Ireland: part 2

Were you on the edge of your seat just waiting for my next post??  Good, well here's what happened on the second part of our trip...

We arrived in Dublin late Thursday afternoon and went straight to The FitzWilliam Hotel to check in.  Our room was incredible.  The decorations were trendy and modern, but very comfortable. We overlooked Saint Stephen's Green and could walk ten steps and be on Graften St., a convenient location.  That evening we went to dinner and headed to The Duke, a local pub, which was the starting point of the literary pub crawl we were scheduled for.  The pub crawl was hilarious.  Two local actors facilitated and told stories of Irish poets and other authors (such as James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, Jonathan Swift) who walked the streets on Dublin daily.  The stories were fascinating and comical, but sitting in pubs where these Irish authors went regularly was truly and experience.

On Friday morning Andrew and I woke up early, grabbed a coffee and walked around the city together.  Normally the city is bursting with people, but in the morning, it was calm and relaxing. In the early afternoon we met up with the rest of my family for a historial walking tour of Dublin. We started at Trinity college and walked through the city, hitting most political and historical buildings.  Honestly, I felt overwhelmed after the tour.  Ireland has such a new and current history, and a great deal of it was sad.  Learning about the Irish revolution that took place in the early 1900's, it was Irishmen fighting other Irishmen.  In American history, I have never been alive to experience any real political confrontation, and in Ireland, so many people see daily reminders of their family's past struggles.  Knowing that my family, two and three generations back, where very much affected by everything going on in Ireland was somewhat emotional.

Sorry for the historical blurb.  After the tour, we went to lunch and then the boys and girls split up.  The guys went to the Guinness factory, while the ladies headed to tea at the Shelbourne Hotel.  Because I love tea so much, and the Irish love tea so much, my sweet mother thought it would be fitting for us to experience a proper tea.  I tasted the most delicious teas in my life, partnered with delicate tea sandwiches, scones and desserts.  If only we had not just eaten a huge lunch, I would have enjoyed it more.  Once we felt like true Irish women, my mother and I went back to the hotel to rest before dinner. As usual, all my family does on vacation is eat.  Continuing with that trend, we met up with one of my father's friends and his family at the famous Shanahan's steak house. Since I'm not a big steak eater, I had the seabass which was excellent.  The food was incredible, and the company as well.

Saturday, the big game.  The Notre Dame game was starting at 2pm, and my father and brothers wanted to go to the pep rally and watch the Notre Dame band play, so again we split up.  Andrew, my mother and I decided to explore the historical side of the city a bit more.  We started by taking a picture in front of the Newman House, which is part of the University College of Dublin.  Then we walked over to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells.  Once we gained some more Dublin intelligence,  we met up with the dad and brothers, only to find that they had lost theirs due to the early morning Guinness drinking at the tailgate.

So my mother and I sneak away to eat a healthy lunch, as we so ofter do, while the boys grabbed a burger, then together headed to the game.  Well we almost missed the kick-off, but luckily we made it to Aviva Stadium maybe two minutes before the game began.  The game was fun, we had awesome seats and Notre Dame won which put all the men in my family in a great mood!  After the game, Andrew and I packed since we had to get up early for a flight out the next day.  And we were off to one final family dinner at Fallon and Byrne.  As always, my mother picked another outstanding location for dinner.  After dinner we headed back to the hotel so that we could get a good nights rest before traveling.  We said goodnight to my family and good bye to Ireland, the beautiful country that we had fallen in love with.

Trinity College

I think this was the old parliament building...

Guinness factory

Getting their pints on the Guinness tour

View from the top of the Guinness factory

Greg looking very pensive before dinner at Shanahans

At the Newman House

Being artistic

Waiting in line at the Book of Kells

Greg playing drums at the tailgate in Temple Bar

So Irish

Aviva Stadium from the outside

from the inside

Notre Dame band