Paul & Kelsey and Robert, Michelle, & David came over for Easter. We were planning on Easter dinner, but this is a holiday where Paul and Kelsey have to make multiple visits, so everyone came over for brunch. Rob and Michelle stayed for dinner, too.
Did I mention that we're going to be grandparents again? Paul and Kelsey are expecting sometime in December.
We got some fun pictures of Davey, who's walking now.
I guess I had so much fun in Ireland that now it's time to pay the piper. I caught a cold there that started as just a sore throat. After a few days (and gargling with hot salt water) it dropped into my chest. I thought I'd lucked out by not getting anything in my head.
Um. No.
Just in time for the flight home--and an incredibly long day--this nasty cold moved up into my sinuses. And my ears.We were delayed in Dublin just a bit because 2 passengers hadn't made past security, and they were pulling their luggage from the plane. That was comforting.
The flight from Dublin to JFK was nearly 7 hours long, and then we had a 7 hour layover, which ended up being a bit longer than that. Both Arlene and I had printed out our boarding passes, but it only gave us the pass for the first leg. As a result we had to go out of security, get boarding passes for the second leg, and go through security again. Which was the 3rd time, since we had to go through both Irish and U.S. security in Dublin.
As our plane was preparing to leave JFK, there was a little excitement, which delayed us further.
When I texted Paul (and some of my other kids about it), Paul's response was:
"That's why I don't fly."
And he doesn't. He'd love to go to Hawaii to visit Erin, but he'll only go on a cruise. He and his wife Kelsey would love to visit Ireland. But it would involve and long, overland trip and then a cruise.
The bottom line is that we were about 40 minutes late getting into SLC, arriving about 12:10 a.m. Now add on to that the 7 hours we'd gotten back with the time difference, and I'd been awake 27 hours. That's not a good combination with the cold. I had to call in sick, and I've been dragging ever since. This is the first cold I've had in a long time that's messing with my ears. I have to keep asking people to repeat themselves, and I'm frequently dizzy.
And I have responsibilities at a work related conference next week. Ugh.
It's been quite a whirlwind of activity, and I'm exhausted and happy to be going home tomorrow--but it's also been so much fun. Today was the worst day I've had with my cold, and I'm really dragging. I dread getting up tomorrow because that's been the worst, the mornings. But thank heavens for Ibuprofen and Diet Coke to make up the difference.
We went to Trinity College today to see the exhibit for The Book of Kells. Here are some beautiful buildings on the walk to Trinity.
This is Kelly before the beautiful wood door opening onto the Trinity Campus.
This is a cool work of art outside the Engineering Building. It turns in a circle.
We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, so we were stuck with this one outside. As usual, Arlene started up a conversation with two ladies behind us. They were from Scotland and in Dublin for a conference last week, staying a couple of extra days to do some sightseeing.
Our next stop was the National Museum of History and Archeology. Wow. No pictures again of the inside, but they've got stuff in there that dates back to 9000 BC. And we got to see the Bog Bodies. Ew.
But the Irish legislature has its buildings right next to the Museum.
When we were done at the Museum, we walked through the St. Stephen's Green, a beautiful park that was full of people enjoying the warm, sunshine.
FYI--Arlene did take a couple of pictures that had me in them, but they didn't come out very well, so I haven't included them. Our flight doesn't leave in the morning until 10:30 a.m. here but we have to get there 3 hours early to go through customs and security, so it'll be an early morning. Besides that we have a 7 hour time difference between here and home AND another 7 hour wait at JFK. Tomorrow is going to be a very long day.
Dublin is certainly a large, busier, and more diversified place than Galway. And what a party town. Of course yesterday was Friday and today is Saturday. But as we were walking home tonight from the Temple Bar area, we had more than one walking proof that girls shouldn't drink, wear high heels, and try to walk on cobblestones. O_o That's a combination that's definitely hazardous to your health.
After a late breakfast we headed to the Marsh library again, so we could go inside. They change out their exhibits every few months, and right now they're reviewing medical books. These were books from the 1600s and were fascinating. There was a book that talked about soul as being part of the human body and there was another book that was still debating whether or not babies came from eggs found inside some females. There was a woman physician there answering questions, and she said that hundreds of years ago they thought it all came from men and females only incubated the babies.
Our next stop was Dublinia, which is what Dublin was once called back when the Vikings settled there.
You should have heard all the sound effects that went with the outhouse display.
Never realized how true "Bring out your dead" from Monty Python and the Holy Grail was.
