h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Well, I've turned it over in my head again and again, Bea, but I can't work out anything other than

- arrive Dublin on the 9th (very late at night, so will go straight to a hotel - any recommendations, anyone?)
- stay in Dublin for a couple of days and meet up with anyone available on the Tuesday and/or Wednesday.
- Pick up hire care on the Thursday morning and slowly take the clockwise route staying wherever takes our fancy. This could well mean that we'd be in the Cork area on the 14th-ish...
- ...spending two or three stationary days on the Galway coast up till the 19th - again, recommendations welcome.
- Fly back from Dublin on the 20th. We have an evening flight, so if there was anything we still wanted to do in Dublin we could aim to travel back quite early in the morning.

So this would exclude the North completely, as much as I would love to see the Giants' Causeway and some of the big ships in Belfast, which is where my father spent some very memorable months during the war, and the countryside you all so eloquently describe, Lough Neagh, etc.


We would therefore be in Dublin on 10, 11 July, then in the South, then in the West on 16, 17, 18 July, back in Dublin on 19 or 20 July.

Gnomon - we would be delighted if you could take us under your wing for some of the Wednesday, and it would be really good to meet up with Recumbentman there, too, and with as many others as possible along the way!

You'll just have to make another trip up north.

OK, well we northerners have Wednesday 11th off, so I propose to round up as many of the locals as we can, and take a day trip to Dublin that day. Howzat sound?

(KB, Mala, any takers?)

Depends on whether Tav is over at the time, but sure, sounds good! I'm planning to be in Athlone 13th-15th, anyway.

Sounds brilliant!!

So we now have a July 11 meet in Dublin. I'll leave the organising up to you people.

And yes - I definitely want to do Norn Irn some time. Even if I have to come on my own. (Hubbie can only take so much non-Mediterranean type weather)

I could possibly get up to Dublin of an evening.

Well, the earliest I could get in without taking time off work is 20:55, which is a bit late. And that's Heuston, and there's nothing around Heuston so I'd probably have to travel further to meet you.

If I leave work a little early, I could get in at 17:40, which is closer to something reasonable. Shall have to think about this. Perhaps I should check the buses as well as the trains, but the buses from here to Dublin go by a very roundabout route.

TRiG.

Jury's Hotel in Christ Church Place is cheap but pleasant and presentable, and central enough -- it's on the hill that was the original city, right opposite Christ Church Cathedral (soon to commemorate its millennium, though not the original building).

http://www.galahotels.com/detail.aspx?hotelid=135332&sr=gg&gclid=CKLZotS34LACFcod4Qod8EkXeg

Thanks for your recommendation. As in my experience, there is absolutely no way of judging a hotel by the blurb, I went straight ahead and booked. Actually, I think I booked the wrong one in the end - another Jury's. Apparently, there are 2.



Either way, that's that sorted.

July 11th. Who's organising details?

I might actually be able to get the whole day off work. I'll check back and let you know.

What's everyone else's plans?

TRiG.

If you're in Jury's on Parnell Street you will be closer to the centre. Like many thousand-year-old cities, Dublin's centre has moved around over time. Sure grand.

Yes, that's the one. Parnell Street. I did a price comparison on various booking sites and only noticed that I'd landed somewhere else when the deed was done.

It looks like a daytime get-together on Wednesday 11 July, then. No doubt it will spill over to the evening, but that way, it will enable people to travel home in the evening if they wish.

We can fit in with you, so I just need someone to tell me where to be for morning coffee or lunch or where you would like to start. Some of you have my mobile phone number.

I'll let the Dublin residents make more knowledgeable suggestions, but how about Bewleys on Grafton St - I could be there for 11 ish.

(Might beg an overnight stay with my best man, Aye Bee, who's in Donabate)

Bewley's on Grafton Street is an institution. And it's easy to find. On the other hand, I won't know till Monday whether I can get that day off. (I'll have the Thursday off, but I can ask to swap for that week.) So I may be there only for the evening bit.

TRiG.

I'll go with Bewley's on Grafton St, at 11 on the 11th. A lot of buses will get you there unless you are intrepid walkers: straight down O'Connell Street, across the Liffey, past the Bank of Ireland (the building that housed the the Parliament in the 18th century) and Trinity College.

I'll consult with G what we should showcase for you. How many in your party?

Just me and 'im indoors. How many in yours?

I'm available during the day on Wednesday the 11th, but not in the evening.

This seems to be shaping up really well.

I don't think that Bewleys is a good place to meet up, as the self service restaurant part of it is very small. The main restaurant, the big spacious part with the Harry Clarke windows, is now waitress service, so we can't just walk in and meet up there. We'd have to all arrive at the the same time.

On the other hand, we could all meet up in Stephen's Green, and then go to Bewleys for brunch.

noted

Fingers crossed that the weather is good!

As for which bits of Dublin to do on our own (on the Tuesday) and together (on the Wednesday) - I await your suggestions, with alternative itineraries for good and bad weather!

Our guide book has suggestions for walks South and North of the river. The South seems to have more of interest for us, so we will most likely do that on the Tuesday. Grafton Street is also in that half of the town, I see, so if we miss anything on the Tuesday, perhaps we could all do that together on the Wednesday. Sorry to be so vague.

Stephen's Green is big enough to be a poor meeting place unless somewhat narrowed down. One of the gates would probably be a good choice, as they're easy to find: probably the gate nearest to Grafton Street. Or, if you want somewhere nicer to wait, the bridge over the lake, or the area with the circular flowerbeds just beyond the bridge. (I've just discovered that Google Street view goes right into the Green.)

TRiG.