Ireland Day 1 - And We're Back!

This blog was originally created to document our 6,000 mile journey across the states - but travel called! Our recent 10 day European trip deserves recording too, and for that matter, so do our future adventures. We're not done with this blog yet! So here we go... 

We took a 5pm flight out of Logan, fully enjoying the limitless snacks (& wine) and movie selection. Twilight Eclipse (terrible), The Descendents (decent) and Cowboys and Aliens (good!) - before you know it we were in Germany for our 5 hour layover.

Jim's way with (old) ladies came in handy as usual - he flirted our way into the Lufthansa first class lounge for our layover! Free breakfast was much appreciated - but even better was the nap room. That's right - a nice quiet room with bed/benches & new pillows for us to nap in before the second flight. Sweet!

Finally we boarded the much shorter flight from Frankfurt to Dublin, and arrived at about 11am local time. Grabbed our rental car - and we were on our way!

Jim had previously been to a little town called Malahide that he loved, so we swung by on our way to Dublin city.

Then parked right in the center of Dublin, so we could walk around and soak it in. We strolled through Temple Bar, along the river, to Trinity College, and through a cute little indoor market filled with cafe's and boutiques.

"Trinity College is an oasis of peace and beauty. Its campus is a mix of classical and contemporary buildings interspersed with elegant gardens. Founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I, Trinity boasts stellar alumni, including playwright Oscar Wilde and Nobel laureate Samuel Beckett."

After our short afternoon of checking out Dublin we found Donnybrook Lodge B&B, grabbed some hard ciders at the local SPAR grocery store to enjoy at the hotel, and settled in for a bit before finally heading out to find place for a drink. More specifically a delicious Guinness. 

We checked out the neighboring bars too, including Mary Mac's and Paddy Cullen's, but returned to Rowe's pub to order a D-e-e-e-licious meat pie with a side of 'chips' (with vinegar & mayo of course).  

When we left the pub and got to the car, we saw that a big yellow BOOT had been placed on our rental car. Waahh! Guess parking signs don't have to be posted on the same side of the road as the spot in question, the way they do in Boston. Oh well! We just went back to the bar, were offered a cell phone to borrow by a nice Dublin chap (he liked that we were from Boston - Ireland's cousin), and made the call. Half hour later and we were free.

 Ok ok, it's actually called Crowe's Pub...but that's not nearly as cool, right?

Next morning - we woke up and drove through the city one more time on our way out, and after our requisite stop at a rest stop for cappuccino & breakfast, we were on our way -- just a 2 hour drive from Dublin to Galway.

Thanks for checking in, peeps. Next post - Galway!!