Ireland

My fiancé has family in Ireland and more than talking about the place, has constantly talked about the people.  "Practice your Irish songs, because they will make you sing!"  He was always talking about how great his Irish fam is, and like anything that is talked up too much, I started to believe I'd be let down...I was not at all.  His family as well as most of Irish people I met really were incredibly kind, fun and welcoming.  

Upon arriving in Ireland I was able to drink my first pint there on what happened to be the first time you could drink in a pub on Good Friday.  

From the Dublin Airport I was able to pretty easily take the bus to our AirBnB in Terenure, a pretty hip neighborhood a few miles south of the city. The Lovely Food Co., a gem of a cafe was right next door.

The bus pick up area in front of the airport is pretty easy to find and a ticket can be purchased with a credit card at a kiosk.  Wifi is free once on the bus, which helped me in being able to figure out where to get off.       

Getting to downtown Dublin is walkable, easy to take the bus to, or to catch a cab (as of now Uber in Dublin just catches a cab for you and isn't really any different, but is useful if you're not having any luck catching one).  

Indigo & Cloth Cafe is an amazing little craft coffee shop right near Temple Bar that also has hip men's clothing and gifts.  

Temple Bar

The Bernard Shaw is an amazing pub, restaurant, exhibition space, etc. with a selection of food trucks right outside.  Check out their website at thebernardshaw.com ahead of time to check out any upcoming live music, flea markets, etc and to book at table.   

The Dublin Literary Pub Crawl was one of the favorite things I've ever done.  I'd been looking forward to it for a while and our tour guides Frank and Finn did not disappoint!  We also had a random Irishman outside of a pub ask our group what we were doing and then inquire if we wanted to hear him recite a poem when we told him.  This random bystander's delivery of Yeat's "A Drunken Man's Praise of Sobriety" left even our guides stunned and amazed.  The Irish people's love of language, story and song is a beautiful thing.  You can book tour tickets at www.dublinpubcrawl.com or on Viator.  It's pretty cheap, around 15 euro and I would also bring 10 euro cash to purchase a signed copy of a pub crawl book for the history behind even more pubs.  

Trinity College where we learned the history of the university's founding as well as a poem by Oscar Wilde.  

Our Lovely Terenure Airbnb.  It was April Fools and I  actually stepped into dog poo right after taking this pic (the morning after the pub crawl was not a great one), and..

we got engaged!  Ryan totally (I mean TOTALLY, could he have not warned me to lay off the jameson and gingers on the pub crawl the night before?) surprised me by taking me to Glendalough on the way to his family to pop the question.  It was a very special moment in a beautiful setting.  

The picture I took right before the proposal.  

Glendalough contains the ruins of an early 6th century monastary founded by St. Kevin.  It's in the middle of the Wicklow Mountains National Park, a mystic and almost eerily beautiful region.  

Inside St. Kevin's Church

I bought a few kitchen towels with Irish recipes on them in the booth to the left.  The man inside congratulated us on our engagement, and told me that Ryan had picked one of the most sacred places in the world.  He then told us of the three rings of marriage in Ireland, the engagement ring, the wedding ring, the suffering.  He certainly had the gift of the gab and kept us entertained with funny stories for a good ten minutes.  Well worth the price of the towels.   

The drive through Wicklow

Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures when out celebrating with Ryan's family in Drangan.  I do have some video footage that I'm sure everyone involved will appreciate if I keep private.

Kilkenny Castle

The rainy streets of Kilkenny

Left Bank Pub...really in an old bank.

The Fireplace above is in Kilkenny's oldest pub, The Kyteler's Inn.  The pub dates back to 1324, and is full of memorabilia about Dame Alice Kyteler.  She was the first person recorded to be condemned of witchcraft in Ireland and narrowly avoided being burnt at the stake by fleeing the country.  

The Rock of Cashel

 If I ever win the lotto, I'm moving to Ireland to buy a farm with sheep.  I'll spend my days going to Tesco, singing songs at the pub with Ryan's family (hopefully they'll teach me their really old ones that have been passed down for generations), and drinking tea to stay warm.  I'll master the art of making brown bread, a good stew, and memorize some poetry should a poetry pub crawl come upon me unexpectedly.  

The Rock of Cashel is reported to be the site of the conversion of the King of Munster by St. Patrick in the 5th century and was the traditional seat of the kings of Munster.  It is one of the most remarkable collections of Celtic art and medieval architecture in all of Europe.  Ryan's grandfather is from Ireland and takes a pic of "The Rock" every time he goes back to visit, so we were sure to email him ours.