When Irish Eyes Are Smiling...

What a weekend I had! It started out on Thursday when Erik took vacation and I flew out of Amsterdam and met my cousin Eileen in Dublin, Ireland- BY MYSELF! I got to the Schipol Airport in Amsterdam early so I could start my vacation out relaxing. Rumor had it that they just opened a Starbucks up a few weeks ago...first place like that in Holland. So, I got some good gossip magazines, a mocha (extra large) and sat and relaxed!
I got to Dublin to a sleeping cousin who was recovering from jet-lag. We went out to dinner the first night at an American restaruant called "Thunderbird" to get caught up, and to get me some REAL food! We walked around the streets scooping out the action, and where we will want to visit.

Friday was a great day. We woke up and had bagels and more mocha! Yummo! (Can you tell I haven't had a mocha since MAY 19th!) Then we went on a "Wild" Ireland tour of the country side and places less visited. This was the highlight of our trip for the two of us. We saw the sea, cute towns, the country side, lakes, and small mountains. We ate a a cute pub for lunch, shopped at cute little Irish shops, and hiked on trails. Our bus driver was a HOOT and we had a few great couples from the USA that really added to the trip.

Our favorite memory was when we got to the top of this huge cliff. The bus driver pulls the bus over. He gets out a bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey and shot glasses for everyone. He told us that we could get out and take pictures of the lake and cliffs, pick blue berries, and take a shot of whiskey. We were NOT allowed back on the bus until the whole bottle was gone. Eileen and I experienced our first shot of Irish Whiskey on the top of a cliff in Wicklow, Ireland! As you can tell from the pics on the left, it was an experience that neither one of us will forget. Was totally disgusting...but we can say we did it! Saturday night ended with us going to dinner at the Arlington Hotel where we stayed. They are known for the best Irish Pub music and dancers. We had reserved seats and since we were guests of the hotel, we were on the "50 yard line". Entertainment was amazing and it was SO fun to watch the crowd! I tasted my first Guiness Beer (Can't say I went to Ireland and didn't try it.) It was Awful...as I was 0 for 2 on the day with drinks, but again, I had to at least say I tried it!


Saturday started off slow, as Eileen was recovering from jet-lag still, and I was enjoying my time in bed with my gossip magazines and NO one waking me up! We went out for our bagel and mocha at our "hang-out" in Dublin. Then it was a day of Dublin! We went to Trinity College, shopped, and ate. Then we went St. Patricks Cathedral, shopped more, had more coffee and visited the St. Thersa's Church and Ha' Penny Bridge. We shopped some more, drank more coffee, and then went to church which was a really cool experience. The night ended with a GREAT meal at an Italian restaraunt ( We'd HAD it with potatoes and beef!)


Finally, on Sunday, it was out for our daily coffee...but we had to opt for Mc D's, as all other places were closed on Sunday. We went to the airport early and THANK GOODNESS we did. There was a soccer game starting in the Dublin Stadium and we missed the HUGE traffic jam by 20 minutes. We got to the airport and we were too early and they wouldn't let us check in. I had NEVER heard of that. We were only about 3 hours and 10 minutes early. So, we had to sit on our bags outside of check-in and wait until 2 1/2 hours before our flight was to leave.


We were going through security and people were driving me CRAZY! You are NOT allowed to bring more than 3 oz. of liquid, make-up, ect. in your bag. People were at the gates of security throwing away OJ bottles, Coke, ect. I always wondered who the idiots were that brought liquids through security and slowed it up. So, I buzz RIGHT through and had to wait for Eileen. (She is travelling back with me to Holland for the week.) Eileen gets stopped and they ask her if this is HER bag? She told them it was. They asked if she had anything liquid in it. She told them she didn't. Now I'm getting a bit annoyed. So, I go back and say, "Eileen, you can't have any cosmetics on these international flights...do you have lip stick or anything like that in your bag?" She says, "NO!"

So, the guy opens up her purse to check it, and he pulls out an 11oz. FULL bottle of Johnson and Johnson's Stress Melting Lotion! I was DYING! I mean, it's one thing to accidentally bring a tube of lipstick or perfume through security. But an 11oz bottle of lotion is OUT OF CONTROL! We were dying of laughter and the security guy says, "Sorry ladies, but now your stress isn't going to MELT away...this has to go in the rubish bin!" I still can't believe she fit that WHOLE bottle in her purse!

Now it's back home! I was glad to see the boys....and I'm sure we'll have more stories as the week goes on! What fun it was to take a four day weekend trip to Ireland!