Today we’ve decided to give a try to an “organized” tourist activities. Personally, I was always against those things but considering that organizing something like that on my own would take considerable time and effort, I decided to do it lazy way.

So, after morning coffee and a walk around the city, we sat on the bus and started so called “Castle and Coast” tour. That thing cost us way too much (25 EUR) but that was a price to pay for lazyness.

The driver also acted as a tour guide so along the way he gave us some interesting information but most of the time he was telling bunch of jokes which were OK, but I’m sure poor guy can recite them in his sleep. Actualy, as it turns out, he was a high point of the whole tour.

After some 45-minute drive we reached Malahide castle (an estate really) which was built over several centuries into what it is today. It’s interesting that up until 1975 someone actually lived there, when the estate has been sold to the state. That very person which also happened to be last member of the family died in February this year which basicaly ended the family line. A depressing thought.
We got few minutes introduction by some lady after which we were left to listen to narration from the speakers (which also served to move us between 4-5 rooms in the castle). Once that was done we got few minutes to snap photos of the castle from outside (photographing inside was strictly prohibited) and that was it as far as “castle” part was concerned.

Following that, we boarded the bus and our jolly driver took us to a “coast” part. Most of that reminded me of certain parts of Iceland. Not the fjords and dramatic cliffs but the dark and depressing parts where noone ever lived or visited unless they lost their way (like myself) Seeing people relaxingly and apparently enjoyingly walking along long stretches of shallow and muddy water was a bit weird from the perspective of someone used to clean, blue and deep Adriatic Sea.

So, following the coast we ended up back in Dublin where we could take time contemplating “what a fuck” feelings that boiled inside us.
On the positive side, my theory about organized tourism was more than validated.

The rest of the day we enjoyed aimless stroll through the city after which we felt like having a cup of coffee. Since it was a dinner time and all round us seemed to be only restaurant after restaurant, we grabbed coffee in Starbucks and sat on the bench. Of course, right after that, around the next corner we found not one but several caffes and took a mental note of that for tomorrow.

Although netiher me nor Branka are much of beer drinkers (kind of a shortcoming in Guiness-soaked Dublin) all of the sudden we felt like having one. Here we were luckier since, instead of one of those crowded touristy pubs in Temple Bar, we found one in a quiet street, with a nice terrace where we could enjoy our Miller (for Branka-not local, I know) and Kilkenny (for myself).
Photo at the top is just a house near Malahide castle.