Westport, then on to Dublin

Junel and I got and met Dave and Teresa for our little Continental breakfast (very good) and then we called for a taxi to take us to the town of Westport where we would catch the train to Dublin. There was still time for Junel and I to take a trip back to the steam room and sauna. Interestingly they do not keep the jacuzzi at a very high temperature. It felt good when you first got in, but then it didn't seem quite hot enough. Dave and Teresa went for a little guided walk with Ken, one of the staff there.


View from outside our room at Delphi. (©2005, Williams/Bacigalupo.)

The taxi arrived and the ride took us back along the fjord and then through some beautiful countryside. 45 minutes later we got to the train station and got our tickets. We loaded up the luggage and then fairly soon the train left the station.

The train ride to Dublin was a little over three hours. Westport is on the W side of the country (Hence its name, no doubt.) and Dublin is on the E side. We were entertained by a somewhat inebriated passenger trying to hit on the lady sitting in the row behind us. We also were able to catch up on some reading. Junel was working on Dan Brown's Digital Fortress. Kurt had read it in in Edinburgh. He "loaned" it to me, and then I gave it to Junel--a good read. I finished reading the Rosslyn Chapel book that Junel had picked up at the National Gallery.

When we got to Dublin we caught a taxi to Merrion Hall where we were staying. It was very close to the US Embassy, so we figured if we got in any trouble we'd be in good hands fairly quickly. The cab driver had recommended Roli's Bistro as a good place to eat, so after we checked in we walked over there and checked it out.

Awesome food. So awesome that we needed to walk some of it off after dinner.


River view in Dublin during our walk. (©2005, Williams/Bacigalupo.)

It would have been fun to have had more time to check out the sites in Dublin, but unfortunately we had to catch a flight back to Edinburgh late in the morning. That will have to wait until our next trip. We all went back to our rooms and watched a movie on TV and then went to bed.