Dublin, Ireland
Dublin is vibrant, historical, warm and lovely. Last night we walked around for a couple hours just to take in the people and scenery. We walked through an open market, down to the Temple Bar district and poked around in a grocery market (one of our favorite things to do) We ate at a really great local restaurant called Gruel. I had scene a Rachel Ray segment on Dublin and this was one of the restaurants she highly recommended. We happened upon it as we were walking up toward Christchurch Cathedral. The food was excellent, the service was so warm and the atmosphere made you feel like a real Dubliner! Sleep was not ideal for the girls last night because their room looked out over a pub that was filled with Valentine's Day revelers who decided to serenade the entire street until about 4:00am. They were troopers and we let them sleep in a bit, and promised to switch their room to the "less active" side of the hotel!

Today we walked around Trinity College where we were first treated to graduation day. It was so great to see all the graduates and even I felt proud of the young people in caps and gowns. We went to see the "Book of Kells" exhibit at the Trinity Library. It was fascinating to see the old gospels and manuscripts and to read the history of The Book of Kells. We walked out of the exhibit, apparently the wrong way, and lucky for us, a docent asked if we had been upstairs to see the "Long Room". We said "No" and she told us we may want to check it out because it's the best part of the exhibit. Well... we were overwhelmed. The "Long Room" is the most beautiful library you can ever imagine. It was built in 1732 and it houses over 200,000 of Trinity College's oldest, most precious manuscripts and books. When we walked in, I was instantly consumed with the rich, woody, sweet smell of old books. The hall itself is impressive, but nothing compares to the absolute, sheer bliss of being surrounded by so much history, knowledge, stories and information. Stationed in front of each section of the library is a marble statue of a great writer, philospher, historian - as if they were guarding the valuable gifts. I didn't want to leave and we all were equally moved by the experience.

To top off the day, we went to the Guinness Storehouse! I know, a little touristy, but it was actually quite fun and impressive. Matt was really taken by the history of the business of Guinness as a company. It's been such a successful company for so long. The building that houses the exhibit is really modern and well done. On the seventh floor (where you redeem your charm for a pint) is an all-glass room with amazing views of the city. Fun fact - Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000 year lease with the city for the property where Guinness is made! Smart man.

We walked around Dublin Castle, ate really greasy and authentic fish and chips in the gatehouse gardens of the castle, and now everyone is taking a nap! We might go see U2 in 3D tonight at a local theatre (for those of you who know me well, you understand how cool it would be for me to get to experience this in Dublin!) Tomorrow were getting a car and driving to Killarney. More photos below and for those of you who really want to see all of the photos, I may have a Picasa 2 link for you soon. Sorry, still a bit of trial and error!
More Later.
Lisa, Matt and girls