So no coffee and no hot dinner!

Not to be fazed by this, we had to resort to opening the bottle of prosecco I had bought for a celebration, not a commiseration and even Ross had two glasses of it! We made blue cheese and cherry tomato sandwiches as well as some olives. We were happy  (the wine may have helped!)

The motorhome was heating up nicely, but suddenly it stopped and no amount of encouragement could entice it to stay on, so we crawled under the doona in an attempt to stay warm. It wasn’t even 6 o’clock yet! We woke up at midnight; freezing. Ross checked his indoor/outdoor thermometer (one of the things he brought that I poo pooed) to find the temperature was dangerously close to zero and so were we. After discussing our options, we decided the best course of action was to return to base and let them sort out the heating problems. So here we are back in Dublin waiting at the depot. We’ve wasted a whole day, and seen nothing, but there’s no point in dwelling on it. All I can say is I’m so pleased I’m with Ross.