Well, my trend of writing blogs immediately before trips continues. This one probably wins, though. It is currently 5:00 AM, and we are sitting in Luton airport killing time before our 6:45 flight to Madrid. We’ve been here since about 3:15 (literally before the airport opened – dozens of people were sprawled out sleeping on the floor and in chairs). So I’m going to make this a quick entry, just to catch up before our big trip.
The trip to Dublin with Jillian and Sheri was very fun. We arrived early last Tuesday to a snowy (yes, snowy… and quite snowy at that) Ireland after an uneventful travel day. We cabbed to our Hotel, which was nice and had by far the most spacious rooms of any place we’ve been to at this point. After getting settled, we headed out and grabbed lunch at a nearby sandwich place before deciding it was a good day to go to the Guinness Storehouse since the weather was so miserable. The Storehouse was interesting and informative, and highlighted by a cool lounge on the top floor overlooking the city. Interesting tidbit I had never realized: that Guinness and the Guinness Book of World Records are one and the same. We headed back to the hotel for a bit a down time before dinner, and Jillian and I both took short naps. For dinner we took the advice of Jillian’s Uncle Dick and went into town to an Irish pub/restaurant called Gogerty’s. We had some “traditional” Irish food (chicken Kiev for both Jillian and myself and mussels for Sheri), and then enjoyed the live entertainment provided by an Irish band that Dad surely would have enjoyed. Exhausted from a long week of papers, class, and touring London, we headed back around 9:30 and relaxed before calling it a night.
Wednesday started around 10:30 with breakfast at the same lunch place as the day before (Sheri’s traditional Irish breakfast and the “bacon” on Jillian’s bacon and egg roll left a bit to be desired… it’s fair to say I was the only one completely satisfied with my safe breakfast choice of a cheese and mushroom omelet). It was a much nicer day than Tuesday, so we walked towards town, making our first stop at the National Museum of History and Archaeology. It was interesting enough on the whole, but I found one exhibit called Kings and Sacrifice particularly intriguing. The exhibit was all about victims of human sacrifice from ancient Irish civilizations, and displayed the remains of four victims which had been somewhat preserved by the bogs in which they were found. Very cool. After the museum, we walked to Trinity College and checked out the Book of Kells, a famous illuminated manuscript. It did look very old, but I didn’t find it particularly beautiful, as it is often described. On our way back towards the hotel, we stopped for afternoon tea at a well-known hotel called the Shelbourne. We undoubtedly stood out as improper Americans in the very nice room, but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves nonetheless – tea for Sheri and me, hot chocolate for Jillian, and a large assortment of mini-sandwiches, pastries, and scones for all of us to share. Definitely a memorable part of the trip.
After another round of short naps, we went to a very close Italian restaurant for dinner. Good pizza, and good desserts. We took our time at dinner, and after an eventful walk home, retired to our respective rooms. We woke up on Thursday and checked out before strolling back into town one last time to Grafton Street, a smaller version of the Stroget pedestrian street in Copenhagen. It had some nice shops, and the ladies appeared to enjoy themselves. I was on the hunt for a magnet to add to my collection of one from every city we visit – eventually I found one I liked. As our last activity, we took a bus to the outskirts of the city and toured the Kilmainham Gaol, the old Dublin jail. The history of the building and its prisoners was very cool. Many former inmates were imprisoned for political reasons, and so the building’s past and the country’s history of civil war and revolution were intertwined. It was definitely a unique way to end the trip before we headed to the airport and back to London. Upon our return, Sheri checked into a new hotel nearby and we enjoyed another meal at Shah Tandoori, the neighborhood Indian restaurant we discovered. Another visit, another great meal.
Friday began with another trip to Borough market for lunch and samples. Jillian and I still enjoy going there after three visits, and are likely to return at least once more. It was very crowded this time out. We split up after the market, and Jillian and Sheri did some shopping on Oxford Street while I looked into an elusive pair of shoes I had ordered for this trip (I was told my formerly white Nike sneakers weren’t classy enough for Spain and Italy, so I had ordered some nicer looking brown leather sneakers. Marilyn, I think you’d approve for Sam.) Long story short, they never came in time because of various closures for Easter (Schafer office, post offices, etc.), and I had to get another pair on Saturday and hope to be able to return the originals. Anyway, we reunited and took the Tube over to Piccadilly Circus to see it and Trafalgar Square. After a dinner at Wagamama (noticing the repeats from dinners from Mom and Dad’s trip? Probably not, because everyone probably skips the parts in the blog where I say where we ate), we walked to the Lyceum Theater to see the Lion King. The sets and costumes were pretty impressive – particularly the opening and closing scenes. The music, as in the movie, was also good, and the kid playing young Simba had a pretty impressive voice. They did add in some interpretative dance scenes (seriously), which Sheri said were not in the American versions she had seen. I wasn’t a fan of those scenes, and neither was Jillian, but overall, the show was very entertaining and amazing to look at. After the show, Jillian and I hung out with my friend Ibby and boyfriend, who she was in town visiting (he’s studying in London as well). It was really good to see her, and although it was a short visit, we will see her again in Paris when we travel there in May.
Saturday was Sheri’s last day in London, and we had a last lunch at Pret, of which she was particularly fond. We spent the afternoon at Harrods, perusing the food halls (I got my cheese and onion baguette again) and stores. We briefly stopped by the Victoria and Albert Museum, before getting crepes at a different branch of the same chain we had gotten them from after dinner at Relais de Venise – delicious again. After some rest, we had our final dinner at TGI Friday’s, which was good – but the restaurant definitely has a British feel despite being an American chain, which makes for an interesting combination.
Sheri left this morning to return to Cincinnati, and after an early-morning goodbye I came back and gladly slept for three more hours. We just heard she has landed safely in Cincinnati, which is good. Thanks for an amazing 10 days, Sheri! We hope you enjoyed the visit as much as we did.
We spent the day getting ready for the trip (packing, buying tickets for some museums in advance, printing out boarding passes and confirmations, etc.), and I Skyped with some of you fine individuals as well. I also snuck in a fantasy draft for my second baseball league. I hurriedly finished packing right on time, and we headed out at 1:45 to catch our bus here. We should be able to head to our gate within the next 30 minutes or so, and then it’s off to Spain we go. Our schedule is as follows: Madrid, Barcelona, Venice, Florence, Rome, and finally Athens (via an overnight ferry). We will be spending an entire day in the port city in Italy where the ferry leaves from, so including that we will be seeing 7 cities in 20 days. I’ll try to post at least once or twice on the blog during the trip, since I’m bringing my computer. I’ll have to wait to post this entry until we arrive at the hostel in Madrid, since I don’t have any Internet at the moment (we’ve arrived!). And you know I’ll be watching opening day for the Braves tonight, too (but don’t worry, probably only condensed games after that – I won’t be wasting my trip through western Europe watching baseball unless we have nothing else to do, which isn’t likely). Well, my brain is no longer working. Going on almost no sleep, but I’ve managed to pump out this entry at least. Nap on the plane, and then probably before dinner tonight (since they eat so late in Spain). Time to wrap this up.
And now, for the moment you’ve all been waiting for, this week’s cultural difference:
No one in London wears khakis – I mean no one. Or really any articles of clothing I consistently wear. Just all black, all the time.
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