I don't think I wrote about my recent trip to Ireland. I went there for my cousin David's wedding which was in Waterville in Co. Kerry. Tricia came along (Tisha was suppose to too but she opted for a trip to Santa Fe and Colorado instead). Waterville was beautiful as you can see here:
Here:
And here:
Waterville was the place where we had our first pint of Guinness in Ireland. Isn't he beautiful?
It was right along the "Ring of Kerry." Which was kind of annoying because when I told people I was going there they were all like: "OH you MUST DO the ring of Kerry." My question was always like ok what does that entail? I found out when you "DO the ring of Kerry" you are basically just driving around the coast to look at the beautiful mountains and ocean views. Yeah OK I did half of the ring of Kerry I think it was enough. David and Dee had a fantastic wedding in this cute little church up on a hill. The reception was at this summer resort place that is famous for its golf courses. It's also the place we stayed for 3 days. I must say 3 days in Waterville was enough! The big tourist attraction to Waterville besides golf is the statue they have in town of Charlie Chaplin. Apparently he lived there and fathered a bunch of children (I didn't know he was such the whore).
I was going nuts after 3 days in Waterville so we tried our best to get out. Everyone who drove down had full cars and we were carrying all of our luggage. We ended up getting a lift to Killarney with Dee's brother to get the train to Dublin. We stayed one night in Killareny hanging with my cousin Eamon. We caught two cool bands that night one you might like called Frightened Rabbit (they are from Glasgow) the other was an Irish local cover band called Menace (they rocked the house).
We stayed at David and Dee's apartment when we were in Dublin because they had gone to France and Italy for their honeymoon. We did the tourist thing and got a load for crappy photos like the one on the tour bus, or the Dublin Break-dancer, or how about that one in Temple Bar, or the one at Bono's Hotel Bar (damn those drinks were expensive, like Bono needs the money). We even went to St. Patrick's cathedral (and I wasn't stricken down).
Best part of the trip was our pilgrimage to the Guinness Factory. Now I had been there it must have been back in 1997 and it was completely different from the swanky modern tourist trap it is today. Last time I was there it smelled like feet and the tour consisted of a bunch of puppets in various brewing poses and plaques' describing what is going on. The bar was behind the store and you really didn't need to do the tour if you wanted to go for a pint. Now that they fixed the place up the Guinness Storefront has a different entrance is 7 floor tall and has a roof top bar that overlooks Dublin City. Bad thing is the roof top bar only serves the free pint if you want to get drunk you need to hang at the bar on the 5th floor. Here is a photo of the interior of the Guinness Factory from the 5th floor:
Kind of looks like an Escher drawing no?
I would show you the video footage I have of Tricia dancing with the Guinness advertising but I think she might kick my ass. We ended up one night in Ball's Bridge to see my cousin Eamon again. He apparently works with the Polish Matt Damon. Too bad we didn't get there earlier as it was the end of his shift. We spent the last two days of our trip in my mother's hometown Carrickmacross with the family. It was a fantastic trip and I wish I could have stayed a bit longer. Although by the end of it I was kind of fed up with Guinness.
How can you get bored with something so good? OH and I almost forgot we also go to see the most offensive bathroom in all of Ireland. That wallpaper was making me sick!
