Mom in front of St. Jame's Gate at the Guinness Store House.
Cold and rainy in Dublin today. This morning we headed out huddled under Mom's umbrella, which she was smart enough to pack in her carry-on. Our warm clothes and raincoats were still in limbo somewhere between Newark and Dublin. After some debate, we set off for the Guinness Brewery. Neither of us are big beer fans, but the tour was actually very interesting and well designed. The center of the visitor center is shaped like a 7 story pint glass with the gravity bar, a 360 degree view of Dublin, at the top.
From there we took the hop on/hop off bus to Kilmainham Gaol where we took a somber yet fascinating tour through the 200+ year old prison, and through Ireland's turbulent history. Over 200,000 people passed through Kilmainham since it was built, including about 20,000 children. Political prisoners were held and executed there during the 19th and early 20th century including 14 leaders of the Easter Rising in 1916.
Next we hopped back on the bus and rode through Northern Dublin to the Liffey River where we walked over the Ha'penny Bridge to Temple Bar. Lunch and dessert was at the delicious Queen of Tarts. Mom got a mammoth lemon meringue tart for dessert (see picture) while I opted for the baked raspberry cheesecake, both baked by the "Queen herself" (according to the menu).
Lemon Meringue Tart
After lunch we headed back to the hotel where we were elated to find our luggage had been delivered while we out. I was sooo relieved to finally be able to change my shirt! We took a short rest and headed back to Temple Bar for the traditional Irish music pub crawl. This consisted of 2 talented and highly entertaining Irish musicians leading a group of about 20 tourists through 3 pubs. During the 2.5 hour crawl we learned much about the history of Irish music, traditional Irish instruments, and the history of Ireland in general, and listened to some unusual Irish music. Although disappointed to learn they don't serve wine in a traditional Irish pub, the tour was very fun and lively, and I highly recommend it.
Our luggage has finally joined us!
I'm getting ready to turn in. We pick up our rental car and head for Limerick in the morning!
Ireland Day 2 - Dublin: Beer, Jail, Tarts, Luggage, Music, In That Order
Ireland Day 1 - Better to be in the same underwear than the same city.
Well, it's been an eventful 36 hours! Mom and I made it to Dublin despite multiple obstacles from Continental and Newark/NYC air control. Our connecting flight from Boston to Newark was delayed 2 hours 45 minutes due to weather/air control issues at Newark airport. Coincidentally, our layover was 2 hours 30 minutes, meaning we pulled up to the gate 15 minutes after our flight to Dublin was supposed to leave. Having been informed at Logan that this flight was the last flight to Dublin on Tuesday, that both direct flights the Wednesday were full, and if we were to miss our flight, the earliest they could get us to Dublin was 10 AM Thursday morning, we grabbed our carry-ons and ran for it anyway.
Thankfully, our plane to Dublin was having mechanical problems (did I really just say that??) and had been delayed until 10:15 PM. We arrived at the departure gate at 10:10 PM, with four other passengers in the same boat, to be told the plane was still there but the ramp had already been removed and the engines started, plus our seats had been given away. Apparently once the engines are started it's a big deal to let additional passengers on. After several minutes of frantically trying to contact various people, sending us back and forth on the boarding ramp, and watching five more people show up who wanted to board the plane, we were frantically waved to the plane door, which was open, and told to take the 1st seat we could find. Mom and I were the 3rd and 4th late passengers to board, and were able to find seats (of course, not close to each other) to a chorus of applause from the passengers already sitting on the plane.
We were able to grab a few hours of sleep before landing in Dublin at 9 AM GMT. Our elation at arriving at our destination on the right day was dulled as we watched everyone else pick up their luggage with no sign of ours. Well, almost everyone else. The other 4 people who had been on our flight from Boston had no bags either. I guess it was naive of me to believe that while I was running through terminal C of Newark Airport trying to catch the next plane, the baggage handlers were doing the same out on the runway with our bags.
Mom in front of some part of Dublin Castle (we think).
We decided to make the best of it. After all, I would rather be in Dublin with no luggage than in Newark with luggage. We were able to check into our room at the hotel without any major issues. In an effort to get adjusted to the time difference as quickly as possible, we skipped napping and walked to Saint Stephen's Green, Trinity College (where we saw the Book of Kells), Dublin Castle, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and Christchurch Cathedral. After a very nice afternoon, we had a delicious dinner at Dobbin's Wine Bistro, and trudged back to the hotel to pass out. A quick check online told us the current location and arrival time of our luggage is officially "unknown". After 3 hours sleep over the past 36 stressful hours, I don't really care at this point and will deal with it tomorrow!
