Andy and I finally got to go on our dream vacation last week. We spent 8 glorious days in Ireland and saw some of the most breathtaking scenery on the planet. I took over 1,000 photos so I will be doing several updates showing off what we saw and all the fun things we did. Day 1 Dublin! We arrived in the capital bright and early on a sunny Sunday morning. We picked up our rental car (something I would have upgraded had I known how many hours we'd be spending in it!) and headed into town.
Once in Dublin we got lost for the first of about a dozen times on the trip. You see, when Andy meticulously planned our road trip he neglected to realize (understandably) that road signs mean nothing in Ireland. Roads are NOT clearly labeled. If you are planning a trip to Ireland, I suggest planning your route based on where bed & breakfasts are as they are well marked. Luckily, the people in Ireland are VERY friendly. An older gentleman on his way to church came up to our car and asked if we needed directions... too sweet. We stopped at our hotel (lobby shown here) to drop off our bags and we hit the ground running!
First stop, Dame Street as we walked toward the Guinness Brewery. There were many sights and sounds (including Dublin Castle, Trinity College, St Patrick's Cathedral, etc) to see along the way.
St. Patrick's Cathedral
After much walking (on very little sleep I might add) we arrived at our main destination.... the Guinness Brewery. Guinness is the most visited attraction in Ireland and we could see why. They did an extensive renovation earlier this decade and really made the museum into a showcase. It features Dublin's highest point.... the Sky Bar where you are entitled to a free pint of Guiness (or a soft drink which I opted for since I took one sip of Guinness and decided it wasn't for me. This guy was there to greet us outside.
Still tired (and now hungry) we left Guinness to head to MY destination of choice... the Old Jameson Distillery which was a short walk from the Guinness Brewery. Though they no longer brew Jameson (it's done in Middleton Ireland) they sure had it in plentiful supply. Andy was even chosen to do a whiskey tasting featuring 3 different styled of whiskey (Jameson, Johnnie Walker, and Jack Daniels). I learned alot about distilling here but I don't need to know HOW it's made to know that it's yummy mixed with Diet Coke.
From there it was onto the Brazen Head, Ireland's oldest pub, to soak in some atmosphere and pub food. At this point, it was around 5 o'clock in the afternoon and I just had had enough... we went back to the hotel where I took a much needed 3 hour nap while Andy dealt with a crisis of getting our car parked for the night. I'll spare you the details here because he just loves to tell the story so if you see us, have him tell it to you... it's pretty funny. A big thank you to Dublin's Bravest though for their help in the car situation :)
After the nap, we were awake and hungry so we hit the town. Another tip for those traveling to Ireland... do NOT expect to get your food and your alcohol in the same joint unless it's around 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Pubs stop serving food right around the time most normal people are hungry (odd, yes). So we found an Eddie Rockets (similar to Johnny Rockets) and strolled along the River Liffey and took some photos.
up next.... the Aran Islands.
Once in Dublin we got lost for the first of about a dozen times on the trip. You see, when Andy meticulously planned our road trip he neglected to realize (understandably) that road signs mean nothing in Ireland. Roads are NOT clearly labeled. If you are planning a trip to Ireland, I suggest planning your route based on where bed & breakfasts are as they are well marked. Luckily, the people in Ireland are VERY friendly. An older gentleman on his way to church came up to our car and asked if we needed directions... too sweet. We stopped at our hotel (lobby shown here) to drop off our bags and we hit the ground running!
First stop, Dame Street as we walked toward the Guinness Brewery. There were many sights and sounds (including Dublin Castle, Trinity College, St Patrick's Cathedral, etc) to see along the way.
St. Patrick's Cathedral
After much walking (on very little sleep I might add) we arrived at our main destination.... the Guinness Brewery. Guinness is the most visited attraction in Ireland and we could see why. They did an extensive renovation earlier this decade and really made the museum into a showcase. It features Dublin's highest point.... the Sky Bar where you are entitled to a free pint of Guiness (or a soft drink which I opted for since I took one sip of Guinness and decided it wasn't for me. This guy was there to greet us outside.
Still tired (and now hungry) we left Guinness to head to MY destination of choice... the Old Jameson Distillery which was a short walk from the Guinness Brewery. Though they no longer brew Jameson (it's done in Middleton Ireland) they sure had it in plentiful supply. Andy was even chosen to do a whiskey tasting featuring 3 different styled of whiskey (Jameson, Johnnie Walker, and Jack Daniels). I learned alot about distilling here but I don't need to know HOW it's made to know that it's yummy mixed with Diet Coke. 
From there it was onto the Brazen Head, Ireland's oldest pub, to soak in some atmosphere and pub food. At this point, it was around 5 o'clock in the afternoon and I just had had enough... we went back to the hotel where I took a much needed 3 hour nap while Andy dealt with a crisis of getting our car parked for the night. I'll spare you the details here because he just loves to tell the story so if you see us, have him tell it to you... it's pretty funny. A big thank you to Dublin's Bravest though for their help in the car situation :)
After the nap, we were awake and hungry so we hit the town. Another tip for those traveling to Ireland... do NOT expect to get your food and your alcohol in the same joint unless it's around 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Pubs stop serving food right around the time most normal people are hungry (odd, yes). So we found an Eddie Rockets (similar to Johnny Rockets) and strolled along the River Liffey and took some photos.
up next.... the Aran Islands.
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