Tuesday, August 27, 2013

In Dublin's Fair City

Wow! It's been a whole month since I have written a blog post! I guess we have been quite busy with travels and visitors :o) I cannot complain. 

In reference to the previous blog post...we are still waiting for the next move...again, it's been a month!

Just two weeks ago Tonico and I made the maiden voyage to Ireland for a little work and vacation! Tonico has one person that directly reports to him, and she is located in their Dublin office. In an effort to be a good boss, and get to know more of the people he works with on a daily basis, he was able to plan a quick trip to their office, and I got to tag along :o) Hang on...I really loved this city so I have LOTS to share!

Wednesday morning we arrived in Malahide - just north of Dublin, right on the water. Tonico went straight to work and I went straight to the pub :o) Fish and chips with some of the most amazing cider I have ever had! They had free wi-fi too so I jumped on to let the family know I had arrived safe and sound and of course, share some pictures!


I've never been a big cider fan, but when the Irish bartender suggested it, I couldn't say no. It is like drinking a Jolly Rancher, but ten times better! Later, when I told Tonico's co-worker that I had tried it, I believe she said "Oh, that stuff will make your head explode!" Good thing I only had one!


Of course, my brother's comment to this picture was "looks the same as the KC fish fries"...but to me, there's something magical about eating 'fish n' chips' in Ireland 


Wednesday night we had dinner with Caroline, Tonico's direct report, and Mary another of this coworkers. They were so nice and SO much fun to talk with! Caroline was born and raised in Dublin. I just loved listening to her accent and hearing all the funny Irish sayings! Tonico and I, I am sure, missed a lot of the punch lines!

Thursday I took a DART into the city. Once I got there, I was a little bit overwhelmed! So, since there is SO much to do and I had not done any of it, I decided to make like a tourist and jump on the "Dublin City Tour" bus. It started out as a beautiful day so I went to the top level and got my camera ready. It is so nice to have someone drive you around and point out all of the important points of interest and share different cultural stories. Dublin has such a unique character, both the city and the people, so it was very interesting and entertaining. You can jump off the bus at several different points along the tour and then once you have finished visiting the sites, within minutes another one will come along that you can jump back on to. I chose to just stay on all the way through, which ended up being about a 2 hour tour of the city! 

Just a shot of the famous "Dublin Doors"


A little Irish humor


One of the most photographed "Dublin Doors"


St. Patrick's Church



Just one shot of the many Guinness buildings...they own 64 hectares (158 acres) of land


The building with the green at the top...that's Bono's (U2) penthouse!


The Ha'Penny bridge - The first bridge built to cross the River Liffey which of course cost you a half penny to cross back in the day. Another note of the Irish humor, they have nicknames the River Liffey the "Floozy in the Jacuzzi" or the "Bride in the Tide"...who the heck knows why!?

Friday I spent the day at the beach...because this was the view from outside our hotel window!



It wasn't a particularly nice day to be able to lay out, but I have really missed being around the ocean!


And this just brought a smile to my face :o)

Tonico and I went in to Dublin Friday night to see a play called "Major Barbara" by Bernard Shaw. It was shown at the Abbey Theater which is quite historic in Dublin. It has been a while since we had gone to the theater so it was a nice treat. While I did enjoy it, I had a hard time understanding some of the British politics and humor, but Tonico really loved it. He's still talking about it!

Saturday morning Caroline took us to see the Newgrange Passage Tomb just north of the city. This site was built more than 5000 years ago! That's before the pyramids in Egypt! I call it a 'site' because no one really knows what it is. When it was excavated, they found human bones which would leave them to believe it was a tomb of some kind. It is also very interested because the way it is situated, during the summer and winter solstices, the sun aligns directly inside of the opening passage. It is very clear that this was done on purpose. We were able to go inside, though it is quite a small and narrow passage. There is a beauty about this place and not knowing what exactly it is, because you get to make up your own story. Definitely worth while and something we probably wouldn't have know about if she would not have suggested it!



That afternoon we had the fortunate luck of meeting up with a good family friend that Tonico has not seen in years. Miles and his girlfriend Aoife (Pronounced Eefa, the Irish version of Eva) are both PhD students at Trinity College, the major university in Dublin. They gave us an insiders look at the campus and got us in to see the Book of Kells in the main library. Apparently as students we could have jumped the line, but decided it was a nice day and we had lots of catching up to do! The building itself was so gorgeous! We couldn't take pictures of the Book of Kells but the upstairs library was almost more impressive!


Then of course we had Miles and Aoife take us around to some of their favorite pubs to do some much needed tasting :o) And before we left, of course we needed a group shot!


Sunday was our last day in Dublin so we headed out early the next morning and straight for the Guinness factory! Let me tell you, if you are ever in Dublin, it is 100% worth your while and your money! We were there all morning and even ended up having lunch there because there was so much to see and do! 

I like how he blends in :o)



This might have been one of the most interesting parts. They have video's showing how they used to make the old oak barrels. They only employed the most skilled at making the casks. It was so competitive that once you were hired, you went through an initiation...one of them being they would put you in a barrel and roll you around town!



I did not realize how cool the marketing for Guinness was. They had a whole floor dedicated to it!


And I tried my best to get this just right! Uhg, I have a ways to go!


In the tasting room, where you learn the proper way to taste a Guinness. I have only had one other Guinness in my life, when we were in Chicago for St. Patty's, and I remember I hated it. This, I'm happy to say, was not so bad!


Tonico went through the Guinness Academy to learn how to pour the perfect pint!




And passed!




And here we are enjoying our Guinness from the 360 degree gravity bar at the top! The views were amazing and the day was so clear!

After lunch we headed back into the city to the Gaiety Theater for a Riverdance performance. I definitely enjoyed the performance but was a bit bummed that it was such a small scale performance. When you see it on TV there are so many dancers and the stage is huge! This was only about 20 dancers and sometimes it looked almost like they all did not fit on the stage at the same time! It was so cool though and the music was fabulous! Tonico struggled to stay awake after his Guinness and some of mine, so I don't think he cared for it as much as I did!

All in all, it was a great trip! We have already said though, there is so much more we want to see and do, so another trip will definitely need to be planned! Until then, I leave you with an Irish folk song that I just cannot get out of my head!

Tonico and the infamous Molly Malone

In Dublin's fair city, 
Where the girls are so pretty,
I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone.
As she wheeled her wheel-barrow, 
Through streets broad and narrow, 
Crying, "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!"


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