Erynn's sister Amy came over to Europe for a backpacking adventure with her friend Megan. They stopped to visit us in England, but we thought it'd be a bit more fun to take a quick jaunt over to Dublin for a couple days.
No stop in Dublin is complete without a stop at the Guinness Storehouse for a brewery tour. One of the best aspects of the tour is a visit to the Gravity Bar at the very top of the brewery building where you can sample a free pint of Guinness.
Amy got a little crazy with the Guinness, and we had to cut her off...
...actually she's never touched the stuff in all the years of knowing her. Even after a fair bit of prying. However, I didn't think she could leave Dublin and the Guinness brewery without a picture that looked like she was a drunk! So I swabbed a bit of foam on her lip and snapped the photo. The rest, as you can see, is a photographic masterpiece. We still talk about this 'til this day.
One of the more interesting bits of trivia we learned concerned one of the beer's mascots: the toucan. The company used to have a slogan along the lines of "two cans of Guinness are good for you." Get it? Two Can... toucan! There are two cans on the bird's bill. I give up.
We spent most of the two days walking around Dublin. We also took a little side trip to Malahide Castle, but more on that later. I've been to Dublin a few times, and you can see most of the major sites in a couple days. Amy and Megan were seasoned European travelers by this time, and as you can see from this photo they were bored too. None of us drink, so that took away about 90% of the things to do in Dublin.
However, things did get more exciting when Erynn caught Amy and I smooching on the street.
Here's a couple photos of us while we were lounging and enjoying the sun in St. Stephen's Park.
The photo on the left shows O'Connel Street, which is one of the main streets that bisects the city. The picture on the right shows Erynn next to the statue of Molly Malone, the fictitious fishmonger, on Grafton Street. There's a famous song by the name, but the statue's nickname is the Tart with the Cart.
We also strolled around the campus of Trinity College. Here Erynn and Amy are in front of the Campanile in the center of campus. Megan and Amy were particularly keen to check out the Book of Kells located in one of the campus libraries.
Ireland, and in particular Dublin, was apparently once inhabited by Vikings. Dublinia is a historical themed heritage centre (i.e. tourist trap) where we had a bit of fun. As you can see, some of the props on offer were absolutely hilarious! You can click here for a little bonus photo. Extra points if you can spot Amy.
We also spent a little time walking around Christ Church Cathedral. We didn't do it, but one could hitch a ride on the Viking Splash Tour which has a stop right next to the cathedral. We noticed the tour because every few minutes our time of quiet reflection on church grounds was continually interrupted by revelers wearing fake Viking horn hats disembarking from old duck boats.
Dublin Castle is quite a hodgepodge of architectural elements. Erynn and amy were fascinated by the garden, because it had a kind of maze made of pavements. Here you can see them posing at one end of the maze. Even I had a good time.
We spent a few hours touring the grounds Malahide Castle, which is a short bus ride from the city. Amy and I are in the foreground of the leftmost picture. Later in the day, Erynn wasted almost an entire roll of film trying to get a good shot of the peacock. Here's the best of the lot. I don't think National Geographic will be calling anytime soon.
And if you ever wondered...yes, kittens in Ireland purr with an Irish accent. Pure comedy from Megan.
On the way back, the bus stopped along the coast for us to take some photos of the rocks and greenery. No site devoted to a visit to Ireland would be complete without a picture of some grass and a jagged coastline.
© 2001-2005 Doug Rathburn
