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Sunday, June 16, 2013

Slainte!

Dia duit ("hello") from Ireland!

We're on day 6 of our great adventure, and having a wonderful time!  We are currently in Doolin on the west coast of Ireland, awaiting a ferry ride to the Aran Islands.

We began our trip in Dublin, home of the Guinness factory (picture below). We enjoyed our time in Dublin, although the constant rain made us miss Chicago weather.  Apparently an Irish joke states "Irish summer is the best two days of the year."  John witnessed this having arrived 2 days earlier, but Gretchen unfortunately missed any bit of sunshine.


In Dublin, we also sampled high tea (pinkies up!), toured the Newgrange ancient tombs and watched a traditional Irish music and dancing show.  We also toured the Waterford Crystal factory (Christmas gift heaven) and had lunch at Waterford castle.


As you likely noticed, John has been growing out his beard and has enjoyed his close resemblance to Irish folk.  We are both in good health, and have had good accommodations so far (highly recommend Airbnb).  Our first few nights were at an apartment in Dublin that we shared with a Spaniard - he was nice, fluent in English, shared native Spanish foods and very interesting to talk to.

Since Dublin we've been traveling southern and western Ireland.  This has entailed driving on the left side of the road, quite an adventure in itself.  John has mostly mastered the driving and is enjoying learning the nuances of the Irish road systems.  In these travels, we've kissed the Blarney Stone (you may find our writing to be much more eloquent now), had an amazing dinner at a countryside inn and attempted clay shooting.


We have a few more days exploring the Irish countryside before leaving for London on Wednesday.   

A special shout-out to our wonderful dads on Fathers Day.  We love you both, and appreciate your love and support.  You both are in are hearts and thoughts today as we honor you!



4 comments:

  1. Nice post! I think we may have taken the good weather with us.

    We took the ferry to the Aran Isles last week and climbed to the top of the old fort. We stopped at the sweater market too and bought a few things.

    Even in bad weather Ireland is beautiful. I hope the rest of your trip goes well. Is it true that you'll be in Stonehenge on the summer solstice?

    Stay well.
    Love,
    Mom

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    Replies
    1. Ireland is certainly beautiful even in poor weather conditions, we've enjoyed every minute of it. We will be at Stonehenge during the summer solstice - it will be an early morning but well worth it! Hope all is well back in Chicago!

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  2. I wish I was there with you. I am just picturing you both having these adventures and laughing out loud. I know you are making the most of it! I did notice the improved writing, btw. <3 T.O.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Haha we are significantly more "eloquent" now. How's the wedding planning coming? Almost done!!!!

    ReplyDelete

 

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