We Heart Ireland!!

Phew! Our last day of honeymooning before we go home to Durham. Our flight is tomorrow afternoon, and we are really excited to have a home.

But Ireland has been divine! We spent two days in Dublin and today in Galway. Both cities are adorable- colorful storefronts, cobblestone roads, and quaint homes. Galway is a bit more intimate than Dublin, and Dublin has terrible traffic in the morning when the children are going to school. It seems that there are only Catholic schools around here. All the teenagers wear uniforms like my St. Theresa one. The skirts go down way past the knee and the socks go up to the knee. Carmelites, I'm sure...

So when we arrived on Monday, we were exhausted. The flight was 6 hours, so it's not that bad. But we were still way off schedule. We were dying to sleep but we knew that we had to be disciplined. So we headed out to the bus stop. But no buses were coming. After an hour and a half, the bartender from our hotel told us that the schedule was not adjusted to each stop. So if we read that the bus left Rathcoole at 14:00, that meant that it would arrive at our stop (which was the second) at 2:15. We were told that this is the custom all over Europe, so that's good to know!

Here in Ireland, they also drive on the opposite side of the street as in the UK. Their food is quite similar to England's, but it has actually been really delicious. When we arrived in the city centre of Dublin, we got ourselves some fish pie, which was very tasty. All the "pub food" is comfort food: shephard's pie, bangers and mash, lamb stew. Needless to say, very heavy. I must be sure not to eat red meat at Every meal or I will get in poor health! Luckily, we will cook healthy foods and lots of veggie dishes in Durham.

Anyway, on Monday we just walked around the city. There are these two areas of Dublin in particular which are super happening: Temple Bar and Grafton Street. Temple Bar has lots of pubs and restaurants. Grafton street has the high end shops. think Lincoln Road Irish style. There is this super posh department store called Brown Thomas which has the most gorgeous stuff! At the end of Grafton, there is a lovely park.

So Monday evening, Bret and I went to eat dinner at an Italian restaurant. But I fell asleep at the table! We decided that with such an incident, it was time to go back to our suburban hotel. We went to the steam room, and by 9pm we were out!

After 13 hours of rest, Bret and I decided to go back into Dublin the next day to check out the National Museum. it was great- with lots of artifacts. There was a section of Viking Irish, and section of Medieval Irish, an Egyptian collection (no, not ancient Egyptian-Irish), and a section of preserved people. Very cool- they have been preserved in the peat bogs of the Irish countryside. They look like leather, all twisted and flattened. One guy was only there torso up- apparently he had been disemboweled.

Today, we went to Galway on the train. The trip is only 3 hours and there are fluffy white sheep, rolling green pastures, and grazing cattle throughout.

Overall, vacationing in Ireland is highly recommended. But remember to bring lots of sweaters! It is windy and cold!

Before I conclude, let me tell you about a few more random observations I have made:
1. most houses have lace curtains.
2. there are beautiful hanging baskets of flowers all over. And most houses have flowers spilling off their window sills.
3. The hot water and the cold water are opposite- hot water on the right, cold on the left
4. the buses are double-decker
5. the pedestrian walk signs are not white, but a green man, then a yellow, then a red. when it turns green, there is a sound like a torpedo indicating to the blind that it is safe to cross.
6. the odd bus schedule we have already gone over...
7. black is a very common color for clothes, especially in Dublin. Clothing is more colorful in Galway.
8. Scarf usage is rampant here
9. Men dress much better here.
10. headbands are not frequently worn around here as they are still worn in the states.

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