Mom & Dad Visit Ireland!

On Thursdy, October 20th, my parents arrived in Dublin Ireland.  They landed terribly early (for those of you who know my mom, she is definitely not a morning person) and headed to their hotel, The Shelbourne which is a branch of the Mariott Renaissance series. The hotel is absolutely beautiful and extremely ritzy (dad sure was reaping the benefits of all those Mariott rewards points he gains while traveling for work). Since they arrived so early, they had to wait about an hour for a room to be ready. So naturally, my mom fell asleep in the foyer while they were waiting. She said she was pretty sure she was drooling, and that when she woke up there was a butler of some sort dabbing at the drool on her mouth with a napkin...typical.

 Floral arrangement in the entrance

 Chandelier outside the ballroom

 Quirky flower centerpieces in the Tea Room

Meg and I headed into town to meet them for breakfast. We went to a Bewley's cafe on Grafton street. After this, Mom & Dad relaxed for a while and tried to catch up with their jet lag. I headed back to campus for class, and then back into town to meet my rents for dinner.  We ate at a little pub called Sheehan's, it was quite delicious.

Dad enjoyed his first Guinness of the trip, as depicted in his 'Guinness Mustache'

On Friday, we visited the Guinness Store house. It was awesome! It is a self guided tour through the Storehouse in Dublin.  The factory is 7 floors with a gravity bar at the top.  We learned all about the history of Arthur Guinness, his 9,000 year lease with the property that stretches across 4 acres, and how Guinness is actually made.  Of course there was some taste testing involved, and we also had lunch at Arthur's Bar which is on the 5th level of the Storehouse.

 Mom, Dad & I behind the waterfall used to make Guinness. It comes from the Wicklow Mountains 

 Cast Iron vats used in the production

 Handmade barrels used for storage

 Well said!

 Inside Arthur's Bar

Gravity Bar!

Such a beautiful city! Quite different from NYC huh? 86 the skyscrapers!

This tour occupied most of our Friday, I headed back to my apartment after and let my parents enjoy dinner together in Dublin.  On Saturday, Mom & I got some retail therapy out of the way at Kilkenny's.  It is a very large store off of Grafton Street filled with all local goods made by Irish designers.  All of the products were absolutely beautiful! Needless to say, Dad waited outside. After this we saw The Book of Kells at Trinity College, walked through Temple Bar (of course we stopped at the actual Temple Bar for a pint), poked around on O'Connell street and headed back to The Shelbourne.  We ate dinner at a wonderful Italian place called Dunne & Ceszcenzi's, the food and service were fantastic. 

 Mom is not the biggest Guinness Fan

 My Dad loves this picture...true beauty

 Dad outside the Temple Bar

 Mom & Dad on The River Liffey

Flowers on Grafton Street

On Saturday, after my parents had spent 3 days in Dublin, it was time for us to embark on the rest of the journey.  My dad got a rental car from Europcar in Dublin and headed back to pick up Mom & I from the hotel. The car was a Ford Mondeo, a model not sold in the US (kind of like a sleeker version of the newest Fusion)...and it was a standard. Now if driving on the opposite side of the road, in a car where the drivers seat is on the opposite well, let's just throw standard transmission into the mix. Mom was not the happiest to say the least but my Dad said "they couldn't guarantee me an automatic car because availability was limited" smooth Dad...real smooth. Once we finally got out of the city, our first stop was in Enniskerry at the Powerscourt Estate and Gardens located in the Wicklow Mountains.  Built in the 1300's it was originally an important strategic site for the Anglo-Normans who came to Ireland in the 12th century.

 The ballroom inside the Castle

 Golf course on the Estate

 A different view of the ballroom

 Gardens behind the house

 The Powerscourt Castle

 Walking through the gardens

 In the Pagoda in the Japanese garden

 The Pepperpot Tower

After the house & gardens we continued on to Wexford where we checked into our B&B right in down town.  We went out for dinner at a place called the Cistin Eile, again another divine meal. On Sunday, we drove to Kilkenny to see the Kilkenny Castle.  Despite the rain, it was still a very pretty drive. 

