Our Military Life Abroad: Deep in the heart of Dublin, Ireland

Slainte from Ireland....Dublin to be exact! Justin and I went on a 7 day anniversary vacation 2 of which we spent in beautiful Ireland. Last year March we visited the luscious country village of Dingle where everyone was so friendly and Fungie the dolphin was eager to greet! So Dublin definitely had some competition. I dare say Ireland continues to be one of our top vacation destinations! From relaxed seaside country villages to the lively Temple Bar streets.....Ireland has yet to expose us to an unfriendly Irishman! Day 1: We arrived on our RyanAir flight with only 2 black military backpack carry-ons & 2 compact empty duffle bags for check in later in our trip. Justin being the savvy traveler told me I could bring whatever I wanted......as long as I could carry it! Ekkkk.....anyone who know's me knows that I like to pack my selection of shoes, extra clothes and a few other odds and ends, because you just never know exactly what you will need on a trip! Though this trip has me rolling & rubber banding my clothes, wearing hiking boots/only bringing a pair of flats, gosh I felt like I was back in Girl Scouts...lol.

We stayed at the Gogarty Hostel Temple Bar so the Green Bus was the way to go for only 12Euro total & had us dropped off only 2 blocks from the hostel! The cobblestone streets & traditional irish tunes playing that lead us to the hostel gave me butterflies & then to see the inside of this quirky place we were down right beyond estatic. The inside of the rooms were basic, but lets face it we were in the heart of Dublin..temple bar street where all the IT bars are & that's where we planned to spend our evenings! We dropped our bags and dinned at the Gogartys Restaurant and then hit the town. Bright lights, buzzing irish music escaping the bar doors that lined the streets, laughter and dancing were a great end to our first day in Dublin.
Day 2: We were up early ate our complimentary breakfast & zipped over to Trinity University & library to see the Book of Kells & score some Uni gear. I was completely emerged and also learned an interesting fact that I did not find on the internet. While waiting to get in several professors stopped to have a bit of a chat with us. One of the gentleman said," you must be here to see the book of kells." We responded with, "yes sir". He smiled and said while you are on the second floor take note 2 things: 1 part of the Harry Potter film was supposed to be filmed there and 2 HRH the Queen toured and walked up there for a visit last year! So if you get the chance to visit, keep this bit of information in your back pocket :)

Dublin Castle we walked by and took a few pictures, during this time of year part of it was closed so we opted to continue on to Christ Church where one of my FAVORITE shows The Tudors was filmed & housed the costumes! It did cost to get in but the gorgeous architecture & of course the catacombs were worth the fee! While walking amongst the locals we came across a few hidden shops and open air markets full of treasures!!!! Justin and I love to bargain & antique shop and this place offered both. We came across several Irish beer glasses, a copper pot, bar decor and linens. St. Patricks Cathedral is definitely more than meets the eye. We met the sweetest father who was pleased to explain why his church was such a blessing to visit and was much more than a touristy place. It was such an honour to get to speak with him and both of us being Roman Catholic stopped and prayed for a bit. It was very moving to be in this church filled with all its love and history.

By now it was about 1pm and our tummy's began to scream at us! We decided to just stop into one of the local convenient stores & grabbed a healthy lunch and trekked to the Guiness Brewery!!!! Now right about now, I can easily imagine that 1990's Tim the Tool Man Taylor Grunt coming from our beer lovers...why you ask? Because that's exactly the sound that came from my dear sweet husband as we rounded the corner and saw the Guiness Storehouse!!!!! It's a bit pricey....however, it's one of those things you just HAVE to do. In fact, if I myself had not gone that day, I'd still be guilty of squinting my nose and detesting the taste of Guiness. After taking the tour I learned 3 important things: 1 you must have a guiness properly poured/served at 6degrees otherwise your Guiness will taste either very bitter or very sweet 2. You can not buy any Guiness at the factory to drink on the spot and 3. I'm definitely not a fan of dark chocolate, however Guiness chocolate is FAN-FREAKIN'-TASTIC!!!!!!!! Last but not least we decided to take an interesting way to the JAMESON factory.............by push taxi! Ahhh life is never a dull moment for us, the taxi driver had accidentally left his lights on so when we got ready to go the car would not start, so Justin and another taxi driver helped push the taxi to get it to turn over. The poor guy was so embarrassed but after a few quirky jokes from the hubster it was all laughs and talking about the drivers "ugly family saddle ring heirloom" (his words not ours). He was right, it was pure gold, huge and a saddle....Ah well, about 10minutes later we said our goodbyes to our new friend and went into the Jameson Factory. I have to say this was my favorite! I love Jameson so I am a bit bias but from the guy at the bar inside who had no problem serving me a jameson and coke but insisted on keeping them separate to serve it to me to the hilarious tour guide this place was a blast!
Hope you enjoy our pictures below as much as we enjoyed our 2 day in Dublin, Ireland. Thank you so much for following my blog!

Beverly

Justin with the awesome & hilarious TEMPLE BAR bartender!!!!! He was even cool enough to let Justin behind the bar and take tons of pictures....SLAINTE!