Our Walk Up Beautiful Killiney Hill

Well, it's Sunday morning and after having "church" together in our room, we decided to just throw on clothes (without showers-sorry girls to be telling all of our secrets) and head out for our walk before checking out of our castle-hotel and leaving town. I'm so glad we made that decision. Killiney Hill was one of my favorite things that we did. This is proof that we took NO time in fixing up before setting out on our adventure! The view behind us was breathtaking. THIS is the breathtaking view. The water that you see is the Irish Sea and the land is the Dun Laoghaire (pronounced done leary) area which is just south of Dublin.
Maura pointed out this "house" to me, telling me that it belongs to ENYA! For as many Cd's of hers that I've purchased, I think I own stock in the piece of property!
Now, although this was a sweet, positively charming man he is not exactly what I had in mind when I said I hoped to meet a "Hot Irish Guy!" but he did take a picture of the three of us and was gracious to let us take his picture.

This another "house" in Enya's neighborhood.

We're On Our Way To Killeny Hill

Isn't this garden amazing? Look...a palm in Ireland! Can you believe it?
I love this gate. It opens up to a church that sits on a hill. We passed it on our way up to Killiney Hill.
This path leads to the church.
And...here is the church.
This is another view of the church. Doesn't this look like a peaceful place to sit on the bench and contemplate life?

We're still headed up the hill to get to the path to walk up to the "real" Hill, Killiney! I'm tired already. No, I'm really tired as in ready for bed. I'll post the continuation of our journey tomorrow since, thanks to T.S. Fay, it will be raining all day.

Finally, Day 2 And Beth Has Arrived In Time for Dinner

Relaxing in the Hotel Lobby before we head out for dinner.
Beth and I at the hotel.
We're posing for another picture before dinner. This time we're in front of our Hotel, The Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel in Dalkey.
Another lovely garden.
This is one of my all time favorite flowers, the FOXGLOVE. Every now and then I can coax one to come up for me here in Florida if I try it in the fall. But it never looks as beautiful as this fine specimen!

Yes! It's Still Day 1

Signs are written in English and Irish/Gaelic. Killiney is a city on the other side of the mountain/hill. The "hill" is called Killiney and we climbed it one day. What beautiful views we enjoyed as well as so many surprises. You'll have to keep checking back for that one!
Sweetly scented lavender in someones garden on our walk home.
The entire stone wall was covered in this beautiful mounding flower. I have no idea what it's called, I've never seen it before. The bloom was similar to a petunia.
A lovely gate leading into someones yard.
I love this house! It's PINK! The flowers were so pretty and it's on the same street as our hotel. It was a perfect evening. Clear and cool. What a lovely walk home we had.

Yes, we ARE STILL on the same day. But Maura and I have started the walk back home to our hotel. It's just that Ireland is so beautiful that I couldn't sop taking pictures. AND I want to show you ALL of them!
P.S. I wanted this paragraph to be at the beginning but it ended up at the END! Sorry.

Ireland-Day 1, Continued...Again

Maura and I at the Queen's Pub (I think that's the name) in Dalkey. This is my first meal in Ireland.
Melanie...THIS is IRISH Pub food! This was a wonderful Thai-chicken dish. The pub is a so nice, a family kind of place.
Church in Dalkey. I'm in love with these old churches.
Iron gates, downtown Dalkey.
Cemetery...love these too. I think it's the old stone and the Celtic crosses that I'm drawn to.

Ireland-Day 1, Continued

We passed this house on our walk down to Dalkey from the hotel. LOVE the entry way! The hydrangeas were outstanding everywhere we went.
Coming in to the city centre.
There were the most beautiful, colorful flowers EVERYWHERE.
Look at the size of these begonias!
Hanging baskets outside a restaurant in Dalkey.

Ireland-Day 1

Ireland was so beautiful! We had a fantastic time and I look forward to returning there. The people are so kind and generous, very friendly and seem so happy. We had great weather most every day (which I hear is unusual). I'll be posting pictures and details of our trip for days to come. I took almost 500 pictures so I have lots to show you. I sat next to Isabelle, a flight attendant for Gulfstream. She was headed to Dublin to work a return flight from Dublin to the U.S. We had such a nice conversation. We are the same age and had so much in common. I really enjoyed meeting her and plan to stay in touch! You may notice that there are no pictures of Beth today. That's because Bethie missed her flight and didn't make it until the next day. But I KNOW that it was God's plan...you'll have to let HER tell you THAT story.

This is Isabelle, a lovely woman (inside and out) that was my seat-mate on the flight from Chicago to Dublin.

The view, landing at the Dublin Airport.

Maura and I at the Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel, in Dalkey.
This was the amazing view from our beautiful room.


The chocolates were waiting for us in our room, along with a basket of fruit and bottle of red wine. The Fitzpatrick is a wonderful place to stay.