A long afternoon of traveling by bus and train from Belfast landed us in Dublin again. We had a new AirBnB, but it was also up 5 flights of stairs (ugh), but had a magnificent view of the River Canal right outside our window. One room to share, but only for one night. We rested for a bit and then went out for surf and turf for dinner at a place called Beef & Lobster, which was excellent, with a very engaging waiter. Afterwards, we walked back into the Temple Bar neighborhood and had dessert and drinks first at Little Pyg and then in The Rag Trader.
The next morning, we headed NEARLY all the way back to Belfast, as we had booked a Game of Thrones studio tour. We couldn’t make it work coming FROM Belfast, as all our travel and stays were already paid for. Unfortunately, this was the ONE coach of the entire trip that didn’t include an onboard toilet, and I had to ask the bus driver to make an emergency bathroom stop, which he very kindly did. Pretty embarrassing to have to stop a bus full of 50 people on a 90-minute drive, but the alternative would have been much worse. :/
Quite a lot of Game of Thrones was filmed in Northern Ireland, especially most of the sets. (Outdoor locations were all over the place (including Giant’s Causeway and the Dark Hedges!) The studio is a huge complex that used to be a linen mill, and is now solely dedicated to housing the sets, props, and costumes from the series. We did the Harry Potter Studio tour in England several years ago, and this was a similar setup. Lots of little documentary films, audio guides, interactive exhibitions, and plenty to look at and admire.
Poor Anders, who hadn’t watched the show, was a bit lost, and not really interested, but the kids and I appreciated all of it. 🙂
We ate lunch in the studio cafe and then it was another 90-minute drive back to Dublin, and a final taxi ride to the airport, where we caught our flight home to Copenhagen. We arrived quite late, and after dropping Martin off in Malmö, made it home to Flyinge around midnight to collapse. A great birthday trip in the books!
Mood: nostalgic
Music: Mindy Smith—One Moment More