You will never believe it but it was raining when I arrived in Dublin. It actually rained on and off for until Saturday afternoon, so I was very pleased that I had provided myself with an umbrella before setting off.
I arrived Thursday afternoon, but the rest of the girls were only arriving Friday night, so I had to entertain myself for a full day - and it was actually very restful. I spent some time on Thursday afternoon exploring Dublin as I searched unsuccessfully for a horse shop so that I could buy some jodhpurs (can you imagine that there is NO horse shop in Dublin??? I had supper with my book (my favourite dinner 
companion) at the restaurant in my hotel and an early night (by Dublin time, but not by AD time) to prepare myself for the coming weekend. In the morning I used all the hot water for myself, didn't have to share with anyone (it's lovely to be able to be totally selfish!) and then went and caught a bus doing a full day tour into Wicklow Mountains. And no, the tour was not filled with geriatrics - I was actually amongst the older people on the tour. It was absolutely beautiful, very scenic and the bus driver was an excellent guide, giving a lot of insight into some rather amusing Irish history.
companion) at the restaurant in my hotel and an early night (by Dublin time, but not by AD time) to prepare myself for the coming weekend. In the morning I used all the hot water for myself, didn't have to share with anyone (it's lovely to be able to be totally selfish!) and then went and caught a bus doing a full day tour into Wicklow Mountains. And no, the tour was not filled with geriatrics - I was actually amongst the older people on the tour. It was absolutely beautiful, very scenic and the bus driver was an excellent guide, giving a lot of insight into some rather amusing Irish history.Friday night the girls arrived and condemned the apartment we'd been allocated on the grounds that the floor was sticky and there weren't enough cups. Pam and Sally went off to do battle with the landlords, leaving Jackie and myself to start the first bottle of wine...
Then we had to drag all our bags to the other side of Dublin (actually, not too far) to a much nice, cleaner, newer, bigger apartment where we settled in. We were going to go out for dinner, 
but we sat down with some snacks and another bottle or two, and then found it was 11.30! But we were determined to go out since we were on a girls weekend, so we tarted up (except for Sally who decided she needed some beauty sleep) and headed out the door to find a club. Well, when I said headed out the door, I was being a bit inaccurate. We got as far as the outside door, opened it and found that the skies had opened. We looked and without a word turned around and went back to our comfy couches and continued chatting (getting Sally back out of bed) until 1am.
but we sat down with some snacks and another bottle or two, and then found it was 11.30! But we were determined to go out since we were on a girls weekend, so we tarted up (except for Sally who decided she needed some beauty sleep) and headed out the door to find a club. Well, when I said headed out the door, I was being a bit inaccurate. We got as far as the outside door, opened it and found that the skies had opened. We looked and without a word turned around and went back to our comfy couches and continued chatting (getting Sally back out of bed) until 1am.Saturday morning our bathroom was very busy so it took us a while to make ourselves gorgeous enough for Dublin and the hop-on hop-off bus we honoured with our presence. It was flipping freezing and still raining. 
We sat on the roof, under the sheltered bit at the front - lucky to have been first on the bus, and did the entire route without getting off - no way were we going to give up our wonderful seats! We got a good idea of what Dublin looked like and picked the spots we wanted to explore more in the afternoon, before leaving the bus and tracking down a likely pub for our lunch. If I could remember the name of the pub, I would warn you not to go there. Apart from the two stag parties whose grooms were dressed in tight lycra (and they really just did not have the physique!), the food was icky.
We sat on the roof, under the sheltered bit at the front - lucky to have been first on the bus, and did the entire route without getting off - no way were we going to give up our wonderful seats! We got a good idea of what Dublin looked like and picked the spots we wanted to explore more in the afternoon, before leaving the bus and tracking down a likely pub for our lunch. If I could remember the name of the pub, I would warn you not to go there. Apart from the two stag parties whose grooms were dressed in tight lycra (and they really just did not have the physique!), the food was icky.Actually, Dublin was quite a place for hen and stag weekends, I lost count of the number of them that we saw.
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