I have seen many sun sets in my life. I am not trying to be philosophical and sentimental here. I literally mean I have seen many Sunsets, but I never have seen a sun rise. So today got up early and checked the sun rise timings, and it was 8:48am. The temerature was minus 2 deg but clear skies. I kept saying to myself that I cant allow the temperature get the better off me so I headed off to the beach with my trusty camera and tripod. My finger tips begin to hurt in spite of the gloves, but that wasn't enough to make me go back. After taking quite a few snaps I do have the satisfaction that "Finally saw the Sun rise,before my sun sets". Now i am being philosophical. Few more pictures on the link below.
Oysters and fish. Next day, after a wonderful breakfast we decided to head to the slay head, which is a scenic drive along the Dingle peninsula. Every time we stepped out of the car it was a battle against the wind. later we drove down to the "Ring of Kerry" which is a long 180 kms drive along the Kerry coast. The sights were heavenly, it made me feel insignificant, minuscule which on the contrary means I felt the world much larger than then tiny cubicles i spend my day . We stopped at the famous Killerny national park which is 10,400 hectares in area!! The entire landscape in the jungle was carpeted with the Irish colour ' Green'.The moss seems to be the chosen clothing for the damp trees. The thunderous waterfall sounded like a jet engine in full blast. Its mostly due to the incessant rains that has pounded the county since weeks. Sun sets by 5:30 here and we begun our trip back to Dublin. It was the journey (900 kms in total) that was fun and the beauty what nature offered was the seasoning to fun. This beautiful country side deserves another visit is what is etched in my head now, which i truly intend to fulfill when Ireland lets me soak up the sun.
There were a few of them. Some of them for the first time and many of them were long timers. They were talking about being here at the same place last year. Me being Mr.Hasty in spite of knowing that it will drizzle, forgot a few essential things. Like the lens hood,lens cleaning cloth and most important of all an UMBRELLA!! Mr.Richard in the group was a pro and he was guiding most of them on how to operate and the various settings that would be optimal. 
Mayor of Dublin and the Dublin City Council Corporator showed up there was the count down and then came the lights!! It was beautiful. I must admire the spirit of the people. At least a thousand had gathered there weathering the irritating chill drizzle and the six degree temperature. I met guys from Costa Rica and Philippines and shared my experiences with the camera. I very weired thing happened at the meetup; it was like as though its meant to happen.All the "
I had brought a few bananas that look like the kerala "nendram" bananas but the sticker on that said, Congo. Thought it would be nothing like it, but to my surprise before i binned it I just tasted it and "walla" it was almost the same!!. That resulted in some fantastic banana pakodas. prepared some veg puluo which would beat the can air freshener in fragrance. Mihir bhai took care of the potatoes and made the "aloo sagoo" for the masala dosa. Mihir bhai had come in with two bottles of the finest wines and so did Paula and Noreen. Paula was eager to open up the wine and all had some with the banana pakodas and god did they both go down well!! Masala dosas was next along with wine. What a terrific combination I must say. I must truly appriciate Noreen and Paula who had the food in Indian style, with bare hands!. We talked and sang and laughed and spoke. The perfect desert was the perfect ice cream. I can imagine the ice cream being a perfect topping on the wine and masala dosa in my tummy. Brought out my camera and lenses and everyone had a go at it. before we know it it was well past midnight. I was feeling sleepy because i am not used to late night stay ups. My good friends were having a good time. Finally bid good bye and all I remember was I slept like a log till 4 am, till the wine inside of me decided to come out the way it went it. None the less it was a great time we all had together.
its' more than a kilometer long. The stena line was getting loaded with passengers and cars with its engines humming all set to sail to Hollyhhead,Whales. The winds were so strong that i had to duck down and put my head low to keep the wind from knocking me down.Could not hold the camera steady many a times. All the while i was wondering what kind of massive effort would have gone into building this harbor, while I can even just hold a camera steady. The cold was getting to me and realised its better for me to get back to the warmth of my apartments keeping self preservation in mind.
Irish warrior who wanted to wage battle with the scottish, who by the way are at visible range from the Irish costline built those steps.Before heading to this place, i did cross the famous rope bridge. It seems a farmer used to take 11 sheep to graze on thsi tiny Island.
my legs hurt
like hell. I was limping for the next two days. Yet I wanted to go, but found out that the tickets are sold out. But on my favorite Bulletin board I found one person giving away the ticket. Woohoo!!! Bought myself a pair of shorts, asked my Gurus Chris and Mihir, how to prepare and they gave me a few tips. Then off i began. There were seven thousand of them. In all shapes, sizes, colours and textures. It was drizziling, but not enough to kill our entusiasm. Found two other Indians there, but me carrying a heavy ego did no acknowledge them. They did the same. At 10 we started. I was number 1452. 
