The Emerald Isle…the land of all things green and people who speak English. Now that is a vacation! The kids had teacher inservice days on Thursday and Friday (yes, I enjoy not working on teacher inservice days.) So, we decided to head to Dublin. Chris and I visited Ireland back in '98 with his family. We did Ireland right on that trip. We put 1000+ miles on the rental car and saw the better part of the country. Fortunately, we had Chris's brother Jerry with us and made him drive the whole time. Both Chris and I are a bit intimidated about driving on the other side of the road, so for now, a short trip to Dublin with no need for a rental car was the way to go. Our first stop was Trinity College to see the Book of Kells and the library.
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| I could stand in that library all day. |
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| Guess how many pictures I took of that ceiling. |
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| A LOT! |
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| Oh, well look who is on display in the Trinity College Library…LOVE!!! |
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| I think the kids half expected them to sing like in The Haunted Mansion. |
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| Someone important was being interviewed. Too bad we didn't know who. |
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| Trinity College |
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| It drives Chris crazy when he skips and runs with his hands in his pockets. So of course, he does it on purpose…. |
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| Starbucks stop….had to get a mug! |
Next stop was the holy land of Ireland. I mean…we went to the Guinness Storehouse. This was completely different than our last trip. It's more than just a brewery. This new storehouse was built for tourists to see how Guinness is made, shop for souvenirs, and taste the beer in the Gravity Bar at the top with a 360 view of the city.
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| Yes, Thomas is pretending to drink beer. |
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| Still drinking…. |
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| Goodness child! |
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| Thanks to the movie Elf, we can't just ride the escalator anymore. |
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| Capturing the aroma of the Guinness. |
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| Little bitty Guinness in the section where they teach you how to properly drink the brew. |
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| New Guinness advertisement |
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| You could type in a message that would appear on a huge screen for all to see. Here is what our kids wrote…. |
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| I don't know if I should laugh or cry. Living in Belgium, beer kind of becomes part of your life whether you want it to or not. These two know more about beer than most kids. Thomas perfected his pour at the Heineken Brewery in Amsterdam. I'm sure they will be the life of the party in college. Better not be before then! |
Your tour ends with a tasting in the Gravity Bar at the top of the Guinness Storehouse.
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| Waiting….. |
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| Yummmmmmm |
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| You have to do a picture with the Guinness mustache! |
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| Cutie |
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| Free wifi |
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| I had to take this for my friend Christie. She asked if I had Chris finish my pint for me. In 1998…yes. In 2014…no. I live in Belgium now. This stuff is a piece of cake! |
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| A view from the top! |
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| This is where we had our picture taken years ago. Now it is covered in stickers. :( |
Next stop…St. Patrick's Cathedral
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| Allison declared this "The most unimpressive cathedral I have seen!" Cathedral snob….. |
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| Love the tile floor |
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| Personally, I think the flags are a nice touch. |
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| Collecting for the organ fund in a Guinness keg. Only in Ireland…. |
Making our way to Grafton Street for some shopping.
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| Amen! |
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| If you could have any souvenir from Ireland, what would you choose? Thomas chose Sven…. |
Last stop for the day…The Temple Bar
I just read on The Temple Bar Facebook page that the building is being painted. It will no longer be red! What? Glad I got a picture (or 30) the last weekend it was red….
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| Electronic devices are allowed because we know this is really not fun for them. |
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| Switching things up and having a Smithwicks. This was my favorite on the last trip. |
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| We knew ahead of time that our friends Karen and Mike would be visiting the same weekend. We were thrilled to spend the evening with them. And, our friend Marc (our neighbor and married to Heather) was in town for a case, so he was able to join us as well. ISB takes over a small section of The Temple Bar. I love it! |
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| The kids were much happier when their friends arrived! |
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| Now isn't that a pretty picture. |
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| Great live music! |
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And, it was the perfect end to the evening with a stop at Papa Johns.
And, that concludes our very busy day in Dublin. Check back for more Irish fun.
Until next time,
Wendy |