Christchurch Cathedral
Ireland - Day 0
Mom and I leave for Ireland tomorrow night. As usual, I've prepared a trip spreadsheet with a general plan for the week. And as usual, I don't plan to follow much of it (other than the reservations). But it's often entertaining to create a schedule ahead of time, keep track of what we actually do, and compare the two after. I'll try to post every night with pictures from the day. On that note, here's our Ireland plan. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know!
Easter 2009
It took me almost a week to get the Easter post up, but here it is. I took the kids to Hebert's Candy Mansion in Shrewsbury on Saturday to see the Easter Bunny. I'll pay the $20 at the mall for the picture with Santa, but the Easter Bunny? Come on. You could take your own picture at Hebert's for free so we went with that.
I have to admit, I find the Easter Bunny pretty creepy. All I can think of when I see it is Donnie Darko. Rebecca hasn't been scared by the Easter Bunny for years, but I was surprised to find out that Gregory was quite taken with it this year. He hesitated for about 10 seconds, but as soon as Rebecca sat on it's lap, Gregory ran up and joined her. I snapped 2 quick pictures and we were out of there. On the way out Gregory kept calling "see you later, Easter Bunny".
Later, we had more Easter fun dying Easter eggs, getting out the baskets, leaving out some carrots. They climbed into Rebecca's bed and I read them "The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes", which is one of my favorite books from when I was a kid. Then Rebecca asked if Gregory could sleep in her bed. Gregory seconded it with a "yeah, sleep in Bebba's bed". They reminded me so much of my sister, brother and myself when we were kids that I relented, against my better judgement. After stern warnings that they had to go right to sleep or Gregory would promptly be removed to his bed, I turned out the light and went downstairs. I logged into the computer, and my work was occasionally interrupted by "Gregory, stop hitting me" and "Gregory, no biting". That last one actually got me upstairs again. Before I could say a word, Rebecca piped up "Mom, Gregory's bothering me, but I don't care. Can he stay?". I gave Gregory his last warning - go to sleep, or else, and didn't hear another peep from them until 6:30 AM.
After a non-restful 1/2 hour of trying to get everyone to go back to sleep, Greg and I got up, let them find their baskets, put on cartoons, and tried once more to go back to sleep. I could hear strange noises coming from the living room, and when I got up to check, I found Gregory eating eggs for breakfast. More specifically, he was half way through his Cadbury Creme Egg. Not the best food for 7:30 AM, but what can you do? The sugar highs and lows continued throughout dinner at Grandma and Granpa's, and an Easter egg hunt. Oh well, happy belated Easter!
Leah's Birthday Party
I took the kids up to Maine on Saturday for Leah's 5th birthday party which was at a Gymnastics club in Topsham. Gregory the Kamikaze did some interesting moves on the slide of the bouncy train (see video). We stayed at Jiffy's new place and he and Evan greeted her new neighbors with some friendly yelling early Sunday morning. Rebecca slept over Beth and Leah's house by herself (her first time alone!). It was much harder for Mom - I was trying to sit her down in the gym to tell her she could call me anytime of the night and I would come get her, and she gave me the stiff arm (can I go play now?). We also got to check out Uncle Kenny's new pad, and play with Moose. Happy Birthday Leah!
Gregory Jumps in the Pit
As many of you know, one of Gregory's favorite activities is to 'jump in the pit' at his Friday morning gymnastics class. For those of you with images of baby mosh pits in your heads (Jake!), here's a video of what really happens when Gregory jumps in the pit.
St. Patrick's Day Parade
Happy St. Patrick's Day! Took the kids to the parade in Worcester today. Our friend's Mom lives close by and had a get together before/after the parade so we headed there first - Thank you Mrs. LaVigne! Rebecca met up with some of her ballet friends there and Gregory hung out with the little brothers. Headed to the parade route around 11 AM and had a pleasant walk. We really lucked out with the weather - it was warm and sunny - one of the best days so far this year.
The parade was interesting - parades always bring out the most interesting mix of people! The street was packed and had a carnival atmosphere and the parade was fun. It included high school marching bands, Irish step dancers (on a moving, flatbed truck no less - impressive), a few floats, and some old cars. We had to leave early to drive Greg to the airport - he's going to the Motherland for the real thing and will be in Limerick on the 17th. Just got back and am facing a week alone - I give single parents a ton of credit - it's not easy. Gregory already fell off a table, and then fell down the stairs while chasing his sister with Lincoln Logs poised above his head ready to strike. And we've only been home an hour. It's going to be a long week ...
