This is a photo I took on our flight home from San Francisco in February.
Here I sit in the Boston airport, waiting out a 2-plus hour delay. Soon, though, I should be in the air, and heading to Dublin.
I am beyond excited about this trip (though just now I am feeling more tired than excited). I will be attending a conference next week, and am padding my stay by a few days to be able to do some sightseeing. I have been so busy over the last few weeks, what with working on preparing presentations for this coming conference, and for another conference that was last week. There have also been a range of family and home obligations. I’ve been swamped. I have barely been able to work on the specifics of my travel plans. I picked up a little Dublin travel guide, which I plan to flip through on the plane. (I do intend to visit Brú na Bóinne, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is also a goal of mine to learn how to say Brú na Bóinne. I had enough trouble just spelling it!) I also have a copy of Roddy Doyle’s novel, The Commitments, as well as a copy of James Joyce’s Dubliners.
If you have been to Dublin, and have recommendations, I’d love to hear them! (Or even if you haven’t been to Dublin, but have recommendations!)
collecting tokens 
Your trip sounds like fun. The touristy thing that I remember most vividly about Dublin is the Book of Kells at Trinity College. I was so amazed by the detail of the pages on display. Plus I thought that Trinity College was fascinating. [Not the most unique travel suggestion, I realize; but I did like going there.]
Thanks, Ally Bean! I did get to see the Book of Kells, and I was also very taken with it. The conference was actually held at Trinity College, so that made it remarkably convenient.
How amazing! It was meant to be. Glad that you liked it.
1. That’s a fantastic photo from the plane!
2. I totally concur about the Book of Kells and just that library overall; it’s gorgeous. If you like libraries, anyway.
3. I also went to Brú na Bóinne (though I didn’t know that name for it and can’t pronounce it either!) and it was great.
4. I don’t seem to remember much else but let me get out my scrapbook from that trip… oh yes, there was a neat statue of Oscar Wilde in a park somewhere (um, sorry, not very specific, but you can probably find it in your guidebook), and there is a house marked as being where Schrödinger lived for a long time. (I was only in Dublin for a couple days after a 2-week trip around smaller towns/countryside of Ireland, so I don’t have much to recommend.)
5. HAVE A FABULOUS TRIP!
Hi, Sally!
1) Thanks! I like it, too.
2) I loooved that library. I wanted to move in.
3) I figured out that people tend to call the destination Newgrange, even though that is the name of just one mounds. But it is the most pronounceable of the mounds.
4) Didn’t run into Mr. Wilde.
5) I did, thanks!
Chat to my friends on Twitter. They all live in Dublin and would be happy to give you recommendations…
Thanks so much for the suggestions, az! I’m sorry that I didn’t manage to get in touch with them. (I was pretty tied up with the conference by the time I got your comment, plus my internet connection was pretty crappy.)