Feb 19 – Feb 25, 2022

Watch out Ireland!

When you wait for Lynn to get to the end of the concourse and text her that we're in the wrong concourse and have to hurry to the other one...

Welcome to Guinness, home of the 'Stoutie'!

I don't know what this building was but it looked cool

The proper way to drink your Guinness...

Our trip to Ireland has come to an end. Once again Julie has orchestrated a well organized vacation through the COVID-19 processes of multiple countries and kept us where we needed to be when we needed to be there. Can’t wait for Thailand this fall.

Took a tour of the Guinness Storehouse. Free beer what?

Of course we had to stop by the Harley-Davidson shop lol

The Bank of Ireland. I think this is one of the "Big Four" banks of Ireland.

Parliament House. A lot of these old buildings are in the same location.

Had to visit the sweet Molly Malone statue. Some free entertainment while we were there. Okay not free I donated.

Took a nice little wander through St Stephen's Green to get the juices flowing this morning...

I might have read that wrong. Anyone have bail money?

Took a tour of the Jameson distillery today. We loved the tour and our guide Wesley was so entertaining! Grabbed a couple of drinks and a couple of bottles to take home. Fyi, we took the Bow Street tour and learned more than we thought about whiskey. The presentation was well done and the drinks were delicious afterwards. Great stop.

When you're eating in The Church in Dublin and you find out Arthur Guinness was married in this church before it became a pub/restaurant you kind of have to pay tribute to that. So James Spare and I found the best tribute we could make would be to drink a fantastic Guinness stout. Sláinte Arthur Guinness! Well done brother!

Fantastic dinner and entertainment at The Church in Dublin tonight. Arthur Guinness was actually married in this when it was an operating church. The Irish music and dancers set the stage for a wonderful evening. So glad we went. Good thing Lynn remembered our cab drivers recommendation and suggested it tonight.

Okay. True story time. Julie, Lynn, James and I are eating at The Church in Dublin. As we're leaving I need to hit the Johnny before we leave. So I go in the restroom in the basement and step in front of the urinal on the right. There are two other gentlemen washing their hands. As we're partaking of our business a guy walks in and says very loudly in a thick Irish accent walking quickly to the urinals "Oh my God I'm fooking drunk! Who's going to help me manage me pecker?" I say pretty loudly "I've got my own hands full at the moment. It's between those two at the sinks!". At which time one of those gentlemen leaves promptly. The other finishes and leaves. Just then another guy comes out of a stall laughing and our protagonist stated "Oh look, we have another contender!". I escaped only having to handle my own.

Ireland is too much lol.

Pretty entrance but we didn't go in. Across the street from the prison we were touring.

The Kilmainham Gaol was our first stop for the day. Opened in 1796 and was in service for the County of Dublin until 1924. Early in the history of the museum it was often a holding prison to transport inmates to Australia. The prison held common criminals up to murders and was involved holding many prisoners of several rebellions. During the famine, the prison became overcrowded by petty thieves stealing bread and other foods to survive as it was illegal to also be a beggar on the streets. It eventually turned into a prison that held only political prisoners and executed many involved in the Easter Rising of 1916.

The new part of the prison was modeled in the Victorian style and used the panopticon method for guards to be able to oversee the prisoners from one vantage point. It was also felt that light was good for the prisoners and would make it easier for them to repent. Many movies have since been filmed there including In the Name of the Father with Daniel Day Lewis.

Tickets come available a couple of weeks in advance and are snatched up quickly. The tour is only 8 euros and definitely worth it!!! https://kilmainhamgaolmuseum.ie/

The second half of the tour to the Kilmainham Gaol was a fantastic museum. The museum is set up in 2 sections: pre and post political prisoner eras. The upper floor was the political prisoner section and very educational and informative. There was a special room set up with mementos from the prisoners who were executed for the part in the Easter Rising in 1916. Some of the mementos included personal letters to family, a wedding ring from one of the last executed who was allowed to marry his fiancé the night before his death, and a copy of the proclamation that Ireland was to be free.

Phoenix Park is the largest gated park in a European capital. So of course…we had to go there!

They had deer, lots of birds, and some amazing vegetation. The Dublin Zoo is located there as well although we didn’t go to it. We stopped by the US Ambassador’s and Ireland’s President for afternoon tea…just kidding! We stopped by just to take some pictures. The cross seen in the pictures was built in 1979 for the anticipated arrival of the Pope. He held mass there for over 1 million people.

Lots of trails, polo, cricket, and rugby grounds. There was a visitor center but it was closed on Monday’s and Tuesday’s so we didn’t get to have a look.

I feel like someone is trying to tell me something...

Tonight's dinner rendezvous was at the suggestion of the marketing guru Noel at our hotel (Maldron). Hit the nail on the head. Merchants Arch had great food and ambiance with the fantastic but subtle music. And you have to cap off the evening with Jameson Irish whiskey. Sláinte!

On our way to Belfast this morning. Glad I'm not driving. I'd be in the left lane flashing my lights at all the slow drivers then realizing I'm the dumb dumb because the right lane is the passing lane here lol. Tour bus for the win!

Interesting stop on the way to Belfast today. A Monastic site. Learned something new about the Celtic Cross. Apparently St Patrick was bringing Christianity to Ireland. The locals said they already had gods that represented the rivers and sun and such so their acceptance of the cross wasn't very high. As a sort of transitional symbol he added the circle to the cross and told them that the circle represented the sun and that it was okay to praise the sun and the cross. Love learning this stuff.

Welcome to the Europa... The most bombed hotel in Europe.

Had a great visit to the Crown Bar. Oldest pub in Belfast. Great looking place. Hit some Guinness and Jameson before heading to the Titanic Museum. On to other things. Met a new friend from British Columbia, Holly Hume .

Black Taxi Tours. If you're not familiar with Irish history there's been a conflict between the Catholics and Protestants for a long time. When I say conflict I mean shootings, bombings, assassinations... everything. We got a tour of areas and representations of both sides of this conflict. I feel that glorification of the most violent seemed to be normal and gets your photo on the walls. Very interesting and the conflict still goes on today. We got to sign one of the walls. Tour guide (Al) was good and had a great sense of humor.

Pretty neat looking building

Passed in front of the opera house in Belfast.

These hedgerows are all over the Irish countryside. Fields are stocked with sheep mostly.

Dinner the last night we were here was a little bit of a struggle. A lot of Dublin pubs don't serve food do we did a lot of walking in, checking it out and leaving to find another. We ended up at Dakota. The menu looked good. Good food and hung out for a last bit with Holly before saying goodbye. Not a bad last dinner in Dublin.

Pretty cool street art in front of a pub.

Fly all day from Ireland... Miss the connecting flight due to weather. Someone want to come get us in Nashville? Kidding. Early morning flight. But for now the girls are sleeping. Julie was the beneficiary of the pillow I brought. James and I are pulling CQ duty since one of the local natives decided to takeover a corner in the area we're using (see last pic).

Still awake 28 hours later. Some breakfast first and a nap for the girls and we'll be on the plane home. I hate overnighting in airports.