Ireland Day 1: Guiness Storehouse

Now that Baby is nearly here, and I'm not currently taking clients, I've been trying to catch up on editing personal pictures, like of all of the vacations we've taken over the last 8 years. I especially don't want to forget anything about our 2 trips to Ireland last year, which were INCREDIBLE! So I'm going to post our photos and my travel journal entries here on the Blog...as long as I still have the time! And don't mind the hat head. It was absolutely freezing! Despite my best efforts bundling up with hats and coats and mittens and scarves, I still ended up miserably sick by the 2nd day of our vacation and became painfully windburnt on my nose and hands. Despite it all, though, I'd go back in a heartbeat.

{April 17, 2012

Well, Dublin is nothing like we expected it to be. It reminds me a lot of a Chicago or Munich in the size of Fort Wayne.

We did get to see the Book of Kells at Trinity College (no photography allowed, unfortunately) - AMAZING! By far one of my favorite places in the WORLD. Rows and rows of books in a ginormous hall. Beautiful wood work, artwork and two stories of ancient texts in leather binding as far as the eye could see.

We then went to the Guinness Brewery for a really neat tour. While Aaron probably found the tour a bit more interesting than I did, I enjoyed the view from the top floor where you could enjoy a Guinness with a fabulous view of Dublin including the mountains. Irish Guinness is incredibly better than its American counterpart, and Aaron became "certified" to pour a Guinness. 

We had lunch and a Guinness at the Brazen Head, which was the site of the beginning of the revolution and where greats such as Winston Churchill, Michael Collins, James Joyce, Jonathan Swift...and even Van Morrison...have visited since 1198. It is Ireland's oldest pub. We hope to visit tomorrow evening when it's busier and has live music.

We toured a bit of St Stephen's Green - the site of beheadings in medieval times.

We were so exhausted that we came back to the hotel for a beer and bed. Although we've taken buses for the most part, we've done our fair share of walking.

Hoping to enjoy some Dublin pubs tomorrow!}