dublin (with the parents).

so we had a week off of school for "ski week" or "settimana bianca" in mid february.  i embarked upon an epic journey to dublin, stockholm, and berlin with V and K.  

stop #1 was dublin! we arrived saturday evening and met my parents (!!) and hung out in ireland until tuesday night.  i loved ireland, the people were ALL so nice and there were SO MANY redheads!! it was a nice change to feel like i blended in a bit (instead of sticking out like a sore thumb here in italy).  

we were lucky to have excellent weather for most of our trip (it rained the last day) with beautiful blue skies and warm sunshine.  our days pretty much revolved around drinking (when in rome, right?) and wandering around dublin.  i loved dublin but i definitely want to go back to ireland and tour around the countryside -- everyone we talked to said that we MUST go outside the city, but we just didn't have time on this trip.. :( luckily, my parents only had a 5.5 hour flight from the states so i know that will be an easy trip to make in the future, even from america!  

sunday early afternoon, walking over the river liffey toward the jameson distillery. hey mom! 

we went to jameson on sunday around noon.  the tour was excellent, learning how they make whiskey was actually really interesting.  having taken tours of breweries and wineries, it was interesting to be able to compare the methods that they use to make whiskey to those used to make beer and wine. 

at the end of the tour, i dutifully completed my job as "volunteer taste tester" by comparing jameson to johnnie walker scotch whiskey (black label) and jack daniels tennessee whiskey (thanks for the correction, john).  they had us compare the jameson to both and then compare the johnnie walker and the jack.  the jameson was much smoother than the johnnie walker (due to the the 3rd distillation they do at jameson).  and then jack was much sweeter than jameson (tastes like candy, YUM).  in the end, i admitted that my favorite was the jack daniels (got called out by a lady in the "crowd" for being an american) but i mean sipping it straight, i just liked the little candy kick! i think i preferred the jameson mixed with gingerale in beverage form.  

after jameson, we headed to the temple bar area to watch the 6 nations rugby match between ireland and france!  this pub had amazing mosaic work all over the place. 

an evening view of "the temple bar" in the temple bar area of dublin.  we spent a lot of time in temple bar, even though the locals (they were just all so friendly!) kept telling us it was uber touristy.  we made lots of new pub friends -- the pubs were all packed, mainly due to the 6 nations rugby tournament (i think?) in the crowded pubs, V and i repeatedly switched to speaking italian so that we could talk about all the hilariously drunk rugby fans standing around us -- that was a fun little game. 

 monday, happy valentine's day! in the morning, we went to trinity college for a tour and to see the book of kells.  the university was gorgeous; touring it made me a bit nostalgic for the uva grounds and the colleges at cambridge. the book of kells was a bit anticlimactic - good exhibit but not a ton of the actual book to see. the old library, though, was AMAZING. incredibly beautiful. 

later, we spent most of the afternoon in the guinness storehouse.  i wish we had gone a bit earlier so we could have spent more time in the gravity bar at the top, which rightfully boasts amazing 360 degree views of dublin and the nearby countryside.  you could also see the sea in the opposite direction! again, there was beautiful weather and we were able to watch the sunset from the floor-to-ceiling windows in the bar. it truly was a "lovely day for a guinness."

after guinness, we went on a bit of a hunt - one that turned out to be successful! - for a delaney's pub! this was one of the most hilarious pub experiences i have ever had.  2 local guys (who were maybe 20) befriended my parents and bought them 2 rounds of drinks.  V, K, and i were literally invisible.  the only pub experience i've ever had where john has been hit on more than i have. it was incredibly entertaining.

tuesday was a relaxing day, as it was our last in town.  and also, the weather was nasty, pouring rain (we all know how i felt about that).  on our way to the airport, our bff van driver (robby?) drove us past the samuel beckett bridge, designed by santiago calatrava. (see more pictures in better weather, taken by someone else, here)

i decided that when traveling to dublin, there could be one of two possible themes to the visit.  you may either spend time in the tourist-heavy areas to learn about and experience the history of ireland and the traditional irish culture OR you can explore and discover the more modern culture and community of dublin today.  it was hard to do both, i felt like you had to choose - which was sad :( - but all the more reason to go back and spend more time there! 

to sum up: dublin was brilliant. 

x!!