So we've officially passed the halfway point in this whirlwind adventure! Unbelievable! Luckily for me, this occasion was marked with a visit from my lovely grandparents. After a quick crash course on Irish slang, we grabbed dinner and a pint when I was done work. The first two days of their visit we did the Dublin Hop-on Hop-Off tour! It was a great way for us to see a lot of things very quickly. I tried to throw in my own tidbits of knowledge of things along the way. The first day we took a trip out to the Phoenix Park on the hunt to find Cuminsky's Bar for a friend of my pop-pop's. After walking up what I'm sure was the biggest hill in Ireland, we gave in and called a cab to help us find it. It was a journey but we made it! We also checked out the Jameson Distillery which was awesome! The second day, we saw Christ Church and St. Patrick's Cathedral. I personally liked Christ Church better but St. Patrick's had some wicked cool stained glass! We ended the day at the Guinness Factory for a few pints and some delicious stew! We also got a bit of shopping done and haven't taken my Guinness hoodie off since. It's so comfy! We called it a day early because on Saturday my grandparents were taking me and my friend Kelly on a day trip to County Cork! We woke up early and headed out. The first stop was a town called Cobh, pronounced Cove. This was the last port of call for the Titanic! It was very windy but we took a tour through the Titanic museum there, each of us playing the part of a real passenger on the boat. We got tickets and everything. At the end of the tour you could see if the person who originally held your ticket survived or was lost in the tragedy. Kelly and I died but hey at least the grandparents survived! After that we departed for Blarney to see the castle and kiss the stone! Not worried about the germs we scaled the steep winding staircases until we reached the top. Hopefully I got the gift of the gab and not Ebola.....hahaha After that we headed to Cork City which is pretty much a wannabe Dublin. We didn't like it very much but luckily we only spent about an hour there before we hopped back on the bus to take us to Dublin. Exhausted from a long day, Kelly and I returned home to watch the movie Titanic after being inspired at the museum. We were even able to point out some key errors about the film, such as Leo having an assigned bunk room! They were first come first serve, so you had to hunt down an empty one yourself. The next morning I took the grandparents on the DART out to Dun Laoghaire to see the sailing and go to the market we like. We strolled around for a little getting crepes and cider with apple brandy before heading back to Dublin and saying our goodbyes. It was so great to see my family and have a little taste of home! I'm excited to see them again at Christmas. I can only hope they had as good of a time as I did showing them around.
From Dublin, With Love.
No comments:
Post a Comment