Dublin - Home of Guinness

A sign in both English and Irish

Trinity College where the Book of Kells is kept

This is a weird thing that I saw at Trinity College.  I have no idea what it is but it is neat.

Celtic design in the garden at the Dublin Castle.

Me in front of the waterfall at during the Guinness tour.  Water is a major component of Guinness.

Christmas is in the air.  Lovely lights in Dublin.

More lights.

me at the garden in Dublin Castle.

Delicious Baileys Cheesecake with Chocolate Chips at Queen of Tarts.  YUM!

The 6,000 year lease for Guinness.

Me with my Guinness at the end of the tour.

Ireland West Coast - Mayo County

Croagh Patrick

Sheep

Me as a strawboy at the Museum of Folk Life

Me and my shirt twin

Megan and me at the beach

Megan and I spent a few days with her in-laws in Mayo County.  We went to beach and the folk museum.  At the folk museum, we learned about many Irish traditions.  One of the traditions we learned about was the straw boys. When there was a wedding in town, boys from that community would go to the wedding wearing straw hats and would ask for drinks and things like that.  Depending on how they were treated, they would either burn their hats in fire or throw them in the trees,

West Coast of Ireland - Galway

Coastline in Galway

Coastline in Galway

Coastline in Galway

Megan and me at the coast

Galway was beautiful.  There were lots of shops and fun looking pubs.

French Food

French Onion Soup - YUM

Beef marinated in Red Wine - French Style

Chocolate Mousse dessert

My mom's dessert

Coquet - Ham and Cheese - Amazing!

So French food is pretty tasty.  My mom and I had a delicious sandwich of cheese, walnut, and ruccola on a bread that tasted like heaven. 

The Cabbage Parade

This dude has Halloween confused a little bit.

I thought this little girl was adorable.

Tractors... that pick the cabbage?  I am not sure what is up with the tractors but there were several of them in the parade.

Stammisch after the parade

Here we are again

The cabbage parade took place in Eltville.  I am not sure what the deal was with the parade and why they do it but I can tell you that if you bring your own glass, the parade people will pour high volumes of wine into your glass. 

Halloween in Gemany

This probably not the best picture to share but this guy was ridiculous with his costume.  Jack in one and Coke in the other.

Nicole, my co-worker on the right, made her costume that day and it was made from her bridesmaid dress when her cousin got married.  I am not sure if you can tell from this picture but she glued Christmas ornaments all over her dress.  It sounded like she made the costume from a hot glue gun and without doing any actual sewing.  That is an accomplishment.

Lisa, the pirate and Me as Marilyn.  Boo, some of you may say since I was Marilyn before.  But I had no costume and went to the thrift a week before the party and it was either this or a figure skater without skates.  I choose the easy costume.

Vanessa with a jellyfish.

Supposedly Halloween is not a German thing but has been getting more popular in recent years.  Since it is not a traditional holiday here, there are some hilarious stories about what the German kids think they should do to obtain candy, some sing and some just stand there.  We did not have any trick-or-treaters.

Notre Dame - Gargoyles

me with the gargoyles

gargoyles looking out on the city of Paris

There is the Seine River and the Eiffel Tower

These are creepy looking dudes.  They sort of remind me of the minions in Sleeping Beauty.

This gargoyle looks nicer.

To show just how narrow the top of the Notre Dame walkway is.

The bell in the bell tower.  Where the hunchback lives.

The view fromt the top of the Notre Dame was amazing.  The walk up the stairs was TERRIBLE.  I try to use the stairs everyday to get to the sixth floor of the building I work in and do it with relative ease.  These stairs, however, had me panting.  They started wide and halfway to the top the stairs became incredibly narrow.