Irish for a weekend :)

Hello from Ireland! We arrived yesterday morning to a freezing cold cloudy day, but the city of Dublin is awesome, and I am really glad we came and I got a chance to experience like the Irish way, if only for a weekend.

Yesterday morning we woke up at 3:45am to catch a cab to Liverpool Station. Unlike on our last cab adventure, in which the lady drove us completely astray and we had to race to catch the express, we had plenty of time, boarded the Stanstead Express and journeyed to Stanstead Airport. We had about an hour to wait once we got through security (AND they threw out my curl spray because it was too big of a liquid bottle - PUHLEASE....like I am really going to try to blow up the plane by lighting a Revlon Strong Curls hairspray bottle ON FIRE mid-flight...SERIOUSLY.... and that stuff is expensive.... but I got over it, and we settled into our gate with an hour to spare before our departure time.

We flew Ryan Air, which left late, had absolutely NO LEG room and was impossible to sleep in because the flight was only 1 hour and 25 minutes so by the time Buble could lull me into a sleep, it was time to land. We went through customs and got another stamp in our passports (whoop whoop) and then Jen, Laura, Andrea and I ventured to Dublin - which consisted of waiting 30 minutes in the freezing cold for a city bus, and then taking it 40 minutes into the heart of the city. We then walked another ten minutes to reach our hostel - the Avalon Hostel on South George's St (turns out Lynnie that these rates were cheaper than the Abraham House so that is what Andrea booked... I didn't even realize until we got here, and I was like...this isn't it! So, kind of a bummer we didn't stay in the same place, but this place is great so it worked out :). It is a great hostel, and we have a four bedroom room (which is the size of my mom's closet, but regardless it is just the four of us and no strangers, so that is really nice). The hostel is pretty big, very rustic feeling with pool tables, televisions and two common rooms. The breakfast is okay - really just toast and cereal, and the showers are the push kind - meaning you push a button, the water streams for 5 Mississippi seconds and then turns off until you push it again with NO temperature gage, so it is actually quite cold... needless to say I decided to wait on showering.... but overall, it is nice, and it doesn't smell like smoke so that is EXCELLENT!

After we arrived and put our luggage in the luggage room, we were starving so we headed straight to Peter's Pub just down the road where we had some delicious tomato soup with toasted ham and cheese sandwiches. It was great, and the bar tender there told us some great tips about the city. After that we walked right by Trinity College to pick up the Sightseeing Dublin Hop on Hop off Bus - which was EXCELLENT! We braved the light rain and wind and sat at the top of the double decker bus, with headphones to hear the Irish music and the animated tour guide introduce us to this beautiful city. Dublin reminds me so much of a mix of Florence and Edinburgh. It is smaller than London, but still full of life, great shopping streets, tons of pubs and sweet cafes, with historical buildings and fantastic architecture all around. The bus took us through a series of stops - some of the highlights being Phoenix Park (which could fit 2 1/2 NY Central Park's inside, and 6 London Hyde Parks, which is so massive) The autumn leaves are so vibrant here, so it was a beautiful view. In the park is where the President and the leader of the US Embassy's house is, so we saw those important government buildings surrounding by the lush greenery of the vast park. We also got a feel for the city as we drove all around, passing by the Guinness Storehouse, The Jameson Distillery, Stephen's Green, St. Pa tricks Cathedral, the Church of Christ, among other great sights. We loved being able to sit back and take it all in with the guide telling us the history of what we were seeing. It was the perfect way to spend the first day because we were able to pin point where we wanted to go back while hearing the history and anecdotes of this lively town.

Before we knew it, it was time to go back to the hostel, get into our room, and after freshening up, get some dinner. When Robert found out i was going to Dublin this weekend he got me two tickets to see our client Lara Martin in the show Blues Brothers playing here. Since I could only bring one person, and there are four of us, I brought Laura since I promised her if this situation ever came up she would get first dibs to the ticket. So we walked into the freezing cold... (so cold here!) and walked toward the theatre to have dinner all together before splitting up. The problem is as we made it to the street with the theatre, there was absolutely NOTHING around, and so Andrea and Jen headed toward Temple Bar area (a lively touristy social street of pubs, bars and entertainment) and Laura and I finally stumbled across a little pub about ten minutes from the theatre to eat a quick dinner. It was called Nash's Pub and we had a hearty and delicious meal. We then went to the show, which was.... interesting..... to say the least! The acting was so horrendous, the choreography was dreadful, but the worst were the costumes which looked like they came from the Salvation Army - so dowdy looking! I mean it was laughable - quick one liners that would lead into a very predictable cover of Elvis or Aretha... but they looked like they were having a blast, and after meeting Lara backstage after the show, she just seemed so proud and lovely, that I had to embrace her and tell her it was wonderful :) Laura and I look back on it now as quite the experience, and we are still glad we went... we just wish we did a shot or two before hand :)

After the show, we were not quite ready to go home, so we stopped into this cute cafe to get our bearings and of course, to get some pie. We had a delicious dessert served by some cute Irishmen. We then headed back into the cold, and back to the hostel to meet up with the girls who had a fun night out at the pubs.

That is all for now, I will write all about today and tomorrow when I get home tomorrow night! But so far, so good (and cold, and rainy... but emphasis on the GOOD!) There is currently the most HORRIBLE music i have ever heard playing overhead in the hostel as I use the downstairs computers, and I must stop monopolizing them! But quickly - Today's highlights: The Guinness Storehouse was amazing - like an amusement park for alcoholics :) we hopped back on the bus tour a bit, walked around Trinity Church, which was great, had a delicious lunch at a cute cafe of potato and lentil soup and bread, and then got caught in a torrential rainstorm...for the 25 minute walk back to the hostel.... and we can't even get a hot shower...ugh. So we are just re cooperating and getting ready to go back out to a pub for dinner, live music and hopefully no more rain :)

miss and love you all
Jenny