Monday, October 29, 2012

Behind the Scenes

Good Morning Dublin! We were so lucky to have a few sunny days while we were in Dublin. It just made the city that much more beautiful.


On Friday morning we headed to the campus of Trinity College to see The Book of Kells. I would not mind going to school there, the campus is beautiful. My favorite part was the Long Room. I wish I could have taken pictures of it, such a beautiful library, full of even more beautiful books.




Lee Bob made some German friends


The next stop of the day was St. Patrick's Cathedral. To me, most churches and temples all look pretty much the same. But it was cool to be in an iconic part of Ireland's history.



We took advantage of the sun and went out and walked around the grounds. It was very pretty with the bright blue sky.




Our hotel was right off Grafton Street, which is Dublin's main shopping area. We spent quite a bit of time walking up and down, listening to the different performers, and people watching, obviously.




We took a walk down to the Temple Bar area, which is just full of pubs. There was a soccer match that night (we tried to get tickets, don't worry) and the place was already busy. Mind you, this was around 1:30 in the afternoon.



We walked along the River Liffey, the whole time I was just wishing I could spend more than three days in this city.



On our way back, we walked through Temple Bar again, and it was even more crowded, the preparations for the match had begun.



We decided to join everyone else taking advantage of the sun and stopped by St. Stephen's Green. The place was packed!


This girl was so cute. My children should be Irish.


I absolutely loved this sunny day in Dublin!

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Fix You


On Thursday morning after breakfast we were taken to the train station and boarded a private train ride to Dublin. The ride was beautiful, but rainy. But I couldn't wait to get to Dublin, I love new cities.


After arriving in Dublin we had some time to go find lunch, reminder- we need to make sure to eat before we are starving and fighting over what sounded good. After lunch they were doing some little walking tours around the area of the city in which we were staying. So obviously, we took advantage of those.



That corner building is where James Joyce lived, if you haven't heard of him, I can give you a very well written paper on some of his stories (I had to rewrite it, twice)

I loved the incorporation of shamrocks everywhere


One of my favorite things was the use of Georgian doors all over the city. Each was a different bright color, with different designs in the windows above. It made each of these identical buildings seem so different.

There were a few of us who were rather smitten with the Bank of Ireland building.




I don't know why I love European cities so much. But I mean, doesn't everyone?



A business that my dad's company buys product from takes their clients on a few (very nice) trips every year. They stay in very, very nice hotels (a lot different from my personal travels, that's for sure) and feed us very nice food, and take us on very nice tours. My mom was really nice and gave me her spot on the trip- BEST MOM EVER! After the tour, and shopping (yes, more shopping) the group had a dinner at the hotel, where some leprechauns performed for us.


Just kidding, they weren't leprechauns, but they were Irish. I was glad to get that bit of the culture in the trip, although, it would have been cooler had we been in a pub.


Dublin was quickly added to my list of favorites. But who are we kidding? Everywhere I go becomes my "new favorite place."

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

The Wedding

If you ever get to Ireland, please promise me you will make a trip to Killarney and do the Gap of Dunloe. That was for sure my favorite day of the trip. We started with a jaunting cart ride up to the gap. 





It got a little misty at the top.




We ate lunch at the cafe near the lakes. It couldn't be more beautiful. 


This is where the leprechauns live.

In Killarney National Park there are three connected lakes. We took a boat ride down through each of the lakes, and then back to the hotel. It was so peaceful. I wish I could have spent two days walking around, and exploring each bank of these lakes, instead of only two hours gliding right through.







Promise me you'll go?