July 1/2

A year ago today, Maryanne and I arrived in Dublin, Ireland.  Two days prior, I created this blog to chronicle the events that were to follow.  However, as probably could have been expected, I didn't write in it at all.  We did, however, keep a journal that included details from every single day of our European adventures.  Now that it's been a year since our journey started, there is rarely a day that goes by that I don't think of something that we did together on this trip.  So, in an effort to relive some of our memories, I will be updating this blog daily as daily as possible with our notes from our adventure of a lifetime.  It's mostly for my own recollection (and to share with Maryanne), but feel free to read along!

7/1-7/2 Flight-hotel

                                           

I'm amused at what we found memorable from our flight:

• Watched The Hunger Games on the plane (left off at the cave)
• Sleeping was annoying
• Maryanne's pillow disappeared
• A nice family helped us call our hotel
• Cabs are nice but expensive (we were reimbursed by the hotel)
• Driving on the left side - weird

Since then, I have watched The Hunger Games in its entirety and have enjoyed much shorter plane rides.  I can't say I'm a big fan of the red eye, but it did serve its purpose.  I wish I remembered the story behind Maryanne's pillow disappearing, because it sounds really entertaining. 

I will say that I do remember the family that helped us contact our hotel! Little acts of kindness like that go such a long way, especially when those on the receiving end are so far from home.  

Anyway, now back to our notes from the trip:

 7/2 - Dublin

• Flight arrived around 7:50 a.m.
• In hotel around 8:45 a.m.
• On a bus to the city shortly after (4 bus -- double decker)
• First stop - tourism center with a map!
• Saw Trinity College - very beautiful
  
  
  
• Walked to St. Stephen's Green - a very beautiful garden with gazebos.  We met a nice couple that was able to use our camera! Very exhausted at this point.
  
  Some background on the cameras we brought - One was really old and the other was newer, but it is finicky to the point where I am the only one who can use it.  Maryanne got yelled at quite a bit for not being able to use it (nobody wants to go to Europe and come back without evidence of being there!).  Also, those somewhat tacky jackets in the picture below were the best things we could have thought to bring! Thanks to a good friend, we were often protected from the cold and rain!
  
  
  
• Had lunch at a small cafe - chicken sandwich with peppers, onions, and tomatoes, weird but good chips, broccoli soup.  The name of the place was Cathedral...something.  Its menu had biblical allusions (for example, the lunch menu was entitled "The Last Supper.")  It was run by women who were not Irish (possibly Italian?), but we decided that it was okay because unlike some of the other places we will be visiting, Ireland isn't really known for its cuisine.
  
  
  
  
• After lunch we went to a real Irish $0.99 store! ... Enough said.
  
  
  
• St Patrick's cathedral cost money to get in so we just peeked in.  The grounds around it were beautiful. 
  
  
  
• We walked to the Guinness Store House where we paid just over 10 euro to do a self-guided walking tour.  The place was shaped like a pint glass and was very cool inside. 
  
  

  Each floor had a different part of Guinness you could learn about.  The first floor was all about the ingredients - barley, yeast, hops, and water.  It went on to show you how the beer was actually made.  To know it is ready, the makers actually look for the red (ruby red, to be exact) color.  Right after we saw how it is made and what goes into it, we went straight to a tasting and the flavor came out so much more!   There was another floor for advertising and then for shipping.  You could aslo take a picture as Guinness's apprentice to send to loved ones.  After our picture we sent this message home...
  
  
  
  
The fifth floor had a bar where you could actually pour your own "perfect pint" of Guinness.  While in line, both of us were carded for looking "under 18."  We went to take out our passports and each had each other's, which was entertaining.  We were in a group of about 10 people who were also going to learn how to pour the perfect pint.  Here's how: hold the glass at a 45 degree angle and pull the lever thing toward you all the way. 

 Once the beer hits the letters, stand your glass upright and fill until it reaches the harp.  Let it sit until the color goes from a milky brown to the dark brown with a hint of ruby red.  Then, top it off by pushing the lever away from you.  This is so that it doesn't release the gas.  Another cool fact is that it has to be served at 45 degrees ? (give or take 3 degrees) or it loses its taste (50% of the flavor).  A lot of people do not pour the beer correctly or serve it at the right temperature or even take sips that are too little, which is why they don't like it.  It takes 119 seconds to pour the perfect pint of Guinness! 

                               

After pouring our pints, we drank them, felt tipsy, and walked up to the 7th floor where there was a 360 degree view of the city.

• After the Guinness Store House we had a 4:00 (16:00) appointment with a program called City of a Thousand Welcomes.  They have volunteer ambassadors who meet with you to share some knowledge about Dublin and share vouchers.  We were pretty far from our meeting place, so we pretty much ran there.  At one point we must have really seemed flustered because a couple in front of us asked if we were okay.  We explained our situation and where we needed to go and since they were headed int he same direction we just followed them.  They were from Belfast and were very nice.  We got to our meeting place at 4:15 and were out of breath, but it seemed to be okay that we were late.  Our ambassador Killion was waiting for us on the second floor of the Little Museum of Dublin.  We were given two vouchers for 15 euro at a choice of a "swanky" tea place, a more bustling cafe, or a pub.  We chose the swanky tea place and it was well worth it!
  
  
  
  
  
  The Merrion was the name of the place and it was located in a beautiful hotel.  There was artwork all around and a garden area that looked lovely.  We ordered 6 scones that were served with creamy butter and homemade jam, jasmine tea, and a hot chocolate with some sort of orange liquor for our ambassador.  Killion was a cool guy - probably in his late 20s.   He teaches history and has been for 5 years.  We spoke with Killion for a long time about things like the city of Dublin, other places to see, our trip plans, the United States, Irish politics, American politics, How the Irish perceive Americans and vice versa, etc.  It was a lovely conversation and time well spent.  We may get in touch with Killion later in our trip because he is on holiday and will be doing some traveling.
  
  City of a Thousand Welcomes is a must-do for anyone visiting Dublin!
  
• After our visit with Killion  we walked around some more, saw the Temple Bar area (which is apparently primarily a tourist scene), used an internet cafe, and eventually made our way to a bus stop that would get us back to our hotel. 
  
  
  We stepped onto a bus after waiting for 17 minutes and the driver said it wouldn't take us near the hotel, even though our receptionist told us otherwise.  When the next bus came we asked the driver if it went to the area we needed and he said we needed the previous bus.  He had us stay on and caught up to the other bus so we could hop off and onto the original one.  The bus let us off about a mile from our hotel, but we were happy to be back.  Earlier at the internet cafe we had booked our ferry to England but realized that it wasn't the sail and rail that we wanted.  With that stress on top of being hungry and tired, we were miserable.  While downstairs trying to figure everything out, Karen met a man who ended up going in on a buy-one-get-one-free pizza deal.  Despite not having slept since Saturday night our time, we didn't get to sleep until after midnight.  
• Random: Still light out at 10 p.m., very rainy, cold! -> fleece, "I'm going to clean my underwear," said Karen while waiting for the bus.

RE: The notes taken above

Sometimes when you're so far from home it's the little things that count. I did clean my underwear that night.  So what if it was day one? At this point, we didn't know when our first laundry day would be!