So I was going to see my mom at Logan Airport when it occurred to me that I there was nothing stopping me from going to Scotland myself. Aer Lingus took pity on me because I wanted to hang out with my mom, so they gave me a RT ticket for $284 complete with a stop off in Dublin. Dublin was interesting. We were only there for 6 hours, so couldn't get a great feel for it, but it seemed as though the older, and more interesting area was on the Trinity side of the Liffey river. If you look hard enough, you'll find a maze of cobble-stone back streets near Temple Bar with cafes, designer clothing shops, and architect studios. The pedestrian mall over there isn't worth spending time on though, as it is mostly lined with international shopping chains. Stay in the Temple Bar area if you're sticking downtown for a day.

We also walked through Moore Street, Dublin's most famous outdoor market. The market is actually pretty dirty, and has no charm whatsoever, but is obviously an institution. In the photo you'll notice a horse, which has been a fixture there for years. The meat markets on either side of the road had windows filled with amazing foreign meats, and animal parts. Each store had its specialty - meat, poultry, flowers, sweets, and of course, the ubiquitous bookie (for placing your bets on the horse races). The streets were lined with litter, and crushed food, and much of the outdoor market products were limp, bruised, and all together sad looking. ...But it was great to see of course, and I'd recommend a walk-through of it.   

Yeah, so it was basically a mad dash through Dublin, but if there's one thing I can agree with, it's that the girls ARE all pretty!