Ireland, in sum

Well, we missed our Thursday night train & it's all because of military time and a nazi Virgin Trains worker named Lindel. He made us so mad I odn't even want to get into it, but everything worked out in the end. Instead of getting on the train that night, we bought a bottle of chiraz from a nice man at the Euston station and consumed it on the way to meet up with Leanne's two buddies at O'Neills pub near Chinatown. I actaully saw Liz's friend Lizzie with her boyfriend as well as a whole group of FSU Pi Phi's! We had a great time at this place, partly because the band played 'Sweet Home Alabama'.
Friday morning we were off to Holyhead, Wales to catch the ferry to get to Dublin. I ran into Kevin Meyer, Pike/Pi Phi houseboy, and a bunch of other UGA guys who are on the Terry @ Oxford program. We all hopped on the ferry/cruise liner and spent the ride in the luxe Club Lounge. Leanne and I finally got to our awesome 2 BR / 2 Ba apartment around 8 and ordered in so we could crash early and get up early.
Saturday was our long touring day. We toured Trinity College (Georgia's campus is almost as pretty); saw the book of Kells; went to St. Patrick's Park and Cathedral; saw a box containing St. Valentine's remains & left a prayer for him; visited the Guinness Storehouse & its Gravity Bar; passed through St. Steven's Green; saw each end of a gorgeous rainbow; ate crepes for lunch; heard a lot of annoying angry Irish accents; saw their house of parliament & the mayor's mansion (Mary Kay's house in Dallas is bigger); viewed a Picasso [Mandolin], a Monet, and a Sisley at the Irish National Gallery; shopped on Grafton Street; passed by Christchurch; took a picture of a chair used by King William III when he went to St. Pat's to give thanks to God for his victory over King James at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690; ate dinner at Citi Bar & Venue, located on Dame St; had ice cream in Temple Bar; met up with the UGA guys at O'Brian's; and finally Luas took us home to the Abberley apartment at around 11 pm.
Sunday was spent touring our final site: the Kilgenhaim Gaol prison, which has been featured in movies (the Italian Job) and music videos (U2's 'Celebration'). The rest of our time was spent wandering around boutiques and vintage-wear markets in lofts throughout Dublin. We concluded our Irish vacation with another French treat, a dessert crepe, since we were unable to find Irish soda bread (and we still don't know what that is). Our taxi picked us up at 7:15 from the apartment and we were on the ferry by 9! Our club admission allowed us to eat delicious cheeses and fine wines before we fell asleep on the comfortable leather benches. We took advantage of the club because we knew that the majority of our journey would be spent sitting stiff & upright on the train, wrapping ourselves in the bathtowels Furnival House supplied us for warmth. Despite a two-hour delay in Birmingham, we finally arrived at London Euston station at 9am!
The trip was quick & full of excitement and interesting encounters with Irish folks (some good; some not so good). Planning a trip to a foreign country while you're living in a foreign country can be stressful but we made it work and had a great time exploring Dublin, Ireland!