Dublin

It was a bit ironic that our last stop was the one where we had friends, and we could just relax and recuperate. Thanks to the help of pretty much every one we met (the Irish are genuinely nice people), we finally found their place-a cute little "gingerbread" house in the nicest part of Dublin (so they've been told).

We saw St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the Monument of Light, the remains of the castle, took a tour at Trinity College, and explored the Chester Beatty Library (which was full of historic treasures including letters from Paul to the Romans dating back to 100AD and Egyptian relics dating back to 2000BC-way cool). With our friends, the Airds, we were also able to take a day trip to visit Powerscourt Gardens with its beautiful grounds and historic pet cemetery :)

Sadly, Dublin was the conclusion of our whirlwind European tour. After a quick flight back to London, an 8 hour layover (we slept in the airport with our luggage locked to us-thanks Jared), and another long flight through Chicago, we were welcomed back into the real world. :(


Here we are at the Aird's house. They first accidentally gave us the wrong address, and we were totally snooping at someone else's place. But, when we saw all the wine bottles and the ash trays, we figured we were at the wrong place. That or the Ireland wasn't treating the Airds too well! :)
This is in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral. We thought it was only fitting to take a pic since we were in Ireland and all.
Here's Jared with what's left of the Dublin Castle by the Chester Beatty Library. (it's just a facade)
This is supposedly the longest one room library in Europe. It's located at Trinity College. Check out all those books!
Funny story- this dude was one of the deans of Trinity College way back when. They wanted to allow women to enter the college, and he said women could enroll "over his dead body". Well, a couple days later, he died of a heart attack, and they buried him in the college cemetery. Within a week, they begin to enroll women in the college, but they can only enter through the back entrance (through the cemetery) and coincidentally over this guy's dead body. It doesn't get better than that! :)
This is the birthplace of Yeats. We just stumbled upon this house on our way to the subway station. Kinda cool...
Here's a pic of the Dublin River.
Kristie and Easton on the way to Powerscourt Gardens. Check out that hair!!! (mine not his)
And here's the Airds, those great people that let us totally impose and crash at their place.
Jared and Kristie being silly at Powerscourt.
More of Powerscourt Gardens. Georgeous, huh? Somehow, the entire weekend in Ireland, it didn't rain once. The weather was perfect. Someone was looking out for us...