My Irish Retreat

 It is a beautiful day in Dublin,  but it is time to go home. My flight leaves at 12:15, a very civilized hour. I was able to have a nice breakfast and then took the hotel bus to the airport. I went 3 hours early just in case there were issues. No issues. Everyone was very friendly and I was through security in no time. Our flight was delayed by almost an hour but we were able to make up the time and were only 15 minutes late arriving in Reykjavik, Iceland. It is a small airport and the land around it is completely flat. You can’t see the city from the airport. Customs was way easy. Four people from the airport called us over to ask the usual questions one at a time. I ordered a shrimp salad and a gin tonic that was on sale.😊It was delicious. But, I have no idea what it cost. They have there own currency. The whole meal cost almost 2000 something! A disappointment with traveling Icelandair is that you have to pay for food, alcoholic drinks and headphones. It use to be on inte...

 I awoke today to a beautiful sunny day. This past week has been mostly overcast, and yesterday was downright rainy, so the sun today was a welcome change.  I arranged for a tour of the Wicklow Mountains, which are south of here. I have wanted to see this area for some time, so when I saw this day tour, I booked it immediately.  Instead of trying to get a bus to the starting point, I took a cab this time. It took me directly downtown, which only took about 25 minutes instead of an hour. There were about 30 people on our coach. The driver was knowledgeable and witty, which made for an interesting day. Our first stop was just 30 minutes outside of Dublin at a working sheep farm. We had the opportunity to meet farmer Michael and his 3 Border Collies. The dogs came running to greet us and hang out with us while the farmer finished some chores in the lower pasture. He showed us how the dogs are trained and the commands they obey. It was pretty amazing. They each know themselve...