We dropped off the car in Belfast then took a bus to Dublin as we board the ferry to Isle of Man. We stayed in a hotel about 15 minutes from downtown. The hotel got really good reviews on bookings.com. I’m not sure how. The lobby is very nice but the rooms are about as big as a walk in closet. The shower is the size of a phone booth. We are getting used to small rooms in Europe as space is a premium here but this is very cramped and very run down. The carpet is stained, walls need a good washing and a fresh coat of paint but it did the job.
Yesturday (Saturday) we headed to the temple bar area before it got really crowded. The famous Temple bar was already full by 11:00 in the morning. We wondered around the shops for a bit before we went to a pedestrian shopping area. Reg and I parted ways for the afternoon. He went to the Jameson Distillery cocktail making class and I headed off to the National Leprechaun Museum . I’m not sure who had the better time however Reg was way more tipsy at the end of his than I was at the end of mine.


The Leprechaun Museum was a story telling museum, there were no displays of Leprechauns. It started with a storyteller telling the history of the leprechauns and fairies., how the veil between the human and fairy creatures came to be and how the magical creatures could travel between 2 worlds. The next room we went to was a little Irish cabin where story telling was the main source of entertainment and lessons . We were told the story of Cinderella but the Irish version and the history of storytelling. We proceeded to a dark room only lit up by stars in the sky, the moon coming through the trees outlining the mushrooms and shrubs growing in the forest. We sat on logs around an imitation campfire while being entertained with stories about leprechauns and their pot of gold. The final room was a trip through the rainbow which was vibrant coloured string curtains where we came out on the other side of the veil to where the magic creatures lived. We were entertained with the story of Stingy Jack and the history of Halloween and the jack o’lantern. It was so well done the hour flew by and I could have stayed and listen to so many more stories.

Reg went to Jameson Distillery. In the class you learned to make 3 cocktails. In the beginning you learned about the different types of whiskey and how by putting the whiskey in barrels that had sherry or bourbon to get different flavour profiles. I learned how to make an Old Fashion, how to shake a cocktail, make a whiskey sour and a Jameson punch. Needless to say that 3.5 ounces in 1 hour I felt it.

He didn’t get a picture of his other 2 cocktails , guess he got busy drinking them.
Final thing of the day is getting repacked and ready to take the ferry to Isle of Man. Let the races begin.