Dublin

Michelle and I met up with our Beloit friend, Brandon, at the bus station in Oslo and took a plane together to Dublin on June 16th. We landed in the city and spent most of our first day there wandering around and growing familiar with the main streets. Our first night was slightly marred by being harassed by a drunk Irish woman (who ranted about us being foreigners and how we needed to leave her country), but Brandon told her off and later we were able to joke about it. Crazy, ignorant people are everywhere, I'm afraid.

The next day we went on a free walking tour of Dublin. It was nice because usually Michelle and I will admire buildings, but not know their history or what they're currently used for. Our tour guide gave us a lot of interesting background information on many important historical buildings in Dublin and I realized that my knowledge of European history is pretty much zero (unless the US was involved). I'm going to try to rectify that when I return home.





We also went on a tour of the Guinness Storehouse. It was interesting to see how Guinness is made. We also got a free pint out of the deal, but not being a fan of beer, I ended up dumping it out in the sink and keeping the pint glass as a keepsake.



On Friday we saw the Book of Kells at Trinity College and then stopped at a pub for lunch and the US vs. Slovenia World Cup Match. It was probably my favorite part of my visit in Dublin, though I'm still trying to get over the horrendous call the referee made at the end. The US team was robbed! After the match, we relaxed in a nearby park and then returned to that same pub to watch England vs. Algeria, which was a little underwhelming as no one scored. Tomorrow (June 23rd) is US vs. Algeria and England vs. Slovenia, and I really hope the US and England both win so that they can go on to the next round. (Fingers crossed!)

Tasty pub food:


The pub's World Cup decor:


On Saturday, our last day in Dublin, we went on a tour of some rural areas outside of Dublin. I would describe the sights, but I don't think my descriptive powers are enough so I'll just leave you with some photos...