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So beginning with the pub crawl.... We weren't sure what to expect when we arrived at the first pub but we all got our "free" pint of Guiness and actually liked it! We felt like real Irishmen. Brock, a teammate from Kristi and Melissa's intramural soccer team, happened to be in Dublin this week also so he and a friend met us out for the night. We met an Aussie named Brendan, a Kiwi named Coiren and a Michigan native (booo) named John among other fellow pub crawlers. It was really cool talking with them about the differences between our cultures and how we say things, we even tried to show off our Australian accents however they definitely sounded more like British. The Aussie was not impressed. Some of the Germans on the crawl were happy to hear Melissa sing some German songs with them - yay German 1 from 7th grade! The second pub had a small Irish band playing and of course we come all the way from the US to hear Irish music and the first song they are playing is Poker Face by Lady Gaga. Brock kept the Guiness flowing for Kristi and he even got the band and the entire pub to sing Happy Birthday to her! Toward the end of our allotted time at this pub the band played cotton eyed joe so of course Dana and Melissa had to get up in front of the stage and do the dance.
The next pub was more Americanized - who knew that Irishmen played beer pong and sang karaoke at the bars? We were more in our element as we played a little bp (Kristi and Brock owned of course, what else is new). The fourth pub had a dance floor where we felt like we were back at Joe's with a dance circle going on. Apparenty this pub was featured in the movie PS I Love You. The last pub was supposed to be a club but it was a little disappointing because there was no dance floor and it was very crowded. Melissa did leave there with a maroon tie though.... After walking aimlessly we decided to splurge and take a taxi home. Good choices.
Thursday we slept in and then headed to the Jameson Whiskey Distillery. We got a guided tour of the numerous steps to make "the world's best whiskey" and even had a free sample at the end. Yum! The ginger ale mixer proved to be the most popular among us and Kristi decided Jameson is her new favorite whiskey. After that we trekked to the Guiness storehouse with the intention of hitting up the Gravity Bar to see a grand view of all the land. Sadly, we discovered that it closed at 5... leave it to Europeans to be closed right when everyone gets off work and is free to do things. No worries though, we were only a few blocks from the famous jail Kilmainham Gaol! We saw where it was on the map and headed over there. About half an hour later we had no idea where we were as we had walked off the map, so we decided to turn around so we could meet Brock and his friend at the movies to see Hangover 2. The movie was really funny and the theatre was very similar to an American one except there were more commercials than previews before the movie started.
After we got a quick bite at Subway but unfortunately Dana has been sick the entire time so her and Melissa headed back for an early night. Kristi decided to champ it up and headed to a popular pub called Temple Bar with Brock and his friend where they listened to a live Irish band and drank pints of Guiness. A true Irish night. Friday morning we all got up bright and early to take a bus tour to the Wicklow Mountains where Braveheart, Saving Private Ryan and PS I Love you where filmed. It was very scenic seeing the mountains and lakes and we ended up at a monastery that had been built in the 900s. IT WAS FREEZING!!!!! The tour guide was very informative and provided a lot of fun facts about the history of Ireland and drove us along the very narrow roads through the mountains. He told us about the small island off of Ireland that has black and white rabbits the size of pigs! We ate lunch at a small town and slept on the way home with the Irish music as our lullaby.
Time to rest up tonight to get ready for a 6:20 departure time for our bus tour to Galway and the Cliffs of Moher!
- comments
Audrey You're seeing our "homeland", Dana. I assume that you are over your "sickness"??? Sounds like you'll are have a grand time. Wonderful. Love & hugs, Grandma
Phil Sooo, which was better the white or black hossenfeffer?
Stacy ahhhh im so jealous!!! galway is amazing. one of my fave cities in europe! live it up chicas- you have no idea how lucky you are!! :) :)
Caitlin Sounds like the trip is off to a great start! Glad to hear you made it safely!!!
Patty Bahhh it sounds like you girls are having a great time...I do have to say I'm jealous! I love reading about it thought:-) Kyler misses you dana pooh she doesn't know why your gone haha
Karen and Tony Hey girls! What a great idea to set up a blog! Bet Ireland is beautiful! Sounds like a great time! Jameson is my favorite whiskey too...enjoyed some last night...at the Marine Barracks with Papa Jim and Gramma Nancy. Let us know if you need any chaperones! :) L/M&D
Doug Riffel Hey, Melissa & friends! Are you using local currency? Are you able to use your cell phones (even just for texting)? Enjoyed your entries very much! {Uncle Doug in Buffalo, NY}