Saturday, June 26:
Such a sad/happy day! Everyone woke up super early to pack and then check out of good ole Roebuck Residences. Oddly enough, I will miss that place... even though it didn't have air conditioning and I woke up sweaty more times than I'd ever care to. So, around 10 a.m. Rachel Q and I took a cab to the Ashling Hotel, where my mom booked me a room since she wasn't arriving until Sunday.
Rachel and I stored our luggage there and then headed to the Farmer's Market in Temple Bar. We ran into B. Love, Robin, Cindy, Tracie and her mom, and Alysha, too! It was like the program never ended (...if only)! A little later, I met up with Brian on his lunch break from work and actually ended up going back to the food market for lunch! I think I went a total of 3 times that day... good thing I love it! That night Rachel, Cindy and I went out for a few pints, but called it an early night since I couldn't stop coughing! So, we went back to the hotel and passed out for the night.
Sunday, June 27
The next morning, I was awoken by MY MOM! Such a good feeling. I had really missed her! Rachel had left way early to go meet her mom at their hotel. So, I checked out of my room and Mom and I went to eat lunch at The Brazen Head!
Mom and me @ The Brazen Head! The room was filled with signed American dollar bills.
We even saw some with A&M and Tech logos! Reppin' Texas!
After lunch, a jet-lagged momma and I took naps in our hotel room. Then we woke up a few hours later (gotta rest up!) for the Mother-Daughter PUB CRAWL! And man, I must say I'm proud of Donna Jean for staying out until 2 a.m. while being jet-lagged! I definitely passed out at 6 p.m. the day I got to Dublin! MD Pub Crawl consisted of Me, Mom, Rachel Q and her mom, Pat, Tracie and her mom, Terry, Robin and her mom, Nancy and of course, B. Love and his wife Meiling! Haha!
Daughters on the left, Mommas on the right!
You can definitely tell which daughter belongs to which mother! Haha!
Stop one was Original Temple Bar. It's definitely a touristy place but a definite must see in Temple Bar area! Next stop was Gogarty's, as per B. Love's suggestion. Funny too, because we walk in and it's full of elderly people... I'm talking senior citizens! Really, B. Love? Is this your crowd? HA! Third stop was Porterhouse! We had to let the Moms try some Strawberry beer! Funny too, because Pat and Donna got Orgasms! haha! It's essentially a milkshake with Bailey's, and it's damn good. It just happened to be the special that night! And of course we chose Porterhouse because our friend Andrew Mann was playing a solo night! He even dedicated "Hotel California" to Mom! I will definitely be uploading that video as soon as I get home!
Donna and Andrew are BFFs now. Haha!
Final stop was Citi Bar! Andrew joined us, too. One last Jameson and Diet Coke for me and mom, and some good conversations between mothers and daughters, then it was off to bed... at 2 a.m.! Mom seriously deserves an award for that one! :)
Monday, June 28
On Monday morning, mom and I woke up relatively early and went to Hertz to pick up our rental car. We got a 2007 Ford Focus with crappy air conditioning. We sucked it up and headed to tour Jameson! Funny too, because we made it to the Car Park only to get a flat tire. The guy at Hertz hadn't even warned us an hour ago to watch out for the left side of the car since we're used to driving on that side. And of course, tires were NOT covered under the insurance. Lucky for us, neither of us know how to change a tire. YESSS! But, luckily a nice man who worked in the car park changed our tire for us. Then you bet your bottom dollar we headed right back to Hertz to get a new car. Round two was a 2010 Nissan Micra. And they are NOT lying.. those things are miniscule! We looked like giants in a clown car!
You get the idea! There's literally NO leg room in the backseat. Literally!
After getting the new car (and NOT touring Jameson), we headed to our next destination. Kilkenny! Needless to say, we were not in the best moods (and by we, I mean me). So we checked into our hotel and went to find some medication at a pharmacy, because I was just getting sicker (yes, the same illness from the week before! Ridic). Luckily, I got the strong stuff. So, we ate dinner in the hotel and then I took some medicine and passed out at 7:30. No joke. And I slept for 12 glorious hours. I believe Mom slept that long, too!
Tuesday, June 29
Tuesday morning, Mom and I decided to tour Kilkenny castle. The castle was literally around the corner from our hotel, so it worked out nicely. It was pretty neat to see replicas of all the furniture and decorations in the castle, even a water closet that was added in 1904. It was ridiculously big, but we weren't allowed to take pictures inside, so I'll just leave that to your imagination!
Outside Kilkenny castle
After touring the castle, we packed up and headed to our second stop, Waterford! We stayed at Dooleys right on the Quays (pronounced Keys) on the river. Everything was ship themed. Pretty neat! It was definitely charming, except the fact that there was no A/C and our room faced the street, which Donna was not pleased with! It was definitely loud, but that's why I packed earplugs! :) So, we checked in, I medicated myself and took a short nap, then we had lunch in the hotel.
Then, we visited WATERFORD CRYSTAL! This was probably our favorite thing we saw overall. Seriously, SO exciting and interesting. It just reopened in mid-June after being closed for 18 months due to the economy. We couldn't have timed our visit better! They opened a new factory and everything. The cool thing about the tour was that we could interact with the craftsmen, cutters, and engravers. We even got to hold a vase that was being cut! Those things are HEAVY. So, I learned that only diamonds can cut crystal, and that each piece of Waterford is cut from memory. The cutters have to enter an apprenticeship for 5 years before becoming master cutters. And engravers have to go to art school for 2 years and apprentice for 8 before becoming master engravers... that's ridiculous!
Making a handle to a jug! SO cool! That's the melted crystal.
Cutting the pattern from memory!
Cutting the pattern on the bottom.
Cutters often have to hold the pieces for up to 8 hours to finish!
The world's most expensive broken clock. It's made entirely out of crystal, and they lost the key when moving factories. Ha!
9/11 Memorial piece, dedicated to an Irishman who was part of the rescue efforts of a fire department
That's all I have time for right now, our flight is bright and early tomorrow (I actually finished this post on the 4th!)... and I still have to cram a month's worth of clothes plus all the things I've purchased into one piece of luggage and one carry on, wish me luck! I hope everyone has a fantastic and safe 4th of July! Happy birthday, America!
I'll be sure to update the rest of our trip when I get home, so keep checking back! :)
From Ireland (for the last time) with love,
Hillary
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