When Irish Skies Are Smiling

I'm pretty sure I'm not going to remember a lot of the Irish history that was imparted to us on a "free" three hour walking tour around Dublin.  It's "free" because you only pay at the end if you feel it was worth it.  Our guide, Patrick, had strawberry blonde hair and very pale blue eyes.  Despite that, he looked like Johnny Depp.  Three hours of eye candy with an Irish accent.  Patrick got paid.

Our afternoon was spent walking from Killiney to Dalkey, a couple of small seaside towns that are home to Bono, Enya, and Van Morrison.  We think we saw the wall around Bono's little shack but who knows.  We asked a guy walking by if he knew where Bono lived.  He said he didn't care.  And Enya lives in a castle.  So she must have a moat.  Bottom line -- neither came out to invite us in for tea.  Worst case of celebrity stalking ever.  Or the polite Canadian version...you chose.

There's nothing stereotypically Irish about the area.  Unless you think of palm-like trees when you think of Ireland.

It was one of those stunningly beautiful days where you can't tell where the sea ends and the sky starts.  

But they're missing the boat.  All of this gorgeous shoreline and not one outdoor waterside cafe to be found.  What's up with that?  And while we may not be able to find "celebrity" houses unaided, we did manage to locate some beer, cider, and wings, albeit not with a water view.

Correction.  We did see Maeve Binchy's house.  Right beside the pub where she was a regular.

And just to clarify...neither of us are U2 fans.  So why did we want to see his house?  Because we were there?  Seems a good enough reason.  And not being a U2 fan, I wasn't really aware that Bono apparently isn't very popular here in Ireland.  Evidenced by this -- what's the difference between God and Bono?

God doesn't think he's Bono.