Ok, it has been a minute, but we just returned from an amazing family adventure and I want to write it all down before I forget!
We started by flying to Dublin on July 7. It was a redeye, so we arrived there exhausted Wednesday morning, but ready to explore!
When we left the airport, Dublin mass transit had other plans.
We first found someone who looked helpful and asked them where to go. They pointed us down in one direction, but we couldn't find the bus, so we asked someone else. They told us to go to one of the platforms to catch a city bus, but that wasn't right either, so we headed to the bus they recommended, that was also on Apple Maps. The driver said he couldn't take us there and directed us to the place where we started, but they told us they also couldn't get us close to our apartment, so we ended up taking a cab.
We arrived a little early to check-in, so we walked around (with all of our luggage), until we found a place that looked good to everyone (a recurring theme on this trip) called Food Game. There we had probably the most delicious French toast we had ever eaten, and Jason realized it might be a while before he could get a plain black coffee in something larger than a teacup.
We checked into our place (with no AC, which usually isn't a problem, but we were at the tail-end of the heat wave, so it was definitely a little warm) and then set out to explore.
We figured out the bus routes, and of course headed straight to top front of the double-decker bus! It was the first time I'd ridden a double-decker bus since before Harry Potter was a thing, but I know now why the Night Bus is described like it is. From the top, it really does look like you're squeezing through small areas and about to run over everything around you!
We visited St. Michan's Church first, founded in 1030! Our tour guide Tom was lots of fun as he showed us around the main part of the church and talked about the history (including showing us the tower with places to shoot arrows because it was also a fortress in the war) before taking us underground into the crypts. These are why this church is so famous.
Because of the temperature and make-up of the walls in the crypts under the church, the bodies buried there have preserved incredibly well, including one that we got to see, along with a few other random skeletal parts. Kind of creepy, but also cool. When the crypts were created, they were purchased forever, so if anyone still knew their family had one, they could still be buried there, but it doesn't happen often anymore.
After St. Michan's, we walked to the Guinness Storehouse, where we did a self-guided tour, including a lesson on the smells and how to best drink a Guinness, and then some time in the Gravity Bar at the top of the building with beautiful views and more beer. Jason's and my tickets came with a free beer each (so Jason got two) and the kids' came with free sodas.
We walked around some more and found a "portal" where we could see people in Poland, and they could see us!
Then we headed to dinner at Murray's Bar and Grill, hoping to see some Irish dancing, but we were too early. We did get to listen to some live Irish music from a fun band. Dinner was good (except for when Jason accidentally knocked our very close neighboring table's food out of the runner's hand and onto the floor. That guy was NOT happy).
We walked out of the restaurant at around 10:40 p.m. and it was still DAYLIGHT! It looked like 7:00 p.m. in the summer. I think those were the latest sunsets we saw, but everywhere we visited got darker after it does at home, which took some getting used to!
We got back to the apartment late and exhausted, and, after figuring out the adapters to charge all the things, basically passed out until the next morning.
Walk count: 5.1 miles
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