 The Kilkenny Castle

  The Kilkenny Castle

 Mom and Dad out to lunch in Kilkenny

Sunset from the backseat

Upon our return to Wexford, we relaxed in the B&B for a while and then went for a light dinner.  On Tuesday morning I got on a bus back to Dublin, and Mom and Dad continued on to Kinsale among other destinations for the rest of their trip. 

It was so great to see them, definitely cured my small bit of homesick that was building up :)

Below are a couple other pictures I took on the trip, I hope you like them, and enjoy the post!!

-Lea :) 

 Chandelier in The Shelbourne

 Flowers at the hotel

 Inside the Guinness Factory

 Guinness Advertising

 More flowers in the hotel

 At the Pepperpot Tower

 Dad at the harbor in Wexford

 Mom in the backseat (she wasn't allowed to ride shotgun)

 The Glennan Castle

Downtown Wexford at night

A Laid Back Week in Dublin

In the past week I have learned the following things:
1.  Professors or 'Lecturers' as they are called here will look at you like you have 7 heads and serious peppa tooth if you ask them to look over an outline for a paper you wrote that isn't due until January
and
2.  How to distinguish different types of whiskey & scotch..

I'd say that's a successful week, right?

After last weekend's trip to Galway we decided to 'lay low' this week and do some exploring in Dublin.  Megan and I attended ALL of our classes this week, which we were very proud of.  We even handed in some essay outlines for our professors to look over, we're doin' big things!  On Wednesday after class Megan and I went to St. Patrick's Cathedral in town.  St. Patricks was founded in 1191 and is the oldest cathedral in Ireland.  The interior was absolutely amazing.  Much of it has been preserved from medieval times and is very well kept.

 Tiles Preserved from Medieval times

On Friday, Meg, Sam, Kody, Martha and I set ourselves on a mission to do a Temple Bar Pub Crawl.  Temple bar is a very well known area in downtown Dublin filled with pubs, shops and other touristy attractions.  I think we made it into about 6 or 7 pubs, and even the actual 'Temple Bar' itself.  We all really enjoyed ourselves, and Meg and I even got to pour our own Guinness! (not sure how we finagled that one..but I'm not really surprised to be honest)

 All of us at Fitzgerald's Pub

 How to pour a Guinness: 101

 Temple Bar

The girls laughing at the expense of some poor girl who tripped on the cobble stone...

On Saturday we laid low, and then today (Sunday) we went into town for a tour of the Old Jameson Distillery.  The tour was quite interesting, this distillery and a replica of the original one which is in Cork.  At the end of the tour there was some complimentary Jameson, and at the beginning of the tour they asked for volunteers to be whiskey testers...you better believe my hand was the first one in the air!  So at the end of the tour in addition to my Jameson, neat in a snifter...I got to try three different types of whiskey, and I learned to distinguish between Irish whiskey, American whiskey (Jack Daniels) and Scotch (Johnny Walker Black Label).  Of course, Jameson was my favorite :)

 All of us at the Distillery 

 Meg & I on the tour

 Whiskey Princess

 Martha, Sam & Kody with their Jameson drinks

The Graduate..(official Jameson Whiskey taster...going on my resume)

I am SO excited for this week, Mom & Dad are arriving in Dublin on Thursday :) They will be staying in Dublin until Saturday, and then on Sunday we will be driving down the East coast of Ireland through Wicklow and Wexford.  Should be a fantastic time.  Actually...the thought of driving in a standard vehicle on the opposite side of the road with my parents (for those of you who know them...bicker like children..and I'm not sure who's a worse backseat driver) is slightly frightening.. But I'm sure the first hand view of the countryside and coast will be unreal.  I really hope we get stuck behind some cows for a while so I can get out and try to ride one...

Well until next time, enjoy!

xoxo

Lea