Saturday, September 3, 2011

Europe Part 1 – Dublin

I just returned from a two week vacation to Europe with some friends from Kansas City. Mike and Jen Janis, Matt and Jen Robertson and I left on Aug 12 bound for Dublin, London, Paris and Rome. My original plan was to return via NYC and stop there to celebrate my friend Jim Kuchera's b-day...but more on that later. We had been planning this trip since March-ish. We didn't get to see everything and we stayed mostly in the big cities, but it was super fun.

 

Dublin

Our first port of call was Dublin, Ireland. This place didn't feel like a big city, more like a college town. The weather was cool and cloudy (which I loved) and it rained for short showers each day (not a big deal). Our hotel was right in the heart of town and as we found out our first night has a pretty good night club on the ground floor. It was great while we were drinking...however the Robertson's room was directly above the club...which was problematic when we decided to call it a night. They had to change rooms to avoid the "thump" of the club.

 

DAY 1

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Matt and I collecting our bags at the Dublin Airport

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The reason we went to Ireland…Guinness

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The groups first Guinness…its almost noon…I think? Certainly no were near our last.

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An interesting group of locals heading to the pub from some beverages.

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our double-decker open-top bus tour….jackets required…later on it rained and we moved downstairs.

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smallest pub in Ireland…probably.

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The jet-lag is setting in

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Always a Guinness in hand when you’re in Dublin.

Day 2

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Matt figuring out the fancy trash compactors at McDonalds. Yes we ate at McDonalds…it was the only thing open on Sunday morning.

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I think it was around 930 or 10am when we had our first Guinness on the tour at St James Gate Brewery

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Kilmainham Gaol

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JenRob and JenJan at Kilmainham Gaol

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Taste testing Jameson on the tour of the distillery

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Matt and I both got picked to be taste testers….and we got a certificate for participating.

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