Dublin Day 1

One of the first things Erica and I did when arriving in England was plan and book our big trips. We wanted to make sure they were paid for and scheduled before the semester ended. By the way, we come home in TWO WEEKS. Insane.

Turns out we have some pretty incredible connections over the pond. Our Uncle Mike, our dad's sister's husband, who lives in Chicago, has Irish relatives. At our cousin's wedding two years ago, we met their Irish family. Paula, one of the Irish relatives, was my cousins' nanny for two summers when they were little. When we knew we were going to be over in England, we thought it would be perfect to stop by and visit the Irish relations. Early this semester, I sent Paula an email asking if we could possibly come and stay with her for a few days. She was born and raised in Dublin, and considering Erica and I know very little about Ireland, it was perfect. She so graciously said we could come stay, so we booked our trip.

Wednesday morning we took the train from Chester to Holyhead Wales. Holyhead is located on the western coast of Great Britain, and has a ferry port that takes cars and foot passengers to Dublin! We hopped on the Swift ferry that took us across the Irish Sea in an hour and a half. It was so delightful and calm. When we arrived in Dublin, Paula was waiting for us and drove us to her home. My ignorant self told her "Oh, we can walk to your place. I don't want you to have to come collect us from the port." Thankfully, she did. We would have been quite lost and walking for a while had she listened to my silly self.

Paula lives in an absolutely gorgeous home in Dublin with her sister, Helen. When we walked in, she said Erica and I could stay together or in separate rooms. Naturally, Erica and I screamed "TOGETHER! We haven't spent enough time together in one room this semester. We need more time together!" Actually, we smiled and said separate, and were giddy to find out we could have our own rooms...each with a queen sized bed. Need I say more? My sleep has been completely recovered and I decided I am staying in Dublin until my flight home. I wish. 

After we dropped our belongings, we took a walk to the Botanical gardens for a bite to eat, and a stroll through the gardens. Let me preface here that much of our time has been centered around food. Which obviously is to our delight. We have been meeting with and getting to talk to much of their huge family. And having a meal together is familial and delightful. Something I miss from home but am just loving here. I digress. We ate inside the gardens in this cute cafe type place. Erica and I both got open face tuna sandwiches, which were so delicious and a nice change from White's Dining. We then walked through the gardens, looking at all of the plants, trees, and flowers.

We walked back to her house and sat for a cup of tea and some biscuits, then freshened up for a dinner with Paula and Helen's cousin Bernard (pronounced Bernerd over here) and his wife Maria, whom we also met at the wedding in Chicago two years ago.

Before leaving for dinner, Paula took us to the cathedral near her house where she sings each Wednesday night. She is amazing, and my memory from meeting her two years ago was listening to her sing "Oh Danny Boy" on my Uncle Wally's deck. We were all going to sing together, but there was a service and we weren't allowed to make any noise. Sadly, we left without making any harmonious vocals. But it was a gorgeous church and neat to visit.

Back to her house we went and then in the car to head to dinner. Bernard co-owns a hotel outside of Dublin, and invited us to dinner there. It was absolutely gorgeous. If you go to Ireland, you need to stay at the Celbridge Manor Hotel. Here is a picture of the outside from Google. Check out their website here!!

We enjoyed a delectable dinner and conversation with Bernard, Maria, Paula and Helen. I had a starter of caesar salad, salmon and potatoes for dinner, and a cappuccino to finish it off. If any of you know me well, you know salmon is my favorite fish. I go to Dillons too frequently to have them make me a piece of salmon at the fish counter. I just loved my dinner choice. After dinner, Bernard gave us a tour of the hotel. It is massive and the rooms are just incredible. At the top level of the hotel, there is an old nightclub that is still being decided on what to be made into. Paula, Erica and myself stood up in the DJ box and sang Silent Night. The night was lovely as all get out, and it was so good to see familiar faces. We went home and I climbed into my bed and had the best sleep I've had in months.

Our first day in Dublin was a success! We are being cared for like queens and I am so grateful for this stay.

More about each day to follow!