Dublin

Hey y'all!

Betcha missed me.  Just lounging in the Montarina currently and have to update you all about our first 10 day trip.

We started with a nice flight to Dublin.  When we arrived it was unexpectedly windy and a little rainy but so Ireland.  Our first stop was the Guinness Factory.  We did a taste testing of a variety of different types of Guinness.  I was not expecting to enjoy the thick black beer, but I did!  It was so good.  We learned from professional Guinness pourers how to pour the perfect glass of Guinness, and then toured the museum to see exactly how the brew is made.  When we were done we went up to the Gravity Bar on the top floor and enjoyed a glass on the house.  Oh!  And I just found out the Guinness factory is a seven floor building shaped like a giant pint of Guinness...neato.  After a few more drinks we were STARVING so we headed to dinner.  I got fish & chips and they were out of this world.

Saturday morning we woke up and went on our standard free tour of the city.  We saw the Dublin Castle, Dubh Linn, Viking remains, Christ Church Cathedral, National Library, Temple Bar Area, Ha'Penny Bridge, Trinity College, Leinster House, and ended at St. Stephen's Green.  During the tour Ashley and I ran into a pub at the Temple Bar to check out what this Dublin pub scene was all about.  We were quickly acquainted with a bachelor party and told the boys we'd be back to Gogarty's (name of the bar) after our tour.  We got irish coffees at a coffee shop, had a disgusting chinese lunch, and then headed back.  When we arrived, Diana, Carla, Jess, Katie, and Madeline had met our friends and were there with them.  We spent the remainder of our day in that bar, listening to live music, drinking Guinness and baby Guinness shots (Kahlua and Bailey's Irish cream), singing, laughing, and dancing.  Five hours later we went on a little pub crawl of our own, met up with Tyler, and heard some live music playing from inside another bar.  We went in to go check it out and it was the perfect way to end the night.

Sunday morning we woke up at the bright early hour of 6:30 am to take a day trip to Galway.  Four hours later we were finally there.  Our bus driver was hilarious, and managed to make the bus ride from hell a little entertaining.  We spent the day frolicking around the rolling green hills of Ireland and looking for leprechauns and fairies.  The Cliffs of Moher were awesome, huuge huge cliffs overlooking the Atlantic.  I got a claddagh ring in the gift shop, and then we headed home.

We watched Superbowl Sunday in yet another pub and then called it a night.

Pretending to study for 2 tests we have tomorrow so I'll update ya on the rest later!

Ciao!