The adventure began with almost missing our flight. Seriously. If we had arrived at the airport a mere 15 minutes later we would have missed it. How did this happen? Well it was a bad case of the “Well I thought you had it” spouse trust situation. It was neither party’s fault and both our faults at the same time. Needless to say I doubled checked our departure time out of sheer curiosity and dumb luck to find that we didn’t leave at 10:30 PM, we were supposed to leave at 7 PM. The time was currently 4:30. It takes at least an hour to get to the airport. Insert frantic phone call to my husbands office here. The good news is Matt Thompson can drive like a bat out of hell and we made it there just in time to board the plane. Whew! That night we stayed in Dublin at a satisfactory hotel called the Hazelbrook House. We also went out for a pint (of Guinness, duh!) and had the opportunity to listen to some awesome local live music. I was beside myself with bliss.
The next morning we walked around Dublin with the main event of the day being the library at Trinity College that houses the Book of Kells and the Long Room. I don’t think I took my camera down from my face for five minutes the whole day. D is such a sport letting me photograph to my hearts content. He even looks out for me so I don’t get pick-pocketed. So this is what Dublin looks like through the eyes of Kirsten Ashley Photography
Oh this library…. I was awestruck, enchanted, shocked, and mouth agape in wide eyed disbelief. I want a room like this in my house. It’s like having a dream and then seeing it come to life before your very eyes. I would have stayed in this hall for the rest of the day if we hadn’t been scheduled to drive to Galway that afternoon. The sheer amount of books fills my heart with joy. I can’t even imagine going to college here. I definitely felt for a split second like I was walking around in a scene from HP. Feast your eyes upon the sheer grandeur that is The Long Room.
We walked around campus for a bit after leaving the library. I couldn’t get over how beautiful the sky was! That blue is 100% real. Such a beautiful place to attend school. Anyone would be so lucky. I can’t imagine being here and studying architecture.
After leaving the campus and having a light lunch it was time to hop in the car and drive across Ireland from Dublin to Galway. I want to give a shout-out to my husband for being such an amazing driver. Not only was he driving on the wrong side of the road and on the wrong side of the car…. but he was driving a manual car where the stick shifts in the opposite direction. The left lane is the slow lane, you exit on the opposite side of the highway and roundabouts go the other direction. CRAY-Z. Much to my delight I discovered that with D driving a stick shift, my motion sickness ceases to exist. I don’t know if it’s because I can anticipate when he’s going to shift/break/etc with a clutch or what… but it was fantastic! The drive overall took about 2.5 hours and we saw nothing but beautiful country side with gorgeous churches in every town.
After finally arriving in Galway, we found our B&B – The Forge – and unpacked. This would be our home base for the next four nights and we couldn’t have been more pleased! The hostess Deborah was so kind and the accommodations themselves were beautiful! That night we went out for dinner at one place and drinks at another. With the zero tolerance driving rules here in Germany, D and I almost never get to enjoy a beverage together so it was such a wonderful thing to be within walking distance of the B&B.
The last bar that we went to {shown above} had all this random currency tacked to the top of the bar. We asked one of the guys about it and he said that over the years it had become a thing. They weren’t really sure why, but it caught on and now they clear it off every once in a while and donate it to charity. The bills always end up coming back though even after they’ve taken them down. So of course I had to leave one and you had better believe I wrote “God Bless Texas” on my $1 bill. (:
That’s all for Day One adventures. Hopefully I’ll be able to edit and post Day Two next week. Wishing everyone a fantastic Thursday!
