Adapted from my travel journal.

ITINERARY
May 20: Chicago to Dublin
May 21-22: Dublin
May 23: Powerscourt, Glendalough, Kilkenny
May 24: Rock of Cashel, Muckross House
May 25: Ring of Kerry
May 26: Dingle Peninsula
May 27: Cliffs of Moher, County Clare, Galway
May 28: Aran Islands
May 29: Connemara
May 30: Drive to N. Ireland, Portrush, Bushmill's
May 31: Antrim Coast, Newgrange, Trim
June 1: Fly home from Dublin

MAY 21, 2005

Our 8:30pm flight from Chicago arrived around 10am. Irish spring reminded me of San Francisco -- cool, lush, and ever-changing weather than often resulted in getting wet. Airlink bus #747 dropped us a block from our B&B, The Townhouse, on Lower Gardiner St.

Having not slept at all on the overnight flight, we were jetlagged and loopy. But since this was only one of two days in Dublin, we decided to take advantage of our one-day bus passes and see the Guinness Brewery and Kilmainham Jail, two sights not within walking distance.

The Guinness Brewery was a letdown, consisting of flashy multimedia exhibits, all housed in a dark, clubby maze. You're left with the pungent smell of roasting barley and a longing to see a guy named Paddy actually brewing the stuff.

The only highlight was at the end of the tour -- the Gravity Bar, on the 7th floor, with a 360 degree view of Dublin.

We enjoyed our first pint of Guinness on Irish soil. Despite what people claim, it tastes the same as it does in the US, except it's lighter, not as viscous.

Here we'd been awake 35 hours straight.

We hopped the bus westbound to Kilmainham Gaol (jail).

From the time it was built in the 18th century up to 1924, it held political prisoners and leprechauns.

This shot of the Victorian Wing is recognizible from several movies.

The stone cells of Kilmainham were open to the elements, and all you got was a lousy blanket and a candle.

Back at the guesthouse, we checked in and couldn't decide whether we were more tired or hungry. Hunger won out.

At Patrick Conwy's, a pub up O'Connell St, I had Irish stew -- like chicken soup, only thicker and more heart-stopping -- along with soda bread smothered in butter.

Our first dinner in Dublin featured a potato count pushing six.

MAY 22

Sleeping well past 10am on account of jet lag, we crossed over the River Liffey on O'Connell Bridge to Trinity College, getting caught in several deluges along the way.

Trinity's crown jewel, the Book of Kells, looked like something out of the Lord of the Rings -- pages of ornate indecipherable prose (unless you read Latin).

Photography was strictly prohibited but I snuck this shot of one of the pages blown up hanging on the wall.