Day 1 - Dublin & Day 2 - Dublin

Day 1- Dublin

Cold, windy, but sunny!  At Blooms Hotel in Temple Bar.  Walked across the street to Trinity College so Diane could see the Book of Kells. Four hand-inked pages of the Gospel that are 1,200 years old penned by Irish monks (Mike's family) and kept safe from raiding Vikings (my family) and the library.  The smell of old (and I mean OLD) books hits your nostrils half way up the staircase - outstanding!

After Trinity College, down a block to "The Tart with the Cart", none other than Molly Mollone with her cart of crustaceans (as in the song, "In Dublin's fair city/Where the girls are so pretty/ I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone"), then Grafton Street, the Rodeo Drive of Dublin for some window shopping (Chanel was interesting), and lunch of ham and melted bree at Brewley's Cafe.

A stroll further down Grafton Street brought us to St. Stephen's Green (like Balboa Park for San Diegian's) and the bridge featured in "Leap Year".  My favorite is the garden for visually impaired folk ... there are braille letters in front of  chest-high raised plant beds, so a person can "read" the plant names, then feel the plant/flowers directly behind the words.  Totally cool!

A free welcome drink at The Vat Pub, and now off to listen to some traditional music to round out our first night in Ireland.  Sweet!  We're too busy to realize we only had 4 hours of sleep last night!

Day 2- Dublin

diane (edited by Mom)- We woke up after a good nights rest (since we ended our night Irish Dancing at the pub, Gaghertys, that was down the street from our hotel) and headed back out on the street to catch the "Ho Ho Bus" (Hop On-Hop Off).  The first stop the double decker bus took us (we sat up on top, had a real good wind burn by the end of the day lol) was St. Patrick Cathedral.  Beautiful!  The next stop was (yay!) Guinness Storehouse and I learned of the "fine" brewing which makes Guinness so beloved by the Irish.  Homegrown barley, hops, irish water, and talent.  Finished up the tour at the Gravity Bar sampling a pint of dark.

Next stop was Kilmainham Gaol (prison) that was the most impacting history moment of the Ho Ho bus tour, as well as quite a buzzkill ;) I learned all about the 1916 Uprising & Irish history involving the imprisonment of political activists (as well as poets, professors) who were attempting to end the control of Roman Catholic Ireland by Protestant England.  We were shown the cells, and the "sizing up" room for these prisoners who were ultimately executed.  Very intense.  Very worth doing.

(posing by the Liffey River's Bridge, Dublin)

Back on the HoHo, totally blown away, experienced a desperately needed mind-break by getting off at the Jameson Experience.  Selected to be one of 8 whiskey tasters at the end of the presentation, I learned the difference between single and triple distilling, "used" wood casks vs. new wood casks, and that Irish whiskey (with an "e") is superior to Scot or American whisky (no "e").  Came away with a diploma - wonder if I can apply for class credit at CSUSM?

We're leaving at 8am tomorrow!

diane- Our bags are packed to less than capacity so we have room to bring things home!  I'm anxious, excited, and realizing that tomorrow we're actually leaving.  Mom's getting in the spirit of things ... she bought Irish beer for our 'early' Memorial Day dinner even though that's what I'll be sampling for the next two weeks; no American Coors tonight!  I'll miss my brother and his fiance, and of course, my dad, friends and my pets.

Lenda - Happy Memorial Day everyone!  Strange to think we'll be leaving America on Memorial Day and returning home on Fourth of July weekend.  The saga begins ... hope we won't bore you, but instead will inspire you to visit these two lovely countries.  But, bottom line... there's no place like the USA!

Swedish and Irish Pictures (click on pictures to enlarge)

 House of Sweden with Grammie and Diddee

 Diane dancing at Balboa Park, en pointe

Mom and daughter performing the St. Patricks Day dance.

 Balboa Park performance

So excited for our trip!

I will be traveling with my mom! She wants me to learn about my heritage. Two weeks in Ireland (my dad's family), and two weeks in Sweden (my mom's family), and 4 days in NYC to do some research on Ellis Island (my mom's first time in NY, and will be my third).

In Ireland, Temple Bar will draw us in for our first pint, along with Guinness Storehouse and the Jameson Distillery. We'll head west hitting all the wonderful sights in County Cork, Tipperary (dad's family hails from Kilfannae), Kerry and Claire.  Once on the west coast of Ireland, we'll head north for traditional music in County Galway and Mayo (including the castle in the movie "Leap Year").  We have definite plans to dance ... we have our hardshoes packed!

In Sweden, we'll be in Stockholm for 3 days, travel south to Monsteras to stay with family and see Kalmar and the Crystal country, then up to Nykoping with more family at the Gota Canal. The next part is super exciting as we'll be in Dalarna in the city of Leksand for a very traditional Swedish Midsommar. Finally to Uppsala where my mom went to school when she was my age as an exchange student from Cal State Long Beach!

New York is my time to show my mom the sights:  Ellis Island, Times Square, Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, and the NY subway.  New York cheesecake is calling my name as well as a slice of pizza and a hot dog straight from a sidewalk stand.

5 weeks - 35 days.  Can you handle it?  Oh yeah!