After the Viking section was a Medieval section and finally an archeological section. It was geared toward children and interactive. They show the above find and pose the following question:
We moved from Galway today and took a train to Dublin. I wonder how far The Burren spreads because the Dublin area doesn't seem to be nearly as rocky as the Galway area. Rather than rock walls, they have hedges instead.
They have trolleys that go up and down selling drinks and treats. I was so disappointed they didn't carry pumpkin pasties (though I have a cheese and mushroom one in Galway yesterday).
There was a sweet little family (both mom and dad were hearing impaired but could read lips and communicated well), who'd come out to a farm to purchase a terrier puppy. Their little son Liam, who had lovely blue eyes, was thrilled with the little dog.
A lady from Romania sat with us, too. She was heading to Dublin to have lunch with some friends and is here in Ireland working as an emergency room physician.
Our hotel, Jurys Inn, is across the street from Christ Church and just down the street from St. Patrick's Cathedral. I'm sitting in the lobby as I type this and Christ Church is right outside my window. I can hear the bells ringing and the trees are finally beginning to bloom. When we first arrived people were sitting outside the Cathedral on the grass enjoying the warm sunshine. It's a busy area and is full of double decker buses. We even saw a bus that focused on Viking tours and was made to look like a boat--and people were wearing Viking headdress. I didn't get my camera out fast enough or I'd had gotten a picture.
This is the view from our window.
Here's the view from a corner of the grounds.
These are ruins found right in front of the Cathedral of a chapter house used between the 1100s and the 1500s.
The grounds around St. Patrick's Cathedral are large and beautifully kept.
Arlene and I stopped by a library, that we'll go visit tomorrow. It's the oldest public library in Ireland (Trinity being the oldest private library).
Today was another day spent around Galway, but our trip was closer to the hotel and on foot. Arlene and Kelly took back the rental car as we're taking the train to Dublin tomorrow. Before picking him up, Arlene, Amy, and I walked the tight little streets. It was a beautiful day weatherwise, the best yet. It was warm in the sun, and everyone was out and about. There's a park square nearby that was filled with people, sitting and talking, laying in the sun, laughing and walking--and smoking. The Irish seem to smoke and drink a lot, though they can't smoke indoors, which I was glad for, especially since I'm fighting a chest cold.
The narrow, cobble-stoned streets reminded me of Bourbon Street in New Orleans, only cleaner. There were tons of little shops and not so little shops, street singers, and I think I may have even seen a couple of Mormon missionaries walking by.
This street isn't so busy, but it shows the Irish love of colorful buildings.
We visited the mall, which was huge and included some of the old walls that used to surround Galway.
After the car was taken care of we went to dinner at McSwiggans. Amy and her hubby Darrell didn't eat with us, since it's their anniversary today, but they were at the restaurant, too.
The food was yummy, and the atmosphere was awesome. The owners bought two buildings separated by an alley and filled in the alley to make a large restaurant. When inside, if you look closely (not in this photo) you can see the original block whitewashed walls and the newer brick. By the restroom there's even cobblestones from the original street preserved in the floor.
Wednesday was much different than Monday and Tuesday--and warmer, too. Though I've caught a cold and have a sore throat. Nothing horrible, just irritating, but as I write this Thursday morning I can feel it's dropping into my chest.
We went to Cong, which is where most of the movie The Quiet Man was filmed. If you haven't seen this movie yet, you should. It very funny and has what was the longest fight scene in film history in it.
We were planning to go to the Ashford Castle, but it was closed until 4 p.m. We found out in Cong that it was because Prince Albert of Monaco was visiting. He's the son of the late actress, Grace Kelly, whose Irish ancestors were from the area. We left before he came.
Cong is a pretty little community and has some beautiful trails and Abbey ruins, so we took a hike.
You can see swans in the distance building a nest.
Then we went to the Cong Abbey ruins.
Ruins across the street from the Abbey.
And next door. We think this was the Abbey guest house.
It was getting a little cold, so we stopped at the Hungry Monk Cafe and had some soup and hot chocolate.
This car is owned by a serious fisherman. Check the the fishing rod attached to the car.
Our next stop was to the Ross Errilly Friary ruins. I think one of the things that's really staggering about this place (besides its size and good condition) is that it's been abandoned longer than the U.S. has been a nation.
There was even a rainbow for us as we were leaving.
We went to Cong, which is where most of the movie The Quiet Man was filmed. If you haven't seen this movie yet, you should. It very funny and has what was the longest fight scene in film history in it.
