Ireland super wrap-up

Ok...so we're a bit behind. But, we'll give the short-short version of the finality of the trip (from last year):

Day 8: Cork! It was Sunday, so we went to church. St. Augustine's...nice place on the inside, looked like an old Y on the outside. And mass was a race. The priest kept looking at the clock like he was going to miss kick-off. And it was raining. It also was Medieval Days, so we saw some locals dressed in Norman armor and visited a Renfest ULTRA...12 people! However, we did see an excavated piece of the old City Wall. Our wanderings about downtown Cork found us the Beamish Brewery, Cork's Cathedral (which the church at SLU, St. Francis Xavier, is based on), and a memorial to Cork Patriots that perished in the various uprisings. Also, and this is funny, but at dinner, these three dudes walked up to an apt. across the street and kept screaming up at a window for a feller to come down. Then beat on the door. Then tried to get someone else that lived in the apt. to see if their friend was in his place...then said friend walked up the street. Cork Citizenry, ladies and gentlemen!

Day 9: Blarney! Headed 15 km NW to Blarney, home to Blarney Castle and the famed Blarney Stone. Needless to say, the stone is sorta lame. The Castle is a wonderful example of the architecture of the time, and some of the subsequent improvements made over time (like gun holes). However, boo to Blarney for poor signage...missed the castle the first time through the town. We also hit up the Blarney Wool Mill, which is much more tourist destination than textile production. But got a wicked hat!

Day 10: Dublin part 2! Headed back north to Dublin. Driving has become much easier this time, especially without a bike race to tend too. We manage to hit Dublin's suburbs right at rush hour, but returned car without difficulty. The walk to the next hotel was much longer than expected, but that may be due to a missed side street. Hotel was an old row house, so our room was on the third level or first landing...I assumed it was a library at one time.

Day 11: Flanking Dublin! Now in south Dublin, we returned to the Museum to take in all the Viking exhibits. Substantial amount of finds, located when the Dublin-Shannon rail-line was dug. We also hit up the National Art Gallery. Just a mess a great art, with a ton of portraits. I will say that the Yeats Artist Brother is not nearly as good as Yeats Writer Brother. But that's just me.

Day 12: Cutting our loses! Final day in town, we wander through Georgian Dublin (south area, surrounding the canal). National Photography Gallery was in-between shows, so we took the high road and didn't burn it down. We did hit up part of the National Archives and looked at some old pictures of Youghal. Finally we went past University College-Dublin, which is partially housed in the first Newman House. Also took in the Newman Church. Very cool. On the way to dinner, it rained SIDEWAYS!!! At that moment, Kati realized that her umbrella was AWOL. Luckily, our lunch destination hadn't pawned it (you know what those American umbrellas go for on the black market), so it was returned.

Day 13: Westbound and Down! Headed home. Learned that a Hired Car and a Taxi cost the same, so we went to the airport in a Mercedes! Long flight got us to Chicago and a Fire game.

That's Ireland in a nutshell. For images, look at James' Facebook site. For further commentary, inquire within.