St. Paddy's in Ireland

Top o' the mornin' to ya!  This is a phrase we use every year on St. Patrick's Day in efforts to start off the day a little more authentic.  The holiday is actually Justin's favorite holiday of the year, and he constantly seeks out ways to make the day authentic to Ireland.  That is why we decided to fulfil one of his dreams this year by travelling to Ireland over St. Patrick's Day. We were also fortunate to have our good buddy, Dave, join us from the States with his fiancé, Helen.

We began our trip in Dublin where we had a couple of days to tour around and then celebrated St. Patrick's Day.  First, we went to the Old Library at Trinity College where we saw the ancient Book of Kells among many other very old books and sheet music.  The library was beautiful and had a nice "old book" smell to it.  Next, we went to St. Patrick's Cathedral where we saw several tombs among the gorgeous arched ceilings and stained-glass windows.  I especially liked the tribute and tomb of Jonathan Swift - a famous Irish writer that I teach in my high school English classes.

Our own Guinness Advertisement

While in Dublin, we also visited the Guinness Brewery which had entertainment for all ages.  Kaelia loved the dancers outside the building, both girls enjoyed the face painting, the adults learned a lot from the museum, and of course, the adults liked the beer!

Viking vs. Irish battle in the parade

To partake in the St. Patrick's Day festivities, Justin and I ran a 5K on Sunday, and then we watched the parade on Monday.  We had to wait for about two hours along the parade route in attempt to get a good view.  In the end, we still had a hard time seeing the parade, everyone was cold, and the girls felt a little sick from passing the time with a Shamrock Shake.  Needless to say, we only lasted about 20 minutes once the parade started, but the parts that we saw were really neat - especially the ancient looking battle between the Vikings and the Irish.

After St. Patrick's Day, we headed down to Cork, stopping by the Rock of Cashel along the way.  It is a very old castle in a small town that is in a bit disarray, but still very neat to see.  Taelyn loved running around, pretending that she was Queen Elsa from Frozen and that this was her ice castle.  Kaelia did not like the cold weather but was fascinated by the old cemetery that surrounded the castle.  When I asked what her favorite part was, she said all the dead people.

Jameson Experts

From Cork, we travelled to Galway with a few stops in between.  First, we went to the Jameson factory and took a tour about the history of Jameson whiskey and how it is made.  Justin and Dave even took a little connoisseur taste testing and received a certificate.  From there, we went to Blarney Castle.  Taelyn and I especially liked this.  She ran through each room of the castle, pretending that is was her own.  Kaelia liked it too, but the weather was a little cold, and she has a hard time getting excited about anything when she is cold.  Both girls enjoyed the ladies' bedroom, however, as they pretended it was their own room.

Next, we stayed a night in a small town called Bunratty where we experienced a medieval banquet in Bunratty Castle.  This was soemthing that I have been looking forward to for a long time - to relive castle life.  We were greeted and served by a butler and entertainment ensamble, all dressed in medieval clothing.  Then we were seated in the dining hall of the castle and were served a four course meal, and our only utensil was a "dagger"!  About halfway through the evening, a guest was taken to the dungeon for curious behaviors.

The next day, we drove to the Cliffs of Moher as our final stop before Galway.  It was incredibly windy and foggy, but the cliffs were nonetheless impressive.  We even crawled over to the edge of the cliffs for a picture.  That was a bit terrifying, considering the winds were incredibly strong, but we were careful.

Once we got to Galway, we did a lot of relaxing before making the trip back home.  We stayed in a really nice hotel with a great pub to watch the Michigan State basketball games, and the girls took advantage of the massive pool.  It was a nice way to end the trip, and it was great to hang out with our family and friends!

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