22 June: Day One
Our Itinerary for the Day:
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Selfie of the Day:At least with the popularity of "selfies" it means I get to be in the photos too! I used to be the mom who was never IN the photo because I was taking the photo.
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Rick is Right! |
Stroll through St. Stephen's Green |
As Rick often advises, we took a vacation from our vacation this morning! We had been at a fast pace sightseeing in London and knew that with the tour starting this evening we would need our energy! So, we slept in! Once everyone was awake we made our way down to the hotel restaurant for tea and scones! I took every opportunity I could to slather butter on my food. Those Irish cows produce the most wonderful butter.
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Just two blocks from our hotel was this amazing green oasis in the city. The warn and sunny weather helped to fill this park as all the fair skinned locals worked on their tans. We enjoyed strolling through the large park and were also pleasantly surprised to find local artists displaying their artwork around the outside of the park's fence.
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Meet the Group!
It's like the first day of school and a blind date all wrapped up in one. Not only are we excited to meet our guide, but also nervous to introduce ourselves to the group.
At our group meeting our guide Declan introduced himself, shared some of the fun we would be having together, and explained some of the tour basics. We all then took turns briefly introducing ourselves. (where we are from, how many tours we have taken, who we were traveling with, etc.) We bring our group roster with us to help learn names. We also had to choose a "buddy," Rick's brilliant system of keeping track of the group without the guide constantly counting the group. Then we were off on our first adventure, a group dinner.
At dinner we sat with a couple from the west coast whom I had gotten to know a little bit through email BEFORE the tour. They had seen another scrapbook I had made in 2013 in which I had shared that we would be taking the Ireland tour. We communicated several times and discovered that we were on the same tour! Their good friends were also on the tour. So even before the tour had started, I had made several new tour friends!
After dinner, our group followed Declan across the river Liffey to explore the North side of Dublin.
At our group meeting our guide Declan introduced himself, shared some of the fun we would be having together, and explained some of the tour basics. We all then took turns briefly introducing ourselves. (where we are from, how many tours we have taken, who we were traveling with, etc.) We bring our group roster with us to help learn names. We also had to choose a "buddy," Rick's brilliant system of keeping track of the group without the guide constantly counting the group. Then we were off on our first adventure, a group dinner.
At dinner we sat with a couple from the west coast whom I had gotten to know a little bit through email BEFORE the tour. They had seen another scrapbook I had made in 2013 in which I had shared that we would be taking the Ireland tour. We communicated several times and discovered that we were on the same tour! Their good friends were also on the tour. So even before the tour had started, I had made several new tour friends!
After dinner, our group followed Declan across the river Liffey to explore the North side of Dublin.