So we are back in Dublin now after living it up at the 

Dunbrody Manor (pictured above).   We've had a 

great time and are a little sad to be leaving

but also a little happy to be heading home as well. 

We will try to get caught up once we hit Dublin

Well I wish we could have blogged more but Internet service wasn't available in most rural places. We are heading to Dublin and then home tomorrow

 Heather with Heather!

I guess you could say they were 

a pair of Bloomers....

Ireland is just ugly isn't it?

This is the view off of a ruin 

site near Dingle.

 Dead End

I'm James Brown! Heh!

Take it to the D!

I said take it to the D!

 Beautiful!

We went to Aran islands.  We rented bikes for the day.

Ugggg! it's really hard to find a WiFi around here!

Sorry our posts are so few and far between.  We have had a hard time finding internet connections that actually work in this area of the country.  We will fill in all the details later but here's a quick snapshot.

We went to Galway and spent the night there and moved on to Castlegregory (cool name huh?) last night.  We are now in Dingle and are trying to decide if we want to stay here or move on.  So either today or tomorrow we are heading to Cork and then on to Wexford. 

Sorry this was a boring post but the internet here is charged by the minute.

talk to you soon

-Greg 

 We went to Dublin Castle today and saw many incredible things including 1800 year old biblical papyrus and other  ancient texts.  (Ok...we liked looking at the pictures)

 Happy St Patty's Day!

Here we are outside St Patrick's Cathedral after the parade.    We've had beautiful weather each day we've been here - 55-60 and lots of sun.  The apple trees and spring flowers are in full bloom.  

H

 Guinness...mmmmm

 Here's Greg with the 18 year old...

...whiskey

H

In case you didn't get the last post, here's a hint....

 Catherine,  this one is for you.  Guess who I met today????  

St Paddy's day was great!

The Parade was good as far as parades go.  No flatbeds with people waving on them, pretty cool mechanical displays.  We got some good video footage that we will probably never watch again but we got it.  After the parade we stopped by St Patrick's Cathedral and walked around the grounds.  In good Irish tradition we went from there directly to a pub (the first one we went to was in some chick flick that Heather will have to tell you about).  

We did find a cool locals pub called Devitts.  It was in Dublin but the folks inside said it was a Wexford pub since everyone there was from Wexford.  In fact on the television they had the Gaelic football game on that was between Dublin and some other town I can't pronounce let alone  spell.  I wasn't sure what I was watching at first was it Rugby? Soccer? Football? so I asked an older regular behind me. He explained the game using feching every other word (it was great). He then told me what teams were playing and when he said one was Dublin I said "so I'm guessing that's who we're rooting for".  He said "no, da utter teams wearing da blue ahn white and dat's Wexferd's colors, so no were net rootin fer feching Dooblin." he laughed and slapped me on the back.  He was a great guy really nice and willing to help.  He taught us a toast in Irish "Sloinka!" (spelling?) it means "good health".  He also pointed us to a great little Spanish restaurant that had salsa music playing with live musicians. I even got to play with them.  

We then went to a few pubs in the Temple Bar it was crazy and a lot of fun.  Every pub was body to body packed and the beer was really flowing.  The people were all out to have a good time and so it was really pleasant, I didn't see one fight.  I had one Irish local ask me where we were from, when I said the States, he pointed to a group of folks and said "Da're British! watch out fer dem!" elbowed me and winked.  Then he cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled "Wankers!" at them and nudged me again and laughed.  He said some other things I couldn't understand so I just nodded and smiled.

We did find a Pub/Brewery that had a good band playing called Sliotar (it's the ball used in Hurling). They were a really good trio.

So we finally ended up at a locals pub called "Lord's something or other pub" where the bartender would shush you if you got too loud (and no Heather didnt get shushed). Then we had one more at the Brazen Head and off to the apartment.

Well that's all I got I will have to write about going to Guinness next time

-Greg

St Paddy's Day!

I thought this was funny.....

If you don't know english how could you read the .....

nevermind.....

So we're all getting ready for the St. Patrick's day parade.  It should be quite a spectacle.  It's been really fun so far.  Last night the city was loud and crazy all night long.  Every pub was packed and people were out causing trouble.  

We haven't really caught much traditional music yet, mostly because I think they try to taylor themselves to americans (rock).  I can imagine that there'll be more today.

Well I'll make another post later today.

-Greg

This one is for Dad. mmm.

 

They have lots of oysters here!

Mecca

Heather's Irish blood was boiling outside the Guinness brewery.  Were going to tour it later this week.

My Namesake!

This is a pretty happening pub in Dublin had a few pints and went on our way.

Inside Brazen Head

Alright, So yesterday and last night (day 2)......

We did a little more sight seeing.  We saw the half Penny bridge! it's a bridge that goes over the river and people walk on it! Wow! alright not that big a deal.  We also went back to Temple bar and had a great time.  The Temple Bar is an area known as old town, there is also a Temple bar which is crazy I have a little video from there good Oysters, Beer, and Music.  We made friends with some Germans from Munchen and a couple of Seattle folks.

We then went to a restaurant bar named the Davie Byrne which was mentioned in one of James Joyce's novels. There we met a waitress who was an american that has lived here for the last seven years.  She gave us some places to check out. 

Today Day 3)

We got up late because we were out late at three different pubs woo hoo!  We went back to the Brazen Head where we saw a cover band that was horrible.  We then headed off to the "Lord Edward" and had one pint and then got the boot so off to the Turks Head where we saw a band that was actually really good, loved their name "the Burning Effigy's".   We are all starting to acquire Irish accents usually after a few pints!  I think we are going to head out to the coast today and see if we can get some sea food (I know GW and Sara would love that).  I'm thinking we might take it a little easy today. 

Well I'll post again soon

-Greg

First post from Ireland

Were having trouble with the internet connection so pics might be a little slow coming.  It has been great here so far. The Plane ride was very long but worth it. 

Day 1: When we got in Sandy and I found that they lost our luggage.  I finally got my mine later in the afternoon, but Sandy's went to Budapest(she did get it the next day). We went to the Brazen Head Pub which is the oldest pub in Ireland.  We had Irish Stew, Mussels and Guinness and yes Guinness is way better here.

We then wandered around Dublin and ended up at a Pub called "the Pale", it was recommended by the apartment staff (when she said it, it sounded like the "Da Payne" so either that's how they pronounce it or we went to the wrong place.) Not to be too much of a foodie but Dad will want to know what we had to eat we had Fish and chips, Bangers and mash, and of course Guinness.

It ended up being a pretty early night with the jet lag so that was pretty much day 1.

Day 2: Started off the day with a 5K race through the streets of Dublin.  I managed to do it in 25:45 which considering my state was pretty good.  We then wandered through Temple Bar and Christ Church on our way back to the apartment.  So far that's about it, but the day is still young it's lunch time now so I'll try to write something tonight provided I can still type by that point..ha :)

-Greg

Packing and Playing

So We're packing our bags with too much stuff, and getting ready to go.  I have to play tonight on a fill in gig so I'll be home tonight at 1:00 am and we have to leave at 4:30 am ouch! we'll keep posting as we go. hope it doesn't get too boring :)

-Greg

Sorry it's been so long

So we are off to Ireland on friday! We are going to be in Dublin on Satuday through Thursday and then off to Galway and whatever we happen to find along the way.

We'll try to keep you all posted with pictures and maybe even video. Hopefully the St Paddy's day parade will make it on here in video.

So keep checking and we'll keep posting.

talk to you soon