Dirty old town...

Hello,

We both took Monday off this week and had a long weekend, here's how it went.

Saturday we hung out in Galway the sun was shining and with Autumn in full swing the place is quite pretty, so pretty in fact that we took a couple of photos while wandering the river.



I bought a new hat at the market to keep my ears warm, next week we might buy Emmett one but with less rainbow colours.



Look how big our swan babies are, they still hang out with their parents but at a safe distance so as to still be cool - teenagers!

So after a relaxed day in Galway we got up bright and early on Sunday to catch the train to Dublin. We've been there before but only as a means to getting somewhere else so this was our first real visit.



Looking good first thing in the morning in very misty Galway.



A sign from above at the railway station.



The haze grew thicker as we travelled inland and the sun didn't break through until after 10am at least.

In Dublin we weren't too sure where to go first and since we didn't have a map even if we did know where to go we wouldn't have known how to get there. However when walked out of Houston station the decision was made for us when I looked across the road and said "isn't that the Guinness factory?"

The factory is huge so we did have to walk a city block or 2 to get to the tourist entrance but it was worth it. Unlike a lot of brewery tours you don't get to see the beer being made you instead get a lot of marketing and history but it was still cool. There was stuff you never thought of like how they had a commercial timber mill at one stage so they could make enough barrels to ship the stuff or that they had their own railway on the brewery grounds. Now they own heaps of trucks and I think a few ships still. You get a complimentry pint in the gravity bar as part of the tour, gravity bar is at the top of the tour building and has 360 degree views of Dublin city.



The Gilroy advertising room, Gilroy was also a portrait artist, he painted portraits of several royals.



Having a pint with the zoo keeper.



Guinness, moustache and all.



Dublin from one of it's highest points.

So after the factory tour we consulted our map (they were free at the bar) and headed to the city. We wandered for a bit then met up with our friend Jess and it was off to the pub.



Emmett had a tasteing tray of stouts, one of them had real raw oyster in the brew.

After an early dinner and a goodbye hug (Jess is home in Canada now) it was off to the hostel for an early night and plenty of sleep. Sleep that was briefly interrupted by a phone call from Ema-Joy - big smiles for those in the know.

Monday was our best day I'd say, we headed out early to Trinity College to see the book of Kells. We were in luck as the campus tours were still running and we even got a very serious former student as our guide.



Trinity College, the two massive trees were loosing their leaves like giant snow flakes it was really cool.



Our guide and this super famous sculpture.

We saw the book of Kells and it was OK, really though you can look at pictures of it on the net and get the same feel for it. However you can't walk through the college's old library on the net now that was a super cool place. Everything was roped off to all but it's 16 librarians but the volume of old books and the space itself was impressive.

After Trinity college we shopped and wandered the city side of the river, not much to report a bit like Auckland - same shops only bigger. We did find a couple of shops that we loved and were unique and they were good for present hunting. There were some things about Dublin that weren't like Auckland at all like...



Horses and carts in the fruit and veg market and...



Ladies selling fruit out of baby buggies.

So that's it ladies and gents a trip to Dublin and several "things to do" ticked off the list. Needless to say we arrived home safe and well and are back in Galway planning our next escape.

Love ya,
Aimee