while at the 4 mile mark, noticed garda paving way from some one. I thought it must be the minister of sports. but it was the marathon leaders doing their 8th mile!! Holy cow!! Thats what professional runners are. I was glad to see the 6th mile marker, but my energy level was not down, it was my legs screaming " are you friggin, Crazy" . I walked for half a mile to give them a break. Water was supplied well and many old folks gathered just to cheer us up. Just a clap, or "your are nearly there, keep going" was enough for the extra two steps. The last mile was grueling, but made it just under two hours. Got a T and a lunch box. laid down on the grass and had them. After my suscessful completion on my return to Mr.Silver, I met those Indians again and this time we smiled and spoke,and wished each other "happy Independence day". The thoughts pondered in my head on my way back, and what I realised is events like this unite people, make them come out of the virtual shells they have created for them selves. Strangers patting out back, applauding us, lending water.Some of the girls even came close to me and teased me saying, 'catch me if you can' !! Sixteen kilometers was hard, but the results are more than just finishing the race.
There was a 900 year old Monastary and the picturesque lake. On the way back we headed to the highest attitude pub, its' the Jonny Foxes pub,which is 200 years old. Every thing about it was old fashioned. I found it hard to gulp the food down, because it was authentic Irish food. We had to find our accomodation, which is an old BnB which came into existance in 1840. Its called the 'Old Coach House' which is by the side of a river and the location is called 'Meeting of the Rivers'. How 'novel ish' can it get!! Next day we went to the Motte stone, which was a large boulder atop a hill. Fom there we headed to wexford. 
We visited the Jhonstown castle which was really fantstic. The place was full of beautiful peacocks.Saw the gardens and the moved towards the duncannon castle which was rather disapointing. We were restricted from seeing anything. But then decided to drive down on a needle shaped peice of land extending into the sea. It was the Hooks ring. We reached an ancient 600 year old light house.The sea clashing agaist jagged rocks had a level of beauty. 
We headed back to our BnB, rested and the next day we took a beautiful, scenic drive along the Wicklow mountains. It was three day spent well and returned with a lifetime full of memories. For more pictures, click on the link below
There was music and the dancing began, I was so sleepy that i would catch a few winks and then Noreen would wake me up and pull me back to the dance floor. We had a group photo taken and embossed into a key ring.My friend Mihir and Paula were fantastic on the dance floor. I simply had to stand back and watch them. I sometimes regret why I did not take to drinking because it looks like so much fun.Then my values kick and balance restored. This was the most memorable night out for me and I did this all for a key ring!!
I did go to Kinsale first.A small fishing village where i walked around quite a bit and visited Fort Charles. That small town defines the phrase ' Cute little town'. Headed back to Cork and from there went to Fota. Its' an amzing wild life park where some animals roam out in the open.
I have two new characters to introduce to you all. His name is Mr.Silverfix a.k.a Silver and Her name is Miss.Nikon a.k.a Nikki. They both have a good friend Mr.Badri a.k.a badri. Silver and Niki wanted to explore the north side of dublin and along with badri they went out for a long ride.22kms one way. There was 10 kms of very good cycle track. First stop was the ancient Howth castle. A private property in the middle of a golf course. Then they stopped at the Howth Piers. Its a small fishing town. Niki was lucky to spot a quite a few Manatees. At
the near by gardens many school teams were practicing music. I bet it they were preparing for some 
competition. Back in the city they spotted a giant Cruice shipe. THe Crown Princess.950 feet in length and 16 storeys high. "Massive". It was a fun sunday for all three of them.
Day three first thing in the morning, took the first train to Euro Disney.Amazing place but surprisingly no water theme rides here. The rides that you would normally feel is for children actually is more than that, it's got the power to tranform you back to a child and make you eleigible for it.I did ride on a few roller coasters; nothing as massive and gravity defiying as the ones in US.Hollywood studios was fantastic. A group of cheerful teenagers were singing and dancing to the tunes of 'High School Musical'.Witnessed an exploding semi followed by a dam burst spilling out 200,000 liters of water to douse the flames. My only recomendation is go to Euro Disney with your loved one. If you dont have one you might be just fine.But if you have found the love of your life then every moment you end up thinking about him/her. There were times when I thought I wanted to get out of the places when I saw other cheerful couples and families having three times more fun than me on the same ride.
return ticket for me over the weekend and "walla" my start and end of the trip is fixed, now all I had to do is fill up the gaps. Booked a hostel in Edibrugh and a one day tour. Thanks to my good luck(that means google maps) the Hostle was bang on the side of the most happening street of Edinburgh, '
room. The city is small enough, within 5 hours of walking we can see it all. The famous Edinburgh castle marvelous. To date every 1'o clock a cannon is fired to let the ships and city keep a tab on time. The Scottish parliament(commissioned in 1998) was more of an expression of art rather 
than a place for Politics. On the day tour we did head out to the Lockness lake. The water is as dark as Guiness,temprature always minus 2 and its 27 mile length is haunting. I join the list of failures to spot the Monster. The snow capped mountains were so beautiful that it made me regret why did i ever not head to Kashmir.The city has so much history that the guide calls aything post 1800's as modern!
