How could I begin a blog post about Ireland and
not include music? Turn this on while you read!
Cue Dublin, cold and grey. Picture the happiest girl (ever) pacing in front of the arrivals hall waiting for her ginger to get off the plane and then imagine the ridiculously sweet reunion they have in the airport. If you're feeling ready to puke from adorbs, then I'm happy! But really, it was very sweet and romantic and blah blah blah--let's get to Dublin already!
Uri, being a trooper, went straight with me to breakfast where we proceeded to watch a bus driver read the paper and attempt to figure out a plan for the day.
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| No joke, braaaaah |
As I'm discovering all over again, sometimes the best plan is to go out with a list and then scrap it.
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| That's how we find Chez Max, astounding French food in the alleys of Dublin! |
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| Uri's first fully French meal. <3 |
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| At the Garden of Remembrance (for the numerous Irish uprisings) close to the hotel. This was one of those "they totally hit the nail on the head" type of parks. |
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| This sculpture is called The Children of Lir. Super haunting, super well-done, super perfect for the Garden of Remembrance! |
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| Celebrate much? |
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| There was some really awesome street art in the Temple Bar area--we definitely didn't take pictures of everything we saw, though. |
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| Dublin riverfront. :)))) |
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| Awwwwwwwwwwww (prepare for lots of pictures of us in the next few entries, by the way...) |
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| Ahhh, good ol' Daniel O'Connell. Read about The Liberator here. |
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| Uri told me a funny story about the O'Connell monument that I will proceed to butcher here (and perhaps repair later under his direction). There was once a monument to Horatio Nelson where that needle-looking spire is now. In the 60s, Irish Republicans blew it to smithereens...so now all the pigeons get to take a dump on O'Connell! |
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| Speaking of that spire, it's named the Spire of Dublin and is freaking TALL. It'll give you a crick in your neck from hundreds of yards away! Read more about it here. |
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| O'Connell Street is most definitely known for its monuments---this is by far the funniest! Caption below. |
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| Ask Uri how many times I twitched reading this. |
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| Supposedly the smallest bar in Dublin. |
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| Obama approves! And drinks Guinness. I always thought he was more of a craft beer guy (yes, in spite of his extremely disappointing Bud Light choice at the "beer summit")! |
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| Molly Malone! Another song here. |
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| St. Stephen's Green. This was the loveliest walk in the middle of Dublin---we could've stayed for hours if we didn't have other things to see. And food to eat. ;) |
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| Spring means daffodils on this side of the Atlantic. Consider me pretty in love with the idea. :D |
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| Last of St. Stephen's Green. Many statues found, but not the infamous Oscar Wilde rock... |
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| Customs House, Dublin |
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| Uri spotted this---it's really fun finding treasures like this! I love how it looks half dilapidated. |
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| :D |
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| In our meanderings, we discovered the Old Jameson Distillery (Johnny Jump Up, anyone?). However, as I cannot abide whiskey, I refused to go on the tour! Haha. |
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| I may not like whiskey, but I like history! OHOHOHO. |
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| Right, let's get back to the main attraction of the day---GUINNESS. After sitting in line in very chilly on-again-off-again-drizzle/snow flurries and a good lot of wind (not to mention a horse that almost flicked its poo-ridden tail all over the line and some lovely stereotypical American guys), we got into the Guinness Storehouse. The layout is really, really cool! I loved how it was open in the middle. |
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| This document is bloody brilliant---they have a 9000 year lease on this site for the small price of 45 pounds per year. Now I've forgotten what that is in today's terms, but suffice to say not a whole heckuva lot! |
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| WHOA LOOKIT MEEEEE! |
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| I really loved the ship models they had--this one is by far my favourite! |
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| The advertising section of the Guinness Storehouse was mad awesome... |
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| ...and racist. Like whoa. |
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| View of drizzly Dublin from the Advertising floor. |
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| And to the gravity bar (where our free Guinness coupon was well-used and the views much appreciated)! |
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| Lookit his face! He's so happy. :) |
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| Guys. I have to eat my words here (much like I ate my beer, har har)---I officially like Guinness. I know! I never thought it would happen either, but here's my empty glass as proof! |
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| Ahhh, Irish weather. |
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| View over the distillery. |
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| I think that's St. Patrick's cathedral. |
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| Hip hip, huzzah! |
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| Uri with Flat Stanley outside the General Post Office. Awesome building---it was the headquarters of the Easter Uprising of 1916 and has an original copy of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic (think Declaration of Independence) on display. If you were able to zoom in, you might see a slightly apprehensive Uri...it might've had something to do with the anti-Americans-in-Iraq-or-Afghanistan-and-probably-both protesters about 20 yards away. Just maybe. [Later we heard on our Galway bus that Americans were advised to stay far away from protests as the Garda may be disheartened (don't ask me why) and less likely to interfere. Oh, the joys of being us sometimes.] |
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| Fellow geeks/nerds, this is for you. |
Uri really is an extraordinary traveler to have along. He put up with my shoving him on a bus first thing in the (cold) morning to arrive in Galway to more terrible weather, but a fantastic view! Cue new music!
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| This was from the balcony of our B&B! |
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| Guess what day it is... |
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| Galway Bay |
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| We found a couple bits of graffiti like this on rocks surrounding the beach and bay. |
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| The Bay and Salthill. :) |
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| We have decided that we're coming back and going to those cliffs. :) |
The sun came out a bit, so time for a new song!
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| We LOVE these wonderfully colored houses (and doors!). |
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| First Guinness of St. Patrick's Day! |
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| A poor attempt at a Black Velvet, but hey! Magner's. :) |
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| Second round at Tig Coili. Open this link for incredible music! |
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| Pictures like these covered the walls in this incredible little pub. Dan, these are for you! |
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| Round 3 courtesy of a gent we suspect owned the pub. :) |
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| ...you get the idea. |
Honestly, the brief time we spent in Galway blew Dublin away. Dublin is awesome in its own way, but it felt so much like Boston to us (goodness knows how many Bahstuhners in town helped with that bit). Galway, in spite of the
huge influx of foreigners (yes, including us) still felt Irish and, more importantly,
real. We felt really at home in Galway and had a number of funny conversations with Irish and non-Irish alike. The most memorable was definitely at a delicious cafe called Druid Lane (get the chicken curry and Galway mussels!). Two middle-aged ladies came in, one clearly drunk and the other apparently the owner. The more inebriated of the two struck up a conversation with us and declared us a lovely couple who should come visit her in Morocco and demanded we review her friend's cafe (I actually do intend to do that!). I daresay we had a fun time with her. :) Then we ran into an Aussie who told us his poor wife hates Americans and we were the nicest ones he'd met. Sad, but true! We'll be back. :)
All in all, a ridiculously fantastic start to our trip. Amsterdam comes next! *squeee!*
Sláinte!
