Dublin!

What a fun trip!! Michelle and I spent Friday evening through Monday in the fun city of Dublin! We packed a lot into a few days (seriously - would you expect anything less from me?!?). First of all, I have to re-iterate this once again - it is SO STRANGE for me to hear English being spoken! Secondly, I think that Irish people have to be the nicest, most helpful people that I have ever met! The bus drivers, hotel staff, heck, even people we stopped on the street for directions never acted bothered by our questions, and always went the extra mile to help us. Quite a contrast from my day-to-day life in Amsterdam, to be honest. So, for context, here is an analogy for my west coast readers. After being to both Dublin and London, I would say the relationship between the two is a lot like Seattle and Portland... London is big, there is a lot of money there, and people are a lot more proper. Dublin is like the rebel little sister... the feel is the same, but the people seem to do what they want and not really worry about what "the right" thing is... and, there are a lot of hippies, just like in my favorite town in the US. :) That said, on with the trip.

So, this was the first time I have flown Ryan Air... they don't fly out of Amsterdam, but out of a small airport in Eindhoven, about 1 hour and 15 minutes away from Amsterdam. The inconvenience was worth it - I think we paid 90 euros total for round trip tickets! The airline reminds me a lot of Southwest - low cost, everything extra costs extra, no assigned seats. But seriously, do you need anything except getting from point A to point B? The flight was comfortable and on time. Score!

We got into Dublin at about 5, and then checked into our hotel, the Burlington Hotel. Not much to look at from the outside, but it was SO NICE! That night, we were on the prowl for some good Irish food, and we found it at a beautiful restaurant in Temple Bar. Guinness. Check. Irish Stew. Check. Full, happy belly? You bet! We didn't do much else that night, because we were pretty tired, and needed to rest up for our extravaganza the next day.

Meat and Potatoes - Pretty much my dinner every night!

The first of many Guinnesses!

Saturday we woke up to lots of rain (common theme during the weekend - no wonder Ireland is the "Emerald Isle") but decided to head out for a run anyways - the most miserable run ever! But, with Michelle right by me, it wasn't too bad!

Two very dedicated, very wet runners!

This is the park we ran through - St. Stephen's Green - much nicer when there is not a torrential downpour going on!

Michelle with her new "black sheep umbrella" - you can't really see it, but the sidewalk has a built in gutter to let all the rain run off! Oh boy!

After drying off, and having a very yummy breakfast back at the hotel, Michelle and I set out to see the city! Our first stop was Trinity College, one of the most pretigious colleges in Ireland. It is also home to the Book of Kells, which is one of the very oldest written manuscripts of the four Gospels. It was very beautifully decorated and written, but we only got to see two pages! Still, very interesting to learn about the ancient art of book printing and binding. I was kind of inspired... but don't hold out for a hand-made book from me just yet! :)

Trinity College

That afternoon, we took the "historical tour" of Dublin. Students from Trinity College do two-hour tours of Dublin twice a day, and I HIGHLY would recommend this. I'm super interested in history, and having an expert (these are history PhD students) tell you all about the history of Ireland is WAY better than reading a book. I found it super interesting to hear about the many trials and tribulations of these people, that haven't really ended until just recently. It's unbelievable to try to get your head around the fact that these people were basically in a civil war until 1998, when the Good Friday Peace Agreement was signed. I feel like I have a much better understanding of Irish History now, and I really enjoyed the tour.

We just happened to be in town for the annual Gay Pride Festival - it was HUGE!

Me with the beautiful Customs House

That evening, we made our way to a pub in Temple Bar to join up with the Musical Pub Crawl. Two musicians take a group from pub to pub, teaching a little bit about Irish music along the way. It was really interesting for a music nerd like me, and I really, really enjoyed listening to the music they played.

Our tour guides

The next day was a pretty busy one for us. We started the day with a trip out to Kilmainham Jail, which is very famous in Ireland's history. It was the first jail to keep inmates separate, in the hopes that they wouldn't negatively influence each other. It was also where a lot of the political prisoners from the various uprisings were kept. It was a little spooky to be in this place that so many had died in. We had yet another great historical overview of Ireland's history - I feel like I could give the tour myself now! :)

The Interior of the Jail - if it looks familiar, it probably is because many films have been taped here!

Next stop - the Guinness Brewery! It was more of a museum than a brewery, but we still had a fun time! We learned all about the secrets behind Guinness's flavor (they roast the barley), and then topped the trip off with a stop in the "Gravity Bar" on the very top floor of the Brewery. There, we got a free pint and an amazing view of the city.

Cheers! Or, as the Irish say, "Slainte"

We were pretty wiped out after Guinness, so we went to our new favorite place, Butler's Chocolate Shop. Michelle had ordered this wonderful delight the day before, so on Sunday, it was my turn... this thing is called an Afogatto, and I have to say, it is amazing! They take vanilla ice cream, put chocolate sauce on top of it, and then put espresso over that. The word in Italian means "drowned", which I guess is what happens to the ice cream. Yum! :)

After our quick break, we walked around the inside of Christ Church Cathedral. It was absolutely beautiful inside. I think the strangest thing was a preserved cat and mouse, that had gotten trapped in an organ pipe hundreds of years ago, and were found when the organ was being restored. Gross!

Christ Church Cathedral

The preseved cat and rat... ew!

After the cathedral, our last stop was the Dublin Castle. It was pretty beautiful inside, but pretty similar to many other castles I've seen (am I getting spoiled? Yes, I think so!). Instead of describing the castle, I'd rather describe our tour guide. Oh my goodness. This girl was sweet enough, but I swear to God, I thought her boobs were going to fly right out of her shirt! Seriously, her shirt was so low cut that I could see the top of her bra! Michelle noticed too - I am not a pervert! Anyways, at one point she was describing the painting on the ceiling in the picture below. In this painting, Ireland is depicted as the woman on the right wearing a green dress. Her breast is exposed, which is supposed to represent the indecency of the country and its need for foreign rule. Oh my gosh, as she was telling this story, I just wanted to just burst out laughing, because I was thinking, "hmm... we sort of have a re-inactment right now". Oh boy! It was a bit much!

The painting that set off my giggles on the ceiling of the Dublin Castle

That night, Michelle and I decided that since we had enjoyed the music the night before so much, that we'd just find a nice Irish pub to listen to music again. We just hung out for a few hours and enjoyed. It was a great way to end the trip! :)

Not sure what point of the trip this picture fits into, but I loved these doors. There are colored doors in the "Georgian" style all over Dublin - they were so charming